Day 173

19 July 2013

Another misty foggy morning, everything wet and smelling like a camp fire...that's how you know you are really camping! Haha

We had decided to pack up from this camp and head to Rosie's camp which is about 80km away from the homestead. There is lots of things to see and do on the way like Rosie's rapids, Monarch Rocks, Flying Fox Swamp and at the end of it all is some great fishing spots and the open ocean where apparently we should be able to just scoop up mud crabs with a net while avoiding sharks, stingrays and crocodiles! Rhett had suggested to chat to people on our way out there to try and team up with another car just for peace of mind as it is so remote.

Headed through the first gate and ran into a couple there so asked where they were heading, they were only going to the pools we had been to yesterday so couldn't team up with them so kept going. 2 minutes later Joel stops, pulls to the side of the road and says "shit, there is a light on on the dash." I of course reach for the car manual while Joel reaches for the hood latch and sees what he can see in the engine bay. I work out that the light is a water separator indicator light and it is telling us that there is water in the fuel and we need to drain it!

By this time another 3 men had congregated around the bonnet and attempted to drain the water. Light still on. We decide that while it may not be anything we probably shouldn't go to the most remote place in NT just in case we get stuck. So we were tee'd up for a big day of fishing and now we are faced with a day of trying to figure out what to do from here!

We attempted to drain it a few more times but the light was not going anywhere! Rhett allowed us to use the phone and Internet in his place to ring Isuzu to find out if we should continue driving with this light. The guy suggested to drain the fuel filter plug as well and then hopefully the light would go off. While Joel is under the car trying to do this, a couple come over and ask if we are ok. I explain what I know and he starts telling Joel things he could try...turns out he is a mechanic. So after stuffing around with it for another 30mins it was decided that there was no water in the fuel or filter so it was safe to drive and the light may just be an electrical issue. (We did go through some deep water crossings yesterday so we are thinking this might have fried something) We still didn't want to risk driving to middle of nowhere so decided our best bet was to head back to where the van was stored and start making our way to a bigger town!

Big thanks to the couple that helped us, was a shame we couldn't have met them in better circumstances cuz they were really nice, bout our age and they wanted to go to Rosie Camp too so we could've teamed up! There is lots of shit people out there, I know this, but meeting people on the road, the majority of people are good and kind hearted people willing to help when it's needed....it's comforting.

So instead of barra fishing and scooping mud crabs up in a net, we were back bouncing down the 130km dirt road to Heartbreak Hotel.

After refuelling we made a decision to pull up here for the night and do a big drive again tomorrow that will hopefully see us getting somewhere near Mt Isa.

After setting up camp we decided to see if we could get this light to go off on the dash. So Joel got under the car while I sat in the drivers seat to see if the light flickered or changed while Joel fiddled with the wires. Well by the time I walked around to the drivers side hopped in turned it to ON the light was gone! So now we are not sure whether it was something to do with the wires and Joel fiddling with them made the light go off OR whether putting more fuel in the car may have made the light switch off!! So after all this we are none the wiser but hopefully we won't have anymore trouble.

Carly & Joel

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