We had one more day at Daly Waters.  We checked out Tims Junk Shop - a marvellous collection of old cars and other artefacts and had a wander up and down the street checking out all the curiosities.  We thought we might shout ourselves a coffee at the pub but we were too late - they'd just packed it away ready to do lunches, so we just came back to the van and made one tree.  We'd a lazy afternoon - me reading as I'd found a good boxed set on my tablet kindle.  We headed over to the pub for happy hour and ended up having tea there - the same as the night before as it had been so tasty.  We listened to the band for a while then headed back home to the van.

Up and at it the next morning and got packed up and headed for Mataranka which was only about 100km up the highway.  As I was walking  (on a mission!) into reception I spotted a couple out the corner of my eye and thought I know that guy but didn't stop.  Once I had us checked in It dawned on me that it was Gary and Janice who'd wed met two nights ago at Daly Waters.  There were still there when I came out so we'd a good chat and agreed to catch up later for drinks. We got nice unpowered site there and since the washing machines there were only $3 I chucked on a load of washing.  We had a problem with the ratchet on our awning and couldn't bring it out which meant my clothes line wasn't accessible but Craig strung up a line across to a tree and it was dry in an hour.  We had a walk down to the thermal pools but didn't go in as they were chock a block. We went along to the bar for happy hour and met up with Gary and Janice and ended up having tea there and listening to the band for an hour or two. Next morning we headed to the pools around 10am and they were much quieter and we had a float around for a while.  I'd also decided since the laundry was so cheap that I'd do our bedsheets so get them up on the line and they dried quickly too.  Meanwhile I'd heard from John and Carol who we'd met at Karumba that they were at Daly Waters and heading up to Mataranka that day.  We saw them arrive and once they'd checked in came down and were able to park up beside us.  We all went along to happy hour and then Craig and I came home and had tea - I couldn't handle another night pf pub food.  But then we went back in time to see Nathan Whippy Gregg who does some amazing whip cracking.  I'll try to upload a little video but not sure if my signal here is strong enough.  But he was amazing - a great entertainer.

Packed up again the next morning and headed for Katherine.  I'd seen Manbulloo station on wikicamps and thought it sounded quite good and when talking to Gary and Janice that was where they'd headed the day before.  Janice rung me to say it was pretty nice and asked if I wanted her to book a site for us.  Oh yes please!  However on the way there - its about 10km out of town, I realised there was a caravan repair place in Katherine so we took a detour there.  The guy was incredibly helpful and suggested we unhook the van and leave it with him and he'd see what he could do.  The switch on the light above the sink had gone of the blink too so asked him to look at that.  Meanwhile we drove into town, had a bit of lunch, did a bit of shopping and was able to book a doctors appointment for Craig for the next morning. We got a call about 2.30pm to say the van was ready so we picked it up and headed out to Manbulloo.  We've a nice little site across the way from Gary and Janice. I got a call from John and Carol who had planned to stay at Bitter Springs but after a quick visit there came on through to Katherine and they suggested they could join us at Manbulloo.  Great idea! So they did.  They treated themselves to a powered site so weren't down or end.  But we did catch up with them both.  We had happy hour with Gary and Janice and I was totally as she made us an espresso martini - to die for!  We came home and had salmon, broccolini, corn cob and potatoes for tea.  Absolute bliss - so good to have fresh produce - I hadn't realised how much I rely on fresh produce in my every day cooking.

We headed into town in the morning and Craig saw a really nice doctor who suggested he get an X-ray straight away at the hospital and then go back to see him.  We did all that - which although we didn't have any massively long waits took us till 1.30pm.   However though we haven't got the final radiology report, the GP had the Xray and he was fairly confident that there were no fractures and it look like the shoulder had relocated properly.  So then he gave him a referral to a physio.  A big thank you to my darling Shaz and Di, a former work colleague and physio who both messaged me privately after my last blog post urging Craig to see a doctor and get an Xray to make sure there was no major damage. He's still in quite a lot of pain and has very limited movement so was happy to take their advice.  We were starving by this time so found the   Katherine Club and I had the special of the day lamb Yiros - like a wrap - delicious.

Next stop was the physio and he has an appointment for today.  Back to town and a few more groceries and grog and I put a script in to the chemists (and realised this morning I'd forgotten to go back for) so that's on today's list.

We got back to the van and it was almost 4pm but I was really keen to get the floor mopped.  I sweep daily but the red dust from outside tramps in and you could feel the grittiness under your feet.  I had a mop but the heat over time had made the glue give way so it was no good.  I got a neat little cheapie in Kmart here and some floor cleaner in Dollars and Sense and I mopped the floor - what a difference.  Feels great now.  By now it was happy hour and Gary and Janice came over, then John and Carol came down.  So we'd a fabulous couple of hours with them all.  Janice spoiled me yet again and it was Pina Colada on the cocktail menu.  So yummy.  My turn tonight - think I'll do Prosecco with the Strawberry liqueur we bought a couple of months ago at Agnes.

This morning John and Carol have left to head up to Darwin where they're meeting up and spending a week with their daughter and finance who are flying in on Saturday.  We're about to head off into town shortly for Craig's physio appointment, then my first Covid jab at 2.20pm then get the gas bottle filled and pick up that script from yesterday.  Once we've seen the physio today we should have a better idea of our plan going forward. We'll stay here for at least another visit for review to make sure he has a rehab plan well established before we look at moving on.