Tuesday, 7 August 2018

The Simpson and Kimberleys trip, 2018 Day 18

We were up relatively early for coffee and a chat about we to do today, then it was a quick pack up and we hit the track around 7:45 am. The driving was slower than yesterday and we stopped at Wren Gorge. While Shane went for a wander up the gorge I had another attempt at sealing blute's fuel tank leak. The soap trick was working while the car was stopped but after driving a bit it would start leaking again. So I used soap then cleaned all around the leak using some soapy water, dried it and then tried to seal it up with Sika flex. After an hour or so of driving the leak was back and it looks like the diesel was dissolving the Sika flex. 
We stopped on a rock bar beside a creek as it had some shade, Shane thought he saw a freshwater croc scurry off as we arrived. After a drink and a bite to eat I got Shane to help me hopefully seal up the fuel tank leak properly and by help me, I mean he did most of the work. 

It was out with the portable grinder with a sanding pad to remove the paint on the tank, then use a sharp knife to scrape out any paint around the weld. Finally, wash it down with soapy water and then water and then dry. The epoxy sealer needed a few minutes of kneading to activate and then Shane applied it to the cleaned area around the leak. The pack says it sets in five minutes but we have it an hour before heading off. 
It all seemed good when we stopped a little later at an aboriginal Yam site, where there were heaps of stones arranged in patterns on the ground. You couldn't see a lot from the ground so I put the drone up for a few quick pics.

Then we continued on stopping occasionally for photos and crossing quite a few creeks we finally got out to Walcott Inlet around 3:30 pm. It had taken us all day to travel roughly 75 Kms. Then we explored the tracks around the Inlet looking for the old home stead but didn't really find too much except a plaque to a previous owner. 

We came back to a great camp spot over looking the Inlet and set up for the evening. It was about four metres above the high water level so hopefully safe from the crocs. 

We lit a small fire and cooked dinner and then sat back and relaxed. Shane started playing around with some astrophotography while the moon was still below the horizon. Earlier in the afternoon we had seen the speed that the tide came in and then started going out again. It was pretty spectacular. Tomorrow we would head back towards civilisation. We hadn't seen anyone else out here, so I suspect we are alone except for the crocs in the water.

Sent from my iPhone

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