I had lunch at a roofed reststop providing treasured shade. I talked to a Victoria couple who gave me tea, fruit and 5 liter water. They changed the road markers from Katherine to Timber Creek at the border so I felt confident having lost my bottles - in spite of my detailed description I was sure the young couple couldn't figure out where to leave them even with gps and a backup system of pink ribbon. Mostly I was annoyed with myself for overlooking the stupidity related to state sovereignty...