1,000 kms around Darwin

Wednesday 19th December

Hi Hi
We are still here, sweltering in Darwin. Since my last post, I've been doing a bit of knitting and painting and lots and lots of sweating!!!!

I knitted a little ball and decided to give it to Paul's mate Gillie for his little boy Jaxon.

 

Gillie sent a photo of Jaxon playing with the knitted ball I gave him……..sooooo cute!!!

 

 

We have just returned from a week of travelling around......hope you like it!!!!!!!!

 

 

 

Saturday 8^th December

Since we have to make up 1000 kms for our next service and we want it done before everything closes down for $mas, we have decided to take a road trip for about a week. Besides, Paul’s mate, Tom and his girlfriend, Nadine are moving in on Monday before they go on leave till after $mas then she gets posted to Sydney and Tom will stay on.

Sunday 9^th December

We are still packing and cleaning and getting ready for our road trip.

Monday 10^th December

We had decided to do a leisurely pack up, and head off to the casino for lunch and then off to Darwin Hospital for Ron’s final appointment at the Eye Clinic.  We have had a standing reservation these last few weeks but finally, after scraping Ron’s eyes till they bleed and sending him off with steroid drops and other bits and pieces, he appears cured!!!

So, first step, get our gear and our food into Indie. Well, imagine our dismay (not to mention abject horror) to find that Mr Rattus (not a cute little mouse but, dirty big Mr Rattus) had already beaten us to the food cupboard!!!!! After much cleaning, scouring and purchasing of Ratsak, we finally set off.

We went to the casino, won about $15 (using their money), got the all clear on Ronnie’s eyes and drove on to Lee Point Village Resort. It was recommended by Gordon and Carol who we met at Camooweal. They must be much wealthier than    us - $50 per night!!!! (and it wasn’t that crash hot).

At about two in the morning, Ron felt the bus moving about…..(it does that when one of us gets up or moves about in bed a lot). He looked over and I was dead to the world so he got up, walked around outside to make sure no one was up to  mischief and finding nothing, figured he was dreaming. 

Later we learned that Darwin had been hit by a tremor measuring 7.5 on the Richter Scale…..I had slept on blissfully unaware!!!!

Tuesday 11^th December

We headed off towards Dundee Beach south west of Darwin.

On the way we stopped at Berry Springs. Here we encountered Australia’s answer to the three wise monkeys……the three wise cockatoos. They are huge birds…… in the wild they seem much bigger and have really big wing span.

Berry Springs itself had signs up everywhere saying ‘closed for the wet season’ and warning about crocodiles and fast flowing currents. The water was the most beautiful turquoise colour and in spite of being nearly dead from heat and humidity, we obeyed the signs and drove on.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We arrived at Dundee Beach just on lunch time.

It was the most picturesque little spot for our lunch, right on the water’s edge.

 

 

 

 

 

After lunch we headed back towards the Stuart Highway and stopped at ‘Tumbling Waters Holiday Park’ at the back way into Litchfield national park.

It was a lovely spot and after establishing that they had a pool and it was only $28 per night we booked in for two nights.

We cranked up the air conditioning, went for a swim and veged out for the afternoon.

Later we had a bit of a storm but we haven’t seen any real rain storms yet fortunately. We seem to get lots of thunder and lightning, some wind and then it’s all over Red Rover.

Wednesday 12^th December

We woke up early to discover water all over the floor near the sink. There was no ready explanation for this so we had breakfast and pondered it. When no viable reason sprang to mind, Ronnie donned his plumber’s hat and went in search of an answer. After much huffing and puffing and gnashing of teeth, he discovered that good old Mr Rattus had gnawed his way through some of the plastic tubing to the water heater. Ronnie fixed it all up and we were in business again.

Fortunately we have not seen or heard from Mr Rattus after setting off last Monday!!!!

 We decided to have a bit of a look around the park and came across a delightful little pond with lilies.

Of course right next to it was the sign warning of crocodiles, but they were only freshies so no worries!! 

Or were there?

 Ron was standing on the boardwalk and decided it would be a good idea to squirt the biggest croc with his water bottle.

 

 

The crock however, had a totally different view of proceedings and turned around, charged towards Ron and snapped and hissed loudly at him as well.

I did not know Ron cold jump so high or bolt so quickly although he insists he was only running to get help for me?????

The only one left smiling at it all was the croc!!!!!

Thursday13th December

We decided to drive up to Mandorah and catch the ferry across to Cullen Bay just for the boat ride.

After we left the caravan park, we had driven about10kms when we saw an Aboriginal man walking towards us carrying a Jerry Can. We stopped and he asked if we could spare a few litres of fuel and we said OK. We followed him back to his vehicle only to find out it was petrol not diesel.

Ron then offered to take his Jerry Can to the nearest servo and get some fuel for him. The man thanked him very much and said just $5 or $10 worth would be plenty to get him to the garage so he could fill up.

We drove off down the road and drove and drove and drove (probably about another 30kms). We got $10 worth for him and drove the 30 odd kilometres back again. I passed the jerry can to him and told him we had bought $10 worth for him.

He said ‘Thanks very much for that’ and started chatting about where we were going and the weather etc.  At no time was any mention made of him paying us the $10 for the fuel so Ron wished him Merry Xmas and we drove off.

We figured it was our good deed for the day and something good would happen in return. The DVD player packed it in that night so I guess not!!!!!  But I’m getting ahead of myself.

We drove on to Mandorah in time to catch the 11.15 ferry across Darwin Harbour to Cullen Bay.

 

 

It was low tide so we had to trudge down all the steps to the very bottom of the ferry terminal. It was a bit scary because all the steps were open metal grid and I get really nervous when I can see through steps.

It cost us $14.50 each return but it was one of the few things we hadn’t done last time we were here.

Cullen Bay is one of those cute little restaurant precincts on the marina. Of course, like everything else in Darwin and its environs, it has closed down for the Wet Season. We found a single coffee shop that was open for lunch and had a lovely meal and then caught the ferry back.

We went for a drive around Wagait Beach which was quite pretty. The dunes around here and at Dundee Beach have these plants with lovely purple flowers (probably a noxious weed, but I liked them).

From there we drove down to Adelaide River and stayed at (144) Adelaide River Showground. It is run by the Adelaide River Show Society which lends itself to a rather unfortunate acronym.

They had a pool and only charged $24.00 per night so we were in like Flynn!!!!!

Luckily it was Thursday so the bar was opened as well. They also served dinner so we bought a Chicken schnitzel each.

When we walked over there, the ladies from the Show Society (all volunteers) were busy decorating for Santa’s arrival on Saturday.

We had a bit of a chat with one in particular, Patty Fawcett. She and hubby own a cattle transport company (we saw a few of their road trains further along in our trip). She was a real hoot and recommended a trip to Douglas Daly.

Friday 14^th December

We spent the day swimming in the pool and chatting with another couple who were camped there and the caretakers, Gregory and his wife. The caretakers are volunteers as well and receive ten percent of the takings. I’m not sure how far our $4.80 would go towards their grocery bill!

Saturday 15^th December

We decided to travel further south to the Douglas Daly region so we set off around ten o’clock.

The drive was quite pleasant, very lush and green and we get a nice breeze with Indie’s windows open. 

We arrived at ‘Douglas Daly Tourist Park’, bought a real coffee and were having a good chat with Kerry the owner. I asked if there was anywhere we could see the river because most of the side roads we had seen were dirt and the weather was looking a bit ominous. She said we could just drive down the back of the Park because it ran next to and right on the Douglas River. It was about 2.5 kms of dirt with a couple of rough dips but should be OK for the bus to get through.

Off we went and it was very beautiful. We did ground the bus in one part but it was only on the bull bar.

 

 

 

It started to rain. Well. Within just 5 to 10 minutes, the dirt had just turned completely to mud and Kerry had sent Chris, the handyman down on the quad bike to guide us out because they were really panicked that we would get bogged. We made it out but not without a few wild slips and slides.

We left there and decided to head off to ‘Hayes Creek Caravan Park’ further south on the Stuart Highway for the night.

It had a pool (by now a minimum prerequisite) and only cost $22.50 for seniors (usually $25). The lady in the office said my hair qualified me for the discount!!!!!

She told us we could walk through the bush (about 2kms return) to Butterfly Gap where there were hundreds of little black and white butterflies and that it was totally safe to swim in the creek as it was spring fed.

Off we went. It was of course by now, the hottest part of the day and we huffed and puffed and sweated our way through the bush only to find…..no butterflies!!!!!  Well that’s not totally true; there were about a dozen hanging off the wall high above us.

 

In spite of the fact that we had been given wrong info about the butterflies, we trusted that the creek was OK and leaped in with gay abandon. It was fabulous and so lovely and cool.

We wandered back to our air conditioned comfort and relaxed for the rest of the day.

 Not only was the view splendid but the neighbours (emphasis on neigh) were friendly too.

 

 

 

Sunday 16^th December

We decided to head off towards Darwin and call in (about 150km round trip) and see the Daly River.

 

 

We drove in to the township of Daly River and did a quick drive around.

Then we headed down to the Daly River Crossing.

 

 

 

 

It was looking like more rain when we left but I decided to have a bit of a drive any way. I have only driven Indie once since we got him. Bad move Australia!!! It bucketed and before we knew it, there was water in just about every floodway.

 

 

It was a bit scary!!!!!!!

But we came through unscathed and continued on to Adelaide River and had a nice lunch near the river.

 

We continued on to Paul’s and arrived back having travelled just over our 1,000 kms.

In Darwin

It has been over a month since my last post and will probably be the same till my next. There is not much to report while living quietly in the suburbs and I have not taken a single photo since our arrival. I have included here a synopsis of our activity since arrival.

We arrived at Paul’s place just after lunch. He really liked his Cassowary.It was so lovely to see him again!!!! He has a lovely house and we are sleeping in the spare room until December when his mate moves in. Sadly he has yappy dogs next door and they are really annoying.

We are giving the air conditioning a run for its money.

Ron and Paul and I went to the pictures and saw ‘Loopers’, Bruce Willis’ latest movie. It wasn’t the worst movie I’ve ever seen and in fact I didn’t mind it at all. Ron and Paul thought it was pretty much rubbish!!!

Paul went back to work today. He was on leave all of last week and of course, the golf clubs he ordered on line, turned up this morning!!!

Paul,s car has been off the road since we arrived but we now have it back to run about in (much easier to find parking spots than Indie!) so Ron and I went to the casino. Gordon (at Camooweal) told us about their ‘Monday Madness’. You have to be over 50 (they check your driver’s license).  You join up (it’s free)and they give you $20 poker machine credit, a $5 Keno voucher, a voucher for a free drink and a voucher for $9.95 buffet lunch or dinner. It’s all only usable on the Monday. We opted for the dinner because it includes seafood. We actually won $16 on the pokies as well, so all in all a nice day out!!!  Apparently, once you are a member, you get the same deal every Monday except the poker machine credit drops down to $10. After we left the casino, we drove into town and went for a walk along the esplanade. It was really lovely if not a little warm.

Ron and I are really missing being on the road. We are such gypsies now….do not cope well with suburban life.

Ron and I went to the pictures and saw ‘Savages’. I wasn’t real impressed with the idea of going having seen the shorts but I quite enjoyed it. I could have done without some of the really graphic violence though.

No wonder I hate Halloween!!!!!! We got up this morning to find Paul’s house and car had been egged!!!! We heard someone knock at the door but did not open it.

Paul suggested we go out for dinner.We went to ‘Salt n Peppa’ just up the road and it was lovely.

Just to lighten the mood we went to the pictures and saw ‘Seven Psychopaths’. It was really good but we knew it would be because David and Margaret each gave it four stars!!!!

Ron drove Paul to work this morning. He has gone to Woomera for two weeks.

We decided to have pizza for dinner so rang and ordered Dominos. Ron went to start Paul’s car to pick it up….no go!!!!!! I rang and asked Dominos to change our order to a delivery which they did. Ron rang Paul to see if he is in NRMA or similar and he said to check gas/petrol switch. Ron checked it and lo and behold problem fixed…car working!!!!!

Paul's car has been converted to run on gas only but it still has a switch under the dash to change over to petrol. Ron must have unknowingly knocked it with his knee last time he got out!!!! 

Ron and I went to the pictures and saw ‘Argo’…top film, really enjoyed it.

We are both suffering from conjunctivitis at the moment so that has put a stop to much of our activities for the moment.

Fingers crossed it will get better soon!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Daly To Darwin via Kakadu / Kaka-don’t

Tuesday 9^th October

From Daly Waters we drove up through Mataranka to Bitter Springs. We had stopped there last year and it was beautiful. 

We arrived at the car park; we were the only ones there and walked down the track to the springs. It was very disappointing at first glance. It was very overgrown with weeds and it was a bit scummy on the surface around the edges. There was a lot of weed on the bottom and we didn’t care because it was so hot and the water was crystal clear. We jumped in and it was glorious! 

After our swim, we went back to the picnic area and ate lunch. As we were sitting there, back packers arrived in droves. (There must have been about a dozen which at this time of year seems like droves especially since there were only five vans at Daly Waters the night before and last year we were crammed in so closely together that sardines would aspire to so much space!!!!)

We drove on towards our next stop (132) King River Rest Area. We got caught behind a wide load for some of the way but figured it was better to stay behind than attempt a passing run (like we had a choice!)

It was possibly the hottest night so far and the campground was crowded. I spoke to a German back packer who told me my German was excellent but there was still some room for improvement because the only phrase I knew was ‘Quiet Please’ because that was all we ever heard the German teacher at school saying to her class. 

Wednesday 10^th October

We left early in the morning and headed off to Katherine to see if we could get our gas bottles checked. It seems we had lost a grub screw or something and all our gas had leaked out.

It was the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back. I just started to cry. Indie has become so frustrating. All these little things going wrong have caught up. I’m so over it! Ron is a bit the same way too….just fed up!!!

We called at a camping supply shop in Katherine who did not have anything but told us to call round to Hobbit Motors because they do a lot of work for Camper Rental companies or there was a Mobile Gas Fitter called Allan Talbot we could call.

We drove round to Hobbit Motors, no joy there! They only do repairs with pieces that the camper companies supply so we rang Allan and he was doing deliveries and could see us about 1:30 that afternoon.

We decided to do the groceries while we were waiting and then go for a drive to the Hot Springs. We did not know Katherine even had Hot Springs – we only saw the sign because we drove out to Hobbit Motors.

 

 

It was glorious!!!! Heaps better than Bitter Springs – no weeds, clean gravelly bottom and crystal clear water. There was nobody else around in this section so we had it all to ourselves. It was fabulous…..Indie works in mysterious ways, his wonders to perform! If it hadn’t been for the leak, we would not have found the place at all!!!!!!

Anyway, after our swim we drove to Allan’s house and he fixed it all up for $20.00 then we were off again.

We drove on to (137) Pine Creek Service Station on the turnoff to Kakadu. They have the tiniest Caravan Park, only about 10 sites and a few cabins out the back. We figured for $20.00 for a powered site it was well worth it and we settled in to a night of luxury i.e. air conditioning.

Thursday 11^th October

We decided to stay another day and relish the air conditioning while we could before tackling Kakadu (or Kaka-don’t as so many folk refer to it). It was very hot again and I went across and bought take away chips and salad ($8.00) from the pub to go with our steak and eggs that Ronnie had whipped up for dinner.  Yummo!!!

Friday 12^th October

We took off early again to avoid the heat and drove in to Kakadu.

We saw wild buffalo and giant termite mounds by the side of the road

 

 

 

We drove in through Yellow Water region and of course because it is the end of the Dry Season there is not much water around but still heaps of birds. 

We walked along the boardwalk for about 300 metres and then drove on through to Bowali Visitor Centre. The lady there was most insistent that we go and look at Nourlangie, East Alligator and South Alligator regions and circled the main attractions in each.

I then did the touristy thing and went to the gift shop and lo and behold, I found a silver charm for my bracelet – the first one I’ve seen since leaving home!!! Needless to say, I now own a lovely little gum nut and leaf.

We drove on to Jabiru, bought provisions and headed straight on to Kakadu Lodge Caravan Park ($34.50 with CMCA discount). We plugged into power, turned on the air conditioning and fell into the pool. Heaven!!! When we and Indie were sufficiently cooled down, we had dinner, watched a bit of telly and then off to the land of nod.

Saturday 13^th October

 

 

We were up early to beat the heat and back tracked to Bowali Visitor Centre then on to  Anbangbang (Arn-barng-barng) Billabong. Touted as one of Kakadu’s most attractive billabongs with Nourlangie forming an impressive backdrop we were there not only at the wrong time of year but also sadly, the wrong time of day (for photos anyway). There were heaps of birds and it would be amazing in the wet!

We then went on to do the walk around Nourlangie. It is just over 1.5 km.

There are several galleries in this area and the paintings are spectacular.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is Nabulwinjbulwinj (Nar-bull-win-bull-win).

He is a dangerous spirit who eats females after striking them with a yam.

 

 

This is Namarrgon, lightning man.

As we walked around, we passed through Anbangbang shelter. It is where there is a gap between the rocks and it was really cool and a breeze was blowing up through it. We were very tempted to stay there for the rest of the day.

 

 

 

 

 

We then walked up to the lookout and looked across to Arnhem Land.

It was one of the best walks we have done. It was fairly cool and it was an easy walk and the art was amazing. We considered going to Ubirr but the call of the caravan park with air con and a pool was too great so back we went to Jabiru and booked in for that night as well.

Later that night, as I was taking a shower, we had a black out and it was black as pitch. Fortunately the water was not affected so I got to finish off my shower. I was just standing there wondering what to do next when ‘Rescue Ronnie’ arrived at the door complete with headlamp – my hero!!!!

Sunday 14^th October

This morning we set off to the East Alligator region, first stop Cahill’s Crossing to see the crocodiles coming down to catch fish on the turn of the tide. The crossing joins Kakadu and Arnhem Land and about an hour before the tide the crocs start gathering. The really scary thing is the fisher folk like the turn of the tide as well.

They stand on the crossing and fish completely unaware or uncaring that crocs are gathering. That is actually a croc at the bottom right of the first photo just below the wood sticking out of the water.

 

 

 

The local Indigenous folk who run the boat cruise know how to fish. They obviously didn’t have a nine o’clock cruise booked that morning so they came down to fish as well.

They were using the traditional spear and just like every fisherman we have ever watched, they left empty handed as well.

 

t was amazing to watch the high tide come in. The water was flowing across the road in one direction when it just stopped and started flowing the opposite way bringing heaps of mullet (and mud) with it.

By this time there were about eight crocs that we could see. It was incredible to see them in action.

They float along with their front legs spread wide and if they feel a fish….chomp!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

We stood and watched them for over an hour; it was fascinating. There was one that stayed just near the crossing and others stayed further back – there is a definite pecking order as to who hunts where.

The crocs were obviously on both sides of the crossing because we watched one swim/walk across.And still the people stood on the crossing.

 

We also saw one very lucky bird……obviously today was a fish only day….no fowl or red meat!!!!!!

 

 

After the crocs, we went back to Indie and I decided to walk down the track to Merl Campground (we were considering staying there the night) while Ron drove there. It is only a 500 metre walk….what could go wrong? Well, let me tell you....

 

 

I had a lovely walk through the bush and emerged in the middle of the camp. It was huge. I then walked further than the original 500 metres to the entrance to find a deserted Indie.  Ron had set off down another track hoping to meet up with me but it was the wrong track. After blundering about for a while and in spite of enlisting the help of a passing tourist, we finally were reunited some fifteen minutes or so later and decided that splitting up was a very bad idea.

We drove back to the Border Store Manblyarra and bought Coke and sat in the shade. The heat was intense.

We decided to do the Manngarre monsoon rainforest walk beside the East Alligator River. We had been told it was nice and cool during the heat of the day and it was hot!

We saw a colony of flying foxes.

 

 Further along the track we came upon this sign.

 

 

After the morning’s effort, we were quite reluctant to separate but we did and I discovered ‘The Old Lady Sits’ a banyan tree and a boulder at its base which mark a women’s site. The Rainbow Snake Garranga’rreli travelled to Ubirr. Later she changed into an old woman known as Birriwilk and came to this forest. She rested here and piled sand around her which later became the boulder at the base of the tree. Then she continued her journey across the East Alligator River. Young women would gather here in the shade of the banyan and learn of Birriwlk’s journey during the time of the Creation Era. Aboriginal men following traditional law are not allowed here.

 

 

 

After our walk, we rested by the river for a while and I decided to open up the Kapok pod that I picked last Monday. It has been in the glove box for nearly a week and is now quite brown

 

 

 

 

 

The fibres are very white and silky looking but it is full of been shaped seeds.

  Next it was off to Ubirr and another art site with a few galleries

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of the most interesting pictures was this one that looks like a Tasmanian Tiger

 

 

 

There is a one kilometre circular walking track and a moderately steep (according to the brochures) 250 metre climb up to the top of a rocky look out that offers superb views over the Nadab floodplain. Intrepid travellers that we are we did the climb.  There are not enough wows!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

We sat up on the top of the lookout waiting for the sunset. It was lovely with a cool breeze blowing.

We even saw feral pigs on the floodplain below

 

 

But of course, you are never alone, there are always tourists!!!!!

 

We had been told that Ubirr is best at sunset and it was very pretty. I think we needed to stay a little longer for the full effect but we did not relish the climb down in the dark.

 

 

 

 

 

After 10 seconds of thinking music, we decided to return the 40 kilometres to Jabiru and the comforts of air conditioning and a swimming pool rather than stay at Merl. It had been a long hot day and we did not fancy a long hot night as well.

Monday 15^th October

Today we leave Kakadu and go to Paul’s.

I went to pay for our previous night and pointed out that we should get a discount because we were honest and could have just sneaked out without paying at all, we were good repeat customers having come back for a total of three nights and that on our second night we had that blackout and I was caught in the shower. Finally the man gave in (probably in sheer exasperation because he did point out that $34.50 which we had paid previously was already the discount rate) and only charged us $30.00.

 
We drove through the South Alligator region and stopped at Mamukala (Mar-moo-car-lar) wetlands. It was enormous and there were thousands of birds and acres of pink water plants

 

 

We finally left Kakadu behind and as we drove down the Arnhem Highway we saw several of these .signs in the bush

 

 

 

 

I’m still deciding whether it is Kakadu or Kaka-don’t. It is huge (about a third the size of Tasmania) but I think you need a 4WD and hiking boots to do it justice.

We headed out on to the Stuart Highway and towards Darwin.