DARWIN, KATHERINE and on to MATARANKA

DARWIN, KATHERINE and on to MATARANKA

Wednesday 18

Trysha flew out to Sydney for Drs and Specialist check ups.

We decided that a name like Humpty Doo required a visit. Several years ago a dear friend gave me a lovely wire insect that I had on the fly wire of the van and this was made by someone in Humpty Doo. Everyone used to point and say there is a very large bug on the fly wire, but on closer inspection found it to be wire and beads. Unfortunately somewhere in our travels we lost it so while in Darwin I found some more at the Mindal markets.

Nothing of note in Humpty Doo but further down the road we came to the Window of the Wetlands. A very imposing building and blends in well with the environment. The area of wetlands that the building looks out over was a one time a rice growing research station and now it is a farm carrying a herd of buffalo.

And we thought there was only one sort of bitey.

The bitey list increases
 

View out over the Wet Lands. ( Water Buffalo )

Window to the Wet Lands

Thursday 19

Managed to contact Raimon, Karen and family on Skype so Marie was able to chat and it was great for us to see the family.

Friday 20

As we are staying in Howard Springs village we thought we had better visit the Howard Springs Reserve. What a lovely place with plenty of picnic areas and are in the process of developing a fantastic children's play area.

Marie & Mike at play.....

 We walked around the Reserve and stumbled on a huge Orange-Footed Scrub Fowl nest, about as high as Marie's waist.

This nest was about 1m high and 10m across.

Saturday 21

Marie and I stayed home and Mike and John went off to see Australian Aviation Heritage and the star of the show was a B52 Bomber that was housed in a purpose built hanger. Boys came home amazed at the display.

B52 Bomber ( "Darwins Pride")

Sunday 22

Sightseeing around Darwin. Visited Fanny Bay where there is a WW11 observation post, buildings still there and then on to Cullen Bay where there is a Marina with a lock out into the harbour.

Large Gun Emplacement

Replica of Dutch Sailing Vessel "Duyfken"
1606 visited Australia. Replica built 1999.

A Darwin Jetty Meal

Trysha returned from Sydney.

Monday 23

Marie and I went off to the Orchid nursery where there were an unbelievable number of orchids. Not a lot out in flower but those that were we're outstanding.
For the rest of the day we were entertained at the park with the arrival of semi-trailers carrying large water tanks. Just opposite where we are parked there is going to be a sewerage treatment for the park and 8 large tanks were put in place with a huge crane. A massive operation.

Crane dwarfs the two 5th Wheelers

Tuesday 24

Pack up day, to leave Darwin as we have enjoyed it but it is time to move on.

Wednesday 25

On the road again and heading back to Katherine. We all stayed off road at Bridge Creek for the night.

Thursday 26

Trysha and John are heading off to Mataranka today while we are only going as far as Katherine. Back to the Low Level caravan park, lovely park.

Friday 27

Marie leaves us today. We put her on the bus for Kununurra where she will stay for three days and then to Broome to meet up with a tour group.

Saturday 28

Attempted to clean the rubbers on the van today, huge job, Mike did lots and what a difference it made.

Sunday 29

Some one has very sore shoulders today!!!!!

Monday 30

Look out Mataranka here we com






 

DARWIN

THURSDAY 5

Settling into Howard Springs Caravan Park. We were here 12 years ago and it has certainly changed since then. Darwin is full, every caravan park is full up and still the caravans keep coming. It appears that every second van is from Victoria and the rest of the states make up the other half.

FRIDAY 6

Off into Darwin on the bike, we wanted to check out what is what. My how Darwin has grown, in fact there are three major suburbs and they are much larger than Darwin city area, there are approx 100,000 people.
We are close to a city called Palmerston so at least we don't have to go 30 km for our shopping. Industry  and housing is non-stop to Darwin, just like from Perth to Mandurah.
Walked around the shops in town, mainly souvenir shops and then went out to the famous Darwin Wharf Precinct and checked out the harbour.

Lunch at "Stokes Hill Wharf"

SATURDAY 7

A day home today. Mike and John went of to the National GoKart championships and had a great afternoon. Unfortunately I managed to brake a tooth so looks like a dentist next week.

SUNDAY 8

Marie flew in this afternoon so off to the airport to meet her. It is great to see her and she will stay with us for 3 weeks.

You can not stop a good woman working!

MONDAY 9

Managed to get a dental appointment today so now I have 2 mended teeth, thank goodness.

Cosy setup at Howard Springs.

TUESDAY 10

A day out today. Off to the Territory Wildlife Park. We expected to see wildlife but not much of that but we did walk through lots of bush, through the nocturnal house, large aquarium and several bird life areas. There was a raptor display and several raptors from large black breasted buzzard, Brahminy Kite (majestic), crested hawk plus an Osprey who was rewarded with a fish and flew to a tree above the crowd and proceeded to eat it. A Jabiru made an appearance, did a small bow, danced around the pond and went back again.

Black Breasted Buzzard

Jabiru

Orange Footed Scrub Fowl.

While walking through the bush we saw our first scrub fowl.

WEDNESDAY 11

Morning tea in Darwin with friends Terry and Lorraine (from Litchfield ) at the Ducks Nuts.

THURSDAY 12

The Mindal Markets are held every Thursday evening and Sunday. The caravan park provides a bus to take campers to the Mindal markets so caught the bus and we were pleased we did as parking was a nightmare and we didn't have to worry as to how to find the markets. We had a great night. Watched the sun set, was great but definitely not as speckie as WA sun sets.

SATURDAY 14

More markets today. This time to Coolilinga, south of here. It is great visiting different markets as each one has different things and of course I am always interested in what other people make.
Terry and Lorraine came for a BBQ, great night, lots of laughs so hope we can catch up somewhere along the way.

Lorraine,Lois,Marie,Terry,Trysha,John & Mike

SUNDAY 15

Trysha's birthday today so we all went out for lunch. Went to a club in Palmerston, food average but had a fun lunch.

MONDAY 16

Darwin today to book Marie's bus ticket through to Kununurra and then on to Broome where she meets up with her tour group.
Thought we would investigate another shopping area at Casurina and spent time wandering around the shops.
Have found Spotlight so off we went and Marie bought some yarn and has been very busy knitting curly scarves. We can't have idle hands in this place.

TUESDAY 17

Trysha off to Sydney today for Dr's appointments. John went flying and managed to find a tree and now helicopter is sitting up a tree unable to be retrieved. Oh well maybe a big wind may blow it down.

Litchfield Park

LITCHFIELD PARK NORTHERN TERRITORY

FRIDAY 29
Of to Litchfield Park today, a longer day than most we have had. Nothing much changes but we did see some Jabiru standing in a puddle at the side of the road. They are such beautiful birds.

SATURDAY 30
Time to go exploring, so with map in hand off we went on the bike. We decided that we would start at the far end of the park and visit the Bamboo Creek Tin Mine first. It was interesting to see some of the old equipment and buildings still standing although in neglected condition. We marvelled at the logistics of getting some of the extremely heavy equipment to the mine site which was on the side of a hill and they had to cross swampy areas.

Residence at Tin Mine

From here we travelled to Walker Creek which has overnight camping up the walk trails. Crossed a stream and on up the hill to find a camp site. Ages later found the first one and decided the other 5 could remain undiscovered. The stream was lovely and meandered down the slopes, so peaceful. At one stage Mike and John spotted a Goanna sun baking on a rock but at the appearance of these two men poor thing jumped into the river a swam away.

Walker Creek

Stranger swimming at Walker Creek

The last stop today was at Wangi Falls, the main attraction in the park. What a magnificent waterfall display and Mike even managed a swim below the falls with plenty of other people present. It is full on school holidays for every state and it appears that most of Victoria and NSW are here in the Top End.

Wangi Falls

Called in at the Magnetic Termite mounds on the way out of the park. Quite an amazing construction,clever little insects.

Usual Termite Nest

Magnetic Termite Nest

After such a long day on the bike headed for home and Happy Hour.

SUNDAY 1. July
A new month starts.

MONDAY 2
Today we visited the other attractions in the park, more waterfalls.
Tolmer Falls was our first visit for the day. Not a spectacular waterfall but a very long drop from top to bottom.

Tolmer Falls

Florence Falls was next on the agenda. A fantastic spot with 135 steps down to the pools. There was a draw back, so many people and very little area to sit down. Trysha and John found a rock to sit on but we had to cross some water and guess what, yes I stepped into the water and ended up with wet shoes and socks. Oh well it could have been worse some people got very wet. This is quite an amazing waterfall and pool, And fortunately forums there was an alternate route back tote carpark through a fantastic woodland forest with a rippling stream and lots of birds. So peaceful walking along the stream.

Florence Falls

Buley Rockhole was next and this was a series of large rock pools each with a deep pool and lots of people in each pool. A magnificent sight.

Buley Rockholes

On the way home we discovered some more magnetic termite mounds out in the bush so off we went to get some close up views little thinking that burnt bush makes a mess of wet soxs and shoes. Oh well too late I Realised the state of my shoes.

Magnetic Termite Nest (Taken from North)

From North-West

Terry and Lorraine arrived back from their camping trip and we had met up with a Donnybrook couple, Bill Hamlet? So the eight of us had a extended happy hour. It is really great when you meet up with nice people.

TUESDAY 3
Terry and Lorraine, Bill and wife all left today and we cleaned up and packed up ready to leave for Darwin in the morning.

WEDNESDAY 4
Look out Darwin here we come.

Katherine

KATHERINE

SATURDAY 23

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JORDON

Thought we would go check out the markets in town this morning,well that took all of 5mins. After a tour around town we found Big W and did some shopping. Well that was an eye opener, it took at least 15-20 mins to go through the check out. Apparently the waiting is quite common according to the locals and now with the tourist hordes in town the waiting is even longer.

Coach on Low-Level Bridge next to Caravan Park

Big Rigs In Caravan Park

On the way back to the park we checked out the hot springs and decided we would be back.
The van and bike had a wash today , needed it after all the red dust we had been through.

SUNDAY 24

The windows of the van and truck had a clean this morning so now up to date with outdoor cleaning look out inside!!!!
Actually cold here in the mornings, 16 this morning but heavenly days.
We have spotted some lovely birds here so out with our new. Bird book to identify them

Blue-Faced Honeyeater on Annex Prop ( The check of it)

MONDAY 25

Mike had a swim in pool today and nearly froze.

TUESDAY 26

Tried out the hot pools today and yes even I had a lovely wallow.

Lois Wallowing!!!

Nomads Washing

All in Together

WEDNESDAY 27

IT IS MY BIRTHDAY

Birthday Cake

We decided to travel up the Katherine Gorge today and it was just lovely.

Katherine Gorge and Gorgeous

Gorge 1

Gorge 2

We all went out to the park Bistro for tea to celebrate my birthday.

THURSDAY28

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BIANCA

Pack up today as we are heading to Litchfield Park tomorrow.

KUNUNURRA

TUESDAY 12

Oh we are so sorry!!!!!! to hear how the storms are slashing the south west of WA while we are enjoying lovely warm to hot weather and such calm days. At least travelling with no wind makes it easier on the driver and fuel consumption. Had an enjoyable trip to Kununurra and the pastoral country is looking quite lush and cattle looking shiny.
Parked at the showgrounds and spread ourselves around, great to have plenty of room.
Well the tourist season has started with caravans nose to tail on the road. Many of the parks are full by lunch time.

WEDNESDAY 13

Off to investigate the town and Mike caught up with old mates at the courthouse. The manager of Sirco in Kununurra, Terry, was working for Mike so he came round for tea and boy did Mike and Terry do some catching up.
John and Trysha booked a flight over the Bungle Bungles.

THURSDAY 14

Today we all booked a trip up the river to the dam wall then set out to do show Trysha and John some of the sights of Kununurra.
Went out to Ivanhoe Crossing and at the moment the water is up and flowing quite fast so no one silly enough to want to cross by vehicle can't as it is closed to traffic. There was one silly fisherman standing out on the bridge with water up to his knees. Not my idea of fun as there are large crocs in the river.

Ivanhoe Crossing

On the way around the irrigation district there were thousands and thousands of Sandalwood trees and when they come into full production (probably 2013) there is going to be a lot of sandalwood oil come out of Kununurra.
Next stop on our tour was the Hoochery. John sampled a few of the rums and with each one he smacked his lips more and more enthusiastically, just as well he wasn't skipper.
Our last place for the day was out to Saddlepack Road to visit the Zebra rock shop and check out the rocks. Took some bread down to the jetty and feed the fish and turtles.

SATURDAY 16

Markets but not much there. Do like to check out markets wherever we are as other peoples craft is always interesting to look at and get ideas from.
Trysha and John flew over the Bungle Bungles and had a wonderful trip.
Went into town for tea.

SUNDAY 17

Off to the Argyle Dam today. Took our lunch as there is a lovely picnic area out at the dam. T & J had flown over the Argyle Dam and wall the day before so now they had the chance to see how high the wall was and how small the Dam is,  even spotted an albino fresh water croc in the water.

Lake Argyle Dam

MONDAY 18

Home today, Mike not well.

TUESDAY 19

Supposed to leave today but booked on cruise up the OrdRiver/Kununurra Lake to the dam wall. It is quite an eye opener to see the wall from different angles.

Behind the Dam Wall (Tour Boats)

Australasian Darter & Red Combed Jacano

Lake Kununurra

The trip started at lunch time with only 10 on board so we had a few extra spots thrown in. It is an amazing lake come river and the bird life was so interesting. Have included photos . The tour guide cum skipper was from Boyup Brook years ago. His knowledge and presentation was terrific and we learnt so much. We had time up our sleeve before meeting a bus load at the dam so we were taken up one of the tributaries and we just went quietly up river spotting birds.
Once back in the main river off we zoomed slowing down to spot crocs basking in the sun. Data and Jacano and many other birds were spotted.
About 3/4 way up the river the river narrows and the water flows rapidly so we had a few thrills zigzaging over the water.
At the dam wall we picked up another 20 odd people from a bus tour and set off down the river. We had a lesson on the river and why it is like it is and then off to a lovely spot for afternoon tea.
We arrived back at sunset and witnessed a Kununurra sunset.

Dam Wall from Tour Boat

Freshwater "Crocs" sunbaking

Afternoon Tea on Tour

Rock Wallaby (Centre)

A Kununurra Sunset

WEDNESDAY 20

Leaving WA today and heading into Northern Territory. We are amazed how suddenly the terrain changes from very rugged red hills to flat, tree covered pasture with big mobs of Brahman cattle.
We stopped at Timber Creek and went and watched the fresh water crocs being feed.

Group Shot at the Border

Set up at Timber Creek

Twilight feeding Crocs

FRIDAY 22

After a rest day we are now ready for our next stop, Katherine.
Called in at Victoria River for morning tea. What a beautiful river and so big. From here we headed off to Katherine and on the way a Wallaby committed suicide, ran into us and now we have a bent bumper. Thank goodness no serious damaged only a bent number plate but one dead roo.
We are staying at the Big 4 park and it is great. Lots of grass and trees. Every night there is a bistro and live entertainment so we really don't need to go any where.

Rest stop Victoria River Roadhouse

Victoria River