Day 39 – Monday 25 July 2016 – Darwin

Our last day in Darwin so there was a bit to do and a lot to pack up after settling in here for 9 days.  Over the past few days my poor old computer had been a little difficult to get along with and despite Shane resusitating it a few times, it finally died last night.  Given my hairdryer had also decided to pack it in and given we were in a major city still, we decided we should go and get a replacement.  A trip to Harvey Norman produced a very attractive new computer member of the family known as "Chuck" - after Charles Darwin and a snazzy new hairdryer.  

Meet Chuck!

A not so quick grocery shopping trip and it was home to get everything packed up ready for the next leg of the trip.  One thing Shane has been very grateful for in Darwin are the carparks at shopping centres that have under cover parking.  Some of the centres have roofs or at least shade cloth covers throughout the carpark.  It can get very warm sitting in the car with the dogs waiting for shopping to be done.

A stop at a car wash didn't prove too successful.  I know the car was dirty but even after a $14 wash Shane had to get out the bucket when we got back to camp and get all the bits the wash missed.  Unfortunately though we ran out of time to wash the van and sadly now the poor van will probably have to wait until we get to the coast.  She is desperately in need of a bath.

As if the dogs don't get spoiled enough, I also cook meat for their food into a kind of meatloaf, and given we were starting to run short on what we brought with us it was time to make more.  It takes a while to cool down enough to freeze so we left it to cool down while we went out to take our last sunset pictures in Darwin.  

We travelled out to East point but decided to move back around towards Darwin a little more so there wasn't just the ocean in the photos.  Darwin certainly turned on a spectacular sunset for our departure and we both were very happy with the shots we got.  One of the things that has amazed both of us are the huge numbers of people who gather at the shore to either watch or photograph the sunset.  The first night we went to see the sunset, we assumed the numbers were high because it was a Sunday.  And while there do seem to be greater numbers on a weekend, there are still crowds of people at every location we have visited on any given night.  One wonders if they are mostly visitors or locals but either way it is certainly a very popular pastime for the evening.

As we were taking photos the RAAF Hornets were out and about like we had never seen or heard in our time in Darwin.  These noisy devils were buzzing across the sky most of the evening and at the time we joked that it was probably a good thing we were leaving Darwin if another bombing was impending!  Within half an hour we saw 12 go over us near Fannie Bay.  They move so quickly it's almost like a scene out of Star Wars where they are across the sky within seconds.  Trying to take a photo of them is next to impossible and at night you can't miss the flashing lights even though they are miles ahead of the incredible noise they make.  One thing is for sure - when they take off - all of Darwin knows it!

We finished the evening with a Pizza at Fannie Bay and then back home to feed the four legged companions who once again were rather miffed to have missed out on a slice!

On our return, I popped the now cool dog food in the freezer however there was a great deal of concern throughout the night as the temperature rose from -18 to -1 and didn't seem to be going back down.

Day 38 – Sunday 24 July 2016 – Darwin

Ahhhh yes – July 24 – here you are to once again add another year to my tally of birthdays.  Thank you. 

Last night I had the worst sleep being awake for much of the night watching Game of Thrones on DVD while trying desperately hard to ignore it and sleep.  We blame the 2 bottles of coke!

It was a late sleep in and a very easy morning.  A couple of calls from home and a nice hot cup of tea.  Then we were into the fun part of the day – bathing the dogs.  Yep.  On my birthday.  Tomorrow we have to pack everything up as we leave Darwin Tuesday morning, so this was the latest I could leave the bathing. 

It was a pretty warm day today with a top of 34 but thankfully we still haven’t had the humidity so the heat has been wonderful.  The rest of the day we just spent sitting and talking about what we’ve seen and done and being very grateful for the opportunity to be where we are.  We also talked about our next leg of the trip and our concerns about the weather.  We are really reluctant to venture bFack into the cold and wet until absolutely necessary.  We spent the first couple of weeks of the trip being cold and wet and it wasn’t a whole bunch of fun, nor was it pleasant trying to keep the dogs dry.  The thought of finishing the trip with 3 or 4 weeks of more of that doesn’t sit well with us so we may just keep an eye on the weather and adjust our plans as we need to.

It's been a family day today, talking with Shane’s family and thinking of those who aren’t doing so well at the moment.  Perspective can make you realise how lucky you are sometimes and it certainly makes you appreciate what you have.  I am truly blessed to be spending my birthday in such a lovely place, on such a wonderful holiday with the best travelling partner a girl could ask for.

Tonight is Chinese food and tomorrow we start preparations for another exciting journey.

And not one photo taken today…….. although it was nice of Google to wish me a happy birthday!

Day 37 – Saturday 23 July 2016 – Darwin

While enjoying a breakfast of pancakes this morning I fired up the computer with the intention of doing yesterday’s blog but unfortunately the old girl is a bit sick.  The screen is flashing and stuttering like a terminator being dunked into a pond of liquid metal.  We commented that if it could talk it would probably have Tourette’s Syndrome and be dropping bad language worse than my mother’s parrot.  Shane worked some magic on it and she lasted the rest of the day albeit a little slow.

This has been the view from our front door.  Nice and tropical.  We had an early morning visit from 4 of the resident Ibises in the park.  These cheeky little buggers wander around amongst the vans all day.  Because the vans all let their grey water run onto the grass, the birds spend their time picking through the grass looking for bits of food that obviously flow out with the water.  They are so used people they barely break into a trot when you go outside.  They keep their distance but without any sense of urgency.

I have decided when it comes to holiday packing – I suck.  I’m not sure if it was a bad choice of clothing or just a lack of options to pack, but I got sick of wearing the same old things all the time and bit the bullet and went shopping.  Happy with those purchases we hit the souvenir shops again for a few extra gifts and things for ourselves as we figure Darwin is our last opportunity for any “outback” memorabilia and having missed the opportunity to buy “My friend went to Darwin/NT and bought me this” items at the market, we hit the shopping mall.  I was treated to something from Shane that wasn’t exactly Darwin/NT, but a pair of owl salt & pepper shakers to add to my growing owl collection.

Shopping done, we drove out to Channel Island, a very small island south of Darwin which has pretty much a power station, an aquaculture centre and a boat ramp.  You have to love the way some people ignore signs really.  Despite clear signage “do not fish from the bridge” – this dude had parked his ute, set up a chair, 3 fishing rods and even tied his dog to his towbar.  And the vehicle wasn’t on the verge either – it was parked in the middle of the lane of traffic.  

After exploring for a little while we headed back into the city and out to Nightcliff to take some more sunset pictures.  

On the way to the beach parking, we stopped at a small local supermarket to buy a cold drink.  In the car park, an aboriginal man was waiting and as Shane got out of the car he approached him with a handshake and a hug and asked for money.   Shane spoke to him but headed into the supermarket.  Having spotted me in the passenger seat, he came around to the window and motioned for me to wind the window down.   Even if I had wanted to, I couldn’t as the electric windows only work when the ignition is on so I shook my head and indicated I couldn’t.  He then began to try to talk to me through the window which only made the two dogs bark incessantly at him.  Undeterred, he continued to talk, started to sing, and then launched into an air guitar performance.  I don’t profess to be an air guitar expert but I don’t think he was that good.  And not only was he not very good – it was funny how “not good” he was.  I was caught between trying to act indifferently and trying not to laugh my head off at his performance.  Thankfully Shane’s purchase was quick and he returned to the car, dropping the $4 change into the man’s hand and we headed off.  And yes, it probably was going to buy alcohol, but as Shane said – he’s a human being too.

It was a much clearer night without the huge smoke plume across the water.  One unexpected photo opportunity was this dude with a boom box strapped to the back of his bike, and his pet cockatoo perched on the handlebars as they rode through the park areas and back again.  Quite a sight.  We both managed to get some really nice shots of the sunset from virtually right beside the car while the dogs looked on from the open windows and doors.  A very pleasant evening.

Fish & chips were the order of the night when the sun went down.  What is it about being at the beach and feeling like fish and chips to eat!

Day 36 – Friday 22 July 2016 – Darwin

Another day at camp as I was determined Shane should venture out to Kakadu – who goes to Darwin and doesn’t go to Kakadu?  One of us had to.  It was housework, Blog updates, a bit of crochet and looking into the details for our next leg of the journey which we have decided to make some changes to in order to take in the Daintree before heading south again.  Might as well make the most of being north while we are here!

It was a pretty quiet day at camp although we did have a little visitor in the morning.  It was a pretty warm day so the dogs were happy to just chill in the van.  Scheppi sometimes doesn’t get enough credit for figuring things out as he soon discovered that the coolest spot was right in the middle of the bed where the air conditioner throws out the cool air – and that was where he spent most of the day.

The highlight of the day was the arrival of the ice-cream van.  Hey – when you are a dog there isn’t a whole bunch of excitement on a 29 degree day and your home is a caravan and annexe.

Meanwhile the Great Explorer (ummm his description – not mine) was discovering Kakadu National Park under strict instructions “Not to be a Water Buffalo”.  I’m sure if you’ve watched any of those nature programs that have crocodiles, you would have seen the one where the poor old water buffalo comes to the edge of the water to drink and suddenly out of the water springs a crocodile and grabs the water buffalo on the nose and drags him into the water.  Lesson – don’t be a water buffalo.

With that in mind – armed with a camera and video camera and a significant supply of banana lollies – the great explorer (TGE) ventured into Kakadu to find photographic opportunities.  He happened across a river which had a group of people standing on an observation platform.  Venturing closer to the crowd he could see they were watching two crocodiles swimming in the river.  Frustrated at not being able to obtain a front rail position, he ventured around to where a cement crossing divided the river joining Kakadu to Arnhem Land and found the perfect location from which to document said wildlife.  While videoing, he noticed through the lens that one crocodile was heading towards his ideal vantage point and remembering those strict instructions did the only honourable thing a grown man could do – run like a girl back up the bank.

Please note: no water buffalo were injured in the filming of this video.

Water Buffalo incidents aside, Shane found Kakadu fascinating and would have loved to have spent a lot more time looking around.  Unfortunately he arrived too late to join in with any of the tours, but saw some of the rock paintings, climbed up huge rock formations and managed to take some really great shots of the area.

Day 35 – Thursday 21 July 2016 – Darwin

Driving around the wharf area yesterday I had spotted the information for various cruises - a few that would have cost a little too much for our budget, but a few that didn’t.  So we checked it out online and decided on a harbour cruise tour that might offer a few photo opportunities from a different perspective.  After some thought I wasn’t really up for going on my own so Shane went for the lunch time cruise. 

Some things are difficult or impossible with the dogs and we accept that because we certainly wouldn’t want to leave them at home when we go away, or leave them in the van unattended for any length of time, so they go where we go, if they can’t go neither do we - and that’s fine.  But I want to make the most of our trip and it’s important to me that the photographer of the family gets the opportunity to take photos.  The holiday for me means something different than for Shane.  At work I’m doing something for everyone every day and so the opportunity to down tools and switch off and even to sometimes do absolutely nothing but relax is a wonderful thing.  For Shane, however, the opportunity to get out and do things every day is a welcome change from his usual day of being at home.  It’s something we are mindful of and we both try to remember that a compromise of our time spent is important in our every day lives.

The funny thing about being on holidays is that some things follow you wherever you go – you still have to eat, so there are dishes to wash – you still wear clothes, so there is washing to do – and given there are 12 feet walking in and out of the annexe and van every single day bringing dust, leaves and dirt with them, there is always cleaning to do.  Most of the day was filled with washing, cleaning and organising, but I must say even in a “house” this small, I love to have things clean, tidy and organised.  There was also a bit of time to sit and relax as well!

On Shane’s return, it was apparent that I hadn’t missed much on the tour but it was a nice change of pace and a few photos to make it worthwhile.  Not long after he returned that magical music once again could be heard and so we had to purchase an ice-cream or two.  Miss Kitty is very quickly learning that “Greensleeves” = Ice-Creams!

Shane had earlier in the week booked me in to go to the Mindil Market on the bus provided by the caravan park.   So at 5.30 I joined the crowd of 70 odd people who had also signed up to go.  The market itself is absolutely huge including a massive collection of food stalls of almost everything you could imagine to buy.  The crowd was also massive and in the humid conditions of the night the crowded pathways between the inner stalls were difficult to navigate and some stalls were just too hot to spend any time in.  I had hoped to pick up a few more souvenirs here but there was nothing that really said “My friend went to Darwin/NT and bought me this”.  There were a lot of clothing and jewellery stores and one particular store selling metal fish that I just loved!  

I think this one was my favourite!

If you want to see the large version of this photo – click here so you can see all the amazing fish they made.

They also made amazing little magnets and if you click here you can view a big photo of them to see the detail.  Just so clever!

In the middle of our shopping time the sun started to descend and it seemed like a hole appeared in the bucket wall of the market as the crowd poured out onto the beach to watch the sunset.   I didn’t wait around for the after sunset lightshow as we’ll be heading to the waterfront over the next few nights to take some sunset photos, but, granted, the sunset is impressive.  As there is no surf to speak of that we have seen around the Darwin coastline, the reflection on the water is very pretty and with those fires still burning the sun definitely had a very warm glow.  

I was amazed though to spot a drone flying over the beach, not just filming the sunset, but the crowd watching it. 

As the sun set, a group of boats sailed past the beach providing a few more photo opportunities. 

Back to the market, I was done looking through the shops by 7.30pm and then had a one hour wait until the bus returned.  “People watching” has always been a favourite of mine and there were plenty of people to watch.  I had not been keen to stand out on the road by myself waiting for the bus, but had recognised four people sitting at a table nearby as being from our camp, and so waited for them to make their move so I could join them.  I need not have been concerned as there was a large mass of people waiting for tour buses when we finally arrived at the meeting point some 15 minutes before the bus was due to arrive.

Day 34 – Wednesday 20 July 2016 – Darwin

For a change we had an earlier start this morning to get to the Darwin Passenger Rail terminal to catch the departure of the Ghan.  I’m not sure exactly what I expected but whatever it was I didn’t get it.  The Ghan is such an icon of current and past rail history, so although I didn’t expect a brass band, I did expect something to compliment the grandeur of its reputation.  Granted it is big – as it very slowly (and I mean VERY slowly) moved away from the station we sat and counted all 41 components including the engine and the “rack of cars” at the back.  But the only people aside from ourselves that weren’t the 6 or 7 employees putting stuff away, were two Asian women with two young children taking photos.  Flinders Street at 9.00am it aint!

We had arrived about 20 minutes before its scheduled departure and saw no-one on the platform except for those few people and although there were a few faces to be spotted at the odd carriage window, the carpark was relatively empty and the train left 5 minutes before its scheduled departure time.  We were left to wonder do they actually fill those 30 odd passenger carriages?????

I was very taken though with the awesome shade sails out the front of the station and a large rock formation in a garden to the side which was in the shape of a turtle.

Our next stop was at Cullen Bay, and as I watched a couple of boats going through the lock from the open water back into the harbour, I noticed this little dude hitching a ride on the gates.  It seems he shits…….. errrrr sits here on a regular basis.

Just over a walkway bridge is a lovely little area at the entrance to Cullen Bay where the ferries to the Tiwi Islands dock.  Obviously a popular fishing spot, the fish today were being not just a little cheeky by swimming along the top of the water, even leaping out of the water, just beyond the reach of the numerous fishermen on the wharf.  Trying to temp them closer to the lines, the fishermen had thrown pieces of bread out into the water and fish were eagerly attacking the bread – well more like the bait was eagerly attacking the bread – the fish however were otherwise engaged in their entertaining frolic elsewhere.

 Leaving the city we headed north again to Lee Point.  Given the population of Darwin is only 136,000 odd people, you would expect that this number may be revised sometime in the near future with all the housing development out this particular direction.  New houses going up everywhere.   This however wasn’t one of them – and I think is possibly one of the ugliest houses I have ever seen.  Unfortunately the photo doesn’t do it justice and makes it look better than it was!

On reaching Lee Point I went out to take a look at the beach.  Evidently Darwin experiences a difference of 8 metres between low and high tide.  The water was out there somewhere!  The expanse of sand was incredible given we had obviously arrived at low tide you just about needed a cut lunch and a compass to get to the water. 

We took the dogs for a quick walk and were about to leave the car park when a woman came driving along with her front wheel wobbling around everywhere.  Seemingly oblivious to the fact, we followed her down to the next car park where we pulled alongside and could see that the car had been in a collision and the whole front panel of the driver’s side was dented and scratched.  Shane asked if she was OK and she seemed very distracted.  He mentioned that the wheel was very wobbly to which she responded “Oh is it” and then started shuffling around looking for something in the car.  We drove off wondering how the heck she couldn’t feel that in the steering as she was driving.  It should not have been on the road at all and was very dangerous.  It looked as though the whole wheel could fall off at any given moment.

From Lee Point we ventured around to Buffalo Creek where yet again we were met with major development in roadworks.  We were followed in by a 4wd towing a small boat and stood by as they backed the boat down the ramp.  One of the Aboriginal men was wearing a pair of shorts and it was hard not to notice the ankle bracelet.  I did feel a little bad about making the comment to Shane that maybe they stole the boat!  Unfortunately with everything we’ve seen of the Aboriginal community so far, it isn’t a difficult conclusion to make on the fly.  

Meanwhile I found this little dude slowly making his way up the boat ramp and although trying to pretend he was a seashell, I managed to snap a couple of photos of him.  He was literally smaller than a 20 cent coin. 

The signs at the edge of the boat ramp warn that the creek is inhabited by Crocodiles, so our photo shoot was brief but again the long walk out to the water was amazing.  I would imagine that when the tide does come back in, it would work its way up that sand quite quickly. 

By mid afternoon it was getting quite warm for the dogs so we headed back to camp after doing a bit of grocery shopping.  Everyone else had a bit of a rest while I whipped up some pasta salad and then it was off to have a BBQ dinner with Kerrie & John who are heading off on the next leg of their journey tomorrow.  We really enjoyed the evening although John really…….. you don’t eat cheesecake?  Seriously man – those little salted caramel cheesecakes are amazing.  I definitely ate way too much and couldn’t fit the last few bites in but it was a lovely night.  The time really flew by and I was surprised at the time when we were finally leaving.  We’ll miss seeing them on our journey as we go our separate ways over the next few weeks.