![]() |
June |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
Underground C of E Church
|
Bar in underground House |
Underground Serbian Church
|
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
Dingo Fence
|
Castle Break Away's |
Salt n Pepper Break Away's |
June 2nd Liz did a little washing this morning and cut us some lunch for we are to go and explore the Break Away's via the Oodnadatta Road, first we re-fuelled Digger at a $1.44.9 per litre for unleaded fuel and then headed out. It wasn't long before we were on the Oodnadatta Track which is gravel though in good order, we arrived at the Dingo fence, which is 2 metres high, and read the sign that indicated that the fence commenced at the Gold Coast in Queensland and finished in the Bight in Western Australia a distance of some 5600 kilometres. It is designed to keep the Dingo's on the northern side of the fence for that is cattle country and to keep the Dingo's away from sheep country which is on the southern side of the fence. A truly great feat in just maintaining the fence for that distance let alone constructing it, though we would have to say the country did not have anything other than stone, not a blade of grass or tree to seen anywhere. You would think that no self respecting Dingo would even inhabit this area. We turned off the Oodnadatta track and followed the fence until we could see what we thought were mountains in the distance that were in fact the Break Away's, the reason for their naming is that the low colourful hills have in fact broken away from the Stuart Range. We continued on along the Moonscape ground alongside the Dingo Fence and we finally arrived and when the sun came from behind the clouds it highlighted the magnificent colours that abounded in the various hills. We were to discover the Castle, Salt n Pepper, and visited the various lookouts as well as Panorama Hill which boasts to be featured in Mad Max "Beyond Thunderdome" and "Ground Zero". With the sun appearing periodically from behind the clouds it made for some excellent viewing of the contrasting colours of the different hills. We really enjoyed this trip in Digger who was handling the rough gravel roads of the national park pretty well, the Oodnadatta track was much smoother. We moved on, for the Stuart Highway was only know 9 kilometres away, when we turned back to Coober Pedy we were confronted by the many holes and mounds resulting from opal mining and we were 25 kilometres from the town. We finally pulled ![]() We relaxed until the happy hour and then went and said hello to the few other campers that are in the area, again tonight we will watch the AFL football on television. Liz was very happy that her beloved Magpies won their game against Fremantle last night. All in all it has been a wonderful day, most enjoyable for our last day in Coober Pedy for move on tomorrow. |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
Opal field leaving Coober Pedy
|
Wrecked Caravan |
50 Metre Road Train
|
June 3rd |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
Our campfire last night
|
Northern Territory Border |
Change of scenery Northern Territory
|
June 4th We sat out by our fire last night under a canopy of stars, with a full moon the area was lit up like day. We were to see many falling stars as we enjoyed out Jaffles for our evening meal which were cooked in the red hot coals, it was after 9:30 pm before we went off to bed. We arose early and had our showers and headed for the border, along the way we again saw our mates the Wedge Tail Eagles cleaning up the dead Kangaroos knocked over by cars or trucks during the night. The countryside was still desolate and the cattle we saw did not look in good nick at all and for the life of me we did not see any water holes for them to drink from. There was an exodus of vehicles heading north with dirt bikes on trailers and many self enclosed trailers who are heading to Alice Springs for the Alice to Finke and return dirt bike race next weekend. There were plenty of Motor Bikes and Trikes that passed us and they all seemed to pull into Road Houses for they were to pass us several times, I suppose that is the one thing in our favour that we do not have to pull into these Road Houses to re-fuel at what I would call exorbitant prices for fuel. It wasn't long and we were at the Northern Territory Border and decided to have our lunch even though it was before midday, the displays and information are very educational, we took several photo's of the border line, though it was overcast and did not allow for good photo's. Back on the road and the scenery changed as we went along, we were now in undulating country and we could see Mountain Ranges in the distance, we were to see the first of buffalo grass appear though we haven't seen any stock or camels etc which is usual for this type of country. We were to experience road works for twenty kilometres where they are widening the highway so there was plenty of dust and we were slowed down considerably. It was after 3pm before we arrived at the Desert Oaks rest area, the first thing was to gather wood for a fire tonight and hope that the clouds disappear to allow us to sit out under the stars again tonight. We are now in fly country so we will be cooking and eating our meal inside the Motorhome and going out just on dusk to light the fire after the fly's have hopefully disappeared. Our camp site is now on red dirt so we will need to leave our shoes outside and not walk the stuff inside. All in all it has been good travelling again today with the wind at our side or rear. We will leave early in the morning to arrive in Alice Springs before lunch. Kilometres Travelled 340 |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
Camels in the wild
|
Todd Mall Alice Springs
|
Macdonnell Ranges
|
June 5th |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
Ghost Gums Todd River
|
Casino Drive
|
Lassiters Casino Alice Springs
|
June 6th We awoke to the sounds of heaps of Corella's screeching and chewing the white gums that we are camped under, needless to say they deposited their droppings on our Motorhome which will take some removing. I gave Digger a good tub then we had our showers, did the washing then we went into the K-Mart to purchase some specials that were in the catalogue. One problem! we found that we were a day early, no problem as we have decided to stop another night before moving on we will go back tomorrow. Then we went into Coles to buy something for tea, among other articles we purchased a salad mix for our tea tonight for we did not want to pay $3.98 for a small lettuce. When we arrived at the check out they overcharged us for the salad mix so in line with policy they gave it to us for free; I am sure we will enjoy it immensely. It was lunch time so we headed for MacDonald's for lunch, while we were eating both John & Jenny came in and joined us, we then moved onto Mad Harry's the cheapo shop where bought a couple of things and then off to the bank to complete our business. Around to the Outback Sports Store and spent a good hour or more just browsing, then we decided to go to Lassiters Casino and have a look and play the poker machine's. Well it is a very nicely set out Casino with plenty of room to move, though there was no one playing the tables there were plenty people on the Poker Machine's. Of course we lost our money and we did not hear any machines dropping cash or ringing from wins. Back home and the day has been very pleasant and the town is filling up with people here for the Alice to Finke dirt bike and off road machines race, so I suppose they will party on for a few days before the race begins this weekend; of course we will be gone before the weekend. We sat in the shade of the ghost gums and had our happy hour and a few of the other campers joined us, the night was getting cool so we went inside and watched television before going off to bed. |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
Alice Springs Telegraph Station
|
Children in Period Dress
|
Royal Flying Doctor Service Museum
|
June 7th A bussssssy day, after breakfast and the usual's we washed the Motorhome and had a good clean up given that we are on the road tomorrow. Liz cut our lunch and we went back into K-Mart to look at the new catalogue specials and found that they were cheap junk, so after looking around the camping section we headed out to the old Telegraph Station that has been turned into a museum and interpretation centre. As it was lunch time we sat and ate out lunch under the shade of the beautiful ghost gums and just enjoyed the ambiance of the area. We wandered down to the Todd River which is as dry as and walked a short distance admiring the scenery. You cannot beat those ochre and all shades of green colours that create such a beautiful landscape, we went up to the Telegraph Station and discovered young children dressed in period dress, on enquiring we found they come from the local school for two days at a time and not only do their school work also learn about the importance of the Telegraph Station which is a single strand copper wire that went through to Darwin and then by undersea cable to Singapore and then to various other areas of the world. This was the only way that Australia had a link to the outside world, for the the interpretive boards indicate that the old way was by ship which took three months or more and when the telegraph wire and repeater stations were constructed it was only a matter of hours to send or receive messages from England. They used some 36000 wooden poles to string up the single strand copper wire for the Telegraph. The next Telegraph Station is at Tennant Creek. We spent hours taking in all the attractions and talking to the children who appeared proud and very happy to wear the period ![]() We moved onto the Royal Flying Doctor museum and display, after going through a police breathalyser check point, and had a good look about, very interesting the link to the outback; we had noted on the way through the Northern Territory that on the Stuart Highway there were landing strips for planes to land to take on or give assistance to sick or injured people. We then went into to Coles and purchased out meal for the night and something for tomorrow leaving our frozen food for later in the trip and then it was back to camp. We loaded up Digger for the trip ahead and filled all water tanks and bottles also, then it was time for happy hour and we gathered with other campers and had a good old chinwag before retiring inside for our evening meal and to watch television for awhile. |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
Monument Tropic of Capricorn
|
Start of termite mounds
|
Out camp at Connor Well rest area.
|
June 8th Another cool night where we had the heater going to take the chill out of the air, on awakening this morning we did not have much to do just pack up a few things and then have our showers. We were on our way to Woolworths at 9am for diesel at $1.38.9 discounted rate and we took on 85 litres which equated to 24 miles per gallon, that tail wind certainly makes a difference. We didn't hook Digger up until well out of the Alice and then it was climb and more climbing and with another stiff breeze up our rear it meant that I only changed gear twice which was great. Once we reached the plateau the highway flattened out and we were just sailing along easy, the countryside had changed again and we came across our first termite mounds of a deep ochre colour depicting the earth colour of the area. We were to see many cattle who where in better nick than those seen down the highway, these cattle had plenty of water as well. It wasn't long before we came across the monument that depicts the Tropic of Capricorn which means that the heat will increase as we head in the direction of Darwin from here on in. There are heaps of caravans on the highway heading north and again very few trucks, we expect the traffic to increase when we reach three ways which is the run in from Queensland onto this highway. Before we knew it we arrived at Connor Well rest area and unfortunately they have cordoned off with pine poles a small area for the rest area, the bush areas that we have camped in the past have all been closed off. We had intended setting up a bush camp for a couple of days and then move on again. We will only stop tonight now and push on until I find a suitable area for a bush camp. We had to clean our roof and solar panels to free them of bird dropping we received in the last few days and then we set up our fire up to bake a chook in our camp oven for tea complete with baked vegetables. We have gathered more wood and will sit outside tonight and enjoy the stars again and leave the television disconnected. Happy Hour came and a few of the people staying the night came and joined us, we all talked about the high price of fuel and other matters, the fire being the attraction and then we just relaxed under the canopy of stars and went to bed at 10pm. Kilometres travelled 105 |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
Digger covered in frost
|
Dingo in the wild Aileron
|
Giant Aborigine Statue Aileron
|
June 9th ![]() The back packers came and relit our fire for they were camping in tents and they indicated that they froze during the night, while they were waiting for the fire to light Liz gave them all a cup of tea which they appreciated. Now for some reason my glow plug on the Motorhome has ceased operation and it made it terribly hard to start the engine in the cold, oh well off to the auto electrician to see if we can trace the fault. On the road and we had that cold sou-easter pushing us along for awhile before it changed and we came into a head wind, the countryside has changed again with the hills being brown and offset by the different greens of the shrubs and bush, with a few small ghost gums appearing. It wasn't long before we turned off the road and went into Aileron to have a look at the giant statue of an aborigine on the hill overlooking the town, it is only a roadhouse for fuel and of course a bottle shop for the aborigine community which is close by, as we came past the turn off to the community the roadside was absolutely covered in beer cans there must have been at least a thousand ![]() The drums put there for the cans were empty. There is a section selling aboriginal art in Aileron and beside that is a small enclosure housing kangaroo's and dingo's, the young dingo headed into his hide before we could get a photo and the old one just laid on the ground looking up at us nonplussed. Back on the road and there were plenty of caravans passing us and we arrived at the small community of Tee Tree to find wide load trucks carrying buildings, on enquiring we found that they would be on the road in less than five minutes so we parked up until they left. The wind has changed to a head wind so when we came across the Teamsters Memorial we pulled in and decided that would do us for for today. We set up and then gathered wood for our campfire tonight and we will again not worry about television just sit by the fire and watch the excellent display of stars etc, this will leave us with an easy run into the Devils Marbles tomorrow. Kilometres travelled 141 |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
1817 Barrow Creek Telegraph
|
First of the Mesa's
|
U.F.O'S at Wycliffe
|
June 10th |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
Devils Marbles
|
Broken Devils Marbles
|
Pristine countryside Devils Marbles
|
June 11th
![]() This morning on arising, late of course, we decided we would stay another night here at the Devils Marbles and enjoy the ambiance of the area, it is so colourful and quiet being well back from the highway. We counted over 30 caravans, tents and whiz bangers in here last night. It is not hard to see why they select this area to camp over. We toasted our newly baked round loaf of bread and then we went walkabout around the Devils Marbles. What a wonderful display of volcanic rocks that are in the round and you think that someone had stacked them of top of each other, we came across a rather large spiders web and large spider that we didn't get to close to. All up that walk and climbing of the rocks took us over 2 hours and so it was time for lunch, after lunch we went about five kilometres down the road and used the chainsaw to cut wood for our fire tonight. We spoke to a few of the people coming into camp and we are astounded the distance they travel each day, certainly a lot more than we do. We will sit out under the stars by the fire again tonight. We will just relax for the rest of the day then cook our soup for tea tonight and move on tomorrow, we have a rather cold sou-easter at the moment though the temperature is currently 24 degrees outside. It is strange how you become acclimatised to the differing temperatures, this morning for instance it was 10 degrees some 6 degrees warmer than 200 kilometres down the highway. The ranger came along after our evening meal and requested we attend a discussion on the area where we were introduced to a couple of aborigines who are elders of the local tribes, they gave an informative lecture on the Devils Marbles which they call Karli Karli, it went for about 2 hours we then went back to our fire and once again the enjoyed the canopy of stars and then into bed. |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
Want to buy a lettuce?
|
Monitor Lizard | Donkey at Banka Banka Station
|
June 12th We suffered many wind gusts during the night and early morning though from the direction it was coming it would push us up the highway, on getting out of bed it had subsided a little and the early morning sun once again shone upon the Devils Marbles. There were many people out and about taking photo's and having a chat about the lecture last night, and I have to say there were some absolutely stupid questions asked like "What is the totem of your tribe" "Do you have any children" no wonder we came back to our fire. We were on the road by 8am and the wind was assisting us nicely towards Tennant Creek, the countryside had changed again to large open plains for as far as we could see, it wasn't long and we arrived in Tennant Creek and we parked up and went walkabout. We checked out the fuel prices and found one that was 4 cents cheaper than the rest at $1.39.9 per litre needless to say after looking though a few shops we fuelled up at that station. We went into the supermarket and were surprised that the groceries and meat were all reasonable however the vegetables were off the planet, Lettuces at $5.69 each and Cabbages and Cauliflowers $9.65 each, needless to say we left them on the shelf though the locals had no qualms about buying them. After we refueled we bought some fish & chips for lunch and they were superb and then back on the highway, again the countryside was flowing plains with a few dry creek beds along the highway. Along the highway in the distance we thought we saw a large snake crossing the road and on our arrival at the spot it turned out to be a Monitor Lizard, it wouldn't stay on the road for a picture though it stayed still once it was in the grass no doubt thinking that it had camouflaged itself; after a couple of photos we resumed our travels. We had decided to stay at Banka Banka station so we kept on ![]() When we arrived we found for once we would be camping on grass, hot showers and toilets plus spring water to replenish the tanks, we were told further down the road that the charge was $6 per van when if fact it was that price for each person, not to worry. It wasn't long before we were greeted by the Donkey on the station and the Emu who allowed us to come close and then the station dog started rounding the Emu up and herding back to us for more photos this went on for quite awhile and the only way we could get away from this was to go inside and shut the door until they both went away. I caught up with a bit of maintenance and then went off to have our showers before happy hour arrived, tonight they are going to have a slide show on the station for it is a full on working station so that will be interesting. 7pm they started a slide show on the vast properties this company owns, three in all taking up a vast tract of the Northern Territory. Their paddocks are broken up into 500 acres, and it is not unusual to have 15 Road Trains lined up to take the cattle to the wharves at Darwin for shipping to Indonesia; 20,000 head in all. The vast amount of machinery such as graders, generators and planes not to mention four wheel drive vehicles, motorbikes etc though horses still form the nucleus of the operations. In all it was very informative on how a large cattle station works from day to day whether in the dry or wet season. Kilometres Travelled 225 |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
Pub at Banka Banka
|
Changing countryside
|
Flip Dry & Drip Dry toilets
|
June 13th Awoke during the night to the Donkey Braying and the Station generator pounding away, other than that we had a peaceful night. The Turkeys and Emu were wandering around the area when we headed off to have a shower. What a pleasant surprise to get away from bore water, they have a natural spring on the property which supplies Banka Banka Station. It was easy to soap up and there was plenty of hot water; after breakfast I filled all water tanks and containers for our travels ahead. We wandered around taking photo's of the area and our campsite which was well away from the caravans who were parked tent peg to tent peg so to speak. Then we were on the road and at first we decided to head for the Daly Waters pub and after we stopped for a cuppa at Elliot we had a re think on that proposal. We walked around Elliot which is basically an aborigine community with three service stations and supermarket and sporting facilities, we walked down to the golf course where the grounds man was mowing the fairway which consisted of buffalo grass. He was creating a cloud of red dust, we could not help notice the toilets which were long drops with one marked Flip Dry and the other Drip Dry very amusing. Back on the road and the countryside was changing again and we were to come across small hills or mountains which the road run beside, the countryside was now flourishing after the rains of a couple of weeks ago with the wattle flowering along with the Desert Flowers all looking very beautiful. For the next ten kilometres we were to notice many skid marks caused by trucks and usually lying on the roadside were dead cattle no doubt sitting on the road during the night for warmth, as they could not get up and out the way they became victims of Road Trains, so the truckies told us. On the subject of trucks there at least 20 Road Trains heading south or into Queensland today, we haven't seen this many in the past three weeks nor have seen a train lately. We decided to camp up early today and find a rest area or bush camp so as we could set up the satellite dish to watch the State of Origin rugby match between N.S.W. and Queensland tonight. Liz did a little washing and then we took it easy for the rest of the day chatting to happy campers when they came into the rest area at Newcastle Waters. Happy hour was ok with many that had pulled into the rest area coming along for a chat etc. Kilometres travelled 185 |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
Pelicans & Brahman by water
|
Daly Waters Hotel | Only Stop Light in the outback
|
June 14th |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
Kathy entertaining us
|
Frank belting out a tune | Jim and Frank plus bald eagles
|
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
Entrance to Elsey Nat Park
|
Mataranka Mineral Pool | Termite nest taking over tree King R.A.
|
June 15th What a hangover after an excellent night of entertainment, a bit slow hopping out of bed and even slower getting breakfast. We were ready to hit the road at 9 am bound for Mataranka Mineral Pool in the Elsey National Park, on the road and we still had the wind at our rear. Along the way the countryside changed again and we were seeing plenty of gum trees, the white flowers first and then the red flowers made them quite pretty. We were now entering the bronze barked gums territory and they looked a treat, there was plenty of traffic on the road and especially Cattle Road Trains they were going up the highway full of cattle and then returning empty for another load one can only assume that there is a cattle ship in Darwin. There were also heaps of caravans and a few Motorhomes heading north more traffic than we have seen for months, the temperature is picking up and it was 17 degrees in the Motorhome when we awoke this morning and at the moment it is 28 degrees inside, though cooler in the shade outside. We finally arrived at Mataranka and were surprised to see there were no other person in the pool when Liz and I jumped in, the temperature was beautiful and the colour of the water was a light blue with a white sandy bottom. We stayed in the water for at least an hour and then hopped out dried off and back on the road. We pulled into Mataranka Township and bought some fish and chips for lunch and then sat in the park under the trees and took in the scenery. The humidity was starting to rise so when started travelling again we had our side windows down to allow draft to come into the cabin. We were to see plenty of road kill and the black pig looked nasty with its large tusks, it strange that the eagles and crows do not eat the pig flesh. We arrived at our rest area for the night some forty kilometres from Katherine and set up camp, it is still very warm with a slight breeze, I took a walk down to the lake and at the moment there is little water though I spotted a large pat and these are usually associated with wild Buffalo. I am unable to see any at the moment I will go down later and check it our again, at the moment I am doing the diary under a pagoda in the King Rest Area. Today has been declared an alcohol free day so we are having coffee and tea, we have gathered wood and we will have a fire tonight and sit out and enjoy the canopy of stars. Kilometres travelled 255 |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
Swiss Motorhome King River
|
Katherine Mineral Pool | Liz in Mineral Pool Katherine
|
June 16th Well it was a great fire last night though we had to put our long trousers etc on due the attack by Mozzies, they were really thick it meant we had to light a Mozzie coil for the first time on the trip. The temperature in the Motorhome was 29 degrees when we went to bed, needless to say we slept on top of the bed. Our fridge is now working overtime to keep things cool, not to worry it is good to be in warmer weather. When we arose this morning and went outside and placed a few sticks on the fire and it burst into life again, we watched as this strange looking vehicle came in last night to camp. I went and took a couple of photo's of it and discovered that they had bought the vehicle out from Switzerland, it was an old mercedes war machine converted. It was a cloudy sky as we left King River to travel the 50 plus kilometres into Katherine, in no time at all we arrived due to little traffic on the road and parked up at the Tourist Information centre. We first of all walked up the sports store at the end of the street and purchased a few fittings to replace broken one's on the draws etc., then down to the bank to withdraw a little more cash. Then into the cheap as chips shop and bought a couple of things. Woollies was next and we purchased enough groceries to last us until we arrive in Darwin, then back to the Motorhome to put these away, we were to run into a few that we had met at Daly Waters so we had a good chat and then Kerry & Glenda came along for they are staying at one of the caravan parks and we swapped notes about the last couple of days then moved on. We purchased some rolls for lunch and then headed off to the internet cafe to upload this diary, the temperature had now hit 32 degrees and there was a fair amount of humidity about so we decided to head for the Katherine Mineral Pool. When we arrived it appeared as if every tourist had the same idea as us, even though the mineral water is warm it was a lot cooler than the outside temperature so we stayed in for a couple of hours it was just great. We then went back and picked up our Motorhome and headed out to the spot for free camping that we had discovered when we were here three years ago, it was still the same as before and we set up and the inside temperature of the Motorhome was a warm 30 degrees so we sat outside and opened up windows and doors to allow the cool evening area to come in. Then it was inside to watch the football and then off to bed and I am sure we will just sleeping on top of the bed. Kilometres travelled 55 |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
Liz with new pet
|
Gorge Interpretive Centre | Nitmiluk Katherine Gorge
|
June 17th Another warm night with the temperature at 28 degrees when we went to bed and it didn't drop much during the night. We were out of bed and moved back to the Tourist information centre where we parked up the Motorhome and then went over to the Bread Shop and purchased bread rolls for lunch. We decided to go down to the Nitmiluk (Katherine) Gorge in Digger which is some 29 kilometres from Katherine, we packed our lunch and moved out. On the way we were to run into drizzly rain just enough to be a pain. On the way we were to see many old pieces of machinery that line the paddocks awaiting restoring, we passed the area where you are able to take a helicopter ride over the many Gorges that make up the National Park. Our first stop was the interpretive centre and we inspected the many displays that they have, very informative and then we watched a ten minute video that outlined the area and its traditional owners and the handing over of the area under native title. Today the national park is a joint venture between the Parks & Wildlife and the Jawoyn indigenous people. We walked around and looked at the various attractions and watched the tourist boats depart loaded with tourists to inspect the various gorges, we opted to walk along the edges of the Gorge and then finally climbed straight up to the top which took about 15 minutes and many stops to regain our breath. Once on top we had an excellent vista of the first Gorge and the surrounding lands very beautiful indeed, then we opted for the walk back over the top to the interpretive centre, a 2.8 kilometre walk the board stated; however as we walked further on it went out to 3.9 kilometres and half way around it started to rain and as their was no shelter we were to become saturated. The situation was that as the humidity was high it wasn't cold at all. The walk around was great with the different types of gum tree and palms as well as pandanis, the gums had bronze bark a real spectacle, back at the centre we had out lunch and looked out over the countryside and even with rain it was very beautiful. After lunch we returned to Katherine and the Motorhome and then went and spent a pleasant couple of hour in the hot mineral springs. The water was so soothing that we quickly forgot about the aches and pains that we had inherited from our walk. We were to meet several people in the pool that had been to Tasmania and they painted a glowing picture of their visited to our state. We are now very tired and so we came out of the pool and then took a drive down to the Low Level crossing and spent a little time there taking photo's and then we returned to the tourist information area, changed and then drove out to our free stay for the night. At the moment we are trying to cool down the Motorhome inside to make it a little more comfortable for tonight, in all it has been a great day and even though is more to see and do we will be moving on in the morning for Darwin. |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
Our camp at Katherine
|
On the road to Darwin | Copperfield Dam camp area
|
June 18th Going outside this morning I was to hear the thump, thump of kangaroos that had visited out camp during the night, they were the pretty face variety and would not stop long enough for me to photograph them. We said goodbye to our free camp at Katherine and went down to the tourist information centre, Liz went off to the laundromat and I went to pick up the mail that had been forwarded to us. There were quite large group of indigenous people that were wandering the main street, when we went back to our Motorhome the whole area had filled up with caravans; no doubt the next wave of people heading for Darwin. Next weekend is the V8 supercars so that will fill to the brim all the caravan parks and accommodation in Darwin, hopefully we will find our free stay still open that we have used in the past. We were on our way at 10:30 am and we were to find hilly countryside though the going was easy, in the first instance clouds filled the sky and it looked like rain though that was not to be, the one consolation was that the temperature had dropped and it was not as humid. The ever changing landscape is something to behold and we were to finally come across the rail line to Darwin though we did not see any trains, a few of the gum trees are flowering and they look quite good in their canopy of orange flowers. We drove out the clouds and boy did it heat up and plenty of humidity, we arrived at the Lake Copperfield turn off and we unhooked Digger and Liz drove into the lake to check out if there were any spots left, on here return she indicated that the area no longer had a caretaker and we went in and set up. Unfortunately I was to spent the next three hours trying to set up our satellite dish, I hooked onto the signal on two occasions and then lost the signal. Trees were the problem we were not able to get around the trees even after hooking on extra cable. I walked down to the lake to get some water for washing and took a few photo's and looked the area over for possible sites to put my Yabby Pots in, to date I haven't even taken them out of digger to use as yet. We did not have tea till late for it was to humid and no way were we cooking inside the motorhome was already at 26 degrees at 7 pm. So the cooking was done outside and whilst cooking I consumed 6 cans of beer and I doubt if they hit the sides. We sat around until after 10pm outside under the stars before coming in to go to bed and the temperature had dropped to 22 degrees. Kilometres travelled 107 |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
Our camp at Copperfield Dam
|
Amenities by the Dam | Copperfield Dam Flowers
|
June 19th |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
Our Caravan Park
|
Our Ensuite |
Inside our Ensuite
|
June 20th A peculiar night with overcast sky's and cold wind, during the night we would hear about twenty heavy drops of rain fall and then it would cease an hour or so later the same was repeated. We were out of bed by 7am and packing for our final leg into Darwin today. There were a few other happy campers leaving this morning so we said our goodbyes and wished them happy travels and we were then on our way. It was very overcast; threatening rain and the wind had picked up, luckily again it was on our rear end pushing us along, the countryside has changed to more mountainous terrain therefore we are climbing up and then down with monotonous regularity. We arrived at Adelaide River and stopped for a spell and had a look about, the buffalo are no longer there so I refrained from taking photo's and in no time we were on the road again. We came upon the outer fringe of Darwin some forty kilometres from the town centre, on the way in we decided to give our bush camp a miss and treat ourselves to nice caravan park for three nights, given that we have been to Darwin four times in the past. We were surprised to see that many caravans were lined up outside the many parks waiting for departures or cancellations. Into the city and then we parked up and walked back to the tourist information centre, they rang a few parks for us and finally the only one we could find a vacancy had on-suites and were thirty dollars a night; so this we chose and booked and drove out to set up. What a run down park, very disappointing they may have on-suites for each site the problem is they are very run down and you even have to provide your own toilet paper etc. The shower has its own solar powered hot water system though the concrete floors were bare with no paint or mats. Terribly disappointing to have paid out $90 for three nights, though our friends booked in for a week and had to pay an extra bond of sixty dollars and have to pay for power they use. We are still trying to work out why we pay ninety dollars for three nights no bond and no extra payment for use of power, very hard to work out why the difference. Once we settled in we drove down to the Nightcliffe shopping centre, of course our first visit was to Crazy Clarke's where we bought a new 240 volt kettle for our old stainless steel kettle has had it. Then into Woollies for a few groceries and then we purchased a fully cooked chicken and rolls, then we headed off to our park and as it is after six pm we had hot chicken in fresh bread rolls washed down with a few stubbies; very nice for a change of diet. The weather for Darwin is very cold at 24 degrees even we are wearing out pullovers maybe tomorrow it will pick up, we are watching a little television then off to bed tired though contented that we have arrived at the farthest point north of our travells. Kilometres travelled 264 |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
Darwin from Military Point
|
Infirmary Fannie Bay Goal | Sky City Casino Darwin
|
June 21st ![]() We had a bit of a chuckle for the locals were rugged up against what they believe is cold and we have our shorts and t-shirts on what a contrast. We decided to have a full on day and that was occurred. We travelled to the local recycle plant near the Darwin tip and there was every conceivable piece that had been recovered and was for sale, being so far into our travels and a lot more kilometres to go we refrained from buying anything even though we were tempted. Next stop was at the largest shopping complex in the Northern Territory at Casuarina, from the easy parking and entering the complex it is a shoppers delight. There plenty of shops which include Coles and Woolworths, K-Mart and the Big W plus Best for Less and a Movie theatre that has 6 separate theatres showing different films, the amount of retailers would have to be in the hundreds. We spent a couple of hours just looking and buying a few articles and then onto the food hall for lunch. There were fifteen different types of food outlets to choose from. Liz chose a chinese meal and I had a vietnamese soup both very good meals and reasonably priced. Back in the car and we headed out through Nightcliffe towards Darwin city and onto Military Point which is located on East Point reserve, we were to look at the various interpretive boards and take photo's of the Darwin skyline in the distance. We have to say that the face of Darwin City has changed dramatically with many multi story building completed and many more under construction, since we were here last; what a changing city. Onto the Fannie Bay Goal which was not effected to any great extent when the Cyclone that all but destroyed Darwin, they have preserved the goal in all its former glory (?) with plenty of interpretive boards. There was a guide circulating amongst the visitors offering information. Here is a goal that was no nonsense and had plenty of ventilation, the men's and woman's goals were separated by a wire fence, there were six to a cell and most were chained up of a night; there were no privileges granted to prisoners and they all did it tough until the building of the new goal in the late 70's. We spent some time in the infirmary reading the interpretive boards, this is also the place where they had a hanging beam. The last hanged there were to young boys who were sentenced to death by hanging for the death of a Darwin taxi driver, the entry in the goal records indicated they were both convicted on their written confessions, later in the records it stated that both boys could not read nor write; most interesting. This is a must see and the records and interpretive boards are a must read. One of the very few free tourist attractions in Darwin. We then went onto the Sky City Casino and on arrival we noted that there would be a promotion of the V8 Supercars later in the day, we went in and had a look about and noted that it very clean and well set out. Of Course we had a flutter on the Pokies with Liz winning ten and me losing seven dollars. we had a good look around the swimming pool and barbecue area and discovered they have their own pet Monitor Lizard that is very friendly, not being able to use our camera we did not get a shot of it being so bold in its approach to us. Then we went up into the city and down to the wharf area and what a shock the amount of work being carried out, there is still the many food outlets in the old wharf buildings the difference is that they have reclaimed a lot of land in a joint enterprise between construction companies and government they have constructed a huge conference and tourist building and the long term includes marina's, wave pool and other water sport areas set aside all to the tune of 300 million in the first stage which is to be finished by the end of 2008 and then the many other constructions planned to completed by 2020. The changes to this area have been enormous. We also visited the open air chair movie theatre, unusual to rock up and watch a movie under the stars sitting in deck chairs, apparently it is very popular, no doubt due to the weather conditions. Whilst down at the wharf I noted that one of the small ships that plied the Darwin Harbour for ![]() Then we went off to the Mindle Markets and unfortunately the clouds had blocked the sun all day which meant that we would not see the famous sunsets that the area is famous for. We spent the next couple of hours walking around the many stalls and sampling the many cuisines of the world for our evening meal. By this time we were starting to get a bit tired and after watching the para divers perform over the market and Casino we headed off back to the Motorhome, on arrival it was now 8:30 pm so we sat outside having a couple of stubbies before going off to bed, it was a full on day and old Digger sure did a lot of kilometres. What a city of changes and wonderful people. |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
Aboriginal Art Darwin Museum
|
Sea creatures off Darwin coast
|
Smith Street Mall Darwin
|
June 22nd A restful night though a little humid, this morning at last the sun was free of cloud, that is until it clouded over again at around 10am it is currently humid and would get to 26 degrees and the locals are still cold! Liz did a little washing and I pulled out the ladder from underneath and cleaned the solar panels that were very dusty, We went out to the WOW electronics supermarket and they certainly have a range of goods and at reasonable prices too, we purchased a couple of video's and another memory stick of 1 gigabyte; then we decided to go to the museum of the Northern Territory. We first went through the aboriginal art section and the art there was somewhat different to that; that is for sale in the many shops in and around Darwin, I took a photo and was swooped upon by security who informed me that taking of photo's in the aboriginal art section and the Australia at war display was not allowed, though she indicated that I could keep the one photo I had taken. We moved through into the sea creatures display and it was great to see the many types of marine life that exist including the deadly sea snake, onto the Australia at War display and it became obvious that Australians in the south were not told the magnitude of the Japanese invasion nor bombing or the amount of Australian ships that were bombed down as far as NSW. The cyclone Tracy display is a must see and we again went into the enclosed room that has the sounds of Tracy; flying tin roofs and timber etc in all a little frightening. Into the marine display of the various craft that have been seized due to illegal fishing or for transportation of illegal immigrants, how they floated at all is a mystery no wonder so many have sunk with loss of life as reported. There many other displays we visited, in all we spent over two hours in the museum. From here we drove up to the centre of Darwin and parked up and walked up to the Smith Street Mall and as it was nearly 2pm we looked for a food hall where Liz again had chinese and I opted for malaysian chicken and noodle soup both meals were great. We spent another hour looking around the various arcades and shopping centre before buying more bread for our travels tomorrow and then back to the Motorhome to pack for our journey south commencing in the morning. It is true to say that we are as far north in the country as we can go and now as soon as we leave Darwin you could say we are on the way home, that is arrival in two months time. |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
Foreshore Nightcliff
|
Nightcliff residential on the sea
|
Rugged coastline near Nightcliff
|
June 23rd A cool night and on awakening, showering and then breakfast we started to pack for our journey, I was reading this morning's Northern Territory News and noted on the front page was a photo of a crocodile complete with woolen scarf and woolen leg mittens with the slogan "I told you it was bloody cold". It was cool 24 degrees and apparently crocodiles do not eat when it gets this cold for the food they swallow will no digest in their body it only rots. I noted that the Indian culture festival commences this evening at Mindle beach, food and acting straight out of Bollywood, Liz and I talked it over and decided to stay for another night to see this and move on in the morning. We went down again to WOW and purchased more Dvd's to watch on our travels and then we returned back to the Motorhome. We packed our lunch plus cold drinks and drove down in Digger to the foreshore of Nightcliff where boats were being launched off the boat ramp and people where fishing off the wharf. The foreshore is rugged though it has a pretty streaky look about it. It was a cooling breeze as we ate our lunch and enjoyed the scenery and then we had a walk out onto the wharf though we did not see anyone catch a fish. We were able to see as far as Casuarina along the shoreline and then we cast our eyes in the direction of the residential area, there are many tropical palms, trees and plants that shade the housing and it could be said that the area is exclusive looking at the size of the fences and gates. We then drove around the shore to Casuarina and went into the shopping complex to explore what we had missed over the last couple of days, at the risk of repeating myself the complex is enormous and people friendly. As the day was warming up with the clouds disappearing; the sun along with the humid conditions made it a little uncomfortable for us though not the locals, who still feel it is cold. We returned to the Motorhome around 3pm and the temperature in the van was a warm 31 degrees with a little humidity, so we gathered our chairs and moved into the shade and read for the rest of the afternoon. We had minimal clothing on with me in shorts and singlet only and Liz in shorts and t-shirt. |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
Sunset at Mindle Beach
|
Indian Dancers
|
Young Indian dancers
|
At 5:30pm we headed off to Mindle Beach to catch the annual Indian Festival, as is the case in Darwin you need to travel 20 kilometres to get into the city and the then the beach. On arrival we walked up and down through the crowds trying to select what we would be having for our evening meal and at the same time looking at the various stalls of Indian goods. Liz opted for curried fish with curried rice and I had chilli squid and curried rice, then Liz bought a stubby of Indian Beer which she said tasted like a xxxx gold; I opted for a crushed ice drink due to me having to drive. After our meal we were able to watch the sun sink over Mindle Beach and there were many like us that did the same, then onto the entertainment which consisted of adult singing and dancing and then the very young came on stage and did their thing. Everyone was dressed in national costume and they looked very nice and the colours were wonderful. The dancing was different and very dramatic in their moves and steps. Tomorrow night they will be showing movies from Bollywood, which should be interesting. We only stopped for a couple of hours and headed off back to the Motorhome to watch the Collingwood game and then off to bed. Another full day and very enjoyable to boot, we will be definitely pulling out of Darwin in the morning. The temperature in the Motorhome at 9:45pm is 28 degrees celsius. |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
Display at Window on Wetlands
|
6 Metre Termite Mounds
|
Mamukala Wet Lands
|
June 24th Up at 7:30am and we had our showers before we had breakfast, after breakfast we disconnected water, power and grey water hose and come down off the blocks. It would be true to say that we have enjoyed our stay in Darwin once again though other than more building in the city centre the tourist attractions remain the same. There have been many promotions this weekend due to the V8 Super Sedan racing at Hidden Valley. We farewelled out neighbours including John & Jenny and we were on the road again heading out to Palmerston to refuel for the trip to Katherine via Kakadu National Park. We actually refueled at Coolalinga where there is a Woollies supermarket and fuel station, the diesel cost $1.27.9 with the discount and we bought another loaf of bread and then headed off. 33 kilometres out of Darwin central we turned off and went down through that quaint little town called Humpty Doo, strange name though true. The day was heating up with very few clouds in the sky and next to no breeze, we were only keeping cool courtesy of the wind that we were creating driving along, out first stop was at the Window on the Wetland and visitor centre. The static display were first class and gave you an understanding how the eco system of wet lands work, we spent nearly an hour viewing everything including the surrounding swamp lands. To date we had not seen any live crocodiles in the wild that is until we were going across the bridge over the Adelaide River, there was a crocodile at least 5 metres long resting on the muddy banks soaking up the sun; unfortunately we were not able to pull up and take a photo. As it was now lunch time we pulled into the Termite Mounds and display area, they had a board walk which is currently closed for the termites have eaten the planks away and made it dangerous to walk on, the Termite Mounds were at least 6 metres high and 4 metres across. There were so many of them and they were huge when comparing them to some we have seen recently. After lunch we moved on and eventually entered the gateways of Kakadu, we had actually driven through two other National Parks to arrive here. We took photo's of the gateway and then moved onto Mamukala observation hide and bush walk, the hide is a large building which allows you to look out over the birdlife and the billabong area. There were many birds to be seen and water lilly's covered the surface though we did not see any crocodiles. Down the road further we were to see signs warning about crocodiles and in one area the sign said "Extremely Dangerous" we were to pass many creeks full of water and the Alligator River plus three of its tributaries. The highway ![]() As we had been taking our time and looking at many things it was after 4pm before turned into the highway leading to the aborigine rock paintings, which we will view tomorrow, along the way were to see very colourful escarpments with the differing colours of sandstone glinting in the sun light. We finally pulled into our rest area for the night at Merl and it was currently 32 degrees with a fair bit of humidity, Liz is the colour of a cooked crayfish and is not handling the heat at all, I have had to put fans on her in attempt to cool her down. Needless to say we did our cooking outside on a fire of all things and the now it is 8pm and the temperature inside the Motorhome is still 32 degrees and we are both sweating. The upside is that there are showers in this rest area and we are going over very shortly to have one, though I suspect it will only cool us down for a short time. Kilometres travelled 303 |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
Sample of the many photo's taken of Aboriginal Art on the Escarpments of Kakadu National Park |
June 25th |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
Sample of Aboriginal Art on the Escarpments of Kakadu National Park and countryside from lookout |
June 26th A nice cool night at our rest area at Gungurul, we experienced a little rain though not enough to dampen the ground. We were on the road at about 9am and heading for Pine Creek the countryside was just bush and now again you would see the ochre coloured escarpments in the distance. The area along the highway had undergone a burn and the green grass and other shoots were coming up plus new trees. The highway was climbing and I had to change gears a few times as we are now heading into a rather strong and gusty wind, the river and creeks have some water in them though not a lot and it wasn't until we reached Mary River which is outside the Kakadu National Park that there was any water so to speak of. We drove into Pine Creek and bought the newspapers and then headed out to Copperfield Dam where we intend to stay for a few days. There were only four others here when we arrived though during the afternoon this changed and now we feel as if we are in a caravan park again. Why do people feel so insecure? Out with the satellite dish and set up to get television and then it was time for lunch, after lunch we just set up our camp complete with firepot and then read for the rest of the afternoon. Kilometres travelled 124 |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
Our camp at Copperfield Dam
|
Joining us for happy hour
|
Can I join you?
|
June 27th Another cool night and this morning when hopping out of bed it was only 15 degrees, though it warmed up during the day to 24 degrees with a gusty sou/easter keeping things cool. Last night we received a call from Margaret and Geoff who are travelling Queensland, who was to tell us that it didn't matter where they drove they were in rainy conditions. Out we went and gathered wood, we then used the chainsaw to cut it to length for our firepot, We then gathered water from the dam for use for washing and showering. We just had a good clean up and made our campsite more satisfying for relaxation for the time we are here, we allowed the sun to heat our shower bag which we both used to refresh ourselves. It was now lunch time and for the rest of the afternoon we watched the newcomers arrive and read our books in the nice sunshine and reasonably cool weather. Then it was time to cook our evening meal and then for the rest of the night we watched satellite television before going off to bed, in all a very cool relaxing day. June 28th We had a sleep in this morning not arising until after 9am, another sunny day with many leaving the area travelling north and before they left we said our farewells. Liz did the washing and again we found ourselves during small jobs around our camp for the next 2 hours or so. The area is certainly popular for many were arriving including a couple from Tassie in their Winnebago, we had a good chat with them and assisted in getting their satellite television up and running. After lunch Liz cooked a loaf of bread in the camp oven along with bread rolls all cooked to perfection, then we just lazed about reading our books and enjoying the sun and the cool breeze; again the temperature was around 24 degrees. Last night Bob & Evelyn rang and indicated that they had only two days out of the last twenty in Queensland that were not affected by rain. We had some other campers come into the Dam who indicated that they had driven out of ![]() We were surprised to see that the temperature in Kunanurra had dropped to 24 degrees on the news last night from the normal 30 degrees or so and after a call we found that diesel was $1.60 per litre is it any wonder that we are apprehensive as to what to do, should we stop here a few more days or move onto to wherever? We will make this decision tomorrow after questioning new comers and phone calls tonight. It was after 6:30pm before we thought of getting our evening meal, I was awaiting the sun to set over the hill behind our camp and was lucky to get a few photo's, in fact we didn't start our happy hour until 6pm. The rest of the night we will spend watching television, we have noted on the 7pm news the floods occurring in Victoria and the rain still occurring in Queensland. |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
Our camp from high up the hill
|
Our noisy Parrots
|
Jim kayaking on the Dam
|
June 29th The nights are now getting cooler and we are finding it easier to sleep at night, this morning the temperature was a low 11 degrees when we hopped out of bed though whilst boiling the kettle and cooking the toast on the gas it rose to 13 degrees, just nice the temperature again for the day would be 25 degrees. This morning after breakfast I went walkabout and found a go-cart track which is fully asphalted and a nice level course, from here I climbed the hill behind and looked down on the camp and took photo's of the surrounding areas and took in the views on offer in the distance; excellent and with a slight breeze this morning it augers well for another good day. We did our usual chores and then had to unblock the kitchen sink which took some doing for the pipe leads us a merry dance prior to reaching the holding tank. The we started to read and this was interrupted by the noisy Parrots and other birds, the bloke next door has kayaks and he lent them to a group of school kids that are here for the school holidays and after a while I went down and had a go, in the first instance I thought they were a bit unstable until I was to get the hang of it. I paddled around the dam and on the way back I let the wind drive me slowly to shore, in all it was great and most enjoyable. Time for lunch and then the shower bag is being heated by the sun so mid afternoon we will use it for showers, we are still conserving our drinking water and using water from the dam for showers and washing of cloths. We then settled in to soak up the sun and read our books, we received a call from John & Jenny who indicated that they are now in Kakadu and will join us here at the dam tomorrow morning. Liz decided to make a stew in the camp oven for tea and there will be probably enough to last for two meals, she wants to make a special recipe which includes rice so it will be tasty I bet. Instead of sitting inside watching television tonight we will light a fire to sit by and sit out under the canopy of stars and then off to bed. |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
Colourful flowers at race track
|
Buffalo Grass
|
Recreation area at the Dam
|
June 30th We have reached the end of the month and the past few days have been spent just relaxing and doing next to nothing at this great camp area. This morning was a little cool at 9 degrees and if it keeps up then we will need to have a blanket on top of our Doona, given this, the temperature today peaked at 27 degrees. We are getting information on floods in Victoria and rain in both Queensland and the top end of Western Australia from people ringing us and those arriving at Copperfield Dam. Sooner or later we are going to run into rain probably on our way to Kunanurra next week. Liz did a little washing and I did the usual things such as getting the fire ready, water and refueling the generator and few other repairs that needed doing to things I had broken over past days. There were not many moving today from here for the area is so relaxing and with plenty of shade and water, people arriving had trouble getting a spot to park. I wandered around and had a bit of a chat to a few in the area and then back at camp to see John & Jenny arrive from their few days spent in Kakadu National Park, they were to tell us of their adventures and especially the boat trip they took late in the afternoon on the East Alligator River. Jenny was to show us her photo's, which she took plenty of. They were so good with Jenny's permission we have included a few in this diary for Chapter members to see. (click on Jenny's Photo's to see a few that were taken when they both went on the evening cruise on the South Alligator River). Then it was time for lunch and as the day was warming up we had an afternoon snooze then sat out in the late afternoon before happy hour and read our books. Tonight again we will sit out under the stars and when it gets a bit cool then we will come inside to watch the football on television. |