Day 340 plus Darwin

We arrived in Darwin and started on the must do list...this included the Mindil Market situated right on the beach.Fabulous craft and food stalls and the local musso playing incredible stuff on the didgeredoo (think that's how you spell it)

We gathered up some dinner from some of the vendors and headed for the beach, with Richard and Sandra, and the sunset...the number of people there was incredible...you would think that no one had seen a sunset before...
Having said that the sunset was pretty special, with just enough cloud, some smoke , and a couple of boats...magic....got eaten alive by sandflies, but hey what the heck!!!

Day 337 -340 Katherine Part 2

Yep thats Ted hanging out of the door....We had booked for 2 helicopters so that we could go up at the same time. Sandra and Richard in one and us in the other as the helicopters only take 4 people including the pilot. When we got to the helipad there was only one chopper, so we compromised..we took two flight's one after the other, and one person from each couple got an extra flight..guess who got ours, yep Stephen!!!!!!
We saw buffalo by the waters edge...
Views across the gorges from a lookout were we landed...
The meandering snake in the gorges below...you know what I mean!
And these incredible right angle breaks were everywhere, this set looked like a hot cross bun!

Day 337-340 Katherine

Sandra and I off on an adventure....when in Katherine it is necessary to do the gorges...and we had managed to get a really good deal which included a breakfast cruise up to number two gorge then back to the helipad and a flight to view the rest of the 13 gorges.
It was a little bit like doing the Bungle Bungles in that you can view so much from the ground but so much more from the sky.
Being the breakfast cruise we were basically the first on the water so Stephen was able to get some fabulous reflection shots.
These smudges in the sand are crocodile marks were the female has come up the sand to bury her eggs.
The water snakes through the towering gorges, (which is what the Aborigines believe is how they were made), all to short (2 hours) we were back at base and on to the next part of our day.

Day 337 Cutta Cutta

A short stop on the way to Katherine is the Cutta Cutta Caves. We had seen caves before but were drawn in to see the cave of lots of stars. (That is what Cutta Cutta stands for).
The pictures do not do them credit. Blow this one up to see some of the reason for the name of the caves.

Day 334 - 336 Mataranka

We made it to Mataranka, home of the Elsey Homestead and Cemetery....now you may well ask what are they known for...well this is were my Australia History and Literature lessons continued. The famous book "We of the Never Never", by Mrs Aneas Gunn. Well I bought the book in Echuca, read it on the way up and found the graves of a few of the character's from the book, all on the recommendation of A & A. Thank's Guys.

We also went to the Mataranka Thermal Pool, which is were the tavern shows the film every day at 12 noon....apart from the fact that we could not hear it very well, it was interesting. Having read the book though, I felt that they did not portray all the characters as described in the book, which was a shame. They also had the replica homestead, that was used for the film on display.
We all (Sandra & Richard still with us) stayed at Bitter Springs, with it's own little spring right on our doorstep. This little piece of heaven had the current taking you downstream, with water lilies and bird life all around. The first time we went we used our snorkel's, which was another perspective...with turtles and small rainbow fish in residence.
However, Stephen floated down with just his head above water and told me to do the same...we kept doing the loop..float down (me with out assistance) climb out at the bottom, walk back to the steps and repeat....fan bloody tastic.......

Day 333 Daly Waters

This old historic pub is an experience all of it's own. They pack the van's in and people come from far and wide for their famous "Beef & Barra" dinner..with live entertainment..quirky individuals and some amazing items both inside and outside of the pub...this picture just gives you some idea.
Looks real innocent here but inside the bra's blow in the fan draught, the jocks dangle from the rafters and the memorabilia of many artists who have graced the stage (if you can call it that) in this remarkable place.We all had the dinner and a very enjoyable evening was had by all (Sandra and Richard in attendance).
This area is really known for the airfield that was occupied mostly in WW11, when Darwin was attacked by the Japanese, it was also Australia's first International Airport before the war.. Stephen could not resist, we went out to the field with S & R and had a good look around...we even did a speed test on the Toby, over 160k's and blew Richard's 100 series into the weeds...but that was not good enough for Stephen..so the next day on our way again, we brought Turtle for a pelt down the runway..up to 122 with the van on the back...not bad!
This is the old hanger, they have put a lot of details inside about who had been here etc...got grants and everything, then they have left it to go to ruins again...such a shame...but at least it was a free entry!
Not a bad runway..and no we did not get the crack on the wind screen here!!

Day 332 Banka Banka

They say that there is only 5 degrees of separation in our lives...well you all know that we have already proved that wrong...and it did it again when we arrived at a beaut spot called Banka Banka. This little oasis on the road north is an ideal place to fill your tanks with some of the best water we have come across and no restrictions on washing cars or van...Turtle got her first proper bath since Port Lincoln in October last year! Anyway, that's nothing to do with the degrees of separation...we went to the $3 sausage sizzle and Stephen was eying off a couple on the other side of the table...wondering where he had met them before...then the mind caught up for both him and the lady (Pat) who asked "Were do I know you from?" at that moment Stephen remembered and said "How's your BMW?" as he had sold them one of the first diesel X5's in WA. They had to wait 6 month's for the car to be delivered...Pat & George were fondly remembered as one of his nicest customers while at Auto Classic...great to catch up. The photo shows that they have since changed their car to a new X5 and their second Golf Caravan which is registered SKI016.
After having a very tiring day cleaning everything, we happened upon a Roma caravan that come in close to us...we met Richard and Sandra and hit it off straight away..little did we know that we would follow each other up to Darwin! They came up to the lookout, above Banka Banka before we moved on to Daly Waters...but that's another story!