Day 366 Berry Springs Part 0ne

This area of Berry Springs is the home of the Northern Territory Wilderness Park...sister to the Desert Park in Alice Springs it was full of wonderful things...so it is in 3 parts as we could not choose just 5 photo's in fact it was hard enough to choose 15!!!!Berry Springs is another water way to go swimming in...not as good as Wangi or Bitter Springs though...it is also home to the Northern Territory Wilderness Park. This park is a sister to the Desert Park in Alice Springs...and yet again we were blown away with the things to see and do... above is a Whip Ray, which some people got the opportunity to hand feed.
The vegatation is not bad either..this Grevillia was in full bloom and pretty as a picture.
They also had a Raptors show....this is a Pacific Baza, which we had seen in Katherine Gorge but not this close...
The famous Jabiru, or Black Necked Stork..yeah right, that neck looks more metallic blue..
This owl had a barking competition with Stephen...yep thats right it is the Barking Owl. This park had a raptors show as the one in Desert Park did but after it was over they brought out birds for you to see close up...fabulous!!!!

Day 365 Litchfield National Park

This day marked our Anniversary...one year one the road....I would not have believed that Stephen and I could have done that if it was not for the fact that I was there all of the time!!!! During the day we went out to the old Blyth Homestead. This old homestead was an outpost for the Sargent family...which consisted of 14 children. Their home was Stapleton Station, situated 40 k's away near Adelaide River township, which Harry Sargent bought and then started buying up the surrounding stations...
Each of the children have their own story of their lives and up bringing....the one that stuck in our minds was the story of the 9 year old boy, Max, who found himself tin mining at that age and away from his parents.. that's doing it tough.
They have left the inside of this homestead pretty much as it was...the family continued to use this property right into the late 60's and early 70's..The Blyth Homestead was incorporated in a land parcel that eventually became Litchfield National Park in 1986 and in 1997 it was declared a heritage site as one of the best examples of Top End bushcraft architecture.
Onwards to Tjaynera Falls (Sandy Creek)...hard walk but a lovely swim at the end..
Also on the drive was afield of these Magnetic Termite mounds, all line up North South to take advantage of the sun.... then home again for the Bower Bird Bertie and a bottle of bubbly!!!!

Day 363 Litchfield National Park Bertie Bower Bird

                                                                                              Have a look and a listen to this... we loved every moment of this Bower Birds antics...

Day 363 Litchfield National Park

After moving on from our long visit to Darwin we headed for the area of Litchfield National Park. We had passed this area on the way up but had left a few gems for our return down south before we turn left and head to the East Coast. This has to be one of the best places so far...we managed to secure a fabulous site at Wangi Falls (see above) and had a fantastic view from our Turtles door but that is another story (see next blog). We swam each day and travelled around looking at all the creeks, falls and more...
Florence falls was a little out of my league with the hip but great to see.
So we went round to Buley Pool..which was a cascade of crystal clear water and a great shoulder massage was had by Stephen.
This is the Lost City of Litchfield. We think we are not going to be able to get to the one from Cape Crawford so did this one....incredible erosion and stone formations have left these pillars.
These are Tolmer Falls and was the last on the list for that day and was a no swim area...so back to Wangi Falls for another dip....so cool...the only negative of this area was the mosquitoes!!!!!

Day 362 Darwin N.T. Day 1st July

As I am sure you have read we went to Fogg Dam and we walked on, what we did not realise at the time, the Dam Wall. This picture appeared on the front page a few days later...glad he did not appear while we were there!!!!!!!
We had hung around in Darwin for quite a bit longer than we had originally intended, then stayed another couple of days to celebrate Territory Day on the 1st July. Back to Mindil Beach, with Mike and Peggy for our last night and the fireworks. 

The public can buy fireworks for the one day of the year and they set them off everywhere, however this was the official display, and was a lot better than we had anticipated.
To say we left on a bang would be an understatement!!!!!!

Day 360 Darwin Bits and Pieces

The yearly bath for a group of the onboard kids....poor buggers! Clarence, Bunny and Ted all had to hang around for a few days to dry out...ah the humidity!!!
Darwin has just opened a Wave Pool. This pool has 25 wave types and is a big hit with the locals and visitors alike....just $8 a day, or you can swim on a man made beach and watch for nothing....no crocs or stingers here!!!
Graham (see friends on last post) has progressed from vintage cars to vintage warbirds. We had the fantastic opportunity to go out and see his Corsair and he kindly invited Bassie along (he was up in Darwin for the week). This plane was in service up until the Korean War and there are very few restored and flying examples in the world. 
The project has already been 13 years long, and the detail restoration is unbelievable....the time frame is still 2/3 years to go, with the propeller and engine due to arrive in Darwin sometime in August/September.
Nobby, the guy doing the restoration, also kept crocodiles....this little fellow died some time ago...so Nobby froze him...cute but cold!! You can buy these critters for about $250 each, when they get to 60 centimeters they are not allowed to be kept as pets...but they will not take them back.....wonder what they do with them...only in Darwin!! Thanks Graham, much appreciated.

Day 349 Darwin Friends

This blog is dedicated to some of the friends that we have made and some that we have caught up with since our arrival in Darwin.....thanks Guys and Girls for all your support (especially with the small scare, biopsy all clear, thank God). This is Richard at the Wharf...good tucker!
Bring a pot night....from left to right...Sandra, Peggy, Mike, Richard and of course me...that was a good Happy Hour and good food too!
Just after we got the good news...if you can't tell we were over the moon!
16th Floor apartment in Darwin, old friend of Stephen's, on the right Graham, Mary-Louise, Sarah, Stephen, Kerry and me...again good tucker, especially as we were not expected!
Our next door neighbours at the Darwin Caravan park at Lee Point, Greg and his visiting wife Cathy from Brisbane...and of course Peggy and Mike.