Judy & Brian Tour Oz

Fairly big day today (well yesterday actually) but easy driving for 370 something kilometres. First stop was Ti Tree Roadhouse for fuel, a cuppa and some raisin toast. At first glance this looks much like any other (mostly daggy looking roadhouse up this way, but out past the tills and tack and shop part, is a really nice little cafe eating area, not a plastic table cloth in site! Well done them. Then it’s on down to Alice which we reached in good time and despite having to fiddle about with the van and jockey wheel again due to the car being much lower on the road than the van on the grass, we got settled in OK and strolled up-town for a late lunch and a coffee.  Sad to say, but Judy beat me comprehensively at indoor lawn bowls, must be my lack of bias… Two days for the cost of a single click! Slept in today before giving the couple of shops in town the benefit of our patronage. Judy found a Millers so all was right with the world. Actually, on the way out we went ...

Straight run down the Stuart Highway again this morning, first to Tennant Creek where we fuelled up and bought a few groceries, then a stop at The Devils Marbles (now Karlu Karlu) before pulling up at the roadhouse / Big4 caravan park that is Wycliffe Well. Well, indeed. First the story about Wycliffe Well/s, there used to be four of them and the place came into prominence during WWII when someone noticed the few hardy  should  who lived there could actually grow vegetables in this otherwise lifeless red soil, if you had enough water and figured that the Army could use some food for the 1000's of servicemen being sent north, so they took over the place for the duration of the war.  Some time later, some enterprising soul decided a van park would be the go and created what is, even today, a little oasis, billed as Australia's UFO Capital, on the edge of the Tanami Dessert. But, the park is well past its prime. All around you can see the remnants of what could only be descr...

Up not quite so early today, but still managed a couple of swims through at the Bitter Springs, just me and a handful of likeminded souls enjoying the peace and tranquility of nature at its best. Then we had to bite the bullet and get moving down the Stuart Highway to Banka Banka, a distance of some 480km, but pretty straight forward. I discovered today why my fuel consumption had jumped up past 20L / 100km, the thing appears to be reluctant to change up past 5th gear, making it rev at 2300 rpm instead of 1700 and in the process pushes the instantaneous consumption up from 15 to 20 (at 100kph). Yes, one could slow down as well, but to be perfectly honest, I think you'd die of boredom, its a very long soulless drive with little or nothing to break the scenery or the journey. Anyhow, by kicking the thing into 'sport' mode (Ford's imaginative term for manual override) and pulling the stick back, it goes into 6th and is deliriously happy to stay there for hours. Bump it b...

Just a short note today to say that we took our time in moving from Katherine to Mataranka. As is becoming the norm, finding a site at the Territory Manor was not so much problematic but just a shambles. It's to do with their park set-out, which can only be described as weird. Its based around a series of toilet blocks, four bathrooms per block. It used to be 2+2 male / female but now its just 4 unisex bathrooms. The trouble is that there are 8 sites radiating out from each block, giving you the inevitable pie-wedge shaped sites. They are not all the same size, some are huge some tiny, most have a tree or something in just the wrong place, but hey, it adds to the character of the van park. We watched the barramundi being fed by the kids, under supervision of course, had some lunch and then hit the springs. They are wonderful as usual. That's all folks, big day tomorrow as we head seriously south, aiming for Banka Banka Station and cooler nights. YAY(jb)

The first thing i noticed this morning when i woke up was that it was perfectly quiet, except for the birdsong. I hadn't realised just how much the background drone of the Stuart Highway pervaded into even the back blocks of the caravan park in Darwin, or how often the big jets come roaring overhead. Anyhow, I just found it so much more relaxing. The only other noise you can here in the dead of night is the occasional freight train rumble past in the distance. Speaking of trains, the Ghan was in town today so just for fun we drove out to the station to have a look - it certainly is one long train. As we drove into the yards, we came cross a group of people walking out toward the main road, which i thought was pretty odd. When we drove out of the station, they had split up into 3 couples, one of whom had two small children with them. One of the couples had towels and I immediately assumed, correctly, that they were off the train and that they were walking to the hot springs. I may...

So the day finally arrived: after 3 weeks we had to leave Darwin and head south to Katherine. We stopped at Pine Creek for a coffee and because the town needs all the help it can get. In the last few weeks the mine has announced that it will be closing and that means the loss of over 600 jobs in a  town of 1000. It's a shame, over the last few years we have seen the changes as the mine money flowed into town and it looked like it was just getting back on feet, and now this. Anyhow, they had our donation for what its worth, and a fine cup of coffee it was as well. The park at Katherine is quieter that we expected and we have a good spot, large and plenty of shade. We made a bee line for the hot springs which were busy but still pretty good. When we came back to the van park, we decided that the best thing to do was go for a swim! The pool is just slightly chilly but really enjoyable. Not much else happening here and we plan on an early night. One odd thing though, down the roa...

So, it's our last day in Darwin. Where have the weeks flown to? Anyhow, having done everything to do and some things twice, we went to the Royal Darwin Show, which starts today and stays open for Friday and Saturday, which seems odd. We were expecting a huge affair with lots of both city and countryfied exhibits like they have in Sydney. Well we were  disappointed as they have very little of that type of thing and that which they do have is on tomorrow. What they do have is an overflow of those tacky tacky sideshow stalls selling a plethora of useless goods in lurid colours to the unsuspecting public. Even the rides seemed a bit light on, they had a 'Claw' but no ferris wheel, no slingshot, no hit-the-bell-and-win-a-prize. I saw some clowns, and some of those floating duck pond things. Pretty boring, maybe it all happens at night? We found some food, though, and decided on a hamburger from this innocent looking stand. Judging by the state of panic that ensued when we ...

Judy just had to get her hair cut today, so i spent the time walking along the beach. with our chores out of the way, we finally went back to the cafe at the Art Gallery and Museum. Some say, that you should never go back. This was our third time back in Darwin and we decided we would anyway. Its a nice spot, the food was good. Compared to say the Trailer Boat Club, it is a bit pricey so perhaps we will keep it for a special lunch next year. They are slowly but surely loosing their view however, so just to remind you, here is a snap or 2 Headed back to Palmerston to get a few necessities from the shops before heading out to "Jenny's Orchid Nursery". We parked the car and was immediately accosted by we assume "Jenny" to let us know that we could look in the shop for free or pay $7 each to look in the shade houses. Seeing there were more orchids in the shop than the shade houses we opted to ogle those in the shop and keep our hands in our pockets. After oohing...

Wandered about today. Starting to panic, so many things we aught to do so little time to do them. Went back to the Museum  and Art gallery and spent an hour or two looking at the artefacts and criticising things we know nothing about. Our theme, as has been the last few years, is based around the existence of the aboriginal art. Now in this gallery, most of the stuff they have is old, well old for today, having been collected in the 70s and 80s. The point is, the 'art' as we see today, didn't exist prior to the 1970s, so why is it held in near religious reverence? At least the pieces in the museum purport to document some of the stories as opposed to the current pieces being produced. The long and short of it is that its just art when its produced in the form of a canvas or a convenient sheet of flattened bark. They have no history of art in this format. They only painted their possessions such as spears, shields and ceremonial items. The interesting items are the burial ...