Yay we're in Darwin

from Jeanette - Yay we made it to Darwin.  A bit of an experience getting here but at least we are here.  We had a bit of a sleep in yesterday and then decided to go and explore the area around Jabiru.  We went to an aboriginal site called Nourlangie where there was a lot of aboriginal art and a lookout we climbed.  We had a lovely time there and saw lots of different birds as well.  We then proceeded to Jim Jim Falls.  As we rounded the corner to the beginning of of the Falls we picked up two hitch hikers from Germany and proceeded for about 56 kms on dirt road and then another 8.5 kms of 4WD tracks to get to the Falls.  A very popular spot there were a lot of cars there.  It was a very hard treck into the falls but well worth it.  I couldn't believe I actually made it in but unfortunately just when I had nearly made it back to the car I tripped on a rock and fell on my backside and bruised my coxic bone.  Ouch very very sore.  Makes it hard to walk actually.  Most of the day was a good day.  We got up early and washed the car and left Jabiru about 9.00am and headed to Darwin.  We made it to Darwin at about 2.30pm.  Went shopping and went out for tea.  It is still very warm here.

RB Now -  The pics below are firstly a couple around Nourlangie, 

This pic is of a green ant nest, about the size of a football, they are everywhere up here, beautifully made by binding leaves together, amazing patterns in  them

A view from the look out in the area.  From here we decided to check out Jim Jim Falls, lots of peop;le spoke of it, but mentioned it was a long  way in.   Thats not the half of it.  about 50 kms of Australias worst corrugated roads for a start.  Then 8.5 km of 4wd track with everything from soft sand to gagged rocks to creek crossings, but good fun.  After you eventually get to the car park it is then a 1km hike to the falls.  Well 1km as the crow flies but about 3 with the uip and over rocks etc.  The pic below shows some of the better parts of the track in,  

This pic just before the fall, fall over that is, not water fall

 

However once you get there the falls are quite good, especially the setting with the massive cliffs around them and the pools at the bottom

However the story does not end there, we eventually got out of the Jim Jim falls and I decided to let the tyres down a bit for the trip out because of ther corragations,m noticed a tyre low on pressure, but continued on.  The drop in pressue made a great difference, however about 10 km before the main road I noticed the oil light come on, not good.  stopped to check and had oil dripping everywhere from under the car.  On investigation I noticed the oil filter had come loose from the corrugations and dumped lots of oil.  I had a litre in the car which at least stopped the light, I had oil pressure but still not enough to measure on the dip stick.  No motor rattles at least.  A ranger stopped, but had no oil and said the RACV (or what ever it is in NT)  refuses to come out on this road, so it was proceed or start up a new residential address.  Got back to Cooinda, about 30 kms but they dont sell deisel oil do they!!!  Eventually their maintenance mechanic gave me 2 lt oil but still ot enough so had to buy some cheap black and gold oil to at least show on the dip stick.  Eventually got back safe and sound to Jabiru for quick tea and in to bed, stuffed.                       This morning took of the tyre and fixed a puncture, washed half the Jim Jim falls road off the car and headed towards Darwin     Stopped at a place called Mamukala which has a great bird hide on a lagoon.      Glad we did as spotted 4 species of birds new to us within 15 mins.  Crimson finch, double barred finch, masked finch (pic below) and a red headed honeyeater.            

         

On the way out we came across the ginormous termite hills similar to dozens we saw on the way up from Katherine, butdidn't stop to get a pic.  This one is big but we have seen many much larger.              We were going to stay another night in the area before heading to Darwin  but decided we should get to Darwin and get the car serviced and checked out.  The van park was able to fit us in  for the night  on the same spot we had reserved for tomorrow night so that was good.  Phoned Kia for the car check, all good if I can come after the 15th, earliest spot available.  Anyway long story but have it booked in for 8 am in the morning to a service centre just around the corner from the Van park.    Time to sign off as rambling  looking forward to a few days around Darwin and catching up with Lee tomorrow and spending most of the next week together,     Stay tuned for the next saga!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!             

Still in Kakadu

from Jeanette - A long day.  We got up at 5.30am to go on a Sunrise Cruise which we thoroughly enjoyed, saw more crocs and more birds.  Got back to camp and headed up further north to a little town called Jabiru.  We booked into our Park and I caught up on some washing and we then went for a drive to a get a coffe and do some grocery shopping and to explore this little town.  After lunch we decided to explore the area and was told to go to a famous rock called Ubirr where a lot of aboriginal art is and as you climb up to the top you can see for miles and miles over the marsh lands and  into Arnhem Land.  We also saw the sunset up there too which was beautiful.  All in all a lovely day.  Very tired now so off to bed.  Thanks for reading.

From Ross -Some photos below from Yellow Waters and from Ubirr area, Aboriginal art work and pics from the wetlands, once again stunningly beautiful.   The Jabirus greeting each other on their nest was great to see and presented a great photo opportunity.
 
                                       

Hi from Kakadu

from Jeanette - We left Katherine this morning at 8.00am and headed to Edith Falls which is at the top end of the Katherine Gorge.  What a beautiful area.  Edith Falls themselves wasn't anything spectacular but it was such a pretty spot.  We didn't stop there very long and then headed to Kakadu National Park .  We booked into Cooinda Lodge where we will stay tonight and went on a Yellow Waters River Cruise.  Wow what an experience.  We saw 10 salt water crocs mostly female ones but the male we saw which was gliding by our boat for a while was about 4 metres long.  He was a beauty.  It was a fabulous cruise and a bird watchers paradise.  Hence Ross was in his element as you can imagine.  I'll let him tell you just what we saw in the way of bird life.  All in all a wonderful day.  Weather wise another perfect day of 30 degrees.  Missing our family today and was really wishing they were with us to experience all the wonderful things we are seeing.  Oh well I'm sure they will get their chance one day but it is always nice to share these things with the ones you love.

 From Ross - Yes this was a fantastic cruise, very pretty and peaceful, but crocs everywhere.  Saw many bird species, OK Kris, included some pics for you.  Many were new sightings for us but some are old.  We got extremely close ot an Azure kingfisher, pic below which is very unusual, could almost reach out of the boat to touch it.  The guide had never seen this before, he was taking photos!  Did see for first time two Forest Kingfishers, very exciting, they are a beautiful bird. I think I noted about 20 species of birds.      

At Edith Falls we saw a Rufous Throated Honeyeater, that too was special.     I think the mozzies around here are nearly as big as some of the birds?     Looking forward to another good day tomorrow.  PC battery nearly flat so better sign off.

from Jeanette - Today was a great day!!  The weather was great, the scenery was great and the company was great.  Most of all we marvelled in the wonder of God's creation as we went on a cruise through three of the 13 Gorges in Nitmiluk National Park (formerly called the Katherine Gorge).  Our cruise started at 1.00pm and as we walked to the Boat Ramp we were amazed at what we saw and that was thousands and thousands of the Red Flying Fox.  In fact you didn't have to see them to know they were there you could smell them.  They puke!  But I tell you there were thousands of them in the trees just around the area where you line up for the cruise.  There were 24 of us boarding for the cruise.  Just as we took off we saw a fresh water crocodile sunning himself/herself on a rock near the bank.  It was a good size too. We certainly weren't disappointed as we cruised along.  The colours of the steep cliffs and the patterns on either side were magnificent and I was reminded once again just how wonderful and majestic God's creation truly is.  We had to get three boats along the way and walk between gorges.  At the first stop we saw some aboriginal drawings which were interesting.  After that walk we boarded another boat and continued our journey through the second gorge where we saw another croc.  We also saw a yellow tree snake slip in the water, pass our boat and climb a tree over the other side of the gorge.  He was a brilliant yellow and had a blue head.  There was abundant bird life including the Blue Winged Kookaburra, the Red Winged Parrat, Leaden Fly Catcher, Rainbow Bee-eaters and also there was a Peregine Falcon, such a majestic and graceful creature.  The third gorge trip was just a short one and at the end of it we were able to go ashore swim in a beautiful waterhole where the water so clear and we also swam under the waterfall.  In all such a lovely lovely day.  Ross and I are tired tonight it is tiring sitting out in the sun but we are thoroughly enjoying ourselves.  The weather up here today was 31 degrees. We are heading North in the Morning, probably into Kakadu for a quick look on the way to Darwin Hope you enjoy the pics.

We made it to Katherine

from Jeanette - Hello from Katherine.  We woke up early and headed off to Katherine at about 8.00am.  It is only 104 kms from Mataranka so we took our time and arrived in Katherine at about 9.30am.  A bigger town that Mataranka with about 6000 people.  Lots more shops and things to do and see.  We made our to the Tourist Information Centre just to get some idea of how long we needed to stay in Katherine and what to see.  We then found our Caravan and Camping Park the Big 4 one (cos we are members and get a discount).  Very nice park a bit out of town but on a lovely treed area with good facilities.  They even let you wash your car and van which we have done.  They just got so dirty and dusty.  This afternoon we went to see some caves nearby called the Cutta Cutta Caves.  They were lovely.  Pictures attached.  Tomorrow afternoon we are going to go on a cruise on the Katherine Gorge.  It is a 4 hour cruise and you actually go into three gorges and the last one is a swimming hole so you can swim if you like.  This swimming hole is free from crocs but unfortunately it is the only one safe as others do have salt water crocs in them.  (Scares me to bits!!) We're looking forward to tomorrow.  Might even find a Church to attend in morning.  The weather here today was 31 degrees so quite warm.  It is a bit of a shock cos our bodies are not used to this heat from living in very icy cold conditions in Vic.  Oh well hopefully we will get used to it.

Still at Mataranka

from Jeanette - We are still in Mataranka.  It is so nice here at this park we thought we would stay another night.  It was actually cold this morning with cloud cover.  I thought it was washing time, did some of that and then went down to get a new broom my other one's handle bent so couldn't use it.  We then went to check out the Museum and some Aboriginal art and to have a coffee (coffee definitely is not like coffee at home).  After that we checked out the other thermal pool which was very nice and relaxing.  Met some people from Toowonga up near Mt Beauty and they were great to talk too.  Came back for lunch and then went to the thermal springs we went to yesterday only Ross took back his snorkel to look at the fish life.  We decided we had had enough of the water (both of us had stayed in too long as we were wrinkling up) and did a bit of bird watching. Just relaxing this arvo which is soooo nice.  We are starting to really enjoy this lifestyle as the sun has come out and it is a beautiful 26 degrees.  Well I'll sign off and hopefully check in again tomorrow from Katherine.

Now in Mataranka

From Ross   -   We left the Daly Waters Hotel/ Van park this morning, cant believe how many stayed overnight,  ? 100 vans, packed.   Only a small trip today about 180 kms to Mataranka.


                                                                      Daly Waters Pub.

A few interesting close encounters on the way.  Saw a few of these guys on the road,  The only ones we have seen for the trip, beautiful.

One of the true characters on the trip is this lady - Fran - in a small store in Larrimah, selling home made pies etc, expensive, but nice, but a real character you have to say g'day too on the way through.

Once set up in the Territory Manor Caravan Park we went back to the Elsey Cemetery, which is a tourist attraction as it has buried within many of the characters depicted in the book "We of the Never "  Very interesting history.   Tough life out here in the pioneering days.

 

 Spent part of the afternoon in the bitter springs thermal pools, very very nice.  Lots of bird life and was able to catch up on a few.  These ones were fantastic, first time I have seen these ones.

Shining Flycatchers   Male

 Female                                                   tytotony.blogspot.com

tytotony.blogspot.com

This park is very nice, good shady sites, friendly staff,   They have a restaurant on site  and barramundi in a dam that they feed twice a day.  Anyway time to sign off for the night.

hello from Daly Waters Pub and Caravan Park

from Jeanette - Well it was another long day of driving.  We got up early and headed off about 8.15am.  Today was a good day and thank the Lord nothing went wrong.  The van towed well and the car is going amazingly well too.  We were told by some campers we came across and others had told us back home that Daly Waters Pub was the place to stay the night.  Well we have not been disappointed.  It is obviously very popular as we are all packed in like sardines but it is all worth it.  The entertainment was fantastic and the meal out of this world.  You have to order the fresh Barramundi and Steak really yummy.  We are only 2 hours from Mataranka Springs which is where we are headed tomorrow and there we might stay for a couple of nights and just relax and hopefully get to sit in some warm springs.  Looking forward to doing a bit of relaxing as we have travelled over 4000 kms in 10 days.  Well I will sign off and will sign in again tomorrow night.

Hello from Barkly Downs Homestead in NT

from Jeanette - Well we made it!!!  What another eventful day! After Ross had fixed the spring on the caravan we were all set to start out early.  We left Cloncurry at 7.00am and headed to Mt Isa.  We got fuel at Mt Isa and thought great this is going to be a smooth drive.  But alas no we were wrong:(  About 30kms out of Mt Isa we blew a tyre on the caravan.  After Ross changed the tyre (with me help of course) and out there on the main Hwy (which was scary) we headed back into Mt Isa to get two new tyres.  Ross thought it would be better to get two good ones and strong ones so that hopefully we wouldn't blow anymore tyres.  But when they got the tyres off they found that the brakes were not working on the van so we went over the road to a brake place.  The guy said he would look at the van but kept us waiting for 3 hours.  When he finally had a look at the brakes he still couldn't find the problem but at least we have one side working.  So after a full morning and into the arvo we left Mt Isa (once again).  Thankfully nothing else went wrong and we made it to Barkly Downs Homestead in NT in the dark.  Very tired now though and will try and have a bit of a sleep in tomorrow.  Sorry don't have any photos this time.

Still in Cloncurry, or "The Curry" as the locals call it

From Ross ------   Its Monday and yes we are still in Cloncurry.  Yesterday was a waiting day as couldn't do much about the broken spring.  So we went for a drive to Mount Isa anyway, about 120 kms.  Looked around town and checked out a few places for springs, but most places closed on the w/e.

By the way this pub is between Longreach and the Curry in McKindlay.  Do you recognize it??   I'll tell you at the end unless you can read the sign.

Mount Isa township.

On the way back we stopped at an abondoned town called Mary Kathleen, all the buildings have been removed but the streets and concrete slabs etc remain as does the big hole in the ground from the mine that is now closed, but it was very beautiful in there.

This last pic is the view from our caravan window in Cloncurry.  The late afternoon sun gives it a wonderful colour.

Anyway we got the broken spring off the van this morning and had the option of trying to order a whole new spring from Townesville with "hopefully" an overnight delivery or travel to Mt Isa for repairs.  We opted for another trip to Isa and went to the spring works to have the broken leaf of the spring made up and replaced.  It took 4 1/2 hrs instead of the quoted 2 hrs, but eventually it got done and we did some grocery shopping and had another couple of cups of real coffee while we waited.    Finally got back to the curry at about 6pm and the spring back on the van, had some tea and all packed ready for an early start in the morning.  Hopefully make it to Barkly Homestead Roadhouse in NT by tomorrow night, approx 560 km.  Oh yes the pub is the Walkabout Creek  pub from the Croc Dundee films.

A Hickup on the way to Mount Isa

Today was an interesting, but frustrating day. Started out nice and early, 0700 from Longreach and aimed for Mt Isa about 650 kms. A big day, but with an early start very doable. The roads west of Longreach are better than East of the town, BUT, a few bad spots and very rough road works. Got to Cloncurry, early afternoon and felt the van was not towing right. Checked the van. found the right wheel hot and smelt of rubber, but couldn't find the cause easily. Drove on carefully and noticed the same problem and the van not towing straight. Found a road side stop about 10km out and pulled over. A young lady pulled over behind and said she was concerned as smoke coming from the right wheel. On closer inspection saw the wheel rubbing hard up against the front of the wheel arch and found a broken spring. Not good. Thanks to a colleague who loaned us a satellite ph I was able to call the RACQ and an hour later, the van on a flat top truck and we are back in a Cloncurry Caravan Park for at least 3 days. Hopefully get the spring taken out Monday and ???? a replacement sent from Townsville overnight on Monday, thats the plan, time will tell.

The night wasn't a total waste.  Had tea out and went to the Cloncurry show for the evening.  Saw a great demo of motocross jumping,  Tim you would have loved it, a 17 year old kid from Sydney doing back flips.  Then one of the best and funniest demolition derby's I have ever seen, and only two car fires.  Then a really good fire works display.  It has been a big day, disappointed we didn't get to Mount Isa, will probably have to drive through instead of stopping once we get going again.  Oh well, may be next time.

Forgot to mention the Brolga yesterday.  We thought we would have to get to Kakadu to see Brolgas, but no, three of them walking around the park at Longreach??   Saw some other interesting birds on the road today, but thats for another time.

By the way the manager of the park we are in at Cloncurry is from Warragul and he says there are two other vans from Warragul in the park at the moment, but haven't caught up to them yet.

We are still in Longreach

from Jeanette - We had a lovely sleep in this morning, wasn't in a hurry so just leisurely got up, had breakky and went to see the Stockman's Hall of Fame.  Had a lovely morning there.  So much to see, read and do.  We went to the live Show at 11.00am where a Stockman gives a bit of a show about rounding up sheep with cattle dogs (they were gorgeous) he also hooks up a team of bullocks and they demonstrate how to pull big logs just like they did in the pioneering days, he also recited poetry, and told a few yarns while doing tricks on the back of his horse.  It was a good show and he was very good at what he did and gave us quite a bit of the good old Aussie humour.  We really enjoyed it.  After that we went and had lunch as part of the show at the Bar and Grill Restaurant and had an Aussie burger and chips.  We finally found a place that has cappucinos, out the back of an old Station Store in the courtyard sitting in the sun, it was very nice.  Did some washing this morning and just relaxed for the rest of the day.  It was so nice to just relax.  We are getting up early tomorrow and heading for Mt Isa which is 650 kms away.  So big day ahead.  I think Ross wants to add some pics.  bye

Hello from Longreach

Another long day but glad to be here in Longreach for two nights.  We left Charleville at 8.30am with the sun shining.  It was about 12 degrees when we left and we followed sun all the way here to Longreach.  Not much to see along the way just the usual dead kangaroos on the roadside.  Getting into the Boa Tree territory.  We did see more emus, (no goats), sheep, cattle and the odd quails on the side of road.  I also saw what looked like a dead wild dog.  Not that I have seen many wild dogs in my life time.  Anyway I'm sticking to my story.  Today in Longreach was 25 degrees.  So nice to have sunny skies and warm weather.  We are at a Caravan Park that is full up, we are packed in like sardines unfortunately.  Tomorrow we intend to do some site seeing one place being the Hall of Fame famous here in this town.  I might do a bit of washing too.  After this another long day I will sign off.  Maybe after tomorrow I'll have a lot more to say.  Just for the record since Monday we have travelled 2,095 kms.  Still only half way to Darwin!!

From Charleville

Well we finally found Bourke, not quite as we expected, so didn't spend too much time there.  Was good to see water in the Darling River, but it is much lower than a month or two ago.

Mostly lots of this on the way, nothing,  I find it interesting though.  Saw a little green around, mostly crops.  The paddocks are very dry, but not barren.  We are amazed at the number of goats on the road paddocks from before Cobar to well after Bourke, obviously farmed but it doesn't look like controlled. Emus everywhere, and the odd sheep and beef cattle.   

Was good to see a kingfisher on the Darling.  This one sitting on the pier in Bourke, was able to get quite close.
The roads have been OK, most of the trip has been really good, 100 kph.  Some of the roads today, especially as we got in to Q'land have been a bit ordinary, had to slow down, 90 kph, just so bumpy.   Car going well,
Now in Charleville, nice friendly park.  Hope to make Longreach tomorrow, about 560 Kms