Litchfield National Park

Tuesday 24th June.

Today we went to Litchfield National Park which is about 150km south of Darwin off the Stuart highway via Batchelor. We chose to do this trip in the car as opposed to visiting it on our way north or south in the motorhome. We have been here on previous trips to Darwin but two spots in particular are worthy of a repeat visit. Buley Rockhole and Wangi Falls are both excellent places for a swim. Today we took a picnic lunch and after visiting Buley Rockhole which was extremely busy and crowded due to the school holidays we moved on to Wangi Falls where the swimming area is much larger. The water was great and the falls were flowing magnificently.

Back home after a great day in which we covered about 350km we were in time for a pleasant happy hour with our friends at the caravan park.

Stokes Hill Wharf

Monday 23rd June.

A bus trip into town today utilising the 3 hour concession fare of $1 each return. NT certainly have the public transport act together. It would cost us considerably more to drive with parking on the outskirts at $1.60 an hour or $2.20 in the CBD. Mitchell street is the hub of the backpackers area offering lots of food, clothing and bar outlets. It is quite different from Cavanagh street which is more the business centre with Smith street being the Mall.

Dinner tonight at the Stokes Hill Wharf precinct where we had a table right on the edge of the wharf and were able to lean over and watch the HUGE fish below competing for food scraps thrown down into the floodlit water. This is a very popular spot for families so we were lucky to get such a great table to eat our fish dinner with a nice glass of wine.

V8's Sunday

Sunday 22nd June.

Same deal as yesterday except that we caught an earlier bus as the longer race today is expected to attract a very much larger crowd. Once again we located under the very large shade cloth shelter and settled back to enjoy the day. Just for a change Craig Lowndes took pole position today with Jamie Whincup also on the front row. The start saw some incredible changes by the first turn with David Reynolds gaining about 3 positions and Mark Winterbottom dropping back a couple.

David Reynolds took the lead early and held it until eventually there was an incident requiring the safety car which bunched the whole field up and cancelling his nice lead.

The race produced some great close racing back in the field and particularly the last 10 or so laps when Mark Winterbottom was leading but hotly pressed by Shane van Gisbergen and further back to Jamie Whincup. Mark held on to win narrowly with Shane second and Jamie third.

Our three day passes also gave us entry to the pit area which we visited on a number of occasions between races and also gave us admission to the Saturday and Sunday evening live concerts which we decided to forfeit. The bands included The Baby Animals which we thought was not our kind of entertainment.

Saturday V8's

Saturday 21st June.

Gail and I caught a bus at 10:00am, arriving at the track at 10:35am. The advantage of coming by the free bus as opposed to driving the car are many. Firstly we do not have a parking problem at the circuit, but most importantly the bus drops us right at the gate.

As the circuit is located in a natural amphitheatre patrons are advised to bring a chair for their comfort. We took the two folding chairs on the bus plus a picnic lunch and frozen water bottles.

Upon arrival at the circuit we made a bee line for our chosen viewing spot and set up the two chairs on our travel rug to ensure we a had staked our claim so to speak. We then went for a walk to look at the merchandise outlets, the food and drinks stalls and some static displays by the army.

Today there are two 100km races for the V8 Supercars superseded by qualifying for both races.

Due to the anticipated heat here these two races are scheduled for mid afternoon for the first one then late in the afternoon for the second race. In between our arrival and these races there are demonstrations by the Hot Wheels drift cars and motorcycle stunt men as well as races for the F3's, V8 Utes and production masters, all of which were great and entertaining.

Jamie Whincup won back to back pole positions and then went on to win both races.

The only disappointing aspect of today's racing was that a number of teams were definitely preserving tyres for tomorrow's big 200km race. There were no incidents requiring a safety car intervention and no compulsorary pit stops consequently the cars pretty much finished in the order they started from the grid.

V8's Hidden Valley

Friday 20th June.

Today is practice day for the V8's at the Hidden Valley circuit. As we have three day passes to attend I decided to go alone today and Gail was happy to stay and catch up with cooking, knitting etc. The Northern Territory government provide free transport to the event from several locations around Darwin. The Casuarina shopping square and bus interchange is only a short drive from where we are staying at Lee Point so I drove the car to the shopping centre and parked it there for the day. The buses leave for the circuit every hour today then half hourly tomorrow and Sunday.

The 9:30am bus arrived at the Hidden Valley circuit after a 35 minute run.

As this is the first time I have been to this circuit I firstly walked around most of the track to determine the best vantage points. A practice session for the V8 Utes was in progress when I arrived so I had the perfect opportunity to select the most desirable spectator view point.

The amount of shade cloth and permanent shade covered areas is quite amazing but not surprising considering the weather at this time of the year. The sky was absolutely cloudless with temperatures climbing to 32 degrees by late afternoon.

Aside from the V8's there were also Formula 3 open wheelers, Production Masters which includes such vehicles as Mustangs, Camoros, Toranas, Mazda rotaries, Valiants and Falcon GTs.

As today is purely for practice sessions to enable teams and drivers to get their cars ready there is not a great deal of competition or excitement except when there is a smash or similar.

The merchandise operators were in full swing as well as a number of other attractions.

Ample buses were available for the return trip back to Casuarina. The day was a success as I was able to check everything out in preparation for Gail and I tomorrow and Sunday.

Darwin 19/6.

Thursday 19th June.

As the Sky City casino is the major sponsor for the V8's at Hidden Valley there a number of activities taking place on the lawns outside the casino. The major one of these which is of interest to Gail and myself is the appearance of all drivers for autograph signing. This was scheduled for 5:00 to 7:00pm today so we decided to arrive early to secure a parking spot. Because the Thursday night Mindil Beach markets are adjacent to the casino this causes huge parking problems unless you arrive early.

We queued along with other fans to obtain some autographs etc.

Our new great granddaughters' mother Madison is a staunch Holden supporter and a fan of Holden's Craig Lowndes. So I figured I should get Craig to sign for Kelsey. However unknown to me Gail had counteracted by getting a similar "To Kelsey" from Ford's Mark Winterbottom. Some people never learn!

After depositing our posters etc in the car we walked on to the Mindil Beach markets for yet another take-away dinner from one of the large number of food vendors.

A very pleasant afternoon and evening. Oh by the way - the sunset was superb again.

Darwin

Wednesday 18th June.

Today was our day "in town". The Mall in Darwin is very pretty with lots of seating, shaded by huge trees. We parked in a three hour spot on the edge of the main shopping centre and strolled in and out of the many small arcades. The last few days have been slightly cloudy in the morning but with temperatures still around 30 degrees it is quite hot when not under cover of some sort.

As this coming weekend is the V8 Supercars meeting at the Hidden Valley circuit in Darwin the local community have got right behind supporting this event. Most of the shops in the city have some form of decorations in their windows, ranging from posters through shirts, replica cars and all sorts of merchandise. I spotted a great shirt from the Adelaide Clipsal 500 event in the window of the Red Cross op shop. It was for sale, but not until after the final day of racing. Being in my price range I have put a hold on it to collect next Monday.

Catch up day.

Tuesday 17th June.

A quite day today, we stayed put and did some reading and a couple of minor chores. I made up a longer 12V lead to connect our small solar panel to the spare 12V battery which will trickle charge it to be used as a standby for the Engel fridge.

Around 5:00pm, time to get together for another talk fest under the shelter beside our motorhome. Generally known as happy hour, although very little drinking actually takes place, more an opportunity to catch up on what everyone has been up to.

Palmerston.

Monday 16th June.

Today we went for a drive south of Darwin to the outlying satellite town of Palmerston. Gail was able to find the type of shoes she had been looking for. We also invested in a "Magic Bullet" Big Shot. This kitchen appliance can chop, peel, mix, blend, whip and grind - all in just seconds. It is similar to one being advertised on TV, but at a very much lower price.

Lunch back at camp was the mud crab and salad originally intended for yesterday. It was a good feed. For dinner we took advantage of the Monday Seniors special at Sky City on the form of an all you can eat buffet.

Fijian Flavour.

Sunday 15th June.

Church at 9:30 at the same Uniting Church at Casuarina. The service this morning was quite unique as the congregation was made up of about 60% Fijians plus Africans, New Guineans and Indonesians with the balance a mixture of white races. The service was led by a very tall, well built Fijian wearing traditional dress. All in all it was a very different experience. The singing was superb with a mixed choir of most races represented.

Watched AFL football during the afternoon, a great round with no less than three underdogs getting up for a win.

Parap visit.

Saturday 14th June.

Another of the must see tourist attractions in Darwin is the Saturday morning Parap Markets, held naturally enough at Parap, a small suburb quite close to the CBD of Darwin.

This market is similar in many ways to the Thursday night Mindil Beach markets, with about 80% of the stall being food outlets. Apart from buying a freshly cut up and packaged mango our only other purchase was three small tea spoons carved from a coconut shell and beautifully finished and polished. The weather has taken a dive (to quote the locals) to the mid 20's, quite a change from the norm of 32 -34 degrees. The only perceptible difference we have noticed is the overnight temperatures which has us pulling out the summer doona again in lieu of just a sheet.

After leaving the markets we went for a drive around the town and waterfront, then back to camp in time for happy hour. Keith had been mud crabbing the day before and had given us a large cooked crab which we intended to have for dinner with a salad. However he had also caught some spotted cod and barramundi so they proceeded to deep fry portions of these together with some prawns and calamari rings for everyone during our happy hour. It was all delicious and replaced what we had intended to have for dinner.

Geocaching morning.

Friday 13th June.

This morning while Gail had some free time to herself to do some cooking etc. I decided to do some geocaching. I confined my search area to the Lee Point peninsula and what a treasure trove of historical and interesting places my searching took me to.

Concealed in the dense jungle foliage just off a walking track adjacent to the beach I discovered several World War 2 historical observation posts, bunkers and fuel deposits.

One of the observation posts is still totally intact. A total of six of these bunkers were built in February 1940, located within the Casuarina Coastal Reserve and were an integral part of the coastal defence network. After taking the obligatory photos I resumed my geocaching activities, finding 8 out of 9 in about 2-1/2 hours.
Geocaching has proven once again to be an excellent vehicle for taking you to interesting, historical and picturesque places. A very enjoyable morning, all within 2 km's of our caravan park.

Mindill Market night.

Thursday 12th June.

After breakfast another visit to the caravan park pool, then lunch.

After lunch we drove to Mindil adjacent to the casino to secure an early parking spot prior to tonight's Mindil Sunset markets.

These markets are a huge draw card for visitors and locals alike. The idea is that you arrive in time to see the magnificent sunset over the ocean then choose your evening meal from one of the dozens of food stalls. Everything from Indian curries to Indonesian dishes, crocodile and buffalo burgers to 73 flavours of ice cream complete with Dutch mini donuts.

Then there are the stalls selling clothing, honey and jams, didgeridoos, stock whips, hats plus every imaginable T shirt. In addition to all this there are sidewalk entertainers and buskers.

Literally hundreds of visitors line the sand dunes and beach flats to capture that magnificent sunset over the ocean.

Shopping

Wednesday 11th June.

A visit to the Casuarina shopping centre looking for shoes for Gail, then a drive to Berrimah, a southern suburb of Darwin.

Sky City feast.

Tuesday 10th June.

The Sky City casino have a special seniors lunch each Monday, however for some reason best known to them the special lunch has been moved to Tuesday this week as yesterday was a public holiday. Work that one out if you can !

Anyway we decided to lash out and try the $9.95, all you can eat lunch. What a feast, no need for dinner tonight. Another convivial happy hour with old and new friends at Lee Point.

Meeting up with old friends.

Monday 9th June.

Believe it or not but this morning we discovered that only about 25 metres away from us on the other side of the shower block were our friends Wendy and Keith from Rye in Victoria.

We first met them here in 2004 and kept bumping into them as we travelled throughout Queensland after leaving Darwin on that occasion. We travelled together for some time and became quite good friends and have kept in touch each year with Christmas cards and letters etc.

On one of our visits to Melbourne we were in touch with them and visited them at their home in Rye. They come to Darwin most years for about 3-4 months to escape the winter months in Rye.

Keith is a retired auto electrician specialising in RV wiring and equipment and has now built two fifth wheeler Motorhomes. Their latest one which they have here is magnificent and towed by a Ford 250, V8 turbo diesel.

Neither of use could believe the coincidence of being so close together in this park considering that there are over 750 sites in total.

After watching the AFL on TV during the afternoon we joined Wendy and Keith with another couple Owen and Gail for drinks and nibbles under an adjacent shade shelter, many of which are scattered around the park.

Leanyer Recreation Park.

Sunday 8th June.

Off to church at 9:30am to the Casuarina Uniting Church where we have been previously.

This is a lovely church, mostly glass louvre windows from ceiling to floor to allow a breeze to gently blow through. The church is set in a lovely green park setting.

After church we drove the short distance to the Casuarina shopping centre to look for sandals for Gail as she had broken a strap on her existing ones. Unable to find a suitable pair so I will try and superglue the dislodged strap back in place as a short term solution.

Next stop was the Leanyer Recreation Park where there is the most magnificent complex of;

An outdoor swimming pool in the form of a lagoon surrounded by lawns and palms. There is also a water park for kids with water cannons, a giant bucket that fills then empties every couple of minutes much to the delight of those standing under the louvred metal roof so as not to get knocked out by the sudden rush of water. Also a skateboard park, electric barbecues, a coffee shop and plenty of shade shelters and picnic tables etc. All in all, a very family oriented park and all FREE. We had taken a picnic lunch and chairs so had another swim then relaxed after lunch with our books for a couple of hours reading.

Lee Point -Darwin

Saturday 7th June.

This morning we went for a swim in one of the two swimming pools here at the Lee Point park.

Gail was able to do her hydro-therapy exercises in this lovely pool under a perfect clear blue sky. The temperature does not change much in Darwin all year round. A maximum each day throughout the year of around 33 degrees except for the extremely high humidity and the daily tropical storms each day during the "wet" as it is called from October to April.

After our swim we decided to move to a better site which had become available this morning and only two sites along from where we were. The move only involved disconnecting water and power plus retracting the awning. The rest of our outdoor belongings such as chairs, picnic table and ground mat and clothes line were simply picked up and carried to our new location.

Mid afternoon we went for a drive around the area to see the recent changes underway in the form of a very big housing complex.

To celebrate our safe arrival in Darwin we went to the casino for dinner.

Arrival in Darwin.

Friday 6th June.

Departed Coomalie RV park just after 8:00am, arrived in Darwin at 10:00am and proceeded to the Budget premises where we collected our little Toyota 3 door Yaris. We have this for three weeks and may extend if we decide to stay longer.

Gail drove the Yaris and followed me to the Lee Point Tourist Park where we have stayed on previous visits here. Lee Point is about 6km from the CBD near Casuarina. It is a good central location and a great park with swimming pools, very large natural sites with the choice of either grass or concrete to set up on. Adjacent to the park there is now a very large motel complex which is owned by the same man. This incorporates a magnificent restaurant which is open for breakfast and dinner and is available to the general public as well as the park residents such as us.

After setting up we jumped into the car and headed off to do our food shopping etc. at the very large Casuarina shopping complex. So large in fact that we could not find the car in the parking area for 3/4 hour despite getting assistance from the Centre management.

Our day of complete R & R.

Thursday 5th June.

A very quiet and relaxing day other than washing the motorhome and awning.

Wednesday 4th June.

Wednesday 4th June.

What a great location this is known as Coomalie, which is located on the Stuart Highway 87 km's south of Darwin. There are another eight to ten other travellers there for varying lengths of time.

One couple we met there who were travelling in the company of another pair they had met up with earlier down the track were using Coomalie as a base and alternating whose vehicle they would drive the four of them to surrounding tourist spots as well as into Darwin on day trips out.

One of our favourite spots, Litchfield National park is only about 25 km's west of this spot but we have decided to make this a day trip or two in the Budget rental car we have booked for our 3 week or so stay in Darwin rather than take the motorhome in there. There are some absolutely great waterholes and waterfalls to swim in which are supposedly free of crocodiles which is more than I can say about the creek adjacent to where we are now.

We will stay here until Friday morning then drive the short distance into Darwin.

Coomalie stopover.

Tuesday 3rd June.

Upon further investigation we found that this had previously been an RV park that had become quite dilapidated under the previous owner / manager. A local farmer had purchased the quite large property and was now attempting to restore it to a viable business. All the external power poles and equipment had recently been replaced as well as renewing all taps throughout the camping area.

Mobile phone service was only available from the verandah of the homestead which had a reader of some sort installed there. Peter the new owner invited us to come and sit under his huge covered verandah for happy hour and to make calls etc. In fact on one occasion we were up there making a few calls and catching up on emails when Peter drove up and called out for us to put on the kettle in his kitchen and he would be back in a few minutes.

Not only did we have morning tea with him but he also made some biscuits and cheese to go with the cuppa for us.

Coomalie - A Green Oasis

Monday 2nd June.

In line with our desire to slow down today we only travelled roughly 90 km's where we located a nice area beside a rambling creek. Adjacent to this spot we discovered an RV camp ground so decided to check it out. We had noticed this lovely green flat area as we approached and thought how great it would be for a few days. Well, it turned out to be just right in all respects. A water view to the rambling creek, power and water hook up available with plenty of flat green areas to choose from, all for $20 per night.

First day of Winter - NOT HERE.

Sunday 1st June.

The first day of winter !! Really.

On the move again towards Pine Creek and beyond. 

As we crossed over the river leaving Katherine we looked down and spotted a fresh water crocodile about 4 feet long in the water. Glad we had not gone to the hot springs which were only about 1km downstream. Around 11:30am we stopped for a cuppa at a little roadhouse at a place called Emerald Springs. Boy, what a surprise. This place has the most incredible outdoor covered bar, beer garden and bistro area. Fresh flowers on each table and spotlessly clean throughout. This was supposed to be morning tea only but the range of freshly baked goodies was too tempting so it became lunch of Apple pie with ice-cream for Gail and a huge orange and poppyseed muffin for me. Plus the largest pot of tea imaginable, all at a most reasonable cost of $13.

We should have realised that this was something special as there were 3 or 4 road trains parked outside. Always a good sign where truckies congregate to take a break and have a meal.

We continued on for a further hour or so, arriving at our chosen overnight rest area, Bridge Creek around 1:00pm. This is about 35kms south of Adelaide River.

Watched AFL during the afternoon as we watched other overnighter's roll in.

The long walk of 4kms.

Saturday 31st May.

This morning we went for a nice long walk to pay a visit to an old friend, " Johnny ".

Johnny and his wife operate the great electrical store where we purchased our first satellite receiver and dish back in 2004. They have moved to a larger premises just out of town on the Victoria Hwy which is where the Riverside Park is also located.

It was great to have 240 volt power available as we ran the air conditioner in the motorhome almost constantly. It is very effective and made sleeping much easier.

Katherine is HOT.

Friday 30th May.

Time to move on to Katherine, a distance of only 120kms.

The weather continues to favour us with clear blue skies and temperatures in the low 30's.

That is until we reached Katherine where it was overpowering in the sun walking around town.

Time to drop into the Coffee Club for a light lunch where the air conditioning was heaven. 

(This is not the norm to find a Coffee Club in outback locations - some enterprising people have recognised the need and are doing a roaring trade here in Katherine).

A bit of food shopping followed then out to book into the Riverside Tourist Park which was advertised as being the shadiest park around. Sounded good so that was our choice to get out of the intense heat of around 38 degrees.

We booked in for two nights.

Whatever....

Thursday 29th May.

Same as yesterday.

Wednesday 28th.

Wednesday 28th May.

Much the same lazy existence - in the pool during the morning, lunch and a read then more time in the pool before going across to Happy Hour and listening to the entertainment.

Mataranka - Facts & Figures

Tuesday 27th May.

Today we decided to check out the origin of the spring which feeds the thermal pool here at Mataranka Homestead.

Huge reservoirs of water, 30 to 100 metres underground are heated to the temperature of the ground, at this depth around 34 degrees C. The springs here at Elsey National Park are not true hot springs in that there is no underground hot spot heating the water, just the just the normal temperature increase with depth. At Mataranka's Rainbow Springs 30.5 million litres of spring water per day flows through the pool out to the Waterhouse River then on to the Roper River.

So, the thermal waters are not part of any river as such but formed from the output of these springs. The water is absolutely crystal clear both at it's origin and throughout the pool area until it exits at the man made waterfall.

We also walked along the Riverside walk to Stevie's Hole which is a much larger natural swimming hole, located 1.2km from the thermal pool. Stevie's Hole is fed from the overflow of the main thermal pool via a quite narrow channel through the dense bush land.