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.