Day 56 Darwin

At home day today - administration and recovery.  Hot and humid and no sign of any volcanic ash from the Indonesian volcano.

Day 55 - More of Darwin

We recommenced our exploration of Darwin this morning starting on the southern part of the city along The Esplanade and then progressed along the coast in a northerly direction.  We tried to feed the fish at Aquascene (their signature offer) but the tide was out and there were no fish.  Cullen Bay was our next destination.  It is an upmarket suburb set around an inlet from the harbour.  Mindil Beach came next and we drove by the Sky Casino and the Museum and Art Gallery.  We drove along the foreshore of Fannie Bay to see the Fannie Bay cliffs and on past Lake Alexander to Dudley and East Points.  The latter two were dominant in the defence of Darwin during WW2. There was a large gun emplacement at East Point which remains a permanent reminder of the 29 bombing raids on Darwin in 1941/42.  

The foreshore is blessed with countless public places all easily accessible, but again, there was not a person swimming from the beaches.  A few people were swimming in Lake Alexander.

The WW2 historical education continued with a visit to the Australian Aviation Heritage Centre.  Its prime show piece is a B52 bomber, one of only two on display outside the USA.  Of course the plane did not participate in WW2 but the Americans provided it to the people of Darwin because of the special relationship that developed between the Territorians and the USA forces during the war.

It was a bright sunny day today, hot and humid.  We saw no evidence of the cloud from the Indonesian volcanic eruption underway at the moment.  The possibility of volcanic ash has caused the Darwin airport to be closed for precautionary reasons.

310514 Director's Gully from the Esplanade with the Navy Patrol Boat Base top left.
The Aquacentre is mid-picture at the RHS

310514 Darwin from Dudley Point on Fannie Bay

310514 Fannie Bay Cliffs

310514 Gun emplacement at East Point

310514 Lake Alexander near East Point.  It is about 50m from the beach/sea.

310514 Cockpit of a B52 bomber at The Australian Aviation Heritage Centre - so small for such a big plane

310514 The B52 bomber at The Australian Aviation Heritage Centre

310514 The B52 bomber at The Australian Aviation Heritage Centre

Day 54 Darwin

Today we started our "Darwin" experience.  We drove along Tiger Brennan Drive which skirts along the southern  suburbs of Coonawarra, Winnilie, Woolner, Bayview and Stuart Park and then in to Darwin.  Our first stop was the Hidden Valley car racing circuit.  We could not get on the track proper but cautiously drove around the tracks outskirts.  The place was a beehive of activity as they are setting up for the V8 races in June.  

Next we stopped at the Charles Darwin National Park at Winnilie.  This park contains many of the reinforced concrete bunkers which stored WW2 munitions.  From the park and overlooking the mangrove habitats of Darwin Harbour, we could see the sea for the first time since we left home and as well, Darwin in all her sun drenched glory.  

We "dropped" in to Bayview, which in some respects resembles Twin Waters - canals and private dwellings but more multi storey units.  We then went along some of the wharf areas but the tide was out - sadly.  Lunch was taken at Darwin's Fisherman's Wharf.  The barra and chips lunch was great but the environment was not the most salubrious and was not a patch on the real "Fisherman's Wharf".  

After lunch found us at the Convention Centre and the nearby Fort Hill Wharf, and we passed by the Deckchair Cinema down on the foreshore.  

Our final assault for the day was a walk into the WW2 Oil Storage Tunnels.  The six tunnels, the longest of which was184m long, were built to protect the navy's oil supplies from bombardment. They extend from the wharf and run under the city.  The one we walked through was 172m long and the steel lining was still evident although a little rusty.  The tunnel stored 135 million litres.  We found our way back to our base with no trouble at all.  We will try for the Darwin CBD tomorrow.

Today's trivia - Though the oil storage tunnels cost 1.2 million pounds to build in 1942/3, they were never used to store oil.

300514 The entrance sign to Hidden Valley racing circuit in Darwin

300514 The main straight at Hidden Valley - looks like it is being resurfaced

300514 Darwin from Charles Darwin National Park - across Darwin Harbour's mangroves

300514 One of the munitions bunkers in Charles Darwin National Park

300514 One of the oil storage tunnels under Darwin

300514 The Deckchair Cinema on Darwin's foreshore

Day 53 - Batchelor to Howard Springs (Darwin)

A short 95km drive from Batchelor via Manton Dam had us reaching our destination at Howard Springs, about 30km from Darwin.  All caravan parks seem to be well out of Darwin.  The one we have chosen is close to Palmerston which is where we are to have the car serviced next week.

There is not much at Howard Springs although we have not ventured too far yet.   We did go to Palmerston to check out how to get to the Toyota service centre.  Palmerston is a bustling outer suburb and we had to adjust quickly to traffic lights and a significant increase in traffic.  Oh! Woe is us.  We were becoming used to the "country" lifestyle.

Manton Dam was built in 1942 to provide an assured water supply for Darwin during the second world war and is now used for recreation.  Its water can be pumped to Darwin in an emergency eg after cyclone Tracey.

It is notable for its solitude and for its water lilies - our observations.

290514 Manton Dam from the boat ramp.  We couldn't find the dam wall.

290514 Water lilies on Manton Dam

290514 The solitude of Manton Dam.  Yes, we were the only ones there.

Day 52 Litchfield National Park

Today we travelled 163km as we ventured into the Litchfield National Park.  The park is famous for its countless termite mounds dotting the dry woodland forests that cover the 200m high sandstone plateau of the Tabletop Range. We moved up and down the escarpment to access the several creeks and waterfalls as the water tumbles down from the plateau. On the program today were the magnetic termite mounds (facing narrow side to the north to minimise exposure to the sun), Buley Rockholes,  Florence Falls, Tolmer Falls and Wangi Falls.  The falls and the swimming holes below them were all beautiful but Wangi Falls were a bit better than the rest and were complemented by a huge pool at its base with easy access for swimmers.  In all cases the water was crystal clear.  Some of the views from the plateau were great too.

Only 100 or so miles from Darwin, so tomorrow, "Darwin here we come".

Go the mighty Maroons!

280514 Litchfield National Park - termite mounds -
thought it was a cemetary

280514 Litchfield National Park - a cathedral termite mound
made by grass eating termites

280514 Litchfield National Park - Buley Rockholes

280514 Litchfield National Park - Florence Falls

280514 Litchfield National Park - Tolma Falls
shame they are in shadow

280514 Litchfield National Park - Wangi Falls

280514 Litchfield National Park- rock pool at the base of Wangi Falls

280514 Litchfield National Park - who wouldn't be happy at Wangi Falls

280514 near Batchelor - even the Territorians have class

Day 51 Katherine to Batchelor via Edith Falls

This morning we wished Katherine goodbye and headed north to Batchelor 282km away via Edith Falls.  Ordinary country, but roads remain very good.  We took the 20km deviation to Edith Falls and were delighted we did.  The river drops through three pools as it passes through the "gorge".  The lower pool was beautiful and was a mere 100m from the car park.  Alas we had to walk to the second pool, firstly up the escarpment then down to the pool.  We chose not to tackle the third pool (Sweetwater Pool) as it was a further 2.6km walk to see it fully.  We are not pikers truly.  It was 34 degrees and we each had already consumed our bottle of water to get where we did.  You may have noticed in walks like these there are occasional seats on which to rest.  We used everyone of them, up and back.  The pools are open for swimming and there were several groups of people in the water. 

Batchelor is the gateway to the Litchfield National Park so we will go adventuring into the park tomorrow.  Regrettably the 4WD roads in the park are not open.

270514 Edith Falls - the lower pool

270514 Edith Falls - looking downstream from the lower pool

270514 Edith Falls - looking down onto the lower pool
from the escarpment

270514 Edith Falls - Waterfall into the upper pool

270514 Edith Falls - Waterfall into the upper pool from pool level

270514 Edith Falls - the waterfall into the upper pool close up

270514 Edith Falls - above the waterfall into the upper pool

Day 50 Around Katherine

Recovery day today after our big day at Katherine Gorge yesterday.  Very hot again.  Even the local trees look as if they are feeling the heat.  We remain undaunted and defiant, even with the high temperature and are ready to head to Litchfield National Park tomorrow.

Today's trivia.  Telstra's Bigpond has been down for part of the day .  When trying to send emails we received a message that our password was incorrect.  After an exasperating hour trying to fix the problem, we went to the Telstra agent in town.  He could not help us so he rang Telstra on our behalf and was told "Bigpond was having technical difficulties". **#!!^*#.  Why did they not send us that message rather than "incorrect password"?  As remarked before, we remain undaunted and defiant.

No pictures today.

Day 49 Katherine Gorge Cruise

30km from Katherine is the Katherine gorge and 9.00am found us boarding a boat to cruise three sections of the gorge.  They described it as a three gorge cruise but you have to transfer from boat to boat when rocks block further progress upstream at two places.  We saw trees, rocks, bats, cliffs, including the one made famous in the Jedda movie when they jumped off the 70m cliff, water, rock paintings, fish, people paddling canoes and yes! crocodiles - fresh water ones.  At  one point we left the boat and climbed up many steps and rock hopped to a place called "The Lily Ponds", where a number of passengers had a swim.  The tour took four hours after which we had lunch at the visitor centre at the gorge entrance.  The trip was enjoyable but we missed a lot of the commentary because of poor amplification.  We saw some more mango farms on the way home and the trees here were pruned into those box like shapes too.

250514 Start of the Katherine Gorge cruise

250514 One of the many gorge views on the
Katherine Gorge cruise

250514 Rocks blocking our progress to the second gorge

250514 Katherine Gorge rock painting

250514 Katherine Gorge cliff made famous
in the movie "Jedda"

250514 Another Katherine Gorge view

250514 Rocks blocking our passage to the third gorge

250514 Looking back to the river/gorge
from the walk to the Lily Pond

250514 Swimming at the Lily Pond

250415 Yes a real live freshwater crocodile

250514 Horse-shoe bats in a cave in Katherine Gorge

250514 Flying foxes near the boarding ramp

Day 48 Around Katherine

35 degrees today and needless to say - it was sunny and the sky was that clear azure blue.  Fortunately the humidity is not too bad.  After doing our unavoidable duties around the van this morning we headed for town.  Katherine is a lovely country town with one main road through its centre.  It looks prosperous but some locals are saying it is slowly dying, particularly as there are too few jobs for the younger people.  It is also at Katherine that the highway to Western Australia commences, so we will have to come back here after our visit to Darwin.  It is also the drop off point for the Katherine Gorge but more of that tomorrow.

We are staying about 5 km from town and nearby is the Katherine river.  We visited a local swimming area in the river proper and also a hot springs.  The locals reckon their springs are better than Mataranka's, but we'd put them on a par.  

Given we are in the sub tropics you would not be surprised to know that they have mango orchards here and the trees are actually pruned.  Tropical plants abound here too and we have been most impressed by the tropical frangipani.  There are even bigger ones than those we photographed below.  

240514 Katherine River 5 km west of Katherine

240514 Katherine River - low level bridge - which is
under 30m of water in the "Wet"

240514 Katherine River downstream from the bridge

240514 The hot springs at Katherine

240514 swimming in the Katherine hot springs

240514 Katherine hot springs as the water bubbles from below

240514 Tropical frangipani at Katherine

240514 Mango orchard at Katharine

240514 Another mango orchard at Katharine