Tuesday 30^th July, 2024

Sunday was a good day. We celebrated Stephen’s birthday by phoning in to our walking group as they were enjoying their brunch at Kaffiene. The group walks to the café, then back, or drives if they don’t feel up to walking. After a bit of a catchup they all sang Happy Birthday to Stephen for his birthday yesterday.

At lunchtime we walked across to the shopping centre opposite the caravan park and had a lovely roast dinner. I counted a total of six vegetables with pork and apple sauce. We voted it as good as an English pub carvery meal, though usually there are several types of roast meat on offer and it’s carved in front of you. Well done Coolalinga Tavern.

We did some shopping, including buying a cream filled sponge cake as a birthday cake.

In the evening during our Facetime call with Matt we put candles on the cake and pretended that he was helping Stephen blow them out. Stephen and I sang Happy Birthday, with Matt joining in ‘in spirit’ even if it was hard for him to sing.

Of course, yesterday, Monday, was actually Stephen’s birthday. We were leaving that caravan park and had booked a couple of nights at Lee Point Village Resort. It’s a very large caravan park and Lee Point has ocean on three sides, which doesn’t make it cooler, but makes us feel cooler psychologically. Unfortunately it’s beyond the bus routes, but we have options.

It was too early to book into our caravan park so we went to the Museum and Art Gallery of Northern Territory to have coffee and perhaps lunch and also have a look through the exhibits. Starting with hot drinks, of course, on a beautiful balcony overlooking a park and the sea. There were lots of fighter aircraft overhead as there is a military exercise taking place here in Darwin. You can go the airport and watch them take off and land.

The artwork and natural science sections were the most interesting to me. There was also a whole section on the effect of Cyclone Tracy on the city all those years ago.

The café was very busy at lunchtime so we decided to go to the caravan park and have lunch in the van. We have an ensuite site, which sounds posh, but it’s a very basic ensuite with a concrete floor and no separation between toilet and shower and wash basin. Fortunately there is a good drainage system so we don’t wet the entire floor.

We also get a laundry trough which we are using to do dishes, but I can also use for handwashing. As getting things dry is easy in this climate I prefer to do handwashing most days, rather than chasing down a washing machine and having a huge wash.

We don’t have any shade, but otherwise it’s a pleasant section of the park overlooking grasslands and with a good view of sunrise.

As there was quite a saving in cost Stephen booked us into this park for a week. That gives us plenty of time to enjoy being here and catching up with my cousin Marnie. We will be here for Thursday and Sunday nights when we could go to the Mindil Beach Markets for a meal and to watch the sunset on the beach, as is traditional here in Darwin.

Friday 26^th and Saturday 27^th July, 2024

On our first day of travel we went to Mamukala Wetlands. Most of the area was covered in water lillies and had very few birds. A pity because the bird hide was excellent, allowing a great view and with deep shade and comfortable benches. Our next stop was for lunch at the West Alligator Rest Area. We didn’t see any crocs, but the little mud hopper fish on the edge were fun to watch. It was lunchtime, so we went back inside and had our usual salad, etc.

Mamaluka Wetlands

West Alligator River

Fogg Dam

Fogg Dam: the history is interesting. The dam was built as part of a failed project to grow rice in this region. Unfortunately, too much rain in the wet season and not enough in the dry meant it was a resounding failure. But, the resulting wetlands absolutely team with birdlife who don’t seem to be much disturbed by cars driving though.

The rest of the drive to Bark Hut Inn Roadhouse/Caravan Parkwas very long and tiring. We stopped to rest a couple of times, including at the western boundary of Kakadu. We arrive at Bark Hut after 4.00 p.m. and managed to secure a powered site. The idea was that you could choose your own camp spot near a post with power points. Campers had parked higgeldy piggeldy and it was hard to work out where we could camp in reach of electricity. Eventually we found a spot on the edge, on a slope that we were too tired to correct, and Stephen plugged us into water as well as power.

We had a semi comfortable night with the air conditioning running the whole time and set to dehumidfy. We had four bars of 4G, but it was very slow anyway. I though it wouldn’t work to set up the Starlink as south of us had two large trees. But, I did set up in the morning and we had quite good internet despite the trees.

Yesterday we travelled slightly off the Arnhem Highway to Fogg Dam. This has been on our list since we ran into people in Alice Springs who said it was wonderful. It did not disappoint. There is a dam wall that you can drive across to a viewing point. It was the middle of the day but the bird life was still amazing. There were signs prohibiting walking on the dam wall due to saltwater crocodiles, but we used the Sherwood as a bird hide and croc safe viewing platform to stop at the side of the road on the dam for lunch.

We opened up the windows so that we could photograph and use binoculars to view the birds. Stephen felt a bit nervous about having the window on his side wide open. I’m glad that he is now very cautious about crocs, not like when he was younger and decided to swim with the crocs at Katherine Gorge.

We didn’t actually see any crocs, but are aware that they hide just below the surface. One side of the dam had water and the other side was damp, with some pools and that is where most of the birds were.

Then it was time to head back to the main road and towards Darwin. We decided to take the first caravan park that had room, ideally an actual room or cabin. So we are now at Coolalinga Caravan Park about 30kms from the city.

We have very little internet and this morning when we were recovered from the journey we set up the Starlink. I’ve had the router and power block stickied to the Sherwood stove bench, so had to undo the sticky. We seem to have a good signal outside of our back door.

I’ve also done some handwashing and set it outside on our airer to drip dry. We’ve had a family next door using our car port (admittedly we can’t use it) and they were very noisy at times. But, today they have left.

We’ve decided to stay two nights here to get our bearings and decide where to stay closer to the city. We have quite a large room with three beds, a large dining table, a comfortable sofa, plus kitchen and bathroom. Stephen managed to get us a free upgrade to this space. Nothing fancy and the air conditioning is very noisy, but does a good job. We also have overhead fans and were able to sleep without leaving the air conditioning on. It shows the difference with a van in that the inside temperature is usually within a degree of the outside if you don’t either cool or heat inside. Whereas this place stayed cool from the air conditioning running for a few hours.

We do have air conditioning in the van, but are having to run it all night in order to sleep. We will stay in caravan parks with power until we get south enough for the nights to be cooler. It was 24 degrees overnight here, whereas Broome, for example, had the same day time temperature, but cooled down to 15 overnight.

Wednesday 24^th and Thursday 25^th July, 2024

Highlights of the past two days have been visiting Yellow Waters Wetland Park on Wednesday and dropping in at the Visitor’s centre, where we paid our park entry fees, going to Cahill’s Crossing Crocodile Viewing Platform, and visiting the Ubirr Rock art Site. Cahill’s crossing is a bit north of Jabiru, where we are based and the Ubirr site is just a bit further on from there.

It’s been over 30 degrees, with hot, humid nights, so not at all comfortable in terms of weather. It’s also been partly cloudy, which leaves us wishing it would storm and get it over with, however no rain is forecast.

However, we’ve made the best of our time here and in some ways it’s better to be sight seeing in the open air than sitting inside our little Sherwood in the noisy air conditioning.

We’ve also done a huge pile of washing that accumulated since Banka Banka and there is quite a good supermarket here in Jabiru where we’ve been able to stock up on food.

There are still sights to see on our way to Alice Springs and we’ve planned a night in a roadhouse caravan park for tonight as we will definitely need power for air conditioning in this hot spell. It cools down a little bit in the mornings, but too late to guarantee a good night’s sleep.

The wetlands was a very peaceful place to be, despite warning signs for crocs. It reminded us of visiting a similar place in England, with the wide fields and birdlife. You can take boat tours, but we preferred to follow the boardwalk to a small, shallow area where there was lots of birdlife. We saw the buffalos in the distance.

It was whilst we were there that someone told us about Cahill’s Crossing as a place to see crocodiles. The river is tidal and at high tide the crocs like to fish near a crossing.

On our way to Jabiru we followed signs to a couple of places on the way, but it was too hot for exploring on foot, so decided to get ourselves checked in at the caravan park.

Yesterday we did the washing and shopping before going to the Visitor’s Centre. We decided not to stay as there is no air conditioning, although with wide and deep open areas and a slight breeze it wasn’t too bad. We also spoke with someone at reception and got more information, including tide times. We paid our park fees at that point as well.

I really, really wanted to see crocodiles, enought to drive 40 kms to the viewing platform before we even thought of lunch. The viewing spot is well above the water, though many people were perched on rocks near the causeway, despite a sign saying there had been a fatal croc attack there.

I took many photos before realising my camera was set to over expose. Fortunately I caught it and could go back and take photos and videos with the correct exposure. A problem with switching between two cameras, both Sonys, but with different menus and controls. I use the Sony A7R IVa with a 24-240 lens for wildlife and a Sony A6700 with an 18-135 lens for everything else. The smaller A6700 is more responsive and I have to remember to wait a little for the large camera to focus or can get blurry photos. It’s a much more powerful camera with a larger sensor and high mg count.

The river water is muddy and the tidal rush very powerful, so the crocs had to work a little to maintain a position near the causeway. I didn’t actually see them catching fish, but sometimes they dropped out of sight, so perhaps that was after a catch. Or, they were moving in on the people below the platform.

We had bought a chicken and salad pack from the supermarket and found some tables and chairs at an old store which was now selling art and icecreams. There was a constant water spray on plants and that helped us to be a bit more comfortable as we were eating. We had icecreams as well, of course.

The Ubirr Rock Art site was well worth a visit, though I enjoyed the trees and other vegetation as much as the art works. It was only when processing the photos that I could see some of the paintings clearly.

Our caravan park has a swimming pool and bar, we looked in, but didn’t feel the need to stay. It is fairly casual, so attractive in that sense. There were lots of children enjoying the pool.

Monday 22^nd and Tuesday 23^rd July, 2024

After packing up yesterday we headed into Katherine to get water, dump our tanks and do some more shopping. We used our voucher from Woollies to buy fuel with a discount. We drove to Pine Creek where we stopped for lunch made from some of our shopping choices, good ones actually with cold meat and tiger rolls and salad.

From Pine Creek we went to the last free camping spot before Kakadu, the Harriet Creek Rest Area. The creek was dry and we were able to go for a little walk along the dry creek bed. There were about eight other vans of various kinds staying overnight. We had first of all parked in a shady spot next to the bush, but then found it was an ant highway, with the busy little creatures running actually under the van. It seemed sensible to move away from that spot.

We thought we were at the end of cool mornings, but it was lovely this morning and I put on my oodie and track pants for making tea and setting up the Starlink.

It was still about 40kms to Kakadu and we stopped at the entrance for photos, someone kindly took one of us together in front of the sign. Then we stopped at the ranger station, thinking we might get a map and information, but no one was there though the toilets were open.

We had lunch at the camping area at about 12.00 noon. Stephen thought it would be nice to stay there, but I wanted to move on to a camping area near a billabong. And that is where we are for tonight, at Jim Jim Billabong Camping Area. It’s $6 per night per person and there are drop toilets and no bins. We had bins last night, but no toilets.

We went into another campsite near here that had flushing toilets and even showers, but somehow didn’t like the feel of it. There is a notice warning about crocodiles, but Stephen said the rangers do like to try to keep the salt water crocs out of the local waterholes. Still, swimming is not recommended though there is a boat ramp for people who want to fish.

We kept our distance from the water anyway, no wanting to take chances. It’s been very warm since we arrived at about 3.00 p.m. and is still about 30 degrees C. The breeze has died down, which makes it feel even hotter. We will have a cold dinner of leftover rissoles from last night and salad to save heating up inside.

Stephen came through Kakadu when he did his greyhound trip around Australia all those years ago. I do find it interesting, but not as beautiful as the West MacDonnel Ranges. Hopefully, once we actually get to a manned Visitor Centre we can find out in more about the attractions of the park.

Saturday 20^th and Sunday 21^st July, 2024

On Saturday morning we drove to Katherine. First things first, we had hot drinks and shared a breakfast roll at The Coffee Club. Then it was off to Woollies to get fresh fruit and salad supplies as well as a few other groceries. It was extremely busy and we were just coming off the major internet outage, fortunately our card was accepted.

Katherine has a paid water facility and dump point on the edge of town, both of which were useful. Although the campground we are staying at has drinking water we didn’t want to arrive needing to fill our water tank. The water here at the camp is from the Katherine River and our host swears that it is good to drink.

Our purpose was to visit Katherine Gorge. When Stephen was doing his trip around Australia on Greyhound buses one of the things he did was go on an all day walk in the national park here. As it was a hot day he took a swim, having been told that it’s safe to swim with fresh water crocodiles, and he then decided to swim across the river. A boat came along and he had to hide behind a rock as he was naked, didn’t bring his swimming gear with him.

So, I really wanted to see the gorge for myself. We didn’t go to the actual spot where he swam, but from the reception/café walked to a lookout. It wasn’t very far, but involved a lot of steps. We found it challenging, but worthwhile for the views.

Returning to the café we had cold drinks and shared a hamburger and chips. Then it was back to the Sherwood, then driving back to our campsite to rest. We both felt the effects of the challenging walk, but also pleased that we did it.

We’ve enjoyed being at this campsite, a bit expensive at $40 per night with no power or water to our site. But, our host is friendly and made us feel welcome, and the showers are clean and the water is hot. I’ve had two showers here, a bit unusual for me as I usually much prefer to shower in the van. I’ve also been putting on sunscreen for the first time on this trip. We have a lot of exposure and it feels sensible to take precautions, as well as wearing a hat and long sleeved shirt.

We get some interesting colours here at the campsite as there has had preventative burning off, so we have orange leaves and blackened earth as well as the usual colours you would expect. We’ve just seen a sunset followed by a full moon rising.

Some photos from our gorge walk to the lookout. We didn’t see any crocs.

And some photos from our second evening here.

And us at the lookout.

Friday 19th July, 2024

We’ve had a couple of days of travel where we stop at various locations based on our interests. For example, yesterday we had morning tea at Dunmarra, famous for it’s vanilla slices. We had one to share and it was delicate and lovely. Instead of icing on top it had a dusting of icing sugar and the pastry was fresh. When I thanked the staff afterwards one of the women confessed to being the baker. What a good idea to focus on doing one thing very well!

Then, we went on to the Daily Waters Pub, just to see if it was as interesting as we found it two years ago. Lunch was two ginger ales with beef schnitzels, salad and chips, with a side of live country and western music. The musician/singer was quite good, but we were glad when he took a break. We walked around taking photos before heading to our next overnight rest stop.

Alexander Forrest RA is a standard 24hr rest stop, with flushing toilets (tank water) and a separate water tank with tap. It’s not recommended to drink from these tanks, but you can get water for washing up. We had a nice couple in a big caravan on one side, and a young woman in a red station wagon on the other. I was intrigued at how comfortable she made herself for the evening, having a really nice camping chair, a mat, a single burner gas stove and a lap top holder for using her laptop. She had to dress warmly as nights are still chilly at the moment, it was the first time I’ve seen someone in a oodie (big, soft, shapeless coverall garment with a hood). Apart from me, I’m still using mine though they don’t seem to be in fashion on the journey so far.

We set up the Starlink as there was no phone service and it worked quite well sitting just beside the van at the rear.

Today we stopped for morning tea at the Pink Panther Pub/Roadhouse and shared a large coffee. That meant we could use their toilets and take photos without seeming rude. We also chatted with an Englishman who is circumnavigating Australia on a vintage motorbike. He looked quite dapper and the motorbike was all shiny, so obviously hasn’t given into being a bushman!

Then we went to Mataranka, where we went to a different resort from the one we stayed at last time (that was Bitter Springs). The swimming area was much nicer, like a real swimming pool. We could see the spring where the water originates. There is no thermal heating, the water is just warm because it comes from the depths where there is an enormous aquifer. It would have suited us very well compared to the wild swimming style area at Bitter Springs, but we would have still needed to arm ourselves with pool noodles. There is a little water fall at the end of the swimming area and the water goes on through one river to feed the Roper River.

Then we walked to the spring that feeds the pool.

We found the supermarket less well stocked than last time we were at Mataranka, obviously a few days since the twice weekly truck had been through. The toilet needed emptying, so we got fuel and and icecream before tackling that chore.

Then, just about 14kms up the road to our present overnight spot at Stirling Mill. It’s a dusty place, with a few areas for camping, we managed to get a good spot and have made a little contact with our neighbours who are far enough away for us to feel quite private.

We are surrounded by woodlands and termite mounds. Plus we have a decent phone service, so don’t need to set up the Starlink for tonight.

Wednesday 17^th July, 2024

On Tuesday morning we walked to the waterhole after breakfast. We thought it was a bit more than the official 2kms there, and we had to cross little creeks a couple of times. The warterhole was definitely worth the walk, very peaceful, with a bench to sit on, and some birdlife, including a bird of prey which we haven’t yet identified.

Stephen said that he saw many gannets on the little cliff overlooking the water, but he had to go to some rocks which allowed him a better view than ground level where I took the photo.

One of the staff came out in the little quad bike and spoke with Stephen. He said he wanted to chop down a tree and there was a van parked all by itself, he wondered if it was ours. Stephen didn’t think it was, and told him ours had Sherwood written on it. The man did the round trip again to tell us that it was indeed our van. So, I got to ride back to the caravan park in the quad bike, which I secretly wanted anyway.

I shifted the Sherwood to another area, as directed by the manager, and then went to watch the tree being chopped down. I tried to video it on my phone, but managed to miss the vital moment when it fell. The tree looked interesting, but was actually dead, and possibly dangerous if blown over when the area was full of vans.

I was offered a lift back to the waterhole, but decided to do one last load of washing instead, this time our towels, face flannels and bath mats. I then made a cup of tea and Stephen arrived as it was ready. He checked that we could go back to our original parking space. That’s when it became exciting. We tried a couple of places, but the Sherwood still wasn’t level. As I was driving back across the lawn I managed to drive straight over a reticulation post, with a rather nasty sound.

I had to finish the run, with the awful sound still happening. Fortunately the reticulation was undamaged, it was just the plastic post surrounding it that was toast. I didn’t think to take a photo as I was feeling a bit shattered. Later, the plastic was replaced and all was well.

We settled on a different spot in the park with better sunlight and had a peaceful afternoon and evening.

The reason Stephen came back a bit earlier than I expected was that staff drove the quad bike back to the water hole to pick up the rubbish from the bin and offered him a lift. He went about half way, past the water crossings, and then walked back.

Each day in our section of the park we had different neighbours in different rigs. I noticed that there were a few women travelling on their own, in campers mostly, though there was one younger woman travelling in a car and camping in a swag. She had two dogs with her.

This morning we were packed up and ready just before 10.00 a.m. All of the other campers in our section had left at least half an hour before. It was a good feeling to be on the road again.

We stopped a couple of times at roadhouses: for toilets the first time at Renner Springs, then fuel and a bit of shopping in Eliot. We are camped about 20kms north of Eliot in an unofficial campsite 3kms south of the official 24hr camping place. We’ve read that the official site gets very packed out. This is better, we have a few vans around, but plenty of space to spread out. We have a view of a muddy dam from our back window.

The days have been windy and almost completely cloud free for the past few days. Overnights are very cool and the wind can be make us feel quite chilly. But, by afternoon it’s usually a bit warmer and the wind can drop, though it hasn’t so far.

Some photos from Newcastle Waters Rest Area (South)

Monday 15th July, 2024

I actually booked at Banka Banka in advance. We wanted somewhere to rest for a couple of nights and wash our bedding. We are having cool overnights, and clear, sunny, and windy days, perfect for putting washing on the line. This is our second night here and we’ve booked a third night so that we can do one more load of washing and walk to the local waterhole.

We are not sure if this is a working station or just a tourist park. It is Indigenous run and although it doesn’t look fancy and modern the facilities are very good. We are in an unpowered section, close to toilets, showers, washing machine, dump point and main reception, very handy if you have problems with the washing machine, as we did. It’s a new one and the computer is causing problems.

On Wikicamps there was a complaint about lack of toilet paper, but we haven’t had any problems, perhaps they read the complaint and decided to pick things up.

There is a lookout, which we went to last night, and they have a nightly bar from 5.00 to 7.00 p.m. We did the walk up the hill last night at sunset, but haven’t been to the bar.

Our progress on this journey is still slow, with enjoyable stops like this on the way. We are paying $25.00 per night and there are drinking water taps available though we don’t have a tap of our own. The powered sites are $40 per night. Some of the roadhouses are expensive as well, so this is very good value. In a dry country having access to good water is very important.

Sunday 14th July, 2024

After the Tropic of Capricorn Rest Area we stayed at McDowell Stuart Rest Area and are now at Bonney Well Rest Area. Each rest area has it’s pros and cons. Last night was mostly peaceful, with about five of us staying overnight.

By mostly peaceful, as I was bringing the Starlink in for the night a car drove into the rest area and parked near to us. I heard voices, then a woman spoke to me, saying something like ‘excuse me’. Well, you’ve never seen a person scramble into their van that quickly. The Starlink was already inside, but I was bringing in the airer and hi vis jacket we were using to show people where it was on the ground. As protection. The airer usually goes in the front of the car, but it spent the night tucked in the dinette. Even though the people drove away I didn’t feel safe about going outside again in the dark.

Bonney Well Rest Area has lots of bins, all full and overflowing, which detracts a bit from it’s features, a nearby creek with some water in it, a windmill, views all around and the main railway line where we saw the Ghan passing a bit earlier. We have a fairly level spot and good privacy. There are lots of vans here, with some going back away from the paved area towards the railway line, so there is good separation for those who want it.

We’ve seen quirky roadhouses, including one that was abandoned a couple of years ago, camels in a paddock, and stopped to visit the Devil’s Marbels. We camped there in the Winnie and because you now have to pay decided to move on to this free camp.

I’ve booked us into Banka Banka Tourist Park for a couple of nights after passing through Tennant Creek. It had very good reviews when I looked at Wikicamps, then someone posted a critical review a few hours later. But, it seems good value at $25 per night, has all facilities including drinking water, and it will be good to take a pause.

We are only driving about 200kms per day, but it takes us ages. We are now sharing the driving, which is very helpful and reminds me that one of the reasons I like the Sherwood is that the passenger seat is comfortable for me as a short person. Van passenger seats are set too high for me.

Perhaps the journey is not exciting, but we really enjoy it, living in the moment and finding interesting things on the way.