After a hard weekend of getting up early and running from market to market, trying unsuccessfully to find a bargain, we decided to try a different tact this morning. We switched off every single last one of our electronic gadgets capable of making a noise, threatened the dogs with grievous bodily harm should they wake us, then slept in for as long as our body clocks would allow us.

I was up at just before 10:00AM, feeling well rested and refreshed. Bec followed almost an hour later, finding me sitting outside engrossed in the computer. For your information, I was busy trying to update our Flickr feed, so feel free to take a look at our latest pics. There are some fantastic shots from our day at Gunlom Falls, showing the majestic serenity we exposed at the top of the falls. There’s still a few days worth that I haven’t had the chance to upload yet, so stay tuned for further updates as I get around to it.

Since we had missed our Sunday fry up for breakfast due to our busy morning yesterday, and my computing finished for the morning, I ventured inside to cook us a feast. It ended up being more of a lunch than a breakfast given the time, but in any case it was a great start to the day.

The unseasonal weather has returned today, with it heating up again. Just as Bec was acclimatising to the milder weather, bang, the muggy, tropical, sauna like climate returned with a vengeance. To put it kindly, she didn’t cope so well. In her words, it made her cranky. In my words… well it was safer not to have any words today. I’m not too sure what she expected weather wise though, considering we had planned the trip in an effort to escape the Melbourne winter. To be fair, even the locals are saying it’s hot, but only in the guise that it is hot for this time of year. Rather than the humid low to mid 30s that we’ve been experiencing, it ought to be around 28-30^oC with a much lower level of humidity. Hell, there are even adverts on the TV asserting that it is now the time of year to have your air conditioning system serviced, since you won’t be needing it again during the cooler, dry season.

You really do realise how vast this country of ours is, when we are glad to be sitting in the comfort of the air conditioned van, stripped down to our smalls and still sweating like pigs, when down south in Melbourne where we’ve travelled from, it’s barely reaching 14^oC in the heat of the day. Down there, we would have had the heater pumped up to its maximum and been clad in wooly jumpers and jackets. And we didn’t even need to pack our passports to get here.

We couldn’t sit all day and vegetate though, so by about 2:30PM we decided we ought better go and achieve something for our day. It was off to the Casuarina Shopping Centre again, where we had a few tasks to take care of. I had to drop my camera off for an unscheduled clean and service after I noticed a black smear intruding on every frame.

Then there was the 2 cheap folding chairs we thought we’d better buy, having invited our visitors, who are due to arrive in Darwin tomorrow, to the van for dinner. Being that we only packed enough furniture for 2, we didn’t want them having to stand up for the entire night.

From the shops, it was time to refuel ‘The Beast’ again. I only mention this, because it was the first time we have had to hand over more than 2 green bills for a fill of diesel. Admittedly, that did include pouring 20 litres of the precious juice into the jerry can, but it still hurt.

As a reward for ‘The Beast’ having performed so admirably thus far, we stopped next to give it a bit of a spruce up. Having been on the go for nine weeks now, including driving through torrential down pours and completing just a few kays on dry dusty tracks, ‘The Beast’ was well and truly in need of a clean before receiving our visitors.

Back home, we barely had enough time to research a dinner venue, before heading out again. We have decided to don our elasticised waisted dacks, flowing shirts and dine at the all you can eat buffet at the casino. In an effort to ward off any immediate weight gain, we parked as far as possible from the front doors, leaving us with a generous walk to the eatery.

Before we dined, Bec signed up for a casino membership card, which would give us a discount on the meal, as well as $10.00 of credits for the slots. So the buffet that was going to cost us $35.00 each would now be only $29.00 each. A bargain, in any ones language.

As we lined up amongst a decidedly older set, we noticed that most were clutching some type of coupon. Cudos to Bec, who approached one lovely old dear and enquired about the chits. No wonder we looked like pre-schoolers at high school. Mondays is over 50s night, with the older members getting a coupon for a $10.00 meal. The lady Bec was speaking to happened to have a spare, which she happily provided to us for our own use. We ended up paying only $39.00 for the two of us, for our all you can eat pig out. Even the soft drinks were included in the price, so there really was no more to pay.

A plate of prawn and scampi.

It was your usual array of deep fried buffet fare, bulked up with a decent selection of seafood, which Bec delighted in. There were prawns, scampi (look it up, we had to), crabs and more. As a result, our walk out of the restaurant was more akin to a waddle, living with the constant fear that the elastic waist band of my trousers, which was stretched to breaking point, would snap creating a sudden and embarrassing loss of holding power.

Since we had the $10.00 credit to make use of, we decided we had better slide a few dollars through the pokies on the way out. The last of the big spenders, we staked out a 1C machine and let loose. We had $10.00 of our own, to supplement the free credit, and in less than half an hour we had doubled our money and turned it into $40.00.

Up by $30.00 that was it for us. As a result, our $70.00 meal had now effectively set us back a grand total of $9.00. That’s what we would call a good night out, even if it did mean a speedy trip back to the van to make good use of our private ensuite.

Until next time, stay safe, have fun and don’t forget to write.