After having a late night last night after entertaining Liz and Greg, before still putting our daily rambling out there for all to read, we were happy to have another lie in. This sleeping in business could well become habitual if we don’t watch it. Not that it mattered a great deal, as plans for our day had not been made, as we were unsure as to what our second couple of guests were up to.

David and Heather were also due to fly into Darwin this morning, from Melbourne. Having taken a crazy hour, early morning flight, they were due to arrive at the almost unheard of hour of 6:30AM. We heard from them at about 10:00AM, saying that they were exhausted beyond comprehension, and were going to take a nap before deciding to do anything. I figured that they would be wiped out for the majority of the day in that case.

Therefore, we started to make plans to head back to the camera shop, to collect my hopefully competently cleaned camera. Before we left though, Bec looked through the fridge and found all the left over salads from last night. Figuring if they weren’t consumed in the very near future, they would go to waste. A quick call was put in to Liz and Greg, inviting them to lunch, on the proviso that they would pick up a few snags to fry up on the barbeque to supplement the salads. They were up for another cook out, and arrived a short time later bearing a selection of sausages and mushrooms. Before we knew it, we had frittered away the majority of the afternoon. It was past 3:00PM when Liz and Greg decided that it was time to head off, to get ready for dinner, which we had by this time been able to arrange for 7:00PM in town. We will be meeting David and Heather there as well.

Eerily, it was only minutes after Liz and Greg had bid their farewells and headed on their way, when I heard Bec talking to someone. I turned around, and there was David. They had not only managed to locate our caravan park, but after a couple of laps had also found our site, deciding to drop in to say G’day. What a great surprise.

It quickly put paid to our trip to the shops, but we happily sat down, swapping our tales of adventure, for their news from home. Not that we had much to tell them, David being one of my most avid readers, he also leads the pack when it comes to making comments on my blog. Mostly good feedback thankfully.

That was the extent of our activities today though, as when David and Heather left, we had just enough time to sort the dogs out, before getting ourselves cleaned up for dinner.

Liz and Greg picked us up, before heading into the centre of Darwin, bound for a restaurant that has come recommended to us by one of our readers (thanks Graeme). David and Heather are staying in town, only a short walk from the diner, so were meeting us there.

Driving down the small side street in which the eatery is located, I was getting concerned. The whole area looked like a grungy back water, almost industrial in form. The restaurant itself was concealed behind a high steel picket fence, covered tawdrily in plastic foliage. It all gave off an air of cheapness, although the menu we had viewed on the Internet before leaving the van suggested a more lavish dining experience. I think, had it not been for the recommendation, I would have passed it by and gone else where, but we ventured gingerly past the sign proclaiming this to be the home of ‘Tims Surf and Turf’ restaurant.

Once behind the tacky plastic fence, it opened up into a gorgeous palm fringed courtyard, with our door seating, and further seating in the roofed but otherwise open dining room. As we browsed the menu, a staff member made his way over carrying a small black box, from within he drew a worn, weary deck of playing cards. Before our very eyes, he had Bec select a card, and then replaced it in the deck. Playing coy, he wrongly selected which card had been picked out, before pointing to one he had placed on the table. Lo and behold, there was our card. It was astonishing, and just one of the tricks we would see over the course of the evening.

We ordered our meals next, myself starting with a plate of crumbed, deep fried crocodile. It was one of those things that I though I ought to try while I had the chance. To be blunt, I found it to be rather tasteless and extremely tough. I wouldn’t say it is something I would go out of my way to order again. The Calamari that Bec and Liz shared, and the prawn cocktail that Heather ordered, but ended up halving with David were of high quality, fresh produce. This was a good start to the meal.

With our entrée dishes cleared, and waiting for our mains to arrive, yet another member of the staff approached the table. He put on a short skit involving half a napkin disappearing, that was delivered with such comedic talent that it left us with tears in our eyes such was the guffawing.

The mains were delivered in a procession of platter sized plates, each overflowing with an enormous sized serving. I can personally vouch for the ‘surf and bird’. A chicken schnitzel covered in a creamy sauce and topped with a half dozen prawns. I’m a big eater at the best of times, and it nearly beat me such was the opulence of the dish. The ‘surf and turf’, seafood platter and garlic prawns that were tried around the table were also met with exclamations of admiration, and not a plate was sent back with much more than a sliver of scraps left upon it. We happily suggested that this might become our eatery of choice for our time here in Darwin.

Bec and I with our guests. Liz and Greg in the centre and David and Heather to the right.

Over dinner, we made plans to met up with everyone tomorrow for a spot of sight seeing, and then Liz and Greg ferried Bec and I back to the van. It was like being chauffeured around, which made a pleasant change from doing the bulk of the driving since we left home.

Back at the van, Bec and I crossed over to the ensuite together. Bec refuses to go over to the ensuite on her own at night, as she is concerned about sharing with the frogs that I have affectionately named ‘Frenchies’, that inhabit the ablutions block. I don’t see why, as they are cute little hoppers, only the size of a 20 cent piece, and almost white in colour, no doubt as camouflage against the white washed walls.

So as we went in tonight, we noticed one in the out door sink, but seen none in the immediate vicinity of the toilet. I hadn’t even had a chance to have a good look for any inside the bathroom though, when out of the corner of my eye, I almost felt, more than saw a flash of white flying across the room. Bec saw it too, as it landed on her breast, just as she raised her hands, squashing it against herself, leaving a nice frogger sized damp patch on her blouse, as she first squished it, before it jumped again, flying further across the room, where it quickly hopped lopsidedly to hide in the safety of the shadow of the dunny. All this took only seconds and was accomplished to a soundtrack of a high pitched squeal, that sounded like it came from a mortally wounded animal, as Bec began to hop around the room looking for all the world like a frog herself. Needless to say, there was no way Bec was using the ensuite toilet tonight, or most likely any other night for that matter, as she rushed inside to put our own latrine to use.

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