It sure as hell was a slow start to the day today, having burnt the midnight oil well and truly into the early hours of the morning. It was close enough to 4:00AM when we eventually tore ourselves away from the tele, having viewed ½ a dozen episodes of The Shield back to back. What ever will we do when the series comes to an end and we run out of episodes?

Sleeping through all but half an hour of the morning, it made no difference to our schedule however, as our diary was a blank page for today. The only thing that we hoped to achieve was to catch up on some housework, arrange for Bec to have a massage and begin making plans for the next segment of our trip. While we are yet to reach the half way point of the adventure time wise, Darwin feels like half way. Once we leave here, our predominant direction of travel will be southerly, as opposed to the generally northbound driving we’ve been doing since we left home. Darwin was also where we had always planned to spend the most time, to allow us the chance to rejuvenate our soles (and souls) a little, so our departure from here will give us the feel of beginning to head home. Sure, we are taking the long, scenic route, but we will be heading home nonetheless. It is actually quite a depressing thought to have, the consideration that our time on the road is growing ever shorter, and the time will soon come that we are ensconced back in our everyday lives, the whole trip nothing but a distant memory.

It was of no use ruminating about these thoughts however, when we still have almost a week left here in Darwin and 3 ½ months ahead of us before our due date back in our hometown. So we spread out the brochures we have collected along the way, pulled out my big black folder of plans and began researching what we hope to take in over the next few weeks as we head into Western Australia. Things are coming together nicely and there are plenty of exciting destinations that lay before us.

I was just finishing things up, when Bec got a phone call from one of the massage places she had called earlier. There had been a cancellation, and if she could get there within the next 15 minutes, they would be able to fit her in. The office was  about 10 minutes away, so we frantically packed things up, threw the dogs a treat to keep them busy, then bid them farewell.

Thankfully, we weren’t going to be out for too long, so they had to forego their usual afternoon walk, as we locked the door and rushed off. Not taking the babies for a walk was to be a decision we would pay dearly for however.

I got Bec to her appointment with barely seconds to spare, then sat in ‘The Beast’ reading, while she underwent her pummeling, prodding and poking relaxation therapy. As I sat in the hot interior of ‘The Beast’, I was thinking that for the first week we were here, the weather was majestic. Then the gang came up for a week, and the sun spent the majority of its time hidden behind a thick blanket of clouds. They only left yesterday, and suddenly, there isn’t a cloud to be spotted, while the temperature has increased by a few degrees again. I am at least bouyed by the news that the view of the sunset as the guys flew out last night was a worthy vision. So, I can finally cross ‘show the gang a perfect Darwin sunset’ off of my list of things to show our visitors.

Perfect Darwin sunset. Check. Thanks for the snap David.

With Bec back from her massage, we stopped briefly at the supermarket to collect dinner supplies. With no one to dine with, we are back to preparing our own meals in the caravan. Then it was back to the van. We were only gone for an hour and a half or so, but it was enough.

Before we had left, we figured that one of the dogs was needing to go to the toilet, courtesy of the wafting clouds of malodourous hot air floating about the van. We’re not sure which one was causing the stench, but my money was on Bethany. In any case, not taking them for a wander before going out, turned out to be our downfall, as we unlatched the door, only to be greeted with the overwhelming stench and a steaming hot pile of dog turd. This is extremely unlike either of them, so I can only imagine the effort that whichever one was responsible went to, holding on for as long as possible, before deciding that if you gotta go, you gotta go. What could we do? We just looked at each other, our faces scrunched up, pinching our noses and laughed about it. That was better than the other option, of curling up into the fetal position and crying about it.

The clean up operation took forever, before we could finally get our dinner underway. Then it was time to kick back and watch game two of the rugby State of Origin series. After I missed out on seeing game one, I was adamant that game two would not pass without me getting my eye on it. Go the maroons!!!!

Euphoric after a good result in the rugby, it was time to rest for the remainder of the evening. Before we left home, we had considered what would happen if one of us should happen to fall ill while away and it appears we might get to find out in the very near future. When David was here the other day, he mentioned that he had a slight tickle in his throat, and it seems that he may have passed it on. I’ve been trying to ignore it all day, but as the night has worn on, it has gotten to the stage that I can confidently say that I’m not feeling 100%. Thanks David.

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