Our Aussie Adventures

It has taken us 3 weeks, but we seem to be acclimatising to the persistent heat and humidity, being that we have managed to sleep with no need for power hungry electrical fans or air conditioners running overnight. Nothing more than making sure the windows are thrown open before bedding down, to allow for at least some movement of air has been required for the last couple of nights. We were woken to a blustery breeze this morning though, which sounded like it was threatening the structural integrity of our annex, and had bits and pieces of tree bouncing off of the van roof. While the dried leaves were falling with such regularity and in such quantity that they sounded like rain pelting against the roof, the larger pieces of branches sounded like pebbles falling from a great height onto the tin siding, making an awful, sleep depriving din.

So much for the sleep in I had envisioned for myself, as I wrested myself out of bed with a gut ache and a throbbing head ache that felt like someone had clobbered me over the back of the head with a baseball bat. I can’t even blame the copious amounts of alcohol I consumed last night at the rodeo, since I had settled on just a couple of beers for the evening. I ended up sitting in the annex, a book in my lap, and dozing fitfully until such time as Bec woke.

Three weeks ago today, we fulfilled a similar series of activities as what we had to accomplish today, only in reverse. It was three weeks ago that we dropped into Darwin, wet beneath the ears to some extent, and not knowing fully what to expect. Yes, on that Sunday we parked the van and spent the day unpacking all of the things we would be needing for an extended stay. Today is our final day here in Darwin, and thus it was time for the unenviable task of repacking everything.

So, rather than unfurling the annex, we were furling the canvas sheets. The awning was retracted back into its travel position and all of the sundry items that had made their way out into the annex during our stay needed to be found places to store. Not since the days prior to leaving Melbourne have I felt this level anxiety about getting ready to get on the road again. It is surprising the amount of rubble that we accumulated in the time we were here and it would seem that all manner of things that we didn’t have room for in the van whilst parked here, have been shoved unceremoniously out beneath the annex. Much like a garage or shed might be utilized to hide unwanted and unneeded junk at home, the annex became our go to place. The annex and awning now packed away, our piles of bulk buy toilet paper, paper towel, dog food and soft drinks just looked silly sitting on the concrete alongside the van. It was with more than a small amount of trepidation that I began to play a life sized game of Tetris to successfully cram all of our belongings back into the van. You could almost hear the suspension groaning beneath the extra weight we were asking of it to carry.

It was no easy task, either physically or mentally as our palatial two room abode was halved in space. It was a surreal feeling to exit the van, to be confronted with an open air vista rather than the more familiar annex room. Bec even admitted to walking back from the bathroom, the same way as was required when the annex was in place, rather than straight across the now vacant area. Yet another symptom of GNS obviously. Even the dogs are put out by the change in living arrangements, as they are no longer free to come and go from the van to the annex as they have become accustomed.

I may have mentioned it once or twice before, but Darwin and the top end was the primary locale we had hoped to explore, and I think that we have done the area justice. While here we also had the added extra excitement of receiving our visitors, which had been in the winds for such a long time, and yet was over before we knew it. It mystifies me now however, that when I think about our time here, it feels at the same to time to have passed quite rapidly, as well as seeming to have lasted for ever. We’ve had our ups: Beautiful sunsets, swimming with crocs and swimming at waterfalls rank amongst our favorite times. And we’ve had our downs: I was depressed for days after everyone went home and our couple of no doubt heat induced spats spring to mind. I am sure there are places that we missed, either because we have been there before, or because we are leaving them for a future trip, but overall we can most definitely say that we have been and seen.

I have to admit to thinking about the next segment of our journey with a mixture of excitement and anxiousness however. I have gotten used to being here in Darwin, staying in one place and ingratiating ourselves on the environment almost as locals. There has been no need to be on the go continuously to see everything in a limited amount of time. Nor has there been a need to be up and out of caravan parks first thing in the morning, and consequentially, there hasn’t been the need to rush to arrive in good time at the next park. This is about to change as of tomorrow though, as we embark back into the unknown. We will, over the next few months, keep up a pace that will see us staying here and there for a couple of nights at a time, before moving on to the next destination that takes our fancy. Not until we reach the southern parts of Western Australia, are we due to have another break of more than a week in one place.

With the van finally as ready for travel as it is going to get today, it was time to take a spell and have a break. With a lack of an annex beneath which to relax, we were relegated to the stuffiness of the van. The heat of the day still doesn’t agree with Bec and the dogs, and following my day of manual labour, I too was happy to flick the switch on the air conditioner, and relax under its cooling breeze, while we ingested another couple of episodes of our current favourite program.

It was just after 6:00PM that we fired up ‘The Beast’ and steered in the direction of Fannie Bay to watch a final Darwin sunset. Far from the perfection we witnessed early in our stay, the horizon was playing host to a low whispy string of cloud. Despite not being able to actually see the setting sun, the colours with which the sky was illuminated was well worth the effort.

The setting sun over Fannie Bay.

Dinner was next on our schedule, and having been given plenty of good assessments of the Darwin Sailing Club, we ventured just a short way down the road. If the car park was to be any indication, all of the great reviews we’ve heard are likely to be true. The car park was chockers, with cars parked at odd angles all over the place just to take advantage of any spare available space possible, whether it be a marked spot or not. We were lucky to watch a mini bus drive out, leaving us with a perfectly sized space in which to leave ‘The Beast’.

Inside the club, it doesn’t appear to be anything special. A simple bar and a serve yourself carvery, where the vegetables were laid on, in an eat as much as you could pile on to your plate style and for which there was an extensive queue in waiting. What made it all the more special was the terrific view over Fannie Bay from the open air dining area on the lawn, from which we able to watch the final vestiges of light fade from the evening sky. All accompanied by a huge meal that was as close to home made as you could get, both in taste and in quantity. A big thanks goes out to everyone who suggested we dine here.

My view.

Becs view.

Our view.

It was certainly a fitting conclusion to our time here in Darwin.

Just for good measure, I photo of one of Becs ‘Frenchies’.

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

While we had another day of nothing planned for today, I fail to fully comprehend where all that time went. One minute I was getting up and having breakfast, then it seems the next I was sitting typing this and thinking about heading off to bed for the night. Such is the grey nomad way of life.

Actually, it’s this grey nomad lifestyle I’m blaming a wide range of ailments and concerns. I call it Grey Nomad Syndrome. It is responsible for concentration lapses, short term memory loss, impertinent and impetuous speech patterns and any other irregular behavior I can think of. I honestly think there is something to it. We’ve stopped living to a strict, work enforced timetable and suddenly our brains have gone to mush. An argument ensued today solely over whether we should take a 2 hour cruise or a 3 ½ hour cruise when we get down to Katherine Gorge in a few days time, which was followed by another spat over whether we were going down to the shops to go to the shops, or to go to the bank. All due to the dreaded GNS and now I can’t even remember who was right. Although I’m going to go out on a limb and say Bec, because surely I’d recall something so sensational as winning a squabble!

That’s all beside the point however and we didn’t barney all day long. In the intervening periods, I managed to upload another week or more worth of our very private holiday pics, to the very public forum that is Flickr. Be sure to check them out. There are a few fantastic shots of me scaring the bejesus out of a crocodile named ‘Chopper’. He was lucky that I was contained in that plexiglass tube!

I also got around to putting a couple of hooks up on the side of the van. One of the first things we did when we arrived here in Darwin was to make our way to the hardware store to buy these hooks. Now, almost three weeks later, I have finally affixed them to the van. Now we will be able to hang a drying rack out beneath the awning when the weather turns inclement. Whilst I’m not looking forward to the time, I am sure it will happen when we least expect it.

Another job that I have been putting off is making a strap for Becs Beast Access Device otherwise known as ‘Becs BAD’. (That’s the only way I’ll ever get to say Becs BAD, without copping a slap around the back of the head!) Anyway, before we left home, we had a small step stool with a rope tied to it, so Bec could hang it out of the door of ‘The Beast’ to help her climb in and out. The step we had was of an annoying size, which we had nowhere to easily stow when on the road. So it has found little use thus far. When out shopping the other day, we came across a nifty folding stool, which just needed a couple of holes bored through it to tie the cord to. I’ve been lazy though, as getting the drill out of the toolbox is a big job in itself, so I’d kept putting it off. No longer could I ignore the job though, and Bec is now the proud owner of ‘Becs BAD Mk II’.

This evening was reserved for a night out for me, while Bec stayed at home with the mutts. The Pro Bull Riding Rodeo is in town tonight, for one night only, and I’ve been looking forward to going since I read about it over a month ago. After her experience in Rockhampton (see: Day 23: A Beast Of A Time In Rockhampton & Day 25: Rocky Under Foot) with the bull riding, Bec had chosen to stay at home.

Both of the dogs were happy…

…to be staying home with Bec.

I’d been planning on going it alone, but our next door neighbours here in the park had a spare ticket after one of their mates fell ill and wasn’t able to make it. So I bought the ticket off them, and agreed to share a cab to the event. So that’s how it came to be I was sharing a mini van with my four new mates, driven by a crazy New Zealander, heading for the greatest show on earth.

When it comes to rodeos, the PBR is at the top of the heap. This is the cream of the crop, where all the best riders aspire to gain an entry, and all of the best bulls are laid on to test them out. Half sport, half theater it’s all spectacle. I fitted right in, with jeans, big buckles and huge hats being the dress of the night as we took our places on the lawn to watch the show.

As the bulls bucked, it was amazing that anyone could sit astride them for half a second, let alone the full 8 seconds that is required to gain a score, but there was a few that managed to go the distance. The class of these guys and the bulls they were riding were a class above any other rodeo I’ve ever been to. It must take an almost inhumane effort to hold onto that rope, as close to a ton of heaving muscle, bone and slobber crushes your most delicate bits and tries to toss you to the ground. Lasting the 8 seconds didn’t necessarily ensure an easy get off however, with many of the successful riders still thrown roughly to the dirt.

It’s all part of the ceremony though, and I am sure that I was not the only one in the thronging crowd waiting to watch a wreck. When it did happen, a rider getting bucked off, headfirst into the arena fence, before getting slammed by the still raging bull, the whole crowd immediately fell into a deathly silence. A spine chilling few minutes transpired, as medics rushed to the downed rider, before a raucous applause went up as he regained his feet and limped slowly from the field.

Near on three hours of non-stop, bull riding action where even the failures were cheered like heroes. I certainly concur, that it is indeed a spectacle like none other and worthy of its title the greatest show on earth.

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

I woke up feeling somewhat recovered from my head cold, although the symptoms were still hanging around. Mainly relative to feeling like I wanted to sleep all day as I was still so tired. A persistent cough also seems to be developing, which is making my already tender throat feel like it is being ripped to shreds.

Being as we didn’t have anything planned until later tonight, staying in bed was pretty close to what we did. I did managed to drag myself out of bed for a while, to sit beneath the annex for breakfast. I sat enjoying the morning cool whilst I ate and read. My new book, the one I bought the other day after waiting nearly a year to get back up here for it, is about the bombing of Darwin, written by Jack Mulholland, an anti-aircraft gunner who lived through it. It is amazing to read about his memories of Darwin from the 1940s, and be able to compare them to the present day Darwin. By capital city standards, Darwin is still small, a miniscule city, almost bordering on being defined as a large town. In the 1940s, it wasn’t even that, with the now inner suburb of Parap described by Mulholland as being “considered to be out in the scrub”. As a soldier, he was to endure Darwins unchanged climate in a corrugated iron hut with but a few windows for channeling any whisper of a breeze through the stifling, steamy interior. At least our tin can has the luxury of air conditioning and quite possibly even more important, fly screens on the windows. There is no need to cower beneath a cloying net as we sleep each night, as was the norm all those years ago. Yes, while it may indeed be the same place, it’s an entirely different world.

This mornings cool temperature quickly gave way to the searing heat as the sun reached its zenith in the bright blue sky, giving us good reason to recede back into the van. With not much else to do, we switched on the tele to see what was on. Surprise, surprise we sat down to a ‘The Shield’ marathon. Punctuated with a few breaks, to take the dogs for a stroll to release them of their pent up energy, and a walk across to the caravan park office to arrange for an extra days accommodation, it was a pretty quiet, relaxed kind of day.

Waiting for a walk.

So lazy were we, that even lunch consisted of what happened to be in the fridge. With little other to choose from, we had a small cup of tinned fruit salad each that had been salvaged from one of Liz and Gregs breakfast packs. Then for dessert, we split a bag of chocolates between us. That was easy, and saved on the cleaning up.

As we walked about the park today, I considered our early issues and misgivings about the place. Now that we’ve been here for close to three weeks, we’ve gotten to know some of the other campers, and there are several vans we stop at along our wanders to say G’day and to have a chin wag. Whilst it still wouldn’t rate as the friendliest of parks, nor is it my favourite that we have stayed at, it has served us well, and thankfully we arrived when we did. It is completely full up now, so we would have been left with nowhere to stay if we had reached Darwin too much later. I now only dread getting the power bill when we check out.

Having spent the day doing nothing more strenuous than pressing buttons on the remote control for the TV, it was a bit before 6:00PM that we got ourselves ready to go out. Despite our negative opinions of the markets we’ve been to around Darwin, we still have one last one to venture through. The Palmerston Night Market, where if nothing else, there is the promise of buying the dogs some more bulls willies treats.

The Palmerston Night Market.

The market is set up in a quadrangle at the Palmerston Shopping Centre, the stalls floodlit against the setting sun. The variety is much the same as we have come to expect of the other markets being a mixture of fresh fruit and vegetables, take away food and a few craft stalls. We found the one we had made the journey here for, where we collected a big bag of bulls bits. Kindly, the stallholder threw in some cows hooves and a couple of ram balls for the dogs to try as well. Hmm, they should go down a treat.

It was getting on towards dinner time for us by this stage, so we trawled through the food stalls, trying to get a read on what delicacies would serve us well. Bec chose a stall selling roast lamb shanks, which she hungrily devoured in her best impression of a cave woman. Sitting on a rock and holding the shank by the bone, she tore the meat from it with her incisors, while the gravy bequeathed her with a brown grin, reminiscent of that seen on a circus clown. It must have been good, because she pretty much stripped the bone clean of flesh, leaving nothing more than the stark white bone.

Me eat lamb shank. Yum.

I settled on a pork Laksa, from a stall that had a generous queue of hungry diners waiting to be served. I figured that made it a safe bet. That and the fact that the Laksa was being lovingly prepared by a little old Asian woman who, hunched up over a giant mortar and pestle, looked like she has been mixing up her secret blend of ingredients for more years than what I’ve been alive. The Laksa was as good as any I’ve had before, a perfect balance of spiciness that made my lips go numb and left me somewhat concerned about the burning issue of my next bowel movement.

There was not much else that excited us at the market, so we made tracks for home, wondering what devastation the dogs may have created this time around. Thankfully all was well on our return to the van, although the sweet scent of Weet Bix must have been hanging about in the laundry, as there was evidence that one of the mutts had tried climb up on the bench again. A bag found on the floor and some scratch marks on my folder gave the game away. We’ve wisened up however, and no food had been left within their reach.

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

I suffered through a fitful sleep last night, causing me to wake up this morning feeling like a cocky had nested in my mouth and speaking like one of Becs beloved frogs had taken up residence in the back of my throat. I could feel a jackhammer like thumping towards the front of my head and my neck and shoulders felt so sore, they may as well have parted company with each other. In short, I wasn’t feeling all too well.

Lucky it was then, that we had done the majority of our sightseeing in the last couple of weeks, and I will have the chance over the next few days to have a bit of a rest and recuperate a little. That doesn’t mean that I will be lying in bed all day and accomplishing nothing however, as there are still a number of things we want to achieve while we are here in Darwin, before our time in the top end comes to a conclusion.

So while we did indeed spend the morning doing very little, we spent the afternoon trawling about the suburbs, looking for a couple of antique stores that Bec had found advertised on the Internet. So much for the Internet being up to date as we struggled to locate our targets. We found that one was no longer, the premises sporting a big billboard out the front, advertising the shop as being up for lease. When we finally tripped across the second store, it was locked up tight, even though the sign on the door proclaimed that it ought to have been open. A peek through the heavily barred windows put our minds at ease, as there was not too much in the way of stock, so we hadn’t missed out on too much.

We made a few more stops along the way to the big Casuarina Shopping Centre, where we had what might be our final look about. I can’t see any reason for us to be coming back here in our final few days in Darwin, so we thought we’d give it one last look. Just to make sure that we hadn’t missed anything in our previous visits. I was right. We hadn’t missed anything, surprise, surprise.

Back at the van, we found that Bethany had repaid us for yesterdays bad behavior, with further poor conduct. Today, instead of finding a pile of smelly brown stuff, the floor of the van was littered with scraps of Weet Bix. We had left a box of cereal on the bathroom bench, still sealed in the plastic bag, within the also sealed cardboard box. Bethany was still able to sniff it out, identify it as being some type of foodstuff, before dragging it down to floor level. She then proceeded to tear the box and bag open, to get to the goodies inside. I think it was lucky that we arrived home when we did, as she hadn’t managed to consume a huge amount although she had eaten enough to give her belly a distinctly rotund, barrel like bulge.

We then had to undertake another clean up operation, sweeping up the cereal scraps that were spread across the floor like a bizarre indoor snow storm had strewn them across the vinyl. As well as cleaning up the mess, we also had to make an attempt to save the remainder of the box of breakfast cereal so we can eat tomorrow morning. I was manifestly unhappy with her, which I think she was smart enough to understand, as she kept out of my way for the rest of the afternoon, instead cozying up to Bec as we rested for a few hours. We hadn’t done much, but I was spent.

Despite my weariness, I wasn’t going to let that stop me from making it out to dinner tonight. I’ve been waiting three weeks for this, so by hook or by crook, we’re off to the casino for the buffet tonight. Before we could even think about leaving the dogs alone again though, we had to do something about the aromas emanating from Bethanys rear end that were eerily reminiscent of the smells that preceded yesterdays incident.

After taking the pooches for an evening amble, during which time we hope to have thwarted a repeat of yesterday, we headed off towards the casino. The last two Thursday evenings, we have headed for the Mindil Night Markets, but I have been itching to hit the casino buffet on a Thursday night. You see Thursday night is reserved for the ‘Bibs and Ribs’ buffet, an all you can eat hoedown on a wide and varied selection of ribs.

From deep fried chicken ribs, to giant marinated beef ribs and everything in between, I was in spare rib heaven. I tucked into a few plates of protein rich, juicy goodness, not wasting a spare inch of my plate space on anything as morbid as vegetables. The carnivore in me rose to the surface, as I sucked rib bone after rib bone clean of flesh, smacking my lips with every bite. It was well worth the wait. The only negative was that we weren’t provided with the advertised and promised bibs, so care had to be taken to prevent slashing rib juice down my front.

A flutter in the gaming room failed to excite us as it did on our previous visit to the casino however, as we lost a few coins to the glitz, glamour and jingling sounds of the colourfully lit pokie machines. It just wasn’t to be our night when it came to luck, so we quickly rescinded and headed for home.

It was with probably more than just a hint of apprehension that we unlatched the caravan door tonight, our minds in overdrive as to what we might expect to find within this time round. Thankfully, there didn’t seem to be anything out of place, we didn’t find any more unexpected presents, while Bethany had failed in her no doubt endless quest to secure herself a second (or should that be third) dinner.

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

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.