Our Aussie Adventures

Well, first of all, I notice that we had some technical issues with the image on yesterdays blog post. You can click here: Day 65: Kermits Revenge, to see the amended post with the missing photo now correctly uploaded. Sorry about that.

As for today, we started off already weary after a poor nights sleep. Even leaving the air conditioner running overnight did little to ease the stuffiness, and we both spent a good part of the night tossing and turning in an effort to get comfortable. It didn’t help that Bethany had decided that she too wanted to stretch out across the bed, taking the bottom quarter for herself. I ended up booting her off, to allow us room to stretch our legs out. She wasn’t happy about it, but after getting kicked off for the third time, she got the picture and retreated demoralised to her own bed on the couch. It was too late by this stage for either Bec or myself to regain any semblance of restorative respite however.

It was 9:00AM when the alarm shocked us from our fragmented slumber, although at least Bec got to stay in bed. I however was off to collect my camera, or should I say was off to visit my camera. To make a long story short, they are dragging their heels in getting it cleaned and it was still sitting on the desk waiting to be looked at when I arrived this morning. Not only was it still sitting their, but the battery had been drained, and power is a necessity for the cleaning process to be undertaken. So much for it being ready yesterday as planned. I was glad we had spent the time with David and Heather rather than rushing down to get it. I grumbled that I was on holiday and needed it as soon as possible, having already lost the chance to photograph three days of our trip. I was promised that if I was able to return yet again, with a fully charged battery, that it would be ready for me this afternoon. Forgive me if I don’t go holding my breath waiting.

To settle the anger that was welling up within me over this entire wretched situation, I sat down at a café for a supersized cup of strong coffee. I didn’t much enjoy it, as I sipped it through clenched teeth, but by the time I was ready to return to the van, I had at least mellowed out to a category 3 tempest rather than a fully blown category 5.

Returning to the van, I got Bec up, and we prepared ourselves to go out. All of our visitors are meeting here at our van at midday, before we embark on a trip to the East Point Military Museum. The idea of meeting up was to allow a bit of car pooling to take place, so while the other 4 went in one vehicle, Bec and I wheeled out in ‘The Beast’. We didn’t think it fare for everyone to tag along to the camera store for me to drop the battery and another piece of my mind off. Instead, we promised to meet them as soon as possible at the museum.

Here we come. Sorry we’re late.

Expecting to spend only an hour or so at the museum, Bec and I figured we would have a quick look around, before returning to the van, while the others continued on to the museum and art gallery that we visited the other day. As it turned out, the military museum was a sensational spectacle that took us several hours to slowly amble about to take it all in. Split between a modern exhibition hall and an expansive outdoor area encompassing several open air displays of various wartime machinery and a number of other exhibits housed in World War II era military installations.

Just as it says: Welcome to Darwin Military Museum.

Example

Of Some

Of The

Displays.

The highlights for me was the short film depicting the bombing of Darwin, with an accompanying light and sound show, and the interactive campaign table which gave an overview of Darwin at the time of the attack, as well as telling the stories of many of the characters that were in Darwin at the time. Outside, we found further display cases within the giant gun emplacement and in the old operations bunker, not to mention the grounds, which were littered with old trucks, field guns and other military vehicles and hardware.

Even Bec, who was initially disinterested in joining in on our tour of the museum, found it to be an informative and fun experience. I found it to be one of the better historical institutions I’ve been to, especially learning more about the harrowing experience it must have been to live through the overwhelming destruction of the bombing attacks on our very own home soil.

Just outside the grounds of the museum is a large field with the remains of further war era gun emplacements and ammunition bunkers, where we spent some further time exploring before we decided it was time to make our way back to the van for afternoon tea. It was getting on to 4:00PM by this stage, and seeing as though we had all missed our midday feed, the hunger pangs were making themselves known.

Our version of a campaign table.

With the six of us squeezed into the annex, we mauled our way through a spread of cheese and crackers, bringing back fond memories from the early stages of our travels, while over a few cold beverages we made plans for this evening and tomorrow.

Even though Bec and I had decided that the Mindil Night Market wasn’t our thing, we figured that being the Darwin institution they are, Liz, Greg, David and Heather shouldn’t miss out on the sights, sounds and smells of the bazaar. Since we had enjoyed the street stall food last week, Bec and I decided we would tag along as guides.

Similar to last week, we got there at a bit after 5:30PM, when the crowds were minimal. That gave us all the opportunity to whizz quickly about the majority of the stalls before the crowds amassed to the point of a claustrophobia inducing crush.

It was such a shame though, that everyone has travelled all of the way from Melbourne, with a picture perfect mindil beach sunset foremost in their minds, courtesy of last weeks blog. They were to be dismayed though, by a cloud infested sky that turned the twilight into a canvas of flat, one dimensional hues of grey. So much for being able to show off the best that Darwin has to offer, when Mother Nature decides to draw the curtains on her evening light show.

What a difference…

…a week makes.

Dinner was taken at the stall we frequented last week, in the belief that it was safer to stick to a known quantity, rather than trying our luck with an unknown vendor. Over dinner, we finalized our plans for tomorrow morning, agreeing to check in with David and Heather at their domicile, at 10:00AM. With that decided, we fought our way through the now crushing crowds of people, to the cars, where we then fought our way through the crushing crowds of vehicles to make our way home. Bec and I declared that we would most certainly not be returning to the markets again next week. While two times might be the charm, twice was also enough. Although… Well you’ll just never know, if you don’t tune in next week.

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

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.

Whilst we did luxuriate in yet another sleep in this morning, the day was to be far from relaxing. With our first couple of visitors due to arrive in Darwin this afternoon, and due not too long after their arrival at our place for dinner, we had to give the van a once over, making sure that everything was neat, tidy and just the way Bec likes it.

So once I had hidden out in the annex for as long as I dared to upload another few photos to Flickr, while having breakfast, it was straight to it. After living in such a small space for so long, you tend to throw things wherever they seem to fall, and live with it. Piles of junk seem to accumulate on any flat surface, and cupboards require careful opening to ensure a cavalcade of bits and bobs doesn’t come pouring out of its own accord.

By the time we were done, apart from being exhausted, the van was spick and span. All of our little piles had been put away properly, the floor had been swept, benches had been wiped and I am almost certain I even caught Bec vacuuming the ceiling, although she claims she was just sucking the dust from the air conditioner vents.

The annex too, needed a quick spruce up, as this is where we will have to dine this evening. Our van dinette is a strictly 2 person affair, so it will be an al fresco evening tonight. That meant reorganizing all of the stuff we have stored beneath the canvas, to allow us to set our little camp table up to suit four bodies crowded around it.

You would think that being a living space of not much more than 20 feet in length, it wouldn’t be too time consuming a job to get it all cleaned up, but you would be wrong. It took us the better part of the morning to make sure everything was straightened up and that we were in good stead to host our visitors.

As well as the van, I took the vacuum outside to have a go at removing the bulk of the dog hair from the interior of ‘The Beast’. It hasn’t been done for a few weeks, and the leather upholstery was beginning to look like it was covered in lambs wool.

While we were in the mood to be knocking off tasks from our to do list, we pulled out the clippers, and gave the babies another haircut. Their coat has grown back quicker than what we had expected, so in an effort to protect them from the brutal heat, a trim was in order. Even with their already reasonably short manes, it was still a tedious chore, as we sat outside on the concrete to shear them. Alvin loved it, rolling onto his back and nearly falling asleep as his hair parted company from his body. Bethany still wasn’t too sure, shaking a little as the clippers coursed through her fine hair. It probably didn’t help that I might have gotten a little too close on occasion, leaving her with a couple of stripy bald spots, and a grazed knee. I’ll be lucky if she lets me near her again when I’ve got the clippers in hand.

It was worth it though, as we found out when one of our neighbors asked if we were professionals, probably hoping to save some of the $75.00 he has been quoted to get his own little pooch trimmed. The way I see it, even taking into account the purchase price of the clippers, we’re in the black to the tune of $250.00 already. The chiropractic treatment we might need tomorrow as a result of bending over to do the actual trimming may well eat into our savings though.

Given that the dogs were now sporting a new sleek profile, I was next in the barbers chair, as Bec ran the blades over my scalp. My hair had begun to become a hot and unruly mop, so it was good to be rid of it. As much as I tried, Bec wouldn’t go for the same, short back and sides hairstyle for herself.

By this stage, we had just enough time to get cleaned up and head to the shops. As well as picking up my camera, we needed to buy supplies for tonights dinner. Due to the limited storage space we have available in the fridge, it wasn’t an option to have picked it up any earlier. In fact, the relatively small sized fridge and freezer is the reason our grocery runs have become an almost daily ritual.

Getting what we needed at the supermarket, I collected my camera on the way out. It wasn’t until we got all the way back out to the car park that I thought I had better check and see what sort of job they had done on the camera. As it turned out, it was a job and a half, and not in a good way. It was in a worse condition than when I had dropped it off. I was furious, storming back through the centre to give it back to them. I am now left in the hope that they can actually make a decent recovery and get it cleaned, because I stand to lose $70.00 on a shoddy job at best now. At worst, it will render the camera unusable. To say I wasn’t too happy would be an understatement.

There was no time to dwell on it though, as we took the call that the plane had landed safely and our visitors were on their way to check in at their accommodation before heading to see us. I know Liz from work, and we have travelled with her and her husband, Greg, previously, so whilst I don’t particularly care to be talking about work while we are away, it will be great to see some familiar faces from home.

Having been on a plane for over four hours to get here, I knew that it probably didn’t matter what we fed them, they would be happy regardless, although funnily enough they didn’t want sausages. Something about being worried about eating bull willies. Between Bec and I, we cooked them up a barbeque feast, with side salads aplenty. For dessert, if you ignored the box it came in, the cheesecake could have almost been home made.

It was a great night had by all, as we caught up on some of the gossip from home, and Liz and Greg were treated to some of our anecdotes that haven’t been worthy of inclusion in the blog, but can still raise a giggle if told in just the right way, with just the right amount of embellishment.

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

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.

After yesterdays early start, only to be confronted with the disappointment of sub-standard markets, we weren’t about to make the same mistake again today. Therefore we set the alarm for the much more reasonable time of 9:00AM.

Even with the veritable sleep in today, it was still an effort to get started, although that might have something to do with burning the midnight oil again last night, as we also burned through another couple of episodes of ‘The Shield’.

As for this morning, we had a plan, and we were going to do our best to stick to it. There are another two markets being held today, both of which are situated in close proximity to each other, in the northern outer suburbs of Darwin. Once we managed to get ourselves moving, the first one up was the Parap Village Market.

The Parap Village Market seemed to be the same sort of deal as the others we have already visited, with car parking spaces at a premium in the surrounding blocks. Fresh produce featured heavily here, as did the abundant range of food stalls. The majority of these stalls were selling authentic south east Asian fare, giving the whole market a distinctly Thai flavour. With the humid, although mild, weather this morning, the exotic aromas permeating from the curry stands, and the sing song lilt of the Asian languages being spoken all around us, we could have been strolling through a street bazaar in any number of Asian countries.

Not having made time for a proper breakfast before leaving the van, I dined on a delectable serving of freshly prepared Chicken Laksa, sitting just as you would at a Thai street cart, on a low stool, at a small table covered with a gaudy plastic table cloth.

Chicken Curry Laksa for breakfast. Yum!

Only five minutes down the road, we came to todays second market, the Nightcliff Village Market. After driving around in circles yet again before finding a place to park ‘The Beast’ in reasonable proximity to the epicenter of the market, we waded into the throng of bodies, moving almost as one along the narrow haphazard aisles of the market. A central round of the by now ubiquitous food stands was surrounded by a spiders web like arrangement of other stalls. We found this market to be our preferred of the 5 we have now visited here in Darwin, although still find that none of them are really our kind of scene.

It seems that the targeted clientele at these fairs are a mixture of hippies and the coffee swilling cool cats. Back at home, I would expect these folks to be spending their weekends cycling high handle barred, curved tubed, street cruiser bicycles along the beach front to the nearest gourmet free trade coffee shop and deli, for their weekly hit of a decaffeinated soy latte. I certainly wouldn’t anticipate them trawling through the weekend markets, getting their hands dirty scrabbling through old junk and bric-a-brac hunting for a bargain, like what we are used to. So while we had excitedly proclaimed when we first arrived in Darwin that we would spend every weekend doing the rounds of the markets, we are now tending towards not bothering about returning to any of them.

Having struck out at the markets again, it was back to the van to take care of some necessary business. It was time for my favorite job of emptying the toilet cassette. A job, which due to the absence of a disposal point here in the park, means I have to drive about 5 kilometres each way hauling the filled to capacity holding tank, to the public dump point. While I sorted that little task out, Bec set about tidying up the van.

We then decided, that despite the slightly cooler weather today, that it was still hot enough to enjoy a swim in the caravan park pool. We figure that as the dry season is starting to set in properly, seeing a lowering of temperatures, we may as well make the most of the warmth while it persists. As a bonus, the night time temperatures are due to become colder too, which will mean we may not need to worry too much about supplementary, powered cooling overnight.

As it turns out, the temperature of the pool water has already decreased noticeably and therefore we didn’t last too long in there today. It was still pleasant to relax in the water, the sun streaming down warmly upon us though.

I call in invigorating.

Or maybe just plain cold.

While bathing, we discovered what might be considered the root cause of the apparent unfriendliness about the park. From eavesdropping to the prattle of a couple of gossips that were also taking some time out for a swim, it seems that if you don’t come up here for months at a time, year after year, you’re on the outer from the start. Even if you do manage to get inducted into the inner circle, it seemed that something as simple as missing two days in the pool could get you booted from the clique. I do feel sorry for poor Margaret, whose cough might have stopped her coming for a swim for the past couple of days, according to the nattering couple, but it doesn’t seem like the friendship will endure after such an affront. These two also didn’t like the ‘permanents’, as they take up all too much space in the park by constructing monstrous awnings to cover and enclose their plots, not to mention taking up all of the best sites. I can only imagine what was said about Bec and I, once we took our leave and exited the pool. No doubt we are guilty of some series breach of their sensibilities. I’d hate to think I had been sitting in the wrong spot in the pool, or heaven forbid we’ve parked in old so and so’s favoured site, but who would know. I much prefer the transient tourist type parks, where everyone is just happy being on the road, and chatty with anyone who utters “G’day”.

Returning to the van, a scolding hot shower helped get my blood flowing again, before we kicked back to watch the rugby on TV. Melbourne Storm won, so it was a good afternoon, leading into a quiet night. No doubt an episode or two of ‘The Shield’ might assist in rocking me to sleep.

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