Formo

Well, we decided to do the three towns covered by the Dinosaur Trail. Until recently Australia was not well known for dinosaur fossils but it is now known that most of Australia supported dinosaurs and their fossils can be found where-ever the rock has eroded back to the relevant period rock. The first two towns, Richmond and Hughenden, are known for their marine fossils. The great inland sea which covered a lot of inland Australia retreated about 100 million years ago when sea levels fell the last time, so all fossils in this area are at least 100 million years old. We arrived in Richmond (our first stop on the trail) just as the museum opened and spent quite a while exploring the wonders of Australia's dinosaur discoveries. At Richmond is Kronosaurus Korner, a museum and ... read more

As mentioned in the previous post, Katherine Gorge was spectacular and again the photos just don't capture the perspective. I would love to have flown over the Gorge in order to see it all but maybe that is for another trip. We stopped at Mataranka for a couple of hours and had a swim in the Thermal Pool which was a very warm 34deg and crystal clear, great for relaxing the body. We checked out the Replica of Elsey Station (as featured in the movie "We of the Never Never") and then continued south to Three Ways where we turned East for the long trip across the Barkly to Mount Isa. We didn't do the touristy thing at Mount Isa (looked just like another mining town, similar to Broken Hill), only stopping to get a new ... read more

Oops again. (A senior moment) I will include the croc pic this time (John and Dennis were trolling on the electric motor in Corroboree Billabong about ten feet from the bank, a bit close to this one). Since the last post we have managed to catch up with Adam who was in Darwin for a kart meeting, and John spent some time at the kart track with him. We then had Monday lunch with Adam and Sarah at Stokes Wharf, a bit of sightseeing then to the airport. Before we left Darwin we went to Charles Darwin Park to see a couple of wartime bunkers and then went to the Fanny Bay Museum to see Sweetheart, who is a very large croc that was captured and preserved and now resides at the museum. We were reluctant ... read more

Hi all, Sorry for the delay in posting. We are still in Darwin and enjoying it although there have been no more big catches to brag about. We spent a day in Litchfield a couple of weeks ago and then I made a last minute decision to fly home for Finn's birthday and Christening. I was prepared to miss his birthday but when they threw the Christening in as well I decided I had to be there (and I am very glad I was). It was great to catch up with family and friends for a few days. John and Dennis went down to Corroboree Billabong while I was away but didn't manage to catch anything except a couple of croc pictures. We caught the ferry across to Mandorah Beach for lunch at the pub and ... read more

After a few days in Darwin we flew to Gove to visit Ann and Bernie. It was great to catch up with them and as usual the hospitality was turned up to the max. They had managed to swap their ute for a mates Land Cruiser so that we could all explore the sights of Gove. Gove is solely a bauxite mining town (and also a life support system for the indigeneous population). In fact Rio Tinto just signed a new deal with the traditional land owners to the tune of $700 million, nice addition to your other benefits. There is a lot of red dust but also a lot of colour in the rocks and cliff faces around the coastline. We feasted on mud crab washed down with a few bubbles and John learnt how ... read more