The Top End !!

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DAY 231

It was a cool night, again we slept under just one blanket, to start with the humidity was high and we lay there longing for the coolness of the night, the good thing though that we were inside and the mozzies were outside.

Throughout the night we hear the usual abundance of wildlife, the different sounds the shuffling of the leaves, the crunching of the leaves, the strange calls from the birds or was that some kind of lizard hissing outside?

It seems that we have adjusted to the time difference here, as we were both awake at 7.00, not nearer to 8.00 like it was when we first crossed over the border. Lying in the cool of the morning chatting about the night sounds I asked Andy if he knew the purpose of a mosquito, apart from making our lives as difficult as possible at times.

Andy likes questions like that so it gave him some food for thought. Andy thought for a moment and said perhaps they exist to make the other parts of our holiday much more fun when they are not around. Although he could not really think of what they contribute, it does not mean to say that they don’t contribute anything to the world, bees pollinate, trees produce oxygen, flies provide food for spiders, but then what do spiders do? It could go on.

Anyway after about 5 minutes of this weird conversation, I deduced that I have too much time on my hands to think and perhaps should go back to work and not ask such complex questions that we cannot possibly answer.

The usual routine was underway with making a cup of tea, breakfast, packing away etc. I packed the inside of the tent and swept it out as soon as I got up, this meant not having to do it when it was hot. It was nice to take the opportunity while it was still cool.

Packing up we find that we have a couple of visitors, no, not the tiny little ants that like to invade everything, but two rather large spiders have appeared. One sits menacingly on top of the base of the tent, now that we have pulled it up on the trailer, after a photograph was taken Andy took the brush and coaxed it off, unfortunately it then ran onto the tyre and gripped it like it wasn’t going to let go, however it would have to otherwise we would squash it as soon as the trailer is hooked up to the Patrol.

The other spider was scared of Andy, so as soon as we realised it was there he was running around fast on the top of the trailer that freaked Andy out a bit.

We were all packed away by 9.30 but had to wait to do our final ablutions as they were cleaning the camp heads, and as soon as they were done we were off.

Destination Darwin!!

This was a journey that was of the pinnacle of the trip, Darwin, the Valhalla of the trip, right at the top of the Australia map, at the 12.00 o’clock position, a place that I have just wondered about and a place that is so far from the bottom of Australia, 3800 K’s to Melbourne, 4000K’s to Sydney and 4100 K’s to Perth, which strangely enough is at the 9.00 O’clock position but is so far west.

It is really staggering just how big Australia is, everytime we look at the map, it honestly takes our breath away.

The journey was sort of uneventful really except for the fires in the distance, the aboriginals were burning back their land as it seems to be common practice at this time of year.

Driving over bridges though you could look down to the left and right where the water was and if you looked hard enough you could see crocodiles just basking in the sun.

The road was as straight as an arrow, and 254k’s long, we had cracked it by about 1.30 and were soon looking for our campsite.

Two guys we had been speaking to had warned us about the Big 4 at Howard Springs, they said the owners were a bit obnoxious and the place was dirty as they had stayed there a few years ago, so we thought we would just find a place for a couple of nights, then sort things out once we acclimatised ourselves to Darwin.

When we checked in, we were told to wait for the chap to show us our spot, he came over on his quad and chatted to us about our requirements, however there were no powered spots available so we booked an unpowered site, he asked how long we were staying, we said we weren’t sure but if things worked out possibly a month. In response this guy said I have just the perfect spot for you, so if you do end up staying a month it will be just right. “I can also arrange power for you as well.” We were pleased with that so we followed Ross to this site, lush green grass awaited our arrival in amongst the Palm trees, the Pandanus and the Frangipani. Plenty of shade and tucked back near the fence, it seems we have an oasis

As soon as we had set the trailer up we went out, we needed to find a Nissan Dealer as the truck is due a service and a big one at that, so we drove in to Darwin, we soon found one, and with the Patrol booked in for Wednesday next week we had achieved what we needed to.

We also had some mail to collect in Darwin as our dear friend Ruth Oman had forwarded it on from Brisbane, so we went in to the CBD found the Post Office and before we knew it we had our mail.

Back to base, I just have to say that the Big 4 at Howard Springs has obviously pulled it socks up, it is clean, the sites are good and so are the facilities, so as far as we are concerned its all good, especially with the help we received at the outset of our arrival with Ross making sure that our needs were catered for.

I am wrestling with feelings at the moments, I want to work, its been 8 months since I last worked and I am struggling a bit, I like to work and just would like to pick up something on a short term contract.

This is what this trip is about, new adventures and experiences, we don’t have any time constraints or need to rush back to the UK for a certain date, so may be stay in Darwin for a while. We will see how that goes.

Caroline wanted to get some washing on the go, we had a huge pile to do, but the machines were busy, every time she went round to check, she came back with the washing until eventually sometime after 7.00 it was all in the machine and that was only half the battle.

As we had had a late lunch, our dinner was a fairly light one, while we were eating it was like an alarm clock had gone off, all of a sudden we heard the sounds of the Possums crashing through the palm tree’s on their descent to Terra Firma. It was like a raid was going on; the ground was suddenly inundated with the little fella’s running in all directions.

They are ringed tail Possums, not like those Brush Tail Possums that we met in Beautiful Tasmania, but surely related to the same crime family? Very inquisitive creatures who like to know what’s going on. We wonder if our food will be safe, but they appear not to be coming round looking for it, so we may be lucky. The huge panels of mosquito netting in the tent is exposed so it would not be too difficult for one of these critters to put a claw through it just like “Dumb and Dumber” on Cradle Mountain.

Once the washing was done Caroline went to retrieve it from the machine, she was hoping to be able to find some space on the washing line and hang it ready to dry tomorrow morning, however the lines were still laden with everyone else’s.

For the first time in what seems like a while, we sat outside and played cards, it was a close game, but I beat Caroline in the end as we had a decider before finally going to bed.

So until tomorrow if we decide to publish another blog.

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Photos

Horrid
The horrid creature sprang out when were putting the trailer away, I nearly Sh+t myself

Hiding
Hiding or waiting to pounce

Burning the landscape
Th aborgials believe that burning incites new growth.

Comments

[julia]

Oh my god!
Spider! no. http://www.madnike.com