Monday 6th May 2024

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Monday 6

^th
May, DarwinBig4 Howard Springs, Darwin NTCost $44.75 per night with membershipRated by us 7/10Mileage 20079 travelled 311kmsWith only a short drive to Darwin, we packed up slowly, we have the pack up plus breakfast down to and hour which is not too bad, would like less to do but we shall see. It is getting tedious having to put out the awning and the kitchen and the fridge all the time, we definitely did not think this through enough for this big trip.The landscape is very similar to home and if I didn't know better we could be around Northam or Toodyay. The trees are low scrub and spiky, I guess all the rain means they have to stay low to survive each year. There is a lot of water around and the rivers are mostly full and running fast. We continue to see damage to the road from the big wet, some places the road is covered in gravel from the overflow of water. The hills are now very rocky and like shale with layers of thin rock in all sorts of shades. The clouds continue to make amazing wispy patterns in the sky and are great fun to photograph.G drove the first spell then I managed 130km before getting tired, we pulled into Adelaide River for a pee stop not realising it is a public holiday the place was packed with tourist, looks like more fishing competitions on the holiday, also some religious groups out and about in coaches, busy busy. G made the mistake of buying some chips to go with the sandwiches I had made this morning and it took him almost 25mins to get them, lots of Aboriginal people buying shut food again, the servos really need to jack up their act on what they provide. It is the first time I have seen a complete fridge dedicated to Coke and it was been bought by the bucket load, diabetics in the making.We have opted to stay just outside of Darwin after speaking to some people from Darwin when we were camped at Lake Kununurra, they said in the town was not good and that Howard Springs is just 20mins from the CBD and much quieter. Lots of shady trees and two pools to chose from, looks like a good spot will see, we are here for a week so it better be good.

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