We left Mt. Isa and drove through very boring country to Cloncurry. We stopped at the John Flynn Memorial Centre there to view an excellent display on Dr. Flynn's work - his starting the Australian Inland Mission, which became the Royal Flying Doctor Service, begun in Cloncurry in 1928. He was a man of great vision. The network depended largely on a pedal-powered radio invented by Alfred Traeger which helped open up the outback in that people on lonely stations (ranches) could transmit and receive the doctor's information. Tregear and Reverend John Flynn, discussed other services that could be made possible using the radio. Adelaide Miethke, an Adelaide schoolteacher, made the proposal for a School of the Air to be set up through the radio network and in 1950 the first lesson was broadcast. By 1956 ... read more

We have travelled 600 kilometres from Katherine to Tennant Creek, a long trip but with quite a few interesting things to see on the way. Yesterday, our first stop was at Mataranka, in the Elsey National Park. Jeannie Gunn's wrote of her life at Elsey Station in We of the Never Never and in Mataranka's park they have statues of Jeannie and her husband Aenaes and also the Little Black Princess, Bett Bett. Their homestead was recreated for the movie, We of the Never Never and stands near the entrance to the Mataranka Springs. We donned cossies to have a swim in the beautiful clear blue water of the springs - quite an oasis amongst the palm trees growing there. Last time I swam there the water was 34C, too hot for me, but this time ... read more

Our water heater was repaired and back in the motor home, and we had a couple of days doing a bit of sightseeing, but mostly were were lazy under the awning or in the pool with Barbara and Jim. Today we said our goodbyes and once more headed south towards Katherine. About 100 kilometres south of Darwin, we turned off to the Litchfield National Park. We tossed up whether to have a night there at Batchelor, but decided we'd just go and have a quick look at the scenery and keep driving to Katherine. We'd swum in the waterholes and had a look at the waterfalls on our last trip up here. First we had another look at the magnetic ant hills where the ants build their high mounds in an east-west direction and move inside ... read more

We spent our first day in Darwin at the repairers where they had a terrible job which took hours removing the water tank in the motor home. Everything is so compact, there was one boy inside under the lifted up bed and another sitting in the storage area underneath the bed. The tank was corroded so we must wait for parts - but of course - so have extended our week here for another couple of days. It also means no hot water which means either cold showers in the motor home or warm showers in the amenities block. Still, we must be patient - everything moves at a slower pace in the Top End and it's said the NT of the Northern Territory stands for not today, not tomorrow, not Tuesday, not Thursday. Once we ... read more

After leaving the Timber Creek caravan park this morning, we retraced our steps west, to look at Gregory’s tree, We'd passed the turn off a couple of times on our last trip, so decided this time we'd have a look. There is a large boab tree near the Victoria River and it is here where the explorer, Augustus Gregory and his party, who were exploring the interior of the north, set up camp for nine months in 1855-56. They built make-shift dwellings, a landing stage on the river from their ship's ballast and a vegetable garden. He grew up in Australia, so had a good knowledge of bush craft which made his exploration so successful. When they arrived, he carved the date of his arrival on the tree and again the date the party left the ... read more