Sunday July 17th 2011 Mary River and surrounds

female toilets Mary River CP

In the laundry found one dead cane toad flat out like a lizard (or in this case a toad).  They are definitely not as appealing to the eye as green tree frogs. There’s another creature that hangs out in the amenities block; a lizard of some sort – it’s a sandstone colour and about the size of a gecko. 

male toilets Mary River CP

Crows up here don’t sound sad and forlorn and ready to commit suicide as the ones at home. Instead of the extended faaaark, faaaark cry, NT crows are more uplifting with a haaa haaa call.

Our intention was to check out the sights before it got too hot today. We turned off the main road and headed down a dirt track. The road needed grading badly as it was very corrugated and like a washboard. I don’t know how long some of the caravans and cars last when they travel along roads like this. We have some respect for the car and van so we did a u-turn and headed back to the bitumen. Some people may think we’re being over-cautious but out here if something goes wrong, it’s a huge inconvenience with recovery of the vehicle and then waiting for parts and repairs. We’ve heard a few horror stories from other travellers.

corrugated road

Cooinda is the next main settlement. We’d heard positive things about the park so we checked it out and booked in for 3 nights. From here we can do a sunset cruise and morning cruise on the Yellow River. I’ve been looking forward to this for a while.

Looking around the complex, we found the main eatery. The prices of some of the meals could almost pay for a site for a night. At the cheaper end was a beef burger at $28. I’m happy with Holmsey’s meals.

There are some big rivers up here and we crossed a couple that were flowing quite fast on the way to and from Cooinda, which is about 105 km from Mary River. At one of the camp grounds, there were plenty of campers and an area was allocated to use generators between 9:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m. as there were no powered sites but toilets and hot showers were available. I’m being a bit of a sook and I want power.  We’ve had the air conditioner working again today. It’s hot and if we open up the windows and door, we’re invaded by biting things.

Most of the trees are very straight with thin trunks. The winds mustn’t be very strong. Cathedral termite mounds are a feature amongst the savannah vegetation. Some of them are colossal (that might be an exaggeration). Check out the photo to see one. One wonders how long it took to build and how many termites are living in it.

cathedral termite mound (and Bob)

Made phone calls to Mum and Dad, Trev and Lynda, Jennifer (no answer) and finally touched base with The Gaylards. It’s always good to speak with family and friends and catch up with what’s happening at home.

As we were looking through some of the brochures, etc later this afternoon, Robert queried one that had Mary River Crossing. This is the one that I had used to book this CP – wrong place. So I have to take back what I wrote yesterday about the brochure being more attractive than the real place. Big OOPS! If we had phone connection, I’d have called the other place and apologised because I used the info on the brochure to book a site. Bobby didn’t tell me that when he checked in, our name wasn’t on the list – now we know why. This must happen a bit – Mary River and Mary River Crossing.

Without internet access or television reception, Bobby’s finally doing some crosswords!!!! I love my crosswords and must have a daily fix. Now, instead of being asked, “What can’t you work out?” we can help each other solve the clues that are posing a block. I don’t think he’ll take up making jewellery though.