Monday 1st August 2011 (Happy Birthday to all the horses) Darwin

Finally arrived in Darwin this morning. We spent the last couple of days at a place called Mary River Crossing. I am not going to believe any of the advertising brochures any more!! This was called a resort - well there was a restaurant and a pool and some cabins. The camping area was quite nice but the toilets/showers were limited to 3 of each and with a public holiday in NT for Darwin Cup, there were a lot of campers.

The mosquitoes were in abundance so once more I've got heaps of bites. Today, we bought another mossie repellant with a lantern that is supposed to have a 5 metre radius of protection. 

We met some more lovely people who come from Sunshine Coast in Queensland. 

Radio reception was very dodgy because we were in a shadow. I wanted to follow the Showdown so I drove the car to higher ground and was able to listen for about 20 mins before it dropped out. Unfortunately, the result wasn't good for Port. 

We did a bit of sight-seeing in this area on the way to a place called Shady Camp there was a bird billabong off the beaten track that we thought we'd check out. Most of the signs are excellent but some don't have all the information needed. The billabong was so many km from a sign but when we got there, the actual billabong was a 2 hour walk. We weren't prepared for that so it didn't happen. The road to Shady Camp is bitumen for most of the way but we weren't planning 
 going there.

Next stop was Couzen's Lookout. The road out to Couzen's Lookout was dirt but it was in good condition.  I thought I'd check the phone signal and got through to Jennifer. We're both excited about Jennifer's arrival on Friday morning. Called Mum and Dad too to find out that Dad has shingles. He's not doing well at the moment.


The lookout was named after a ranger who had died and there was a memorial plaque with some information about him. This spot was on higher ground and looked out over a billabong. We were about 300 metres from something we saw in the water. It looked like a log but it was swimming against the tide at a rapid pace. Robert hot-footed it back to the car to get the binoculars and we could see that it was a large crocodile. Scanning the waters, we noticed another one not too far away. Normally, the crocs are on the banks basking in the sun but a motor boat had just gone past so maybe the crocs were on the lookout for something. 

About 4:30 a.m.  there were screams and shouting from the unpowered section of the park. I didn't hear it but Robert did and when he looked out the window, he saw people with torches running around. There are wild pigs in this area and a sow with 3 piglets were rummaging through an untidy camp site where food scraps, etc had been left out. Robert said it was already a pig stye but now it was really one. The campers had a dog called Bundy but it wasn't having anything to do with the very protective sow that became a tad aggressive with the commotion. That wasn't on the brochure either!

On our way out this morning, there were a few sulphur-crested cockatoos literally hanging around the sprinklers. One cheeky bird slowed the down the flow and proceeded to lap up the water before flying off to another sprinkler, where it clung to a tree trunk and had a shower as the sprinkler rotated. Clever bird! 

After shopping at some out of the way places over the last few weeks, it was pleasant to go to Coles (we try to avoid it at home and support Semaphore Foodland). Lots of cheaper prices and we stocked up on fresh fruit and veg. 


Our CP is about 10 mins fro CBD and it's big. Our site is shady and Bobby has been playing this afternoon,with the annex. The soil is so hard that he's had to use his electric drill to "dig" and make holes for the tent pegs. After drilling, the holes are filled with water. I'm glad he likes doing this.

Sight-seeing starts tomorrow and maybe a little bit of retail therapy! Bobby thinks I need some new bathers - I'm up for that.