So, last time we chatted, we had just entered the NT and were talking about the road conditions. Well, they have gotten a little better,we have decided that now it was a deliberate collection of patches, much like a dot painting of a serpent, when you viewed it from the air. We have also tried to figure out if there is a magic number of potholes required, per square metre,  before they replace an entire section of the road.

Still in the NT at the time of writing this, down at a 2 street town that some people may know…. Daly Waters. This is a place renknown for its Australian quirkiness, and collection of …. well…. stuff, apparently, in the dry, this place goes off, but in the wet… like today, it’s literally dead….not one single person in the pub at all.

And that seems to have been the way things have gone this trip, a lot of our favourite places have been closed due to the wet, it seems to have something to do with the crocodiles and the government not wanting us to get eaten by them.

The thermal springs in Katherine…. closed for the season, same with Edith Falls, Bitter Springs, Mindil Night Markets, and most of ….. no all of, Kakadu. But we have done those places before and have great unspoilt memories of them. Plus, we knew this was going to be just a drive and pretty scenery trip. We did, however, do some old favourites, like Litchfield National Park, the Territory Wildlife Park and the museums/art gallery, always a good place to learn stuff (and stay cool at the same time.)

Some new things popped up like our breakfast at a cafe called “The Rabbit Hole,” where we discovered a new tasty breakfast dish…..Korean Toast.. awesomely delicious, and one serve did us both.

After 3 days walking around Darwins CBD, we threw in a trip to Dundee Beach, which purports to have one of the best sunsets in the country…and it did. Add to this that you can sit and have a beer in the pub while watching it all unfold, raises it up a notch….. Take that Karumba (QLD)!

What the photos don’t give you are the lightning bolts, thunderstorms, and storminess off the sunset. The caravan park there is directly behind the pub (maybe the same owners) and has the best facilities of any caravan park we have been to this trip so far. The cost was $54 per night,  so up there compared to our usual $40-45….. but worth itand it’s the only caravan park there.

You can’t say much more about Kakadu other than “Wow.” Even given that most walks, cruises and side roads were closed for the wet season, just driving the highway gives you a sense of how this place is in the wet, the sheer amount of water that the rivers hold is amazing and then it floods out into the surrounding plains and billabong that stretch for miles. It is just stunning to sit back and watch it all slide by. Again the photos don’t capture the essence of the country here, so you will just have to come see it for yourself.

We did have a laugh when we snuck down into a campsite that had a boat ramp. The campsite was closed, but the boat ramp was open, and the river had come up. There next to a “crocodile safety” sign was a thong floating in the water… it tickled my sense of humour. “Wonder where the rest of him is,”  but then it it would have been better if it was someone’s croc floating instead of a thong.

So here we are having come south down the Stuart Highway to Daly Waters where we are going to turn left and head up into the gulf country  before coming down south east and into Queensland, first stop Mount Isa…. now that is going to be interesting…… and hot!…..

See you next time, stay safe