31 August 2010 to 6 September 2010

31 August 2010

We had a good start to the day with Ross, on about his third throw with the casting net, bringing in about 50 herring!!  Never seen so many!! We threw most of them back and gave a couple to the kites that hang around waiting for tidbits and went on our way with great expectations for the day - pfft! Stupid fish - what's their caper?  Got us all excited about catching fish and then - no more!!  We lost a few lines to sharks and goodness knows what else but for the rest of the time there was nothing!!  Stupid fish. 

We had fish and chips for lunch - we got 4 big fillets off the fish from yesterday which will do us for 4 meals which is some consolation I guess.

1 September 2010

I got up and worked and we didnt get going from Borroloola until about 11:30ish after filling up with fuel, doing a little shopping, etc.  We decided to do a big run today as we need to get to Katherine because this morning Ross' computer died again!!  Grrr!!  WE have to take t in to either Katherine or Darwin to get fixed again.  Hopefully they will get it right this time!! 

We had a big drive and drove past the famous Daly Waters Pub and almost stopped there for the night but decided to push on to a rest stop showing further along the way.  It seemed to have everything we needed including water which is always handy - we didnt expect drinking water as its very rare to come by but water for washing dishes etc is always good. 

We got to the rest stop at about 5:30 and started setting up while I went to the toilets - EWWW - they were pit toilets that were literally full to the brim!!  All the rubbish bins were overflowing and there was no water!!  Far out - bummer, but Ross had already set up camp so we decided to stay anyway.  We made the rest of the queen fish into a nice curry and hit the hay.  It had been a long, hot day and so far we have been luck in that the nights cool down nicely for sleep. 

2 September 2010

Well, that had to be the worst night's sleep in the history of bad night's sleeps!!!  Ok, so this rest stop has disgusting toilets, overflowing rubbish bins, no water - to top that off it was stinking hot and poor Boris couldnt sleep - was panting all night, we had huge road trains going past all night including driving right through the middle of the rest stop (what the heck is that all about?), people deciding to leave at like 5 o'clock in the morning and running their very noisy, stinky 4WDs for a long time right next to our van before they left, and just in case that wasnt enough to keep us awake, we had friendly locals driving past at about 5 am also, beeping their horns just in case we had managed to get any sleep at all during the night!!  So if you are ever contemplating stopping at South Warloch Rest area - DON'T DO IT!! 

The rest of the day was lovely though as we headed in to Mataranka and first went to the thermal pools and had a bit of a look see but Boris wasn't allowed to swim there so we headed over to the Bitter Springs to also have a look see after letting him have a swim in the Little Roper River for a cool down.  We went to the barra feeding at the homestead which is free and was good but its not quite hot enough for them yet so they were still a bit sluggish.  After that we headed to the Bitter Springs for a swim - HEAVEN!!  Just beautiful!!  http://www.matarankacabins.com.au/bitter-springs-thermal-pools.html.  There was a film crew there filming so we couldnt go in the main pool but it wsa still lovely.  After that I wanted to have barra and chips at the homestead restaurant so we headed there and let Boris out of the car.  He had just hit the ground and I had his lead in my hand ready to put it on him and he spotted one of their pet wallabies!!  Well, you can imagine the rest for yourself - very embarrassing with me having to apologise profusely to the owner!!  We still had barra and chips tho!! 

We then headed into Mataranka township so I could sit in the park and work before heading to another campsite closer to Katherine.

3 September 2010

Well, that campsite wasn't much better than the last one though it did have water in the tanks - that was the only improvement!  Some sleep anytime soon would be very nice!! 

We headed on into Katherine and to the Katherine Hot Springs http://www.google.com.au/images?hl=en&rlz=1G1GGLQ_ENAU352&q=katherine+hot+springs&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&ei=UkKETMPmDs3QceOjvdAL&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=5&ved=0CDoQsAQwBA&biw=1440&bih=657
which weren't really hot but juuuust right!!  I sat under the tree and worked for a few hours while Ross ran some errands in town including dropping off his computer for fixing again.  When he came back we spent quite a bit of time lazing in the hot springs - Boris joined us too and had a wonderful time!! 

We headed north again and found a bit better campsite for the night about an hour and a half shy of Darwin to camp the night.  They had been burning off during the day and some of the big logs were still burning around the campsite which was very handy for boiling the billy! 

We met a lovely couple who were travelling on a 3-wheel motorbike towing a trailer - had a great chat and then it started raining - blissful - certainly cooled things down!!  It wasn't stinking hot so we managed to get a fair night's sleep though it was still pretty darn hot!! Boris has taken to sleeping outside because its just too hot for him in the caravan.  I have never wanted him to sleep outside before because who knows what mischief he might get up to in the night or what might come along to make him bark or he might get tangled in his rope but so far when he has slept outside over the last 3 nights he has just plomped down and not moved till morning!! 

4 September 2010

We headed into Darwin to try to sort out my ebook reader at Angus & Robertson which is the only Angus & Robertson in the whole of the NT and guess what?! They don't carry ebook readers!!  Aagh!!  The girls were just lovely however and very helpful and they are going to try to sort something out but we won't hear until Monday as the company they have to ring wasn't open today (Saturday). 

We had been trying unsuccessfully to get hold of Michelle and Peter who we wanted to visit while we were here and Michelle rang while I was in Angus & Robertson and we worked out that she works just 2 blocks away so we wandered around and said hello. She wasn't going to finish work for a couple of hours so she gave us their address and we headed out there to set up the caravan and I did a bit of work while we waited.  They don't have a house here as they are not planning to stay for any length of time but they have rented a shed in a paddock and both Michelle and Peter and Stacey and Tony (their daughter and her boyfriend) plug their caravans into the power from the shed and live in their vans.  The shed has a petitioned off area that has a full kitchen and bathroom in it as well as air conditioning and fans so it is actually more than just a shed and is quite comfy. 

When Michelle and Peter came home it was wonderful catching up and we had a BBQ tea. 

5 September 2010

It was hot again last night but managed to sleep ok again. 

I got up and worked while the boys fiddled around with trucks and caravans, etc outside.  After I finished work Michelle and Jules (Michelle's sister who lives in a unit in Darwin) took me house hunting for a new house for Jules. 

At about 4ish, Ross and I wandered off to the Mindil Beach markets for a bit of a looksee - they are an icon around here and we couldnt miss the opportunity to go and see them.  They are primarily food orientated but have craft and other things there as well and we had a wonderful time wandering around sampling different foods.  I had tempura camembert and squid on a stick because I wanted to try stuff I had never tried before and Ross had a hash brown and two spring rolls!!  Typical!!  We also stopped to watch eMDee http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooFcm9by8F0 who were just unreal!!  There was also a guy there who sold stockwhips and gave demos as well as taught the kids how to crack them.  It was a great afternoon and then we headed back to Michelle and Peter's for another BBQ. 

6 September 2010

Peter was up at 5 am for work and even though he was very quiet I heard him and so was up with him so I decided to start work early and get it over and done with.  Ross headed off to buy some bits for the caravan.  I heard from Angus & Robertson who told me that the only store of theirs in WA who stock the ebook readers are in Perth!!  I told them that we wouldn't be there for a couple of months so I rang the Perth store and they are going to express one over to the store here - yay!!