Darwin 2012 - Katherine

We have been in Katherine for a week so far. Its not much of a town but we have family here.One of my sisters, Rachel, lives on the RAAF base at Tindal, and the other, Rebecca, lives in Katherine itself.

Katherine is a fairly major town for NT with all of the service you would expect of a regional town. It is also the gateway to the Kimberley. Otherwise there is not much to do here excepting the normal tourist type stuff so we are having a great catch up with the family (including the 7 niece/nephews )

I have been back out to the Katherine River low levels for a bit of a look as i am trying to convince the brother in-laws that we need to go fishing for Barramundi, but the river is still flowing heavily due to the “Wet” just finishing. We did go down to set some traps to catch Cherabin, a local freshwater prawn. We set these at around 6pm one night and went back down at 11:30 pm to retrieve them. A good survey of the water was required first in case there were any large reptiles in the area but we did not see any. We managed to catch 7 large Cherubin thinking we would have a god snack the next day. Unfortunately they were left in the bucket overnight and therefore died. We will need to catch some more if we are to taste them.

See the logs stuck in the branches of the tree from the last flood above.

 

My first Barramundi dish for the trip.

I also took the parents out to the Katherine Gorge. Mum was not interested in a river boat tour so it was a quick look only. I have been out in he past and will look up some of those photos to add when i get home.

Everything's closed due to high waters and Crocodiles

Below is the fuel usage so far for the trip. You can see the usage fluctuating between 15.5 and 17.5 L/100Km which would be due to drivers and headwind. Otherwise, for the load we have been towing i expect this usage is OK for Petrol.

We are off to Darwin on Friday before returning to Katherine for a few more days then home

Darwin 2012–Banka Banka to Katherine

What a great nights sleep we had. Banka Banka is a non-powered campsite so we had no air conditioning or fans. To solve the issue of the heat, it was still around 38deg, we fully opened the van up, including all the vents. This, coupled with a full moon, meant i was basically sleeping under the stars and had a great view outside my window.

We got up early and took off by 6:30, electing to have breakfast on the road somewhere. This was planned to be cereal but in the end we had a cooked breakfast at the Dunmara Petrol station. Wow, a full cooked breakfast in the middle of nowhere for only $12. the biggest problem this caused was that once we arrived at Daly waters a few hours later we were still too full and could not partake of the Barramundi dishes for lunch.

Daly Waters was very interesting and we stopped here for a drink, before heading off to Rachels. We didn't stop too much but it wasn't a long day either.

Unfortunately the surprise arrival was not to be as Rachel was using the apple “Find my friends” app to track mums phone. We came around the corner to her house to find them all out the front waiting

We will be in Katherine for the next week before heading up to Darwin for the weekend.

Lastly, some Iphone/Instagram photos…

Darwin 2012–Alice Springs to Banka Banka

We got away from Alice before 8am and headed on down the road towards Banka Banka, an old Cattle station, now set up as a non powered caravan park. They have minimal sites available and in the past we have seen them fill up before 2pm and close their gates. We were to arrive to find the park empty, and during the course of the afternoon only 4 other caravans pulled in. Its changes hands since we last stayed their but the sites and the amenities are still the same, being some of the best we have experienced in the NT.

We stopped in at Barrow creek for morning tea before heading through Wycliffe Well to Wauchope for lunch. Again the temperatures today are up near 40deg but without the flies and some shade it was bearable.

Barrow Creek

Wycliffe Well – UFO capital of Australia

 

Wauchope

Banka Banka Station

    

 

And here are a couple of iphone/instagram photos….

Darwin 2012 - Alice Springs day 2

Not so much to report today. The temperature was very hot again so we went in to town early for some supplies and a walk around Todd Mall.

After that we returned back to the van and rested the day away. I'll update with a review of the park ASAP

Late in the day we went to a Cultural market being held at the Alice Springs Desert Park. There were lots if great paintings and indigenous art but at high cost as well.


With the weather our next stop is now Banka Banka station. We expect to have no phone service for the next 2 days.

Darwin 2012 - Day 1 Alice Springs

We had our first day here in Alice Springs. We have been here before so it is more of a breather stop than anything else.

One thing we did not do last time was to drop into the Royal Flying Doctors Museam and visitors center. They had a great video presentation and talk on what the RFDS does and it's history, showing the extent of the area they support and the various functions they provide. It's amazing to think that from a medical emergency 600km out from Alice springs in the outback they can have you at a major hospital in around 8 hours. As they said, thats less time than you might wait in a big city emergency ward for admittance.

When we arrived at the RFDS we missed a tour so we had a coffee in the cafe. On of the girls sitting near us was nursing a 5 month old Red Kangaroo Joey, complete with a nappy. It's a pity Bianca and Caitlyn were not here to see it.

We also took a drive around town and up to Anzac Hill lookout, before returning to the park for a swim and a rest.

It's been 39 deg here today so a swim is well earned.