At Robyn's

After stops at Longreach and Emerald, we finally arrived at Robyn's warm, welcoming home at Emu Park north of Rockhampton. What a lovely week we had there with Rob and her two children, Tim (25) and Nicola (27). It was lovely just to relax in the warm weather, play Scrabble and Pictionary and enjoy the wonderful view. We also celebrated Christmas in July, complete with Santa Claus and gifts. Robyn's neighbour and friend, Margaret, joined us for the feast.

Winton

Winton has become well-known for its dinosaur bones.......and certainly the town has learnt to cash in on the discovery. Even the garbage bins are decorated to look like dinosaur feet! Personally, we found the discoveries overrated, but we did enjoy the excellent pub food and the equally excellent lady saxophonist who entertained the crowds at the pub every evening. We also did some four-wheel driving and Ruth tried her skills on the drums (set up in the middle of nowhere near the 'musical fence' - one of the town's main tourist attractions).

Litchfield to Winton

After Litchfield we stopped near Mataranka at a place called Bitter Springs - warm water (33 degrees) flowing out from underground, with several spots to access the water. Lovely! From there we drove to Tennant Creek where we once again caught up with Judy and Barb. After that it was a long drive with only roadhouses and homesteads until we crossed the Queensland border. Just in case you were wondering just how many grey nomads there are out there, a couple of photos taken at the remote Barkly Homestead should fill you in........ Caravans and motorhomes filling up with petrol, and queuing up to fill up with petrol. On some stretches of road, grey nomads make up about 80% of the traffic. The last picture is is taken at our lunch stop near Cloncurry.

Litchfield National Park - other sights

The first two pictures show the 'lost city' - rock formations that are reminiscent of many temple ruins in Asia. These are followed by the Tabletop Swamp, which is a haven for birdlife for most (if not all) of the dry season. The fourth picture shows the magnetic termite mounds, so called because they are constructed on a north-south axis, and finally we have yet another natural swimming hole, the Buley Rockhole - a bit of a misnoma really, as there are several swimming holes along the river.

Litchfield National Park - the waterfalls

Litchfield National Park is absolutely beautiful, with several waterfalls with relatively easy access for swimming. Three are pictured here:
1. Florence Falls - you can make out Ruth's head out near the waterfall
2. Wangi Falls - still closed after the wet because of the danger of saltwater crocodiles
3. Tollmer Falls -where you have to be prepared to walk for a couple of hours to access the swimming holes, and then only at the top of the falls. (The base of these falls is an aboriginal sacred site).

Darwin 2 - Territory Day

Darwin has a lot of night markets, all with great (mostly Asian) food. The Thursday evening market at Mindil Beach (about 4 kms out of town) is always popular, but was even more so on this occasion because it was Territory Day and they were celebrating with a fireworks display over the water at 7.30pm. We arrived in the late afternoon, thinking we may be too late to secure a good spot. Not at all..........we were amongst the first to arrive. The place certainly filled up though, and it was just a fantastic evening!

Darwin 1

Darwin was a lot of fun. We caught up with Ilsa and Annie (who were holidaying in the Top End), and also with Louise whom we had met in Kalbarri. We visited the oil storage tunnels from World War 2 and spent some time at the new Waterfront area, which has been redeveloped to provide the locals with an easy-access city beach. (The centre of the city is less than 5 minutes walk away.) Right next door to that is a wave pool, popular with children of all ages. We went to the 'deckchair cinema' one evening and saw 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' - excellent film! The last day we took a boat trip across the harbour to Mandorah, returning to Cullen Bay for a delicious mussels and barramundi lunch on the wharf.