Around Oz the First Time - Chapter 24 - Darwin Day 3

Today started early again, but not the insane 5.15am of yesterday morning. This morning the alarm went off at 7.00am which had the effect as yesterday, woken from a deep sleep. The alarm was required as I needed to get the Cruiser to the local Toyota dealer for a service. I am sore, very sore, particularly the shoulders from all the casting of lures from yesterday. Getting out of the shower, Robyn notices a rather nasty bruise on my thigh, I assume it is there from the fall at Gumlom Falls.

I leave at 8.00am expecting the others to follow. The plan is to pick me up and we would continue in that direction towards Fogg Dam and Berry Springs.

In the category of “he only had one job – ONE job”, I get a call from my lovely wife giggling her head off suggesting they (Forbsy and the rest) had left her at home. Forbsy had indeed driven off without Robyn. In a fit of “we need to get going”, he had ushered Silver Leader and Rosalie into the car and sped off. It was not until I rang them, closer to me than the caravan park did the penny drop. They decided to retrieve me first, head back, pick up Robyn – the small package she is – and head off.

We have had a number of “only one job” incidents on the trip so far but we all concede this takes the cake so far AND will be hard to top.

Decorum and a full vehicle restored we are off to Fogg Dam.  Forbsy has been there before in closer to the wet season and suggest to us not to have our hopes pinned too high given the dryness of the surrounds. These hopes are reduced even more as we make the final turn towards the destination and the adjacent military radio installation is all but shrouded in smoke haze from the bushfires.

Miraculously the haze clears as we near the local school and as we turn into the car park is crystal clear. It’s not crystal clear water, there is very little of that, but what we can see is crystal clear to the eye. A wallaby darts in front of the car and everyone misses the photo opportunity before the marsupial disappears into the roadside bush. There is a carpark beside the wall of the “dam” which at its end, which is the start of the wall tells visitors the wall is closed to walkers because of crocodiles. Why have a carpark that stops cars and then stop the people from walking therefrom?

We drive on across the wall. There are birds to see, brolgas, egrets (unsure of what sort Silver Leader winds down the window and asks one if it is a small, medium of large one – the egret does not reply funnily enough), ducks and falcons. Another wallaby bounds across the road and because we have our cameras at the ready it is caught, but it would not have mattered as this one was obviously on the payroll and stops on the ground adjacent the road and poses for photos.

We get out of the vehicle and Forbsy gets me to take a photo of his arm. There are 2 ladybirds nestled on it. From the care we wander to the viewing platform. Friends of ours have been here a few months ago and the scene was very, very different. Today the lee side of the dam is a savanna of pasture reduced to nothing from the herding cattle. There is a small pond with spoonbill working through it and vast amounts of just open, dry country. On the way back to the vehicle I snap a cow pat just for fun. It will be a talking point in the car as we move to the next point. On the way out we marvel at the size of the croc trap nestled in the weeds on the wet side of the wall. It certainly will accommodate a large beast.

Driving back past the radio installation the haze has cleared, little did we know a strong breeze had started up. Given we had driven the Arnhem Highway a couple of times you would have thought I had snapped all the pictures required bit there are some I need to catch like the boxing crocodile and the drum plane (one made from 44 gallon drums). The first I succeed, the second I didn’t even see.

We turn and head for Berry Springs. It’s not far, only about 20 minutes. On arrival there is a sign suggesting if the car park looks full, come back another day. We get to understand why very quickly. We have been to hot springs at Mataranka and Bitter Creek and they are like baths, comfortably warm and deep. These ones are neither according to first reports.

As we alight a gaggle of noodle toting children are alighting from other vehicles. Bugger, we think, we should have done the same thing. There is a toilet about halfway down and most stop for a break. Forbsy heads on and reconnoitres the camp plan. There are three pools he says and the gaggle have gone to the top one so we will head to the lower ones, by the way the water is fresh, I don’t think we will be going for a swim. This is why we had made the assumption earlier.

Down to the lower pools, the vista is picturesque. There are signs talking about swimming safety and then crocodile warning signs – we wonder if these Territorians will ever make up their minds. Although the wind has picked up appreciably the water in the lower pools is untouched allowing for not only great pool shots buy also videos of Archer Fish wandering close to the edge.

Forbsy sights a crocodile. No need to be alarmed, it is a tree root that looks decidedly like the head of one adjacent to the lower pool. Pictures are snapped, not people.

I decide to have a look at the pool at which the gaggle of noodle toting juveniles had ventured. This pool was very different, and not just in the fact that it was full of kids. A waterfall of warm water fed it, the water temperature here was more like the springs we were used to. An alpha male watched over the water revellers but still a noodle escaped and will need to be retrieved at some stage. There is no room here for anyone else really, even though there are probably less than 10 vehicles in the car park. I tell the others of the thermal information I had gleaned, and we decide enough is enough.

On the way back to the car it apparent a busker is about to take up residence at the top pool. It will be a tough gig, there won’t be many that will be interested in what he has to offer I suspect. Perhaps some of the mothers.

Its just after 11.00am, what to do next. The wanderings part of the day are already in the bag. We were going to lunch at the Darwin Trailer Boat Club, but it’s a bit early. Robyn suggests she can be dropped off at the van and we head on in for lunch, by the time we get there we should be OK. On the way to the van park we pass one of the many old World War II airstrips which dot the area. On this one there are cut outs of a P-51, a Hurricane and a Spitfire if my war mythology serves me correctly. The actual runway follows the road for a ways.

As we turn into the van park a larger transport jet is on final approach to the airport. I snap it and we head in. Robyn is deposited, I change shirts for the Club, sounds almost decadent doesn’t it? On the way out we all book an extra night for here in Darwin and I sheepishly admit we have misplaced (not lost) the pass key to the gate. They give us another one and all is OK in the world.

Reloaded and everyone who is going is present Forbsy notes and its off towards the City again. First find the Darwin High School, then it should be easy – famous last words. Back to the “one job” offences, first I play with Google Maps then Silver Leader and both of us get us further lost. What’s that over there – they are masts of yachts, it can’t be far from them can it? It certainly didn’t appear to be yesterday when we were here.

Thankfully, we are in the right place. It turns out yesterday what we thought was the Trailer Boat Club was actually the Yacht Club but both are close together. We park, we could have parked closer if Forbsy had interpreted the sign on the gate better, but that’s OK we need the exercise. I see a boat ramp and I head across to take a panorama shot of the bay. The water is pristine and dotted with anchored yachts, quite idyllic.

Just to the right I notice a mother and 2 young children walking on a rock platform close to the water’s edge. I snap them and immediately post the photo on Facebook with the hash tag #crocbait. If they had seen the 5 metre monster, we saw free swimming not a huge distance from this point, they would be nowhere near the water’s edge.

Let’s lunch. What to have whilst sitting gawking at a stunning view and sipping cool lime juices. The simple prawn cache or garlic prawns, I settle on the latter. All the while I am texting a group of friends in which Robyn is a member about the hard work I am doing, along with photos of the view, the food and anything else I can manage. One of the other members of the group starts finishing her posts with #thinicejeff. I continue to use it as I tread a thin line in the conversations.

At the end of the day we could have lunched all day in such a spot, but there are places to go people to see, the next leg to get planned and booked and more importantly still, get a nanna nap, before we head back here for the night markets tonight. I also have to retrieve my Cruiser from its service location and Forbsy wants to wash his car, I don’t know why its only going to see a lot more red dirt between here and our return points – his is Newcastle.

We had noticed refuelling points with diesel process 6 cents less than anything else we had seen in Darwin so after retrieving the Cruiser we both head there. Forbsy is in the car wash section when I arrive after paying the fare for the vehicle service. I become the unruly audience hurling helpful hints from the peanut gallery as he goes about his task. Running out of coins just prior to the final squirt he hits me up for a dollar, which luckily I have.

On our return journey I get a frantic phone call from Robyn telling me we have to book now for the Katherine Gorge Cruise on Saturday night and where are we and Forbsy. We are only minutes away but she calls back again and suggests she will pay for Forbsy as there are only 5 spots left and we need to secure them. I manage to catch every red light on the trip home just to add to the plan. 5.00pm is the planned time for departure again. I wonder how hard it will be to get the others up from their nanna naps. I haven’t had the luxury.

Evidently neither did they. I have been paying around with things in the van and lost track of time. We had decided to get together at 5.30pm and head into the Mindil Beach Markets, an icon of Darwin life. The markets are huge and are a mixture of food and gift outlets, but the real thing is grabbing something to eat and sitting on the beach and watching the sunset. We arrive, once we find it, again the “one job” of using Google Maps is not successful as we end up in a one-way street with a dead end at one stage. Forbsy you are not having a good day.

Markets are a Robyn thing, I can leave them alone with no worry. This one is a huge line of food outlets, so much so that after the lovely lunch I have had it makes me feel a little queasy, especially the Greek and Lebanese sweet shops. I decide early on I am not eating tonight, having supped sufficiently at lunch. We wander up and down, moving away from the food vendors as soon as possible as Robyn who has had little to eat for the day is getting ravenous.

We find only one thing worth purchasing – a cheese platter for her brother in law who is turning 60 prior to our return home. I think it is a great purchase, having the Collingwood emblem on it, the team he has followed all his life.

The sunset is imminent, and Robyn selects some dinner to have while the sun goes down. I arrange a frozen mango for her and a coke for me and we head to the beach. The plan was to have dinner together with the rest of the tourists, but we underestimated the size of a market sunset in Darwin. There are people everywhere and finding a place to sit whilst not an issue is worthy of some creative thinking. 

The sunset is something else. There has been a fire at the west of the markets, across the bay all day and the smoke enhances the redness of the falling sun. I click away while Robyn eats her meal. I take panoramas, telephoto enhanced shots and ordinary shots, all with the sun as the focus. But it is after the sun goes down the real show begins. The camera in the phone has what is termed “Night” aspect and I engage that to see what might be missed, and although the sun has gone below the horizon the reds and oranges of the sunset remain, according to the camera. More and more snaps I take until Robyn suggests we should return and find the others.

Forbsy is found almost immediately, he is at the designated spot, listening to the most amazing digeridoo player. He is playing three of the them at once. Well not at nonce but he moves between them with ease as the selection is played for the fanatical joy of the crowd. He finishes and the whip cracking “expert” starts. Having seen the world champion at Mataranka this guy is a real let down, but the crowd love him. I look for Silver Leader and Rosalie, Forbsy texts him asking do we need to come to him and assist him with transporting Rosalie’s purchases to the car. No response, he is obviously so over loaded he cannot access his phone.

Shortly I spy them and low and behold Silver Leader has nothing he is carrying. He suggests he has gotten off easily. We leave before the ship cracking is finished and I enquire to them what would you give him out of 10 given the world champion was rated at 10, both suggested a generous 6 – ouch.

Home and talk heads into future plans. Tomorrow we are heading to Litchfield for some exploring which is only an hour away. There are falls and springs among other things. We also muse about what we are planning ex Darwin. Saturday we are going to Katherine for the evening dinner tour, staying overnight and then hitting the road for a 500km+ leg to Lake Argyle. We have rested well here in Darwin, save the aches and pains of casting lures all day yesterday but we should be OK. We will start early, lunch at about 300 kilometres and ease into Lake Argyle in the afternoon. 

But for now bed beckons, we are looking for a 9.00am start tomorrow.