From the DEEP blue sea to crystal waterfalls...

I am happy to say that yes we survived the deep sea fishing trip. We haven’t blogged since then and have had some concerned emails...one that said...

Hey Grey Nomies, we have been following the blog and was concerned that the LAST one was the day BEFORE you were going on that big fishing trip. 1. Did you get back safely?  2. Did you get back at all? 3. Did you catch any fish ?  4. Did you intercept any incoming illegal boatpeople ?  CONTINUE THE JOURNEY  !!  

Yes thank you, Trish and Robbie: 1. Yes. 2. Yes. 3. Read below. 4. No 5. Yes!

Thursday

So the fishing trip... it has been agreed between the two grey ‘nomies’ (our new moniker .. .thanks to the Polwarths) that this shall never be again mentioned.

We departed on a brilliant sunny day on a sturdy vessel. Brilliant sunshine, opalescent waters.

We disembarked that night later in pitch dark after enduring ten hours of three metre seas, ONE AND A HALF HOURS total of fishing, a cowboy of a skipper and a poor passenger vomiting beside us. Ian fished and caught a few small fish.

 I fished until it got so rough, I couldn’t hold the rod and balance against the pitching boat at the same time. (I did write 17 pages in long hand of my current novel but was unable to read my own writing the next day!

It was an experience never to be mentioned again. For any of you future grey nomads and prospective deep sea fishing charter customers email me and I will tell you which company NOT to choose!

Friday

Coincidentally, previous Katherine park neighbors and fellow travellers Allan and Jenny pulled into the same park and were next to us again.

So the day was spent quietly wandering around Darwin.  We visited the Australian Aviation Heritage Centre and spent a most enjoyable couple of hours wandering around looking at the planes and reading the history. Look at the size of the B52!

Then into town to go shopping (a lovely pair of pearl and diamond earrings purchased  for my birthday) and some cooler clothes.

A visit to the World War II tunnels near the harbour which were built to store oil...but never did .

Then we wandered over to Stokes Hill Wharf to depart on our Sunset Harbour Cruise. Fabulous food (the diet is not looking good) and a colourful sunset.

Saturday and Sunday

Next morning we departed for Litchfield National Park to book in for a restful four days and organised to meet Allan and Jenny there on Sunday. Litchfield Tourist Park is a lovely quiet park, where we have spent each afternoon in the pool chatting to new acquaintances before heading to the bar for a cooling drink.

Monday:

We spent the day touring the park with Allan and Jenny taking in the spectacular sights of the national park.

 Waterfalls and crystal clear swimming holes: Wangi Falls,

 Tolmer Falls and Buley’s Waterhole of cascading pools. We also visited the old Bamboo Creek Tin mine which was very interesting.

Today we ventured into four wheel drive and drove through our first river to see an old abandoned homestead.

The Sargent family settled there in 1928 and had fourteen children... in the wilds in the middle of nowhere but when we came to the second river crossing (very crocodiley looking) no one would volunteer to get out of the car to check the water depth so we turned around.

Pic 1599

 It was all very beautiful but spoiled by the yobbos drinking and playing the fool (dangerously over a rock edge) at Buley’s Waterhole.

Lots of new acquaintances made and email addresses swapped : Allan and Joan from Melbourne, Sue and Allan from Nhulunbuy (three Allans!) and Rowena and family from Tassie, as well as Brian and Lynn from Tassie.

We enjoyed dinner in the open outdoor restaurant on Monday night to say farewell to those moving on Tuesday.

Tuesday:
Our last day in Litchfield Tourist Park after bidding farewell to our new acquaintances this morning. Jenny and Alan are heading to Edith Falls, and Sue and Allan back to work in Nhulunbuy with their delightful children, Darcy and Mary.

So the day was spent chilling, and getting organised and washing. (If I am completely honest I must admit that Ian did the washing, the organisation and the chilling while I spent four hours finishing my current novel which is due to my publisher today)

But hurrah! Finished and then we drove into Batchelor through a massive burn off  for internet access so  the manuscript could wing its way across the Pacific, A huge load is now off my shoulders and I won’t have to write in the car as we travel... Ian has also sighed with relief as I have been a very quiet passenger.

So tomorrow we are off to Daly River for some barramundi fishing for four days...Trish and Rob... don’t worry about no new blogs and crocodiles. We are fully expecting no internet access there.

Till the end of the week when we reappear on our way to Kakadu!