Destination Darwin
We have arrived at our destination; our new home in Darwin! Yep we made it.
Leaving Adelaide we traveled along the Flinders Ranges on our way to our first stop Port Augusta. We stayed at the Shoreline caravan park, Jes thought the cabin was dated but it suited my needs. The interest the croc is attracting is amazing with one fella wanting to buy it.
This croc surely has made us the most photographed vehicle on the Stuart Highway in 2016
Up early and 600kms to travel to our next stay Coober Pedy, it's a pretty barren drive but we stop at Pimba and Glendambo and start our sticker collection for my toy hauler I'm towing up. Coober Pedy is a real example of anti social behavior in and around town going out of a night is not an option. We stay at a cabin at the Big 4 caravan park (Stuart Ranges Outback Resort) a little out of town and is a grouse place to stay with a little band playing away at the pizza bar next to reception. Refreshed from a good nights sleep and more travel today we head into town for the morning market, after chatting to many different characters it was sadly time to hit the road..
The Stuart Highway sticker haul on the toy hauler
Another 600 kms today as we head for Alice Springs with Marla and kulgera stop at it is a pretty easy drive apart from the road trains and caravaners everywhere. It's Saturday night and Jess has been great so we decide to unwind with a couple of nights at the casino and relax and sit around the pool jess or gambling macca. It's a very luxurious place and is just what we need.
Monday morning we head for Tennant Creek traveling the Stuart Highway the countryside is stunning as it changes all the time, we stop at Ti Tree, Barrow creek , Wycliffe Well and Wauchope for coffee and stickers and arrive at the motel about 5pm. We have tea at the restaurant and get a good nights sleep. We head into town and meet a few fellas and one particular bloke had me in tears as he told me the struggles of isolated life and his time in the war and how some locals treat him and three other diggers - a fair dinkum tear jerker. I had a couple of frozen crayfish with me and gave them for him and his mates to enjoy.
Crays caught in South Australia that made their way to an old digger in Tennant Creek
Daly Waters here we come - 400 kms until I can have a beer at the oldest pub in Australia. We collect stickers at Renner springs, Elliott, Dunmarra to name a few. Temperatures have changed dramatically since Coober Pedy 18 degrees to Daly Waters 33 degrees, ah feeling better already. We book at the Highway Inn and enjoy the night.
Darwin and our new home at Howard springs are 600kms away it's a very easy drive with Mataranka and Katherine to enjoy with rivers flowing because of recent rains.
Although we did have our new toy hauler with us, it was so jam-packed with stuff and it was first of all too cold, then too hot and we don't have air con or heaters sorted in there yet, so we opted to find accommodation along the way. Below is a few pics of places we stayed, reviews on these to come.
My initiation into Darwin life has been one of going shirtless and shoe-less, and pouring water over my head in attempts to prevent myself from overheating (quads have no body temperature regulation).
Jess has also been struggling to adjust to the heat but her real initiation has involved the wildlife in her nightly trips out to the outdoor bathroom. This morning the squeals were due to a giant grasshopper perching on the shower curtain (a google search just showed this is actually a thing) and a green tree frog hiding under, and then refusing to get off the toilet seat.
There's going to be steep learning curve I think in terms of life in the tropical north. We just learnt today there's a scary disease you can catch from mossie bites... any other stuff we should know fellow Territorians?!
We've spent our first few days cleaning, unpacking, buying up furniture and home stuff, and exploring the neighbourhood... and we'll likely remain busy doing all of that for a few weeks as well as tidying up the property and house improvements... luckily I love to work myself hard, and Jess is a goer too, when not snoozing the afternoon away!
The plan at this stage is to spend the next few months in Darwin, and see how we go in the wet season, with perhaps a trip south in the new year. Let us know if you're coming up for a break, and tell any locals WE HAVE ARRIVED!
