Rather than a blow-by-blow, these are some impressions, thoughts and mumblings from the last few days.
Boab (Baobab in Africe?) trees are everywhere but still look odd every time we see one. Apparently there’s one in Derby (that’s WA, not UK) that was used as a jail and could house a dozen prisoners in its hollow trunk.
The vegetation around us is constantly changing as we press on, and has gone from flat sandy barren plains to lush wooded rolling hills. The north has had a lot more (as in some) rain than normal this summer and isn’t looking burnt the way that it normally does
The reminders to watch out for wildlife on the road are always there. If we’re lucky, we spot the carcass in time to hold our breath. The list of what to watch out for grows - Brahmin cows, sheep, feral goats, feral pigs, foxes, dingos, emus, kangaroos, wallabies and maybe other things that we’ve not yet seen. Thankfully only a wallaby and a few cows have crossed in front of us so far.
The traffic seems to be mainly going the other way. Any sensible person is now travelling south to get to cooler weather. The ‘wet’ is going through its ‘build up’ and by November, places like camp sites and roadhouses will be taking their toilet and accomodation blocks, (and in fact anything else that’s not concreted to the ground) to somewhere that’s not going to be flooded. Creeks, rivers and gullies are bone dry, but not for long.
We’re going to ship the bike from Darwin to Dili in East Timor on a boat at the end of September, and the bike is at this moment sitting on a pallet in the shipping agent’s yard. Getting the bike to that stage was a mission. I’d fitted a new front tyre a couple of days before in a carpark in 35 degree heat. Anita had cleaned the bike up to help get it through Indonesian customs, and we’d sorted our gear into ‘ship to Dili’ and ‘wanted until we fly’ piles. I rode the loaded bike to the shipping docks and checked in. There wasn’t a lot to do until the pallet that we’d got from the bike shop arrived at 11.00. I called the customs office to make an appointment for them to inspect the bike and ratify the Carnet at 13.00. Plenty of time to load it and tie it all down. After waiting in the baking hot quarantine shed until 12.00, the pallet finally arrived - and was totally different to the one that I’d measured up to fit. After a bit (well, a lot really) of cursing, I shoehorned all the gear on. At 13.30, the girls in the office let me know that the customs bod had been waiting in the wrong shed and had gone. This meant that I had a 30 minute walk into town to sort the carnet, then a walk back, all the time trying to find shade from the blazing midday sun. The lady in the office could then finish the paperwork with the help of a mega-helpful guy in the warehouse, and I had a 30 minute walk back to the hostel. I was fried mentally and physically, but it was done. The next day was Indonesian visa application day which seems to have gone ok. We booked flights for the 29th Sept. to meet up with the bike which arrives - in theory - that evening.
So here we are in Darwin, sat in a backpacker’s hostel waiting to leave. It’s bleedin’ hot and very humid. There are loads of young people here and it’s a great place from what we can see. The pool’s full, music (All good, interesting stuff ) is playing loudly and we’ll be very sorry to leave Oz. Most of all, we’ll be sorry to leave the people here who are so open, friendly and kind. I’m sure that we’ll meet equally good people on our way, but it’s sad nonetheless.
Just for fun, here’s a bit out of the NT newspaper. A fairly major newspaper. It made us laugh…….
Front Page, and this is just how it looked!!!
Cops tell nude pervert to BEAT IT.
Cops were forced to step in after a man was found sitting naked on a park bench pleasuring himself in broad daylight. Onlookers were outraged about the naked sighting. They said two officers spent minutes talking to the man still in his birthday suit, before he was asked to put on his clothes and leave. “He was stting there stark naked and wanking,” Donna McDonald, 29, said. Cont/….page 2 of the newsaper…
Tosser told to get a grip
It is understood the incident happened near the shopping centre in Malak on Monday. Police confirmed they received a report about 1.30pm about the incident, but they said in a statement: “(Officers) were unaware that the male was unclothed until they walked to the rear of him. “His genitalia was not exposed and was partially covered by the table he was sitting at “The man did not appear to know that he was sitting in a public place.” Police said they believed the man was drunk and were forced to tip out about 3 litres of alcohol he had in his possession. The man was allegedly known to Police but did not regularly behave in an indecent manner. “Police assessed the situation and spoke to the man…issuing him with a warning such behaviour is not acceptable,” the police statement said. But Ms McDonald said she was outraged over the slack punishment. Police yesterday thanked the public for their quick-thinking and for alerting them to the incident.
These termites build nests that are finned and are oriented to catch the least sun. Clever blighters.
Aussie humour. It's hard not to smile.
Over the border at last.
These blighters (click on the pic to get a close-up) are golden orb spiders. Yuk!
A freshwater croc sliding into the water.
We were walking by the lake Argyle dam and saw this croc 6 feet from us. Needless to say, we threw rocks in to try to get it to move (it didn't, so we're still here).
We were warned!
Lake Argyle. Man-made, and huge - as in 50 miles long.
The pool over lake Argyle on the campsite. One of the better campsites.....
Some cows that didn't survive the traffic.
And one that got away. A Brahmin cow that tolerates the Northern Territory climate.
Storms a-comin'. The wet's on the way.
The Fitzroy river before the wet. In a couple of months it'll be a torrent.
'
Spinnifex termite nest using the 'pile of old porrige' style of architecture.
An awesome Boab tree....
The march of the termites. Just imagine how many sqintillions there are.
The trusty steed packed up and ready to go. We'll see her in a week or so.
More from Indonesia next week..........
No comments:
Post a Comment