Crocs, given the choice, always go for the smallest thing first. An interesting take on "Man's Best Friend"! A standard tactic up here, I'm told.
Amazingly, I've only seen rainfall once during the day so far, north of Perth.
Looked like it might rain ahead...
It did...
Pretty amazing considering that the December rainfall here is double the monthly average. 95% humidity at 07:00 never seems to relent! The last four nights have brought varying amounts of rain but always the most incredible lightning and thunder. The lightning lasts for around an hour and is constant, as if someone is flicking a light switch in a room... The thunder, when nearby really is something else! Absolutely deafening and it feels like a shock-wave going straight through you.
After Kununnura I continued through the spectacular and dramatic scenery of the Eastern Kimberley. A motorbiking doctor specialising in emergency dive medicine had recommended I head to Lake Argyle if I wanted to pass another day whilst waiting for the Darwin Highway to reopen. I'm glad I went!
The 'town' is nothing more than a campsite. Three things you need to know about it...
1. On arrival, there was a CB radio to use to summon the owner. I was sorely tempted to open with "Breaker, breaker one nine... This here's the Rubber Duck. Looks like we got ourselves a little convoy" (for aficionados of the Kristoffersen movie!) I opted for the more English, "Er, Hello?"
2. I paid 14GBP and, as with everywhere as it is out of season, there were no more than 5 other people here.
3. Charlie, the owner, and his family are slowly 'improving' the place to try to put it on the map, as he put it. His first move was building this infinity swimming pool...
That should do it Charlie! Inspired!
The lake is a result of damming the River Ord, it's over 1000 square kilometres and it's Australia's largest body of fresh water. It was stunning...
Just along the river Ord itself I found this rather lovely spot for a bit of fishing (only harmless freshwater crocs in here) but only caught undersized Black Bream which have to be quite large before you can take them...
And from above...
Bit more of the general area...
And finally, the magnificent Victoria River
A thoroughly great area and I hope Charlie has people flocking to his place after having such inspiration to build that pool!
Now in Katherine and am told the highway is open but slow for a section. (Although a number of sceptical locals have said that the authorities often get it open for a short while so they can stem the media coverage and then shut it again to do a proper job! We'll see.)
I'm also told that the main highway that goes off to the east, into the Kakadu is open and fine so I might at least get to see a little of that area from the road. I also plan to spend at least a day or two in the Litchfield National Park which is just 90 minutes south of Darwin. Not far now!
... It doesn't matter how many you see. Every time, my first thought is "You guys are just plain weird!"
To finish, a couple of things...
1. I still really struggle with Australian supermarkets (not that I've seen many in these parts!). It's all to do with the chilled meat sections which, from left to right, go something along the lines of: chicken, turkey, beef, beef, more beef, lamb, dog food... Dog Food! Even in the smallest shops, fresh dog food.
2. I've been bitten by every insect known to Australia. The flies, which don't bite, can at times drive you crazy. They started in Perth and have been relentless. They are persistent little things and, at 100mph, aim straight for your eyes, ears, nose, mouth, and don't give up. Lots of road-workers wear fly nets over their heads and I can see why. They don't bite but they are in fact very dangerous... It's very easy to pull a muscle with all the Kung-Fu style moves that you end up doing in a bid to get rid of them!
3. I've seen lots of Road Trains but last night 9 of them passed me in convoy (I was stopped), each was 4 trailers long and all of those were two tier, filled with cattle. Undoubtedly headed to Darwin for live export to Asia. Now I'm a pretty committed carnivore, and it doesn't matter where they were going, but there was something about seeing them all peering out at me in such vast numbers. Might have fish for supper!
Happy New Year
Oh, the Australian sheep shearing record was broken a couple of weeks ago by a Maori guy... 401 sheep in his 8 hour shift! It wasn't a competition set up, the guy was 'just doing his job'! He declined radio interviews as he's apparently a rather quiet chap but the farm owner was interviewed on ABC News Radio. He declared that he was very happy with his employee's work and that the Maori chap is "Very fit, looks after himself and is built like a rugby player!" He offered him a bottle of whiskey but the chap doesn't drink.
(I'm only bombarding you with blogs whilst I have Internet and I suspect the next few weeks won't be so 'adventurous'!)
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Location:Katherine, NT
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