Everything slick as can be in readiness for the arrival of Peter & Di Ryan, we slept on the floor of Getaway in order to jump into Skiv next morning to meet The Ghan.
Di’s long friendship with George’s parents grew from her ability to speak Italian while working in the Marandellas B.S.A.Police Station (Rhodesia) during the late 1960’s. Come August 1974, while in the country for her sister’s wedding, Lea visited her in-laws with Keith & Justine in tow and duly met Di with her similarly aged little boys over afternoon tea. Not only was an instant connection made, Di’s parents lived a few houses away from our Muizenberg home. When our families met up again in South Africa, the husbands recognised each other from Peterhouse. A chance gathering in Perth brought us back together in 1999.
No airport in Katherine! Peter & Di flew into Uluru and caught The Ghan from Alice Springs to meet up with us in Katherine.
To avoid falling into the trail of tourist buses collecting folk from The Ghan to visit Katherine Gorge in Nitmiluk National Park we popped back to Red Gum Park to deposit their luggage before heading off to the Gorge. First time campers, Ryan’s were keen to see where they were to live and sleep in Getaway!
What a treat! A lunch cruise up the Katherine River to explore the first two Gorges was a most stylish way to begin roaming with the Ryan’s. We were all feeling so ‘hot’ by the time we returned to camp that a proposed walk to Katherine Springs was met with some apprehension. However, an added attraction en route was a pair of Great bowerbirds we’d spotted the previous evening. Close by, concealed under shrubs was the male’s beautiful avenue type bower decorated with predominantly white stones, green glass and a couple of blue bits.
Katherine Springs proved to be a refreshingly relaxed way to chat and mingle with locals and travellers alike.
Mindful of time constraints, we’d decided that travelling a 100km south to Mataranka would not be feasible. On breaking the disappointing news to Di & Peter we discovered they not only had friends working at The Homestead, Velda taught art there. That changed George’s thinking! On arrival at this caravan park along side Mataranka Springs we found the black eyed, bruised face of Velda in the Park Office. She had taken a bad fall two days previously and resulting range of aches and after-shock had her cancelling art lesson for the day. We set up on the site opposite theirs and promptly felt a common bond to Peter & Velda Herring.
The mid-day heat easily lured us down for a soak in the palm-shaded Mataranka thermal spring, so close by you’d be forgiven for thinking it was part of the resort when in actual fact it falls into Elsey National Park. Due to the numbers of visitors that flock in here the spring has been more formalised with cemented stone walls and steps.
For the first time we found NO BATS hanging in the swamp trees. Years of battle waged on these red flying foxes traditional site looked a thing of the past. Even signage had a more positive tone – we were most surprised.
Since Bitter Springs was nearby we had to take the Ryan’s to experience its natural surrounds. These aquatic paradises were rapidly shaping up to be the prime target of each day.
We combined with the Herring’s for a wonderful ‘braai’ on their camp site. Unexpected highlights included Velda’s white linen-like paper tablecloths, kangaroo steaks and fruit jelly while Lea produced a soya chocolate mousse! There was so much in common that the night sped by fast.
After swopping contact numbers and reluctantly saying good-bye to Peter & Velda, we made our way to Edith Falls, anxious to arrive early enough to gain a site in the National Park. Edith Falls is just within the Nitmiluk National Park north of Katherine. Nitmiluk (meaning frilled lizard) or Edith Falls drop into a large forest encircled pool against a backdrop of sandstone escarpment. Taking a 2.5km Leliyn Loop Walk up the escarpment reveals further pools with cascading water and viewpoints across the panoramic landscape.
For three of us, all with gammy knees the rocky ups and downs of the loop track with sun beating down made it quite hard going. Di & Peter eagerly cooled off in the upper plunge pools of the Edith River. Lea refrained due to the chill factor!
Bemang Lookout before we headed on the downward homestretch. So many hidden gems caused us to linger that time began to rush us. The Ranger was giving a slide show on the Park’s management and ecology at 7.30 pm.
‘Will we- won’t we’ had become a burning question! We had just learnt that Kakadu had reinstated a hefty entrance fee and with Peter & Di’s time limitations along with a late Wet season we decided Litchfield National Park and the Douglas Daly region the better route to take.As we particularly wanted the Ryan’s to experience noodling through The Arches and the natural spa of the Douglas River we took a caravan site in the Douglas Daly Tourist Park as a shady option to Tjuwaliyn Nature Park. Once we’d made ourselves at home we hurried off to spend the rest of the day in the river only to be thwarted. The river flow was too powerful for the Spa and The Arches, normally a very popular spot, was ominously empty.
An atypical WET had estuarine crocodiles hanging about high level rivers in places usually regarded as safe swimming areas. This croc cage was enough to keep us well away from the water.
Lea was given a night off from catering and we descended on the Park Restaurant for a beautifully cooked local barra meal. The almost full moon rose steadily as did Di’s inner anxiety on swimming in the moonlit Hot Springs later. Her nerves made worse by the new Park owner’s horror that we were headed to Tjuwaliyn at night. A 3,5m croc had only recently been capture there. Accordingly, Rangers were still warning everyone to take great care by day. In our minds, winter nights under a full moon make the perfect combination to wallow in the shallow sandy floored waters. We assured Di we’d take no risks. On arrival George checked out the different channels and our favourite spots returning to say “no hot water”! We were stunned – how could that be? We’d always had to be most careful to test the temperature of the water before entering – Sure enough, it wasn’t even tepid which created much musing. Luckily as we moved up the river we found some young fellows and before the Begg’s could be called liars – the HOT hit us...
Too hot to lie in the Douglas River, we delighted in this remarkable sauna surrounded by moonlit trees and a myriad of bright stars above. It was an exquisite night.Moving on up the Stuart Highway we found the Litchfield Tourist Park suited us so well we stayed two nights. That first afternoon we shot into Litchfield National Park to visit Florence Falls – a good walk down many steps had Lea preferring to read in the car as she knew she wouldn’t touch that cold water!
We moved on to our firm favourite Buley Rock Holes and happily loitered in the water. The beer bottles piled up between and on rocks upset us there. The Northern Territory is trying to remedy its reputation for being the biggest alcoholic consumers in the country and yet glass bottles were littered around a major tourist venue. No duty of care – Where were the Rangers?In the top end of Australia there are a vast number of Termitaria tenants. In the Northern Territory alone there are about 170 different species and as they are predominantly grass feeders – storing large amounts of food during the Dry Season this could be why so many abound in Australia instead of grass eating mammals! Peter and Di were enthralled by the numbers of red conical mounds around Bitter Springs that we couldn’t wait to show them the varieties around Litchfield. Huge gothic-like cathedrals; Magnetic mounds that orientate north/south to gain maximum sun exposure on their flanks to the arboreal species that adhere to trees.
Two old reprobates checking out Magnetic Mounds!
Enjoying a walk through the strange sandstone formations of the “Lost City”
Di and Peter frolicking in Wangi waterfalls! How could we have ended up with only a distant photo of Di in her professional racing gear? How we loved her ludicrous royal blue bathing cap and goggles. Speaking of Di’s cap and goggles reminds us of her ability to lose herself in all the camp grounds. Not having camped before her poor sense of orientation continually caused amusement. How often we’d walk down to the loo and find her wandering aimlessly in the wrong direction seeking the familiar, so much so she’d almost bypass our faces! We soon learnt a leash would have been the safest detection device!
Another two nights were spent at Tumbling Waters Caravan Park as the marvellous Berry Springs Nature Park, 10 kms up the road, was a perfect place for coping with the heat.
This was not only the best massage parlour in the world, it was priceless!
The Territory Wildlife Park showcasing the flora and fauna of the Top End was also just along the road and we felt it was an ideal place for Peter & Di to spend a wonderful day while we sorted out the “chaos” left by an early morning departure! In true Cinderella style we saw to the laundry and prepared a final celebration dinner picnic to take on to Berry Springs. We were headed to Darwin for the Ryan’s last two nights.
The butterfly roast lamb smelt so good that every fly in the kingdom arrived. Peter was hard pressed to keep them off the Chef’s carving board. Peace reigned when they were given their own piece while we dined at another table. Velda Herring having set the bar- forced us to have a table cloth too!
All along the road travellers warned us that unless you booked well in advance – sites in Darwin were impossible to find, not to mention how prices had soared beyond reason. We very reluctantly began phoning for a booking and ended up some 15kms out of town before finding a site.
Before Darwin, we felt Peter & Di had to see the jumping crocs on the Adelaide River. Pete captured this fine action shot!We set up at Free Spirit Resort – Given the top dollar price the smell of sewerage was far from acceptable. The Manager went out of his way to explain his ongoing predicament and with no other choices - the longer we were off seeing the sights the better! We shot off to the city as soon as possible taking the Tiger Brennan route through to the Esplanade – our old tramping grounds. We were struck by the many changes to the city skyline - we hardly recognised the place - The Sentinel no longer a lone high rise on the front.
Ending up at Cullen Bay to climb aboard The Spirit of Darwin to thoroughly enjoy a sunset cruise around Darwin Harbour, the biggest natural harbour in the country and five times bigger than Sydney Harbour!
Ryan’s penultimate day with us was spent on a round trip through the suburbs of Darwin and its coastline to wander in the Darwin city mall. So many places exist no more. When the heat became too much we retired to the Museum and Art Gallery. In the late afternoon we set up our chairs in the shade of Mindil Beach in readiness for the vibrant atmosphere of Thursday’s Mindil Sunset Markets that open with a wide variety of stalls offering a fine array of international cuisine, arts and crafts along with lively buskers to add to the atmosphere of sights, sounds and smells. Suddenly all comes together as a whole when a steady stream of people head down onto the beach.
It never fails to amaze us how ritualistically everyone sits or stands - watching expectantly out to sea for the tropical sun to sink below the horizon
A phone call came in from Cousin Alison advising their holiday with us next week would understandably be put on ice as their dearly loved Husky Cinnamon was very poorly. Next day while Getaway’s air conditioning was fixed we took to Casuarina Shopping Centre for tea and CAKE in celebration of Peter’s birthday. Somewhere on a flight between England and Tenerife it was also Roo’s birthday- 7 years old.The Ryan’s roaming with Skiv & Getaway had come to an end. Both seemed big and lonely, as we returned to Tumbling Waters Holiday Park outside Berry Springs while Pete & Di winged their way home to chilly Perth.
BYE-BYE Gin & Tonic, lemon slices – Lea’s evenings will never be the same!
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