Tramping tales for October 2010

How easily caught up in caring for Ella and Finn we became - thanks to Holly we were able to get out and about quite a bit that first week. Cape weather was generally very kind giving us spring weather with a mild nip in the air and a fine display of blossoms wherever we went. Ella developing interest in flowers had us brushing up on the different species. Kirstenbosch was excellent for its display of pincushion varieties and the pincushion tuffets became a firm favourite.

Parks made for popular outings especially when they had a seesaw – Holly and Ella on the upside!

Keith and Colleen’s friend Val and her grandson Lucas invited us to a picnic tea in Kirstenbosch Gardens

No rolling pin we had to make do with a chilled bottle of beer to roll out our dough for ‘ginger-boys’. Ella & Finn happily stood guard when ‘Gogo’ took them out of the oven just in case they ran away...

Holly had a pre-arranged morning with old friends at the Victoria Waterfront. Always a beautiful setting, Lea couldn’t resist the opportunity to revisit this busy docklands centre with the children, dragging George along.

For his endurance, Holly stood us to fish & chips. Finn lost chips off his plate to a cheeky seagull!

Leaving George to work away on his renovating jobs around the flat Holly drove us out to Stellenbosch to meet up with Talya and Lauritz at the Slow Food Market. We rapidly shed warm clothing- just as well, as in next to no time Finn demolished a massive, beautifully decorated cup-cake - daubing himself and his Gogo with icing and crumbs much to the delight or horror of the market-goers, depending on their degrees of cleanliness! Furthermore, he took it upon himself to devour her waffle beset with berries and cream. Fortunately the heat of the day soon reduced him to being shirtless, hence clean!

Horribly, our week with Holly was over and she returned to work.

Treasured moments captured... Great Aunt Holly had thought to have 40 winks but Ella had other ideas.

No vehicle, kept us flat-bound not helped by the notorious South Easter making an appearance which made it pretty unpleasant to play in the gardens most days. Thankfully we were kept occupied in other ways; an early braaivleis with our kindly downstairs neighbours, who’d kept a benevolent eye on our welfare – David, Leigh and their children Josh and Kirsten. Cousin Ruth Mathews came over for a day bringing some exciting family material and when we discovered there was more, she returned a couple of days later with boxes... and spent the afternoon helping George scan it all into digital copy. Our niece Sally took the afternoon off work and came round with her son Chad. Over a year since his big operation and he has come on in leaps and bounds although he is still beset with breathing problems and his tracheotomy has to be cleared frequently. As if this wasn’t enough for his parents, delays in their new house have been compounded by a builder in financial trouble forcing the family to make do and move into their garage. Ella & Finn were delighted to share their bath and supper with Chad that night, to briefly make the evening a little easier for his Mum.

Making plasticine birds with Chad, Ella & Finn.

Lea’s old school friend Hilary Rushworth came over for a quick morning tea before having to collect her grandchildren from school in Fish Hoek – too quick to record her visit on camera. Ella’s ‘Sally Worm’ had shortened to two segments denoting TWO SLEEPS LEFT! Excitedly, we began preparing for the return of exhausted parents – welcome home signs and balloons for the front door and landings. It was more than overwhelming for two little souls when suddenly the taxi was at the gate and the ‘long time’ was O-V-E-R.

Once again two days of jet-lagged madness followed, as Keith and Colleen prepared to return to the bush. Broadlands Guest house welcomed us back each night for unbroken sleep in peace and quiet. The precious time spent with our little Bushies had been of such intrinsic value to us that when Keith and Colleen mentioned never coping with their children in San Francisco – we silently prayed this would be... an annual ‘happening’. It was with such heavy hearts that we watched the taxi depart with our Begg family- strong bonds forged with those two little folk that it was as well we returned to the flat to clean and replace dustcovers for the ensuing months that they are in Niassa, as it took our minds off the sadness of their departure. Further helped by Cousin Bev calling in for a quick cuppa and catch-up before her music lessons began close by. When we were ready to leave, George turned off the ‘mains’ only to have the wall clock fall. Its glass face splintering around him as the main gate bell resounded... that’s Murphy for you!

Louise and Guy Mitchell had arrived to transport us away to their home in Grotto Bay where all our cares and woes were cast off with their five star treatment. Kariba friendships have driven deep roots within our lives. Come evening, Tika the dachshund ‘sang’ her way into our hearts with her ‘walking song’ to each of us. Taking the paths tucked well into the thick renosterbos along the wild coastline was balm to our spirits. This was followed by a delightful conversation over skype with Louise’s Dad, Elfie and wife Chris in Greece, with our shandies in hand. Keith and Colleen have long eyed Grotto Bay for a home base set as it is within a nature reserve and in close proximity to Cape Town. Guy was able to show us over some of the holiday homes in his care and others up for sale.

‘Sundial’ and its inmates, Guy and Louise with Tika, did so much for our wellbeing...

Louise drove us back into the city along the familiar Blue Route to Diep River where we were to spend the next two nights with Cousin Ruth. That evening she took us to walk in Cecelia Forest up in the Constantia Mountains. A beautiful setting giving us views in all directions as sections of the pine forest are steadily being taken out to allow the original fynbos cover to re-establish- a coup for conservation. The effort required to load Ruth’s aged dog into the car had George decide a ramp was very necessary to assist her.

Considering all the years that have passed, the bonus was to finally meet and became acquainted with the first, albeit the youngest of Ruth’s three children, Elizabeth, over dinner that night. Names and history swiftly became meaningful. Next day while Ruth was away running her twice weekly clinic, George busied himself making a ramp, keen to check its working order on Ruth’s immediate return. A peculiar braying sound alerted Lea that something was not quite right – it turned out to be Sacha the dog! The grousing was something to be heard, to be believed!

Old dogs DO NOT want to learn new tricks, even if it’s to their benefit.

The three of us joined Marianne and Brian Alexander for dinner that night to try and solve the Alexander/ Hartley/ Howman family tree only to fail once again. Three generations have met up over many, many years knowing a relationship exists and yet we cannot spot that ‘link’ - Most frustrating!

Holly collected us in readiness for our last weekend in the Cape. Bion, Talya, and her boyfriend were joining us for our favourite ‘Greek Lamb” dinner against the backdrop of the Helderberg that Friday night. Next day George was off early to share time with his brother John who had fortunately come down from Prince Albert up in the Karoo. Holly had a wedding to attend so Lea was happy to recline alongside Werner’s swimming pool and read. Doing nothing was an absolute pleasure...

By evening Holly and George were happy to ‘chill out’ too although he had to photograph the falling light over the Helderberg.

Our last day in the Cape was a truly magnificent one that we found ourselves ready to rise early for a Sunday and battling to decide whether to go Franschoek or Gordons Bay to enjoy the views that surround Cape Town in every direction. In the end we drove along the coast and stopped in Rooi Els to check out a strange building in construction out on the point.

En route down the little settlement road of Rooi Els we spotted two baboons sitting on a high pitched roof

and promptly paused. Good omen according to George!

The engine was soon switched off as we observed a troop of at least 35 baboons of all ages and sizes creating merry hell around this house. No windows open although a partially open fanlight had us holding our breath at one point. Much as we gained a kick out of watching these cheeky primates, kept riveted by their antics for well over an hour, we could see the owner did not appreciate the romping that went on across her roof and verandah. Thereafter, we were to notice that no one had windows or doors open. Obviously these devious troublemakers are a major problem to residents and holiday makers.

Returning to Gordon’s Bay we were thrilled by a whale gently wallowing close off shore. We willed it to be more active but being a lethargic kind of day we had to make do with the pleasure of our closest sighting ever. Early bed followed by airports and long flying hours took over the remaining hours until we were back in Perth.

Ten days rapidly sped by with George and Saxon – two birds of a feather, accomplishing a million and one jobs as Gees prepared to exchange houses. Lea kept two small girls and a dog from being underfoot or hindering the tight schedules. A slick program as the Removalist simply arrived to cart out the heavy items and as October drew to a close, the juggling and sorting of possessions began within the house - dog, girls and granny explored the property and collected up thousands of chick-pea sized stones ad finitum!

Aerial view of ‘Sunset Ridge’

Darwin’s humid embrace welcomed us back Saturday night as we found our way back to ‘The Sentinel’ and Jo Vandermark via the airport shuttle bus. Rain during the early hours cooled Sunday down for us.

Jo and George settle to breakfast on the balcony overlooking Darwin harbour- a well remembered calming start to the day...

George was anxious to be on his way – keen to check out Getaway’s wellbeing although a big shop to restock the caravan had to be done before leaving Darwin for Coolalinga. Rapid Creek Markets lured Lea in for mangoes and bananas en route for the major supermarkets in Casuarina. Our hearts lurched when we found the Oasis Park office closed on arrival and heard that Gary and Rose had taken leave. Fortunately we found the ‘stand in’ and were able to go and collect ‘Getaway’ a few blocks away. We find ourselves taking a deep breath after time away from our rig - wondering what surprises lie in store after seven weeks of standing. We found an ant nest within the stairwell and battery light flashing red! We had thought Darwin solar power would easily keep our fridge ticking over. It hadn’t... cloud cover had obviously caused the deep freeze to bounce between defrost and refreeze over the weeks. This required an urgent connection to electrical power and a cleanup before we could think of packing in our new supplies.

Mango madness! Nothing was to be wasted... As fast as Lea sliced up a box of mangoes in readiness for the road, she was gobbling up the remnants from pips and skins scraped off with her teeth, juice oozing everywhere!

Finally we were setled in, air conditioning on and feeling totally relaxed and ALONE – after being busy worker ants for all these weeks the tune of ‘Pink Panther’ hummed through our heads to the words of Dead Ant, dead ant.... leading us to the mutual decision to ‘rest up’ before taking up tracks west, across the Top End Outback.

Tramping tales for September 2010

The first official day of Spring Down-Under and, although there is very little to suggest so in the Top End of Australia as everything looks as much like it did throughout winter we decided to have a day out in the bush to celebrate! During our years, living in Darwin we’d regularly spent a Saturday night in our favourite camping spot on Leeders Creek, some 75kms NE of the city. In those working days, school preparation for the coming week absorbed a lot of time that it was a pleasure to down tools and set off for our secluded bush camp in time to catch a setting sun. The different phases of the moon furthered the lighting to our simple bush setting. We even took Justy and our grandson Otto there when he was eight months old, so it was a place that held warm memories of ‘getting away from it all’ and relaxing in the little creek pool set within the roots of a couple of trees. The last bit of bush track to our camp took a lot of swerving to avoid trees. It was out of the question for a caravan. Oasis Caravan Park only 50 km away; Lea reluctant to give up air-conditioning for a night in Skiv; thus a revisit of a few hours, it was! It turned out to be a sweltering day with mosquitoes out in force. The creek running very sluggishly that our narrow pool was covered in a thick layer of floating leaves was far from inviting to Lea – but bush man George took respite there twice. We happily spent a few hours in an old haunt even though it must be said the hours of darkness are far preferable to midday heat’s discomfort!

The bright green displays of cycads were an additional pleasure to our Leeders Creek bush camp visit, for old time’s sake.

We have continued to stay on in Oasis Caravan Park outside Palmerston as the owners are happy to look after Getaway for the six weeks we are away in Perth and South Africa. We had a couple of jobs that required doing in the city which gave Lea an ideal opportunity to drop in on her old school, Nakara. Seven years later- no trace of any of her pupils – they have all moved up Primary and gone to High School. Staff, too have moved on and Lea was delighted to find a mere handful of old colleagues to greet and touch base with. Most important job of the day was the need to check whether Skiv would manage to fit into The Sentinel underground parking as well as squeeze into our friend Jo’s spare parking place, beside her Troopie. We didn’t want two bulky Toyotas to be problematic for her. By a hair’s breadth we managed, solving the question of transport to and from the airport for us. Jo will be out teaching in a remote school for the next two weeks and her close proximity to Darwin CBD allows for door to door collection by the Airport shuttle bus. Whew! Thanks Jo.

Days began counting down fast to our flight out of Darwin across to Perth on the 11 September. We tidied up around Skiv and Getaway and kept an ear on the ghastly state of politics with 17 days passing before we had a resolution to our General Election. Which minority government was to rule our Federal Parliament? Each Party literally neck and neck that eventually both were held delightfully to ransom, by three Independents! Underlying all the divergent views and sniping going on we soon realized a POSITIVE CHANGE was in reach should a new mechanism of consensus be accomplished. Neither Party had proved suitable yet six men could make far reaching contributions to change. A mere glimmer of hope flickered within the ‘wicked’ stalemate! We felt Julie Gillard at least acknowledged our Nation was ‘FED-UP’ with party-politics while Tony Abbott seemed far too intent on being Prime Minister as he reined in the wild men of his Coalition. By ‘declaration day’ Lea was feeling decidedly melancholy. Two out of the three, chose for Labor and Julia Gillard – we felt a stunned relief developing, especially hearing the shock, horror, aggressive words that flowed afterwards from Abbott and his bully boys. HELLO! They need to look beyond their old ways and see our country wants a co-operative NEW WAY, something different for the 21st Century. It is a tough call but hopefully each Member of Parliament will play a far more unique part in the wellbeing of Australia.

A Nakara staff member had told Lea that Judy Lennie was back from China. Keen to make contact Lea tried an old e-mail address and struck lucky. Deputy Head with the Early Childhood Unit under her protection, Judy had been a particularly supportive mentor to Lea during her Nakara years that a natural friendship continued after leaving the school. In 2004 Judy took a leap out of her comfort zone taking a University English Post in China, we were impressed. It truly became a Red Letter Day for us receiving news of her life in Xian. Any NEWS out of China grabbed our attention too.

Highlight of the week was lunch with Judy as we talked over her four years in China and caught up on her family news. A train ride across China and Russia is on our ‘bucket’ list.

9/11 had us winging our way over to Perth to Saxon, Paul and our grand-daughters. The very next day, Saxon and Paul half heartedly set off to look at a house that had just come on the market, while we looked after the girls. They returned enthused and within 24 hours despite competition, their offer was accepted. One year later and on their fourth offer their house-hunting finally over. We met up with Paul’s parents to see over ‘Sunset Ridge’ set on a beautiful two acre block of land in ‘The Hills’ as the Darling Mountain Range is affectionately known as. Although the house is smaller there is plenty of room to extend and more importantly Skiv and Getaway will be able to park very comfortably there!

A view of ‘Sunset Ridge’.

Settlement date has been set for late October and as we fly back to Perth on the 19th October it was deemed ideal that we stay on and help with Talia and Erin during the house move. In fact, we happily ‘turned turtle’ in more ways than one... Rather than return to Queensland on our return to Darwin, we will continue into Western Australia and make our way down to Perth in good time to celebrate Christmas with the Gee’s in their new abode.

Di Godson hosted an Arundel School gathering at her home for Lea with interloper Di Ryan joining as an ex Rhodie! L to R sitting: Meg Godwin, Jean Rogers, Lea, Ros Davies. Standing: Di Godson & Di Ryan.

Our long flight out of Perth via Kuala Lumpur to Cape Town ran smoothly. Holly collected us at the airport and ran us through to Keith and Colleen’s flat and it was then the wheels fell off! We were all thrown into a quandary as there was no key and no one in the block expecting us. We all returned to Somerset West and took up residence in Werner Reutler’s townhouse in Erindale with its magnificent views of the mountains on either side. It was only when our son called Saxon in Perth and then Holly, concerned about our whereabouts, that we became aware that bush mail had let us all down. Keith and Colleen had actually booked us into a ‘Bed & Breakfast’ for a week.

Hottentots Holland Range - It was glorious to be back in the surrounds of our significantly familiar mountains...

Making the most of an unexpected two days in Somerset West we’d made arrangements to see George’s niece Jessie and our dearest Italian friends Pauline and Guiseppie Chisin – frail they may be but their spirits are remarkable and the large glass of grappa was rapidly decanted back into the bottle as we were driving!

That evening Holly drove us back to Cape Town and we booked into Brooklands House two days late! An elegant guest house a stone’s throw from Keith and Col’s tiny home. The next 24 hours crawled as we awaited the arrival of our family from the bush. Thereafter, time was to fly as we carefully renewed a friendship with Ella & Finn in the remaining two days prior to their parent’s departure for America. Three year old Ella took the parting in her stride but 18 month old Finn’s first time away from his Mum & Dad overwhelmed him with bouts of grief- that first night in particular. Fortunately, being school holidays Holly was able to join us after the first bad night and between three of us, life for Ella and Finn soon settled into a delightful routine.

Naturally there was a list of household jobs requiring George’s attention and certainly, ‘Bumpa’ was worth watching when it came to all the noisy activity of shelf construction.

As September ended we were still very aware of the decided nip in the Cape air and the three of us readily fell into bed each night almost immediately after the children. These bush babies are used to sleeping in close proximity to their parents for safety reasons - as a result Finn sleeps wedged between us and Holly more often than not, shares a good part of the night with Ella in her bunk bed! We must add that we still consider this a privilege despite the initial shock to our systems.

Tramping tales for August 2010

During that first week spent at Tumbling Waters quietly becoming used to our own company and space again- we took to our computers - transcribing Lea’s Dad’s diaries, editing or piecing together his life story, working on Family Histories and writing up the blog.

When heat peaked we’d head off for a refreshing dip in Berry Springs.

We loved to wallow in ‘middle pool’ watching bee-eaters hawking iridescent blue dragonflies hovering above the water or drongos and flycatchers flitting between the trees. These, simply enhanced our whole experience. The cascade itself was a mighty lure to Lea. She delightedly spent long periods of time having gluteus maximus massage, quite sure the vibration to arms, legs, hips and two “maxi-mates” would provide good health outcomes! George booked Skiv in for service. A day in Darwin set when the visit took on greater significance with an invitation to lunch with Jo Vandermark in ‘The Sentinel’. The years peeled back easily as we retraced our road to its entrance – never mind that we required the fourth floor rather than the fifth. It is always a pleasurable occasion to be with Jo and this time round was no less, her watercress soup ever so tasty.

We were drawn to revisiting Dundee Beach – 70 kilometres further down from where we were on Cox Peninsula road. Despite the detours due to culverts washed away during this last WET, the road was a mixture of bitumen and newly graded gravel which made for a pleasant journey down to Dundee Beach. We certainly didn’t recognise the place we’d stayed in previously and later learnt it was due to a cyclone taking out many trees along with the site being cleared for a development that halted midstream. We chose to move further along to Fog Bay and found ourselves a lone clearing suitable for our rig overlooking the bay. In the face of cool sea breezes we enjoyed a marvellous twenty four hours.

Memory is a painter and we painted this day with 0ur outlook from Getaway on the edge of the seacliff ...

Saturday dawned and in came fishermen and crab-collectors that we found intrusive enough to back track to Dundee Downs. At the boat ramp George met friendly Queenslanders Trevor and Rhonda, who directed us to Dundee Downs Bush Camp. This was perfect and Bob, the owner a congenial fellow quick to make us feel at home as he set us up in a beautifully secluded clearing. An evening walk along fire breaks had Lea feeling uneasy over the prominent number of signs saying ‘KEEP OUT’, ‘PRIVATE PROPERTY’, and ‘TRESSPASSERS WILL BE PROSECUTED’. All seemed so unnecessary and vicious - way out in such peaceful surrounds where ‘baddies’ were less likely to abound! Later Bob clarified that most of the properties were empty for a good deal of the time and owners simply covered their legal rights with the signs. Back at camp we found happy hour underway in the central camping area. Trevor and Rhonda’s mob gaily inviting us to join them. Four caravans on holiday, fishing and exploring the Territory together. As Trevor had made an over-supply of stew the previous evening, we were invited to partake of stew filled jaffles. Our meal awaiting us and the mosquitoes chewing us to bits reluctantly had us decline the offer.

Encircled in tall stringy-bark trees, purple turkey bush and noisy kookaburras we had no reason to leave in a hurry.

Talk of all the estuarine crocs in the Mackenzie River along with a photo Trevor had taken of a large, brazen ‘saltie’ from their boat close to the ramp, led us to paying visits to the boat ramp to croc-watch ourselves. Nothing... even a night trip failed to produce any ‘eyes’.

Mackenzie Boat Ramp at low tide – fear becomes palpable near the water’s edge.

We find it frustrating that others have such close sightings and yet salties prove so elusive to us. Four days later we returned to “Tumbling Waters” and the delights of Berry Springs for another week. Requirement to submit our vote in readiness for the General Elections on the 21st August had us drive into Darwin again and since it coincided closely to our wedding anniversary we hoped a decent film would be showing. There was! “Mother and Child” and an Italian film “I am love” caught our eyes and we promptly saw both, one in the morning, the other in the afternoon with voting in between, fulfilling our cinematic psyches.

One morning, Lea overheard George having a quiet snigger outside. Eventually, unable to contain himself he burst inside quite convulsed, to brokenly try and tell her that some poor blighter was undergoing extreme difficulties trying to fold up his privy-tent. We too, underwent this ghastly process many times in the beginning, only to fail every time to the detriment of our privy-tent. Sure enough, this fellow gave up after an enormous struggle. Days later, during a discussion on roadside camps, a neighbouring traveller happened to mention privy–tents, reckoning “It’s a knack that has to be regularly practised”. He offered to show George how.

NEARLY, but not enough as our tent shredded all the more at the seams and proved face savingly impossible! Comparisons with our neighbour’s privy-tent proved pliability of material to be of vital importance.

With another week in Tumbling Waters drawing to a close, itchy feet had us decide to visit another section of the Daly catchment to find “Mt Nancar Hideaway”. George had read about in a magazine. Water supplies in Tumbling Waters had abruptly become turbid and we were reluctant to fill our tanks with this muddy looking water. Thus we stopped en route, for a night in the middle reaches of the Adelaide River in a beautifully shady caravan park with thick green grass underfoot, enabling us to refill our water tanks easily. Once it was cool enough to walk we revisited the War Cemetery and the spots along the river banks that had once given rest and recreation to members of the armed forces.

The Darwin area with its naval base and surrounding group of airfields, was the largest Allied operational base in the south west Pacific. During the years 1942 and 43 it suffered numerous air raids. It is interesting to realise that a week after the bombing of Pearl Harbour, Japanese aircraft from this same attack group struck Darwin - The first against Darwin itself and the naval base on the 19th February 1942 was the most damaging, killing 240 people including many civilians. We found a memorial to the Darwin Post Office staff, all killed in this bombing raid in the cemetery. For many people the war history of Darwin only became a meaningful factor in their lives on seeing the film ‘AUSTRALIA’ with Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman.

The War Cemetery at Adelaide River was created for the burial of those servicemen who died in the Darwin area and other military installations in the Northern Territory. The unsettled lowing of Brahmin close by disrupted the peaceful atmosphere.

Everyone is talking about the unseasonably hot weather being experienced in the Top End of the Territory. By the time we arrived at the Daly River crossing to Port Keats and began looking for Mt Nancar – the mere sight of the Daly River Inn and caravan Park dust bowl, with caravans huddled around the few big shady trees had Lea feeling twitchy. With police help we were pointed in the right direction. As the road rapidly deteriorated, George decided the safest option was to unhitch and check out the lie of the land. Just as well, as many washaways and a locked gate was all he found. By the time we ascertained what other camping areas were in the vicinity of the Daly River crossing – we were bathed in perspiration and wondering what to expect from any place around here. Mango Farm and Perrys on the Daly were on the other side of the river and we decided to take the dirt road out that way and give each place a go, spending our first night at the furthest place, Perry’s.

Leaving the gravel Port Keats road we soon found ourselves on a circuitous road system that rapidly became a narrow farm track, nothing as bumpy as the one we’d taken to Lorella Springs though. The closer we came to our destination the more positive we became and the sign ‘Give Way to Wallabies’ served to boost that. We soon had more than an inkling we had reached a good place with the unexpected sight of a rustic ‘golf course’ adjoining the palm lined avenue leading to a homestead concealed within a mass of palms and mango trees, under which scores of wallabies stared with interest from their shady repose. The owners were away and Fred, a Melbourne man who spends six months of his year here, showed us the camp sites.

Location, location, location! It’s these unexpected positions that make our nomadic lifestyle beyond compare.

The Daly River is the Territory’s largest and the precipitous banks are testimony to the height of its peak flows. A very popular river to fish and ‘Perry’s – catch the experience’ logo – re-ignited an interest in George. Despite giving his wife a fishing rod saying we’d catch dinner together when we began this way of life- we soon gave up in disgust. Without a boat we did nothing more than lose expensive tackle on snags and feed fish! George eagerly unpacked his father-in-law’s historic split cane fishing rod – custom made in 1936. Heath Robinson style he attached a reel and prepared the rod with a nut to serve as a sinker. After carefully taking apart his only hook – a speciality triple at that, he required bait! Small, left-over stir-fry chicken & beef strips had to do. Taking 2 beef 1 chicken; his nervous wife’s words “she’d pay heavily for his carelessness in a spot like this” ringing in his ears; George set off for the ramp Fred had mentioned being a fine spot for fishing. It had been Fred’s warnings to stay well away from the water as three estuarine crocodiles were resident in this stretch of river that had given Lea the creeps!
Lea read her book under a fan, with frequent checks on George through binoculars while he sweated it out fishing – He lost two bits of bait and returned empty handed, very hot and bothered. After swilling down glasses of cold water this ‘fisherman’ decided to cast his remaining steak bait into the river far below, tuck the rod safely into his chair and commence reading in the comfort of home. Time passed – all of a sudden Lea heard the chair crash without warning, peeped out the door to find George on the edge of the bank with rod in hand, frantically reeling in. He tells her he heard the ratchet go off and thinks he has something on his line. Sure enough she spots a fish in the middle of the river being hauled in. Such excitement – but how in the world to land a fish from that height with an ancient rod threatening to break with the strain! George threw the rod into Lea’s safekeeping and dashed around trying to find a way down towards the water, yelling “Is it still there”. Without distance glasses he wasn’t at all sure what was happening. The baked hard clay terracing to some parts of the bank looked accessible only to prove very slippery that the horror of an unstoppable slide into the river loomed large. George finally managed to climb down a gully and make his way to the 2 metre sheer drop, closer to the water where he continued reeling in a sooty grunter. Lea meanwhile, running up and down the high bank in order to keep a line of sight on the fish and ‘catch the experience’ on camera!

Wild exhilaration and carryings on as a 30cm bream was safely landed without mishap, under trying circumstances.

A whistling kite arrived in the tree above us hoping for a snack, it’s piercing shrilled call so heart grippingly evocative of the Territory as an African fish eagle is to Africa, added occasion!

Unfortunately this was the kiss of death not freedom!
A photo insisted upon for his grandchildren.

Despite using a tasty strip of bream fillet to bait his line, reinforcing his rod with duck tape- in the hope of a record breaking barramundi next – THAT WAS IT! No further interest was shown that George fried up the fillets for dinner some days later.

Bird life brought us much pleasure particularly as the soft evening light fell upon the river to the calls of coucals in the riverine thickets. A large freshwater crocodile regularly took to sunning on a small, narrow sandbank opposite which was also well used by a large flock of mudlarks. Although we kept eyes peeled for the tell-tale wake of ‘salties’ cruising the river, only George was to see one from the ramp, heading upstream. This place was virtually our kingdom until the weekend when the Daly River played host to a few tinnies with fisher-folk out and about their fishing activities – giving us a wave as they passed by. Within Perry’s, we were barely aware of new inmates.

By four o’clock a daily dip in the surprisingly chilly swimming pool became essential. On the Saturday, we got talking to two sisters and their husbands from Ballarat, Victoria. Both couples had bought Supreme ‘Territory’ caravans for holidays and were fed up with the problems they had encountered particularly with failed battery chargers despite their care. The men were keen to inspect our Supreme ‘Getaway’ and see the type of battery charger fitted to ours – after no problems in 5 years of use. It proved to be the same brand. It was pleasing to see how impressed they were with the sturdiness of our sub-frame; the life we’d received from the first set of tyres; and where our travels had taken us. We gained from their perusal...as their eyes alighted on the angle of our caravan due to the low elevation of our hitch and promptly suggested a simple method of altering the height. They willing helped George achieve this, there and then. Three special nights were all we could fit in at Perry’s as some weeks back we had taken the first available booking for a caravan park closer to Darwin and we didn’t dare lose that. Reluctantly leaving this bush haven, ‘our’ whistling kite, blue winged kookaburra and the pair of Jabiru storks that had given us so much joy gave us a farewell fly over as we departed down the main track.

The irritation of a noisy car and its hoon driver on the road alongside our new site contrasted badly with Perry’s but we learned to limit all noise with the air-conditioner and to keep thermostat disturbance to a minimum we only had to leave the security screen door in place. Following the Federal elections we felt a surprising inner anxiety as we listened to incoming results... We almost regret retaliating for the ousting of a Prime Minister elected by the people, by going Green thinking we’d be taking advantage of a two party preferred between Labour and Greens. The Australian voting system is very tricky to understand! A hung parliament awaiting the final count to the very wire – added to our discomfort especially as ‘success’ could fall either way in an electorate that is obviously very disgruntled. The fact that one seat can swing Tony Abbot into power appals us – anyone that was one of John Howard’s henchmen in a Government that had us become totally discontented by its supercilious in-humanity, scares us. As time passed, the ‘intrigue of strategies’ and opinion led us to believe most hopefully, that a CHANGE for the BETTER could be a major winner through a handful of Independents and the Greens. Que Sera-sera!

By chance our eyes happened on a discarded Darwin Festival program 12- 29 August and as we idly paged through, discovered David Helfgott was playing a one off concert, in the Darwin Entertainment Centre within a couple of hours. Not only had we both read a wonderful book on his life, David was the inspiration behind the Academy Award winning film “Shine”. The chance to experience this living legend in concert became too much for us. We gobbled our dinner as we dug under the bed for something suitable to wear to The Playhouse and tore off into the city some 25 kilometres away hoping against hope that we’d manage a seat. With twenty minutes to spare we had two tickets (the last seats together, at that) within the dizzy heights of the upper circle. We were thrilled to bits.... and the magic began as soon as this enthusiastic man ran onto the stage, bobbing and jumping around excitedly, giving the thumbs up signs, to all applause – What a charismatic performance. His underlying, almost mindless humming and tiny vocal noises interspersed with little head and body shakes becoming more apparent as the evening wore on. In the interval, George mentioned the high notes on the grand piano being flat – Lea barely able to warrant George’s ears picking that up let alone a grand piano having no pre-concert check? When, on to the stage walked the piano tuner with his tools of trade. That made a difference and he retired to a gentle applause from the few stayers... From our position in the auditorium we couldn’t see David’s hands expressively twinkle across the keys bringing Chopin, Liszt and Rachmaninov to life but we had a good view of this endearing, gnome-like man’s face and, along with his interpretation of the music, was more than enough.

ABC’s Stateline had previewed a retrospective showing of Therese Ritchie and Chips Mackinolty works at the Charles Darwin University Art Gallery entitled “Not Dead Yet” which we had found intriguing enough to wish to see on reaching Darwin. We arranged to meet Jo Vandermark at the venue and concerned about finding the place, we arrived early. Lost our bearings and came across “Northern Editions” a printmaking studio and gallery where, with time on our hands, a delightful young woman enlightened us on the background history to the works on show before pointing us in the right direction to meet Jo.

NOT DEAD YET –as the title suggests, provided a most thought provoking array of mixed medium put together with a variety of techniques to create powerful images produced by two collaborative artists, rapidly absorbed the three of us. Within the hour, and quite separately, we found ourselves overhearing snippets of a lecture being given to students that simply drew us like a magnet towards the lecturer, with her insider’s knowledge and irreverent comments. We brazenly joined the group...

Then it dawned - we had hit JACKPOT... THIS was Therese Ritchie herself. She most obligingly allowed us to take a photo.

A scintillating speaker whose tales of how she and Chips had developed a time consuming craft, they had been reluctant to give up when a digital world came about to eventually surrendering to the technology. Photographic documentation had created connections with people and changed her forever; traced lives, landscapes and political or cultural events provided confronting images as did the chasms that exist or arise from cultural differences. All brought forth stories from the impact of one or another whether emotive, good or bad. Added inspiration gathered from historic accounts, haunting images within old books all readily grasped and transformed into a graphic form of commentating that captured an eccentric sense of humour that ranged from tickling ones fancy, cleverly giving food for thought and perhaps causing minor uproars with fine perception. Resounding particularly loudly, in view of Tony’s party seeming ever more likely to govern was Therese Ritchie’s poignantly simple ‘Children Overboard’ scripted with:

“Jesus, Mary & Joseph (the patron saints of Refugees)
Wish every Australian a safe and joyous Christmas”.

Our stimulating couple of hours left us weak at the knees. The three of us grabbed a bite to eat in the Uni canteen and delighted at the good fortune that had befallen us.

Have we been suffering the “build up” instead of pleasant winter Dry? Heavy rain fell leaving us feeling pretty bemused that the Wet had left late and now it appeared to be returning early. The following day the NT News headlined with BYE-BYE DRY................. (Forgotten the rest!) Folk up here, feel hard done by! Perhaps those migratory Imperial Pigeons, from Papua New Guinea and Indonesia, we spotted at Perry’s instinctively knew the WET was on the way?
With the Darwin Festival booklet having fallen into our hands late, we found ourselves keen to take advantage of events in the closing days. “Shrine” a photographic installation within the Supreme Court Building interested us and we decided to combine a visit to that with a walking tour of the new waterfront development, open day at Government House ending at Festival Park to watch a free show ‘dancing in the sand’ before attending a folk singer show at a new venue there - The Lighthouse. Parking outside the new Conference Centre we walked along to a skywalk that joins the whaahoo waterfront development with the city.

It was from the top of the skywalk that we took our first full view over Darwin’s new waterfront. A REMARKABLE transformation! We found ourselves recalling the many fish and chip meals bought from an old railway carriage while slapping away sandflies on the very site the Conference Centre now sits...

This waterfront footbridge links the CBD to the Wharf beautifully – defeating the oft debilitating humid heat and overcoming the difference in elevation. We made good use of it throughout our visit.
Although we had visited Government House, official residence of the Administrator of the Northern Territory back in 2002 with our elderly parents Roger and Stella, we couldn’t resist another whip through this most elegant house perched on a promontory overlooking the harbour. With this magnificent position comes its history of being in the forefront of cyclones (1897, 1937 and 1974) and of course, it sustained a direct hit during the Bombing of Darwin when all but one piece of furniture within the house disappeared. Built to maximise life in the tropics and superb views are the verandahs and The Terrace – we hoped to gain a ‘shot’ of the new waterfront from this unusual vantage point only to find the gardens maintained the privacy of The House.

Supreme Court across the road was a first visit for George and given his ‘true crime’ books he was quickly occupied by thoughts of walking in footsteps of the Falconio case, never-the-less we had come to see Shrine. Not certain what was involved in this display other than a photo-journalist had “encapsulated the memories of lives lost, families torn apart and communities left to mourn”. We were soon engaged... Living on the road – as it were, we are very familiar with the crosses and memorials that bare silent testimony to lives lost through vehicle accidents. We first saw the simple poignant white crosses in America in 1988. This Christian symbol appears to have spread the world over with a wider meaning denoting a loss of life on the road. A controversy arose in Australia, a few years back, over the number and variety of roadside memorials proving a distraction to road safety. Emotional pleas heeded, a respectful cognizance seems to have fallen into place. More relevantly, ‘Time heals’ these initial outpourings of pain and most memorials gently fade away under natural weathering processes.
Strolling on to Festival Park we awaited ‘dancing in the sand’ – advertised to be a public dance phenomenon on a dance floor of sand that allowed those with two left feet to do no harm! A team of redshirted seniors and a young, black MC half their size but fortunately dressed all in white, sounding like a kinsman from Zimbabwe, led the proceedings. His enthusiasm, their ability along with good music and crowd participation was infectious. We admit to a good giggle at the beginning as it so reminded us of a stop-over, we took at the Lebish home, to find Roger leading the Beit Bridge ladies Keep-fit session.

Many children found it difficult to believe their sandpit was supposed to be a dance floor!

As for the iconic Lighthouse, it came into being last year and actually has nothing to do with lighthouses per se, simply a place designed for dry season entertainment, using recycled corrugated iron to enclose a public space. It’s the upward rows of coloured lights that give rise to its name The Lighthouse or tagged just as appropriately as a ‘virtual top-tent’. Performing was Jess Ribeiro - backed by a multi instrumentalist Rob Law, singing her ballad compositions based on her upbringing in a NSW truck yard. We found the hour very reminiscent of a sixties folk session within a most fitting Darwin venue. Surrounding food stalls didn’t appeal and we returned to Stokes Wharf to enjoy barra & chips white we overlooked frenzied batfish polishing off the scraps being thrown down into the water below. The waterfront development behind the wharf lives up to its whaahoo! Water fun without fear of sharks, box jelly fish, stingers and crocs has changed the face of Darwin – we’d love to give the Wave pool a go next time we’re in town. All in all, a wonderful, all encompassing addition to Darwin!

Next day we spent a pleasant afternoon session in the Palmerston Library watching “Talking Memories”. The personal accounts and the background history along with archival photos, provided us with a remarkable insight into the life of children, belonging to the ‘Stolen Generation’ looked after by the State around Bagot Road in those years between 1910 and 1980. Particularly, their evacuation from Darwin, scattering them all over the country, in the lead up to the 500 kilometre stretch of Stuart Highway (from Darwin to Mataranka) becoming an actual military zone in 1940. We had to be pushed out when the doors closed and we continued on to Mindil Beach’s Sunday Market, where we retired to the shade to ‘people watch’ until the Darwin Festival’s Closing Event - An Aboriginal dance work entitled Wanga Mirak: Bodymarks –Took place on the beach in the light of the setting sun to add that extra ambiance.

We enjoyed the song and dance story of connections and relationships across five generations of the Dhalinybuy clan.

We certainly have felt pretty light headed and youthful with all this unexpected gadding thanks to the Festival!

Roaming with the Ryans 20-30th July 2010

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!

We finished the night off down at Stokes Wharf, where fish & chips is a Darwinian institution. Unfortunately no dolphins or predatory fish darted into the light reflected water to grab easy dinner, instead an orange moon rising created an equally memorable spectacle.
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!