I: 23 to 25 Sep - Litchfield NP and Katherine Gorge

We arrived back at our caravan at4.30 am and had a couple of hours shuteye before moving on. We were in for a bit of a shock when daylight came. We had parked the car and caravan under a big tree to protect it from the sun etc. The tree however was full of wildlife - mostly bats we suspect as the once-white caravan was now covered in sticky black bat? droppings.

After a slap-up breakfast at the local shopping mall and a restocking of provisions we headed off to the car wash. This did the trick - with a bit of manual effort, and managed to get out again without taking the car wash with us.

We headed off to Batchelor 90+ km south of Darwin. This is near Litchield National Park. There are lots of ants and cane toads in Batchelor.

Florence Falls in Litchfield NP is a popular spot to cool off. It takes a bit of effort to swim under the falls due to the strong current:-

These nasty little biting green ants used our awning guy rope as a super-highway:-

The magnetic termite mounds are a tourist attraction in Litchfield National Park. These termites build their mounds flat like tombstones and they are all orientated roughly north-south for temperature control:-
This is a cathedral termite mound which is about 5 metres high, giving it the appearance of being very tall:-
This is the near-ruin of Blythe homestead built in 1928. It is hard to-get-to as you have to drive through a 600 mm deep creek and get the feeling the car is about to float:

One of several magnificent black cockatoos. They don't stay still for long enough to photograph properly:

Tolmer Falls Litchfield NP:

Model of Karlstein Castle (Bohemia) built in the park in Batchelor by a Czeck mine worker who stayed on after the Rum Jungle mine was closed:-

Katherine Gorge:

Estuarine Crocodile trap, Katherine Gorge:

More Katherine Gorge:

H: 13 to 22 Sep :- Bali

Some more Bali images uploaded on 26 Oct 2010.

The "monkey" dance:
Rice paddy view during bike tour:
The intrepid trio:

Our verandah at Kunang Kunang Guest House:

Alison with bride at the wedding she and Tony invited themselves to;

The priest plying his trade officiating at the wedding;

The priest donned his hat for this tricky bit:

I was amazed to see this display of an Ochna. Our Bushcare group would be horrified. These things are a scourge in our bushland:

We walked to the Ubud Botanical Gardens, and on the way I spotted the town's hydraulic garbage disposal system. This lot finds its way via the paddy fields to the ocean:

Alison escaped to do participate in a cooking class:

The girls love to dress up here:

Some roof details near our hotel, Sanur:

View from our hotel room, Sanur:

Brick is used a lot and this is in a museum temple in Ubud. Brickwork is detailed and only fine layer of mortar is used. The stone icons around the temples are nearly always dressed in this checkered cloth.


We went to a temple ceromony in the evening. There was a continuous procession of women bringing offerings for blessing by the priest. I believe they were taken back home and shared out.

The action inside the temple:

Tony and Alison waited outside:

The "wet"markets were a bit chaotic:

This is the veranda of a room to let at the king's palace. The rooms are available for rent at $65Us per night.

Lily pond between temple and restaurant.

Gold leaf being applied to temple decoration:

Rice paddy along the side of the walking track. I was shortly to get soaked through in a downpour. This put the camera out of action.

Bali made for an interesting break from our travels in the Top End - weather was cooler but very wet at times.

Thanks to Pak Tony's local knowledge and language skills we saw a lot more than we would have done on our own. This included meeting local artists and getting to some dance performances. We did a (mostly) downhill bike ride with Eco Tours which had a very good tour guide and came with an excellent lunch washed down with a well-earned Bitang beer or two.

Alison and Tony went to a local wedding as guests. I had some more Bitang.

G: 6 to 11 Sep - more Darwin

These last few days in Darwin have been spent doing a bit of sightseeing, brief hot walks, and cooling off in the odd bar or two. The Casino has good air conditioning and happy hour drinks are only $2.50 a pop. On Monday took a sunset cruise on a restored Pearl Lugger:

I gave the skipper a break from the arduous work at the helm:

Bird on lawn at Parliament House, - sorry I haven't identified it yet. These are common in Northern Queensland too.

Parliament House:

Nude person on beach:

Who would want to anyway, these bushes are very prickly:

One of several WWII bunkers designed against sea inavasion. This one housed two Vickers machine guns. They were never used, the Japanese flew in:
The sunset markets at Mindil Beach are very popular;

We bought a take-away and ate it on the beach:

Some local entertainers before security moved them on (no buskers licence?):

Modern street architecture well designed for the climate:

A surviving example of a house designed for pre-air conditioning times:-

The 1934 Qantas Hangar now houses heaps of vintage cars and machinery, local enthusiasts work on the restoration :

WE ARE OFF TO BALI TOMORROW - NO MORE POSTS FOR ABOUT 10 DAYS.