First thing in the morning, before a cup of tea, one is not at ones best shall we say, what with the grey matter being slight dulled by its over night rest, so now imagine how can it be made to function at its normal operating speed without that dose of caffeine, the answer is staring you in the face in the first picture........
It was when we were both eye balling each other, the Park Rangers words of advice, that I have adhered to ever since, came rushing back "Don't park your van up so it is touching the leaves" the reason being all sorts of things can then easily access your van....... This mornings tree snake being just one of the sorts of things.....?
After the adrenalin rush and two dozen photographs we head off and within half hour it is two hours later, we have crossed into the Northern Territory which is 1.5hrs in front of Western Australia, hooray, it means we should have some sort of an evening, with sunset being closer to 8pm instead of 6pm, it also means one of us is ecstatic due to it being darker in the morning........
So 500 kms soon fly past, with just the usual half dozen or so emergency stops due to eagles feeding off the road kill and another half dozen due to cattle in the road, a huge bull (that was a first) in the road, Bush Fires, Lizards sunbathing and a lady sitting in a chair beside the road with a large pole in her hand....... Unlike the N322 ladies, this ladies pole had a sign on it saying 'Slow' but did she move, we were possibly her first vehicle for half hour and she wanted to make her presence felt so as to safe guard the hi vis work force, half a mile ahead of her......
And so we make it to Katherine, where we will stay a few days and do the Gorge etc whilst possibly taking the visitors centres advice and do Kakadu before Darwin rather than after as all roads are open at the moment but in two weeks time who knows what roads will be open but there is a chance the main roads will stand a better chance of staying open, providing they don't get washed away.............
Good Morning
,Day two of being without a phone signal or the Internet and I am up the earliest all holiday, not connected to consuming the most wine the night before of course...... 4.30am and one of us commences the Bluff Cliff walk, the sun is just peaking over the hills surrounding Lake Argyle, when I get company....... Flies. For the next hour and half, I improve on my Australian Wave, they are relentless giving me no more than 5-10 seconds reprieve until bombarding any open orifice I possess. The view from the Bluff not worth the effort and aggravation but the shower immediately upon my return, so welcoming and satisfying. Next stop, 10.30am standing on the Dam Wall taking less than inspiring photographs whilst acknowledging, there may be 30,000 Crocodiles in this lake but we cannot see anything other than two ducks........
Highlight of day, 2.30pm, Sunset cruise, 6 of us on a boat capable of carrying between 60-70 persons, the benefits of coming on holiday in the low season. It turns into a good afternoons entertainment, see huge fresh water fish, loads of wading type birds, whistling kites, wallaroos, Crocodiles and even a bit of baby Crocodile wrestling thrown in by the female of this holidaying duo......... It eventually gave in and she returned it to the water where hopefully it survived, not being eaten by the Daddy Croc, nearby. Now did I mention there are 30,000 Crocodiles in this lake, so just before sunset we stop in the middle of it and to get a free beer, the skipper throws the beer into the air, whilst a stupid, climbs onto the roof of the boat, jumps up, catches the beer and has a swim whilst drinking said free beer. So now can you think of anyone stupid enough to do this, Oi! Don't be rude, that's not a nice thing to think about Julie that way....... guess again, yep! yours truly, Stupid with honours....... But not only did I do it first, I was the only stupid to do it properly, catching the can with ease before swimming with the crocodiles........ Stupid two, lost his balance and fell off......... whilst I pretended the beer bubbles went up my nose when he surfaced and saw me smirking............
Now before you all think 'What a Doughnut' These croc's are Australian freshwater Crocodiles and 80% of their diet is insects, the other 20% being fish so they do not bother humans, besides their snouts are a lot thinner than a Saltwater Croc and should they bite you and do the roll, it is believed their snouts would break, as yet this theory has to be tested..........
Sunset at 5.37pm but very little cloud to give any life to a photo, so two more beers and we head home, to delete most of the photos we have taken, due to Bar, Restaurant, Shop, Reception all being closed, it's Sunday up North, even the couple we talk to on the boat from New South Wales, cannot get their head around It being dark so early, because, what does dark mean, dark means bed, in Western Australia........
Daddy Croc
Crocodile Wrestling
Stupid having a beer!
