New Adventures in the Top End

Our trip started as most do with a flight to Darwin. We arrived at 1.10am so had arranged to stay at the Airport Resort for the first night. Watching the weather during the week we were a bit concerned as a Cyclone watch was in place on Thursday and it continued into Friday until it was downgraded to a tropical low. All was quiet though very wet when we arrived leaving us in no doubt as to how much rain had fallen. I was expecting the airport hotel to be a block of units but instead found a resort hotel that could have come straight from Bali. It looked very nice but all we were interested in was a bed at that point. Breakfast the next morning was nice and a half an hour later we were picked up by Nolan who was taking us to collect our 'Turtle'. This was a Maui Camper van that we were going to travel around in for the next 2 weeks. Once we were in possession of our wheels it was time to find somewhere quiet to unpack and familiarise ourselves with our new home.

A step back for a moment to tell you why we were in Darwin at this time of the year. Bill belongs to a Photographic Forum where people from Australia & New Zealand post Nature Photos. Last year someone suggested that they get together somewhere to meet each other and share some ideas and this was the where and the when. About a dozen people had travelled to Darwin and we were all meeting up at various functions over the next week. Bill & I had decided that this would be the ideal opportunity to have a practice run at being Grey Nomads so had organised the van and here we were. Let the adventure begin.

We took Nolan & Josie up on their offer to spend our first couple of nights parked in their driveway. We had been going to go to a caravan park but as the first couple of events were nearby this seemed to be a good idea. And a nice safe way to ease us into 'camping' in the great outdoors complete with Hill's hoist, barb-b-que & beer. Wayne & Georgie from Queensland were staying with them as well so all in together was a lot of fun.

Once unpacked we took ourselves shopping for supplies, spent a couple of hours at East Point Reserve where we got rained on during a walk, met Nolan & Josie at Nightcliff for a drink as we watched the sunset and then headed off to our driveway home to settle in. It was great to see them both again and we had a great night at their place enjoying a bar-b-que tea and a few quiet drinks. My first adventure was to make our bed up for the night. This was achieved with a minimum of fuss though I must say putting a sheet on a bed that you are crawling all over is a bit of a challenge. Still I got there in the end and once we were in bed we had a good nights sleep.

Having survived our first night we were eager to get out and about the next day. We headed for the Botanic Gardens and spent a couple of hours playing with the cameras, the plants and the birds. The little Red Headed Honeyeaters we found there were just beautiful. There was evidence of the storm that had just passed by and also of Cyclone Carlos that had gone through here a few weeks earlier. Like the rest of Australia Darwin's weather has been more extreme than usual. They have just experienced their wettest & longest wet season for a number of years and with rain still forecast it looked like we were about to experience life in the 'wet'.

Another trip to the shops for the bits we had forgotten and then it was time to head to Nightcliff again. The first get together of the whole group was a bar-b-que tea on the foreshore. We had a great night meeting Danny & Janice from New Zealand, Helen from Perth, Wayne & Georgie from Qld, William, John & Michael like Nolan & Josie were locals. With Darwin renowned for it's beautiful sunsets everyone had their camera's ready only to be thwarted by the storm clouds rolling in. There was a tiny peek of colour for a moment but that didn't stop them all clicking away and I guess the storm photo's will look pretty good. The rain stayed away and a great night was had by all. The very funny Bush Stone Curlews that came out after dark had us all smiling at their antics. They are a funny bird that really look like they are up to no good as they run around then stop and check you out.

With our first meet & greet a great success it was time to all head home and get ready for our next part of the adventure. We were off to Eden at Fogg Dam for 3 days.

Can't wait........