August 2012

We got away from Katherine at about 9:45 am for our shortish trip of 280 kms to Daly Waters. On the way we stopped at the Cafe and Art Gallery at Mataranka for a cappucino.

Mataranka Cafe and Gallery

Mataranka Pub in the middle of the Never Never

We arrived at the Daly Waters Pub at about 1:15 pm and checked in for the night, and were allocated a fairly shady spot. We also paid up for our Beef and Barra dinner and were allocated the 6:30 time slot. After setting up we went for a walk around the caravan park and had a couple of beers in the pub to cool down. Since our last visit two years ago the caravan park has almost doubled in size and now has a small swimming pool, the pub is just the same - still cluttered with memorabilia - but the beer is cold!

Di stopping the traffic at Daly Waters

Daly Waters Pub

Daly Waters Pub Swimming Pool

Di blending in at the Daly Waters Pub

Signs and number plates

Our camp site at Daly Waters

Daly Waters Caravan Park complete with dust storm

Ladies Dunny

About 4:30 pm we wandered back to the bar for the half-price happy hour. Our meal was booked for 6:30 pm and was delivered on time. The meal was excellent - the barra was well cooked and the beef (rump) was also cooked to instructions - medium for Di and medium rare for David. The meals were served with salad from a self serve salad bar. The meal was outstanding and even better with a Peter Lehman Shiraz. Its just amazing that you can get a first class meal at an out of the way outback pub! The meal was followed at 7:30 pm by a comedian/singer who put on a one hour show - he has been doing it since March 2012 and tonight was his last performance for the season.

Di's Beef and Barra

Daly Waters live music

There was a full moon last night and it was a blue moon - a blue moon is the second full moon when there are two full moons in the same month and it is not expected to happen again for about 3 years. Hence the expression "Once in a blue moon".

A blue moon

We are heading for Banka Banka Station tomorrow, then Devil's Marbles and Gem Tree and may not have Next G coverage or internat access for a while.

It was 35 degrees again for our last day in Katherine, and consequently the air-conditioner ran all day and we spent most of the day inside reading. In the afternoon we went into Katherine to stock up on groceries and to visit the Liquor Mart - since the change of Government in the Northern territory you no longer have to produce photo ID to purchase alcohol. We don't expect to see a decent supermarket until we get to Adelaide in about 2 weeks time.

In the evening we went over to Happy Hour at the Bistro and listened to the live music - a good guitarist with a music machine - he sounded like a complete band. We did not eat at the Bistro as we are planning to sample the Beef and Barra tomorrow night at the world famous Daly Waters Pub.

No Photos today.

We did not get all that much sleep last night as we had some dingos barking and howling until the wee small hours- perhaps looking for mates. We had been warned not to leave shoes outside at night because of wild dogs and dingos.

It was a little cooler this morning while we packed up for a 300 kms plus trip to Katherine - we have decided not to go to Mataranka and instead we will have 2 nights in Katherine before going to the Daly Waters Pub for a night, then Banka Banka, Devil's Marbles and Gem Tree. We eventually got away from Jabiru at about 9:30 am and stopped at the Mary River Road House for an early lunch of toasted egg and bacon sandwiches. Mary River is half way between Jabiru and Katherine. There was not too much traffic on the road today in either direction, and we eventually arrived at the Katherine Big4 Low Level Caravan Park at about 1:30 pm, and were allocated site number 7 on the circle at the front of the park.

After setting up camp for 2 nights we headed into town for diesel, a few things from Woolworths supermarket, and yesterday's Australian - we are getting used to having our papers a day late and paying $4.00 for the priviledge. Back at the caravan park we tuned in the TV - 4 very snowy analogue channels - so David got out the satellite dish and we now have a perfect TV signal courtesy of the VAST System.

No photos again!

A relatively cool start to the day today - only 18 degrees when we got up - but now its over 30 degrees already and its only 10:00 am. Given the high temperatures forecast for today (37 degrees again) we decided not to go walking around any more aboriginal sites. We spent most of the morning in the caravan with the airconditioner running flat out to keep cool.

Di did some washing and read a book while David updated our records on caravan park costs and our fuel consumption so far. So far caravan parks are averaging about $35 a night and the total cost so far is about $4,000, we have free camped on 4 nights. To date we have towed the caravan about 11,000 kms and fuel consumption is 21.8 litres per 100 kms, or 4.6 kms/litre. We have also travelled about 4,600 kms without the caravan with fuel consumptiom of 13 kms/litre, or 7.7 kms/litre. We have used 3,050 litres of diesel at a total cost of almost $5,000 or an average of $1.636 per litre, with the cheapest being $1.413 per litre near Perth, and the dearest being 1.999 per litre on the Nullarbor.

Later in the afternoon we headed for the pool to cool down then relaxed with a book in the shade. About 5:30 pm we went to the Bistro for a few drinks before dinner and ended up listening to some live music for an hour or so. Back at the van we had grilled chicken with a caesar salad.

No photos today.

Another hot day with forecast temperatures in the high 30s. David spent the morning removing the batteries from the caravan to check their condition and state of charge. We have two 140 amp hour deep cycle batteries connected in parallel charged by an 80 watt solar panel and a 25 amp C-Tek smart battery charger. We had been concerned that the charger was not working properly as when it was on the "Normal" charge cycle it used to let the batteries discharge to a point where the lights would dim and the TV would switch off (about 12.25 volts), at which point it would start charging again.

We think that it might get confused when the van is drawing 10 - 15 amps running several 25 watt lights as well as the TV, while the charger is trying to make up the difference, and recharge the battery as well. The manual for the charger was not very helpful with regards to the problem and a solution. We decided that when the battery was fully charged we would switch to the "Supply" mode that delivers about 25 amps at 14 volts regardless of battery condition. David wanted to check the batteries properly to ensure that they were fully charged and working properly.

Battery number one was reading 12.8 volts and all the cells of the battery were reading a consistent specific gravity of 1.285. Barttery number two was reading 12.78 volts and a specific gravity reading of 1.275. While battery number one is 100%, battery number two is about 98%. This is not surprising given that the batteries are in parrallel and charged together. Before we go away again we will get a small battery switch so that we can charge one or the other or both as the need arises. Given that the batteries are nearly 4 years old their condition is excellent - mind you they should last up to 10 years if looked after properly.

After lunch we drove about 60 kms to the Nourlangie Rock Aboriginal Art Site that has been an aboriginal wet season home for about 6,000 years. Archealogical studies have found occassional use by aboriginal people dating back 20,000 years. A 1.5 km walk that took in the main gallery, the major art sites, and the nearby lookout was about the most that we could manage in the 36 degree heat.

Nourlangie Rock

Rock Art

More rock art

Aboriginal hunter (on a bike?) hunting a kangaroo

Di at the rock

Aboriginal dancers

Nabulwinjbulwinj - an evil spirit that kills females

Namarrgon the Lightning Man

A female figure

A cave shelter

Nearby rocky outcrop

Nourlangie Rock from the Lookout

The distant Arnhem Escarpment from the lookout

Back at the caravan park we headed straight for the pool and spa located next to the bar and bistro. We had a swim in the pool then relaxed in the spa before enjoying a couple of pre-dinner drinks at the bar. Dinner tonight was flathead and chips with salad back at the caravan.

The Pool at the caravan park

The Spa with the lawns behind