Tuesday 31 July – We were up quite early this morning – a bit before 7, but we still didn’t get away till a bit after 9.  There’s always someone wants a chat, and of course it’s a bit rude to just snub them! 

So we did the ever necessary fill with petrol at Mataranka and pointed our noses northward again.  It has been a beautiful day – something we are getting used to and really enjoying.  The driving today was long, but fairly uneventful, and we made our first stop at Katherine which was only a bit over 100 km away.  We stocked up on a few supplies – mostly meat and a bit of fruit and veg, and it would have to be one of the busiest Woolworths supermarkets you would ever see.  From there we went on to Pine Creek where we decided to top up with petrol (that’s the way to go, we reckon – just keep topping up when the opportunity arises).  As it was after midday we decided to have our bit of lunch there, so we pulled up near the park and who should be walking their dog there but Irene and Bob!  We passed the time of day and a few words, then excused ourselves that we had to keep moving as we still had quite some distance to go.  So we ate our lunch, topped up the car then hit the road again.  From there until we got to Adelaide River, we tailed them – obviously we both travel along at about the same speed.

Grant spotted the sign at Adelaide River pointing to the War Cemetery, so we made our way there.  We wanted to stop there as Dad had spent some time there during WW2, and had helped dig some graves there during that time.  Like all War cemeteries we have seen, it is very beautiful, perfectly maintained, and very sad.  There are so many young people commemorated there it is almost like losing a generation.  We wandered around the headstones, then as we made our way back to the entrance I suddenly realised that a snake was slithering across the grass about one and a half metres in front of me.  I remained quite calm (true!!) and just said: ‘Grant – there’s a snake’.  We both watched as it wriggled its way across a stretch of the grass then disappeared under a small hedge of flowering shrubs.  As Irene and Bob had arrived at the cemetery after us, we warned them that there was a snake, then told others entering as we were leaving.

Next stop was Batchelor, where we once again gave the car a drink of petrol, as we are in Litchfield National Park (70 kms from Batchelor) for two full days and there is no fuel available here.  The drive out here to the Litchfield Safari Camp was interesting – very tall termite mounds, smoke around from the control burning they do everywhere here, and roadsigns to some of the attractions in the park.  We didn’t get here till after 4.30, so set up, sat and had a cuppa or two, had showers – Grant’s was barely warm and mine was scalding as I couldn’t turn the cold tap on – then had tea.

Today there was an amazing amount of roadkill – almost all being small wallabies, although there were a couple of large kangaroos.  And of course as I’ve said before, where there is roadkill there are birds of prey, and today far too many to count.  There must have been at least twenty or thirty flying over Katherine!

So we’re installed here for the next two days (three nights) – no phone coverage or internet, and the attractions are all relatively close, so we should have a couple of relaxing days.