From Cooinda Bel and I made our way to Darwin, with a few stops along the way. The first was at Nourlangie, an aboriginal rock art site with some of the best examples we have seen so far.
It was a self guided walk with explanations of what each of the paintings represented.
Next we made a quick stop at Jabiru for lunch and to pump the tyres up before heading to the Adelaide River to see some serious crocs on the jumping croc cruise.
There were crocs everywhere in the river and they were huge, over 5m long with massive heads. They easily launched themselves out of the water and the sound of their jaws snapping shut was freaky.
By the time we finished the cruise if was 4pm with about 65km left to Darwin so we started to look for a place to stop. We found a nice little roadhouse in Noonamah and setup camp. It had a bistro/tavern attached so we decided to eat out to save setting up.
We ordered drinks and then while checking the menu Bel whispered to me “that girls got no top on!”. I turned to see a waitress picking up glasses wearing nothing but a pair of lacey undies.
After getting over the initial surprise we ordered dinner, and then some ladies came over selling raffle tickets for Variety. I bought a ticket and asked when it was drawn – she replied “after the first strip show” 😳😀. Seeing that I had bought a raffle ticket we had to stay of course. It turns out that Thusday night is the big night out in Noonamah and Bel was about to see her first strip show – and the girls didn’t hold back (sorry no photos for the blog). What a welcome to Darwin!!! The meal was lovely btw. 😂😂
The next morning we headed into Darwin city centre. First stop was medical centre to get bel checked out (X-ray all ok👍) and then we went in search of a hotel and parking for the car and trailer. It was our anniversary and Bel needed some pampering due to her sore back. After checking wotif/booking/lastminute we decided to see what price we could get over the counter – turned out to be a great move as we got an ocean view suite for less than the “special” online rates for a normal room. We also managed to get a double parking spot out the front – perfect.
We had a lovely 2 night stay at the hotel, enjoying the city and creature comforts like a lounge and tv. Bel gave her back a good soak and got her hair done.
And then we headed out for lunch at Moorish (awesome Moroccan tapas) and Dinner at Wharf 1 to celebrate our anniversary.
Sunday morning we had to get back to reality and headed out to the caravan park. We setup camp once again and headed to the pool for the afternoon as it was hot and starting to get a little humid due to some unseasonal rain on its way.
The next day we took the bikes to Eastpoint reserve and spent the day following the bike path out to the ww2 museum and then into the city via Fannie Bay and Mindil beach. After lunch in the wharf area again we head back out to East Point. It was roughly a 25km loop and was so nice to be on the bikes again.
The coastline is beautiful up here, and they have massive tide changes, while we were riding it went from a 7m high to a 2m low. This is resulting in a lot of coastal erosion.
Tuesday was spent doing some chores and repairs and then Wednesday Bel flew home to Sydney. She is heading back for a week to attend Lachie and Kallie’s wedding and have a much needed catchup with the family, while I look after the gear (so sorry I can’t make it guys).
So we are splitting up the team for a week. Luckily (I think) for me, a few of my mates found out and have decided to join me for a long weekend and a bit of fishing in Darwin – could be very dangerous!!