A BIG country.4

A BIG country.4

Posted on 22 Dec, 2008 9 comments

A BIG country – part 4 .

Oh, what a wonderful feeling it was when we crossed the border. Strange, but we felt at home. We had wanted to come to the NT for so long and had warmed towards it and gotten used to the idea, that when the moment finally arrived, it was just like coming home, even if our new home was not ours yet. The looks of the country even changed a bit, Boabs becoming few and far in between, more dry creekbeds, more cattle stations. Around 4 pm we arrived in Timber Creek, a small village, shady trees and a Wayside Inn, where we had booked in. It is a sort of motel, but I have never seen one with such big rooms. Each two rooms are under one roof, each with a 3 metre veranda in front, with a balustrade, a carport next to it. The room is at least 12 meters long and 5 wide. We had 4 beds, one a double bed, slate flooring, a fridge, toaster and heaps of space, and an ensuite of course with a benchtop that could house at least 4 washbasins, a bath with a shower above it. Well, nobody said no dogs, and so we let them sleep with us in the room. We locked them up there whilst having our evening meal. The bar was just like one from a Western movie, the dining room quite bare with television. We had barramundi ( a delicious fish ) and salad and an icecold beer. The barkeeper cum owner cum inn keeper was very tall and good looking and knew how to keep the under aged locals outof the bar.
We felt welcome and at ease and certainly felt the relaxed atmosphere of the NT. Our watches and the car clock had been adjusted to NT time and it was off to bed early and at least earlier dark here too.There was a huge park in the motel grounds, laundry etc. and adjacent to the dry Timber Creek. We could let the dogs roam freely under our supervision.


So here we are in the NT and it is now Wednesday 10th November. Leaving early again, heading for our final destination: Humpty Doo!!! The route takes us through the fantastic Gregory National Park, where the hills are mountains, the roads beautiful, quiet, but winding, so driving a little slower at 90 ks an hour. Just as well, as lovely wallabies cross the road or just sit there on the side or in the grassy areas. We saw at least 25 of them during the 20 minutes drive through the park. The beautiful Victoria River meanders through this area and some vews are spectacular.Starting at 31C first thing in the morning, it soon crept up to 36-37 degrees, but we knew we would not get that 42 again. After Gregory Park the road becomes flat and long again and speed accellerated, we progressed steadily. The next place is Katherine, om the Katherine River, where we bought our lunch. Here finally the mobile phones worked again and we made some quick calls to our children. From Katherine we were heading straight North towards Darwin.



We arrived at Humpty Doo at 3 pm. We had phoned the people we were going to stay the day before and we had booked into the cottage on the Mango Meadows Farmstay. As the name suggests, we were in the middle of a Mango orchard in a little cottage, consisting of bedroom, ensuite, sitting, dining and kitchen, the last three all in one. The last three were just so lovely and open, no windows, just green shade cloth, through which the breeze could freely flow, tiled throughout. The dogs were allowed inside and we could take them for walks in the orchard. Also we could just get any mango we fancied, as the picking was in full swing. This was our home for the next 5 days, as settlement for our new house was not due until 15th November. We had our first experience with the famous “late storms for Darwin”, but as you are busy either cooking, eating, looking after dogs, washing the floors, or else, you have no time to think off lightning strikes. You only hear them, haha. The dogs had become accustomed to the travelling, the in- and outof the car, so they now were quite surprised we would stay on one spot. We were happy to be where we wanted to be and began organising things in preparation for our new home and the arrival of the trucks with our stuff. The containers went by train from Perth to Adelaide and so on to Darwin via Alice Springs. The containers arrived on the Sunday and on Monday when finally the settlement took place, the removalists brought our goods to our new home. It took only 2 hours to unload.
Well, this is the end of our journey’s story. We have enjoyed the whole trip immensly and would do it all over again if needed. It was an experience of a lifetime, not once did we get tired. It was so relaxing to drive on the open roads almost all by yourself. A holiday in disguise. I have taken lots of pictures of course, and it is great to look back at them every now and then.

More blog posts by Marguerite