Darwin - Got some news.......

Yesterday arvo, we had an influx of french campers arrive. It typically gets busy with new arrivals at a ccaravan park from 3-6pm.The 2 couples who have been here longer than I, (travelling together) loved it and all the frenchies ignored everyone and chatted until 12:30am. When the male came back to his GF, the fighting began. Yelling for a about 45 min,slapping and 1 tent demolished. This was about 10-13 metres away from my tent. The real sucky bit, EVERYTHING was in french, so I have no idea what it was about or what was said. So frustrating!!!

Most of the campers in the area cracked the sads for some quiet which came about almost 2am (after fixing tent). I was almost asleep and after that I was up most of the night. Up early to get the news I have been waiting for....

The bike will take over a month to fix as parts need to be sourced from Japan. Apparently this was an issue when they built bike over 5 years ago. Extremely slim chance Yamaha will cover the cost, but it will be something I'll try when I get back. You will notice a lot of rust on the crankshaft. They asked had I drowned it? ie dropped it in a river crossing- Nope. They then showed me worn parts which they advised should never get worn if fitted correctly and it's the first they have seen of this.

See the rust?

This means no Kimberleys for me with Pete and our plans will change. Pete is arriving tomorrow in Darwin and I'll chauffeur him around town. RACV have been great. I am booked on the 2am Sun flight for Melb (with extra luggage pre-paid). My Triumph is booked in for service on Tues and I plan to leave Melb for Alice Springs on Wed or Thurs. Being the big Triumph 1200cc, I should be able to make Alice in 3 - 3.5 days to meet up with Pete and we will do another adventure, albeit a shorter one.

As I am off on the Triumph next week, I had to ask Yamaha Darwin for access to the workshop so I could unbolt certain bits and pieces I needed (as I swap them from bike to bike). It wasn't a problem and gave me an opportunity to take photos and speak to the mechanic who pulled my bike apart. That was followed up with buying 2 x 150 ltr bags so I transport all my gear, including my pannier bags. RACV have paid for the max 40kg plus carry on for  Jetstar flight.

Crocodylus (croc / wildlife park in Darwin) came by the caravan park last night and brought around a 16 week old crocodile and snake for us to play with and also learn more about the do's and don'ts. Hint - see a snake - DON'T move!! and with Crocs - run straight not a zig zag. Their eye sight straight ahead is very poor. She advised a Taipan was more scared of me than I of it - I DON'T THINK SO!!! My bite will not kill.

Tonight I am off to the Mindil Beach market again. Grab a feed, check out the local wares and of course the locals and tourists. Darwin / Northern Territory is the multicultural capital of Aus, in the dry season. This will be followed by a quiet ale in the casino. I'm not so interested in gambilng myself, I just love watching the gamblers play,wonder how / where did you get all that money and see their reaction on wins / loses.  

Darwin

Tues was an interesting day. My bike was towed to the Yamaha dealer early in the morning. The head mechanic had a quick listen to the bike and said at worst it sounds like a camshaft failure or maybe something as simple as a broken oil pump.

Fingers crossed it's a oil pump or something smallish. If it's a camshaft, it will cost $3K and take a month to complete as the parts will need to be shipped from Japan. (Everything in Darwin is costly). In this case, we'll need to re-evaulate the trip. Pete's bike has arrived in Darwin and he'll be here Friday morning. It's not all too bad.  I have already planned a few contingency routes.

You know it's 9am as the fighter jets start taking off. When at the outskirts of the city, it' great seeing 4-5 jets in the sky flying around in what appears a hap-hazard style. Reminded me of some of the shots in Top Gun.

Fighter jet coming in for landing.

Sitting next to my tent, enjoying the last of my southern and the fantastic weather and our caravan park is the "Turning For Base" location for the planes to land today. ie the last turn before they straighten up for the runway.

Today was a beach day. Visited the Casuarina beach area which is a little east of Darwin city. Before I even hit the beach I see throug the trees green / blue water and great beach. It looks amazing and then I read the box jelly fish sign. Can't go in the water.

The sea litter is plentiful walking on the beach. Coral and shells are abundant.

Closer to Darwin city is another beach area. It's low - mid 30's and total fire ban and no one is in the water. If it doesn't sting you, it will eat you!

Still awaiting news of my bike.

Kakadu Yellow Waters & Darwin

I thoroughly enjoyed my stay in Kakadu and could stay a few more nights. Before I departed, I went on the sunrise Yellow Water cruise. It was expensive for $99, but you got a full breakfast and it came highly recommended by others.

What a magical place. Every few hundred metres, "Hey theres another croc" and the bird wild life is just amazing.Birds of all typres, eagret, herons (few different types), Whistling ducks (they do not quack, just whistle), magpie duck, magpie geese, sea eagles, spoon bill, jabiru, pelican, whild horses, buffalow and so much more. Add to that the different plant life.

Our driver stopped the boat where two rivers met. 2 smaller crocs stalking small fish, and so many different species of bird life all trying to have a meal of small fish / crustanceons or inspects. Watching a spoon bill stick its head in the water / dirt and then do circle work trying to find food. I could have stayed there all day just watching. So tranquil.

The crocs have no fear. Don't care about boats or people near them. They are the true top of the tree predator in this area.

I took over 100 pics and with about 20 min left, my camera batery ran out. It was fully charged when we left home so after all this time, loosing only 50% power, I thought it would be fine for a 2hr trip. Obviously not. I will not be making that mistake again.

What pics did I miss out on? A jabiru caught a snake and was beating/ tenderising it, then gulping it down. We watched for about 3-4 minutes. Would have made spectacular film footage.... oh well.

Croc did not care a big boat and 20 people looking at him was only a few metres away.

Pictures don't do this justice. He was a big fellow about 40 years old.

Water lilies everywhere. I love the clear water droplets on them. And this bird (forget name) had such large feet he could almost walk on water.

Pics below is the area where two rivers met. Feeding frenzy for the various animals.

I had intended on staying at a town called Batchelor. It's at the start of the Lichfield National park. I refuled at Adelaide River and noticed a horrible sound coming from the bike. Bugger!! What to do? It was only 99km to Berrimah (suburb in Darwin) where there is a Yamaha dealer. So I headed there, fingers crossed nothing broke and holding on tight in case the engine/gearbox siezed which would cause the rear wheel to lock. I made it and am staying at the Hidden Valley Tourist Park.

It's only (wait for it) $50 per night camping ($49 for unpowered $50 for powered). Gulp, but it is only 750 mtrs from the yamaha dealer. I have Total Care with RACV and I decided to call them. Glad I did as I will be getting my accomodation paid for and a hire car until the bike is repaired.The only catch was the bike needs to be towed the 750 mtrs from caravan park to Yamaha dealer and in NT, it's a public holiday today. So they will be doing the tow first thing in the morning.

The public holiday in NT is called Picnic Day. The day commerorates the freeing of the Chinese Coolie indentured labourers who built the Darwin to Larrimah North Australia Railway. In a reversal of the existing policy, the Chinese workers were given the right to stay in Australia as free settlers, and provided sufficient money for a steamer fare to Hong Kong. Instead they chose to go to Adelaide River for a picnic.

4 of the 6 campsites are waiting for car / motorcycle / pushbike stores to open to either service or fix 4wd's. Behind my camp area is Gary and mate. They are from Sunshine / Gold coast and are best mates. They are on a 6 week trip and are both avid gamblers. So when  heard they were going to the casino after having a feed at the Mindil Beach sunset market, two activities on my Darwin bucket list, I asked could I get a lift and join them. The market is great and so multicultural. So many different nationalities here visiting Darwin. Plus most of the aboriginals dressed up and looked the goods.

Gary plays the pokies and he walked away $3000 richer at 4am. I left around 10:30 after walking around the tables. No bets so no win or loss. Cab back to the caravan park.

There is a huge contigent of RAAF personnel here with a base in Darwin and Katherine. As it is a long weekend, the RAAF are conducting live fire exercises in the desert, departing from Darwin. We are only 2-3 kms from the airport and this morning we had about 25-30 fighter jets take off and fly over, over a 2-3 hr period. The noise was great.....LOUD!! Reminded me of the air force demonstrations at car races etc.

Whilst the cost of the caravan park is extorsion, I must admit, this is the best caravan park I have stayed in.

Due to my bike issues, RACV total care have kicked in for a tow, rental vehicle and paid accommodation. I'm happy!! Below is my stead for the next day or few.

After picking up the red corolla, with all excess removed!! I went into the wharf area of Darwin. Huge customs boat and nice bay area.

I thought this was a navy vessel, but no, just the customs boat. Massive!!

Jim Jim Falls

The off road adventure began today. Heading off to Jim Jim Falls meant 50 km's of dirt road and then 10 km's of 4wd tracks. No probs!!!!

Well, it did not go as I had hoped and I did not make it. The 50 km's dirt road was in poor condition. Corrugations like I have never encountered. The only speed that "glided" over the corrugations was over 100 km's per hr. Typically not a problem (hey I like speed), but given the high risk and no support, this was mostly a bone jarring ride and when I got jack of the jarring, the speed crept up. Whilst it was sign marked a 60 km dirt road, no one was doing that speed. 

There was another driver on the road who forgot to turn left. His obviously loved, but now written off Landcruiser and I assume the winch, lights and interior will be all gone and then it will be a burnt out wreck in the next few days. It had over 390K km's on the clock. Sad to see, but in this case, it is a write off. 

The last 10 km 4wd section had sand. As a biker, sand is the worst. Having effectively street tyres meant it was going to be a challenge. I had 3-4 almost offs on the sand, but kept it going. I have overcome my fear of sand and quite enjoy it. But today was a challenge.

After conquering the sand :) I hit a river bed and these stones appeared (obviously not river stones). After the river bed, still stones. After a few hundred metres I pulled the pin. I wasn't going to damage the bike or myself before tackling the Kimberley's in a week's time. I can here Mike - Go to Bunnings!!!! It was tactical retreat to adventure ride another day. And.... if anyone knows that the stones ended a few hundred metres and it was ok from there - I DON"T want to know!!! :)

On my way back to camp I meandered into the Cooinda Billabong. The van below was in the car park. It's not part of "Wicked", it's just that some van drivers think very little of the "heap" they are driving. Cop magnets I assume.

Below are some pics of the billabong.

Fly fishermen. Trying to catch Barramudi. Watch out for the crocs!!!!

A dragon fly had an interest in this branch, so I took a photo. Came out better than I thought :)

My campsite at Cooinda.

Using my bike as a rather dirty clothes horse. As it's 33-35 degrees C, my clothes dry quickly. In fact this arvo, I had a shower and forgot my towel. No probs - dry in a few minutes