Back Travellin': Corroboree Park Tavern to Humpty Doo

Corroboree Park Tavern – 21 June 2012

I got up at 5.00am for a solo fish at Hardies Lagoon and left the beauties to their beauty sleep. I had to wait at the ramp for 20 minutes while the sun caught up to me and then launched over beautiful mist covered water.

　

　

　

　

Morning mist over Hardies Lagoon

I returned to where we caught fish yesterday and immediately started catching a few of my own. They were only small, but over the next 2 ½ hours I picked up 4 small barra to 52cm and a 40cm Saratoga before things went quiet. I then moved further down towards the far end of the billabong, where the only action I got was from a 3 foot file snake, who swam in the wrong place at the wrong time. I got back to the van at around 1.00pm.

　

Saratoga on a Nilsmaster Spearhead

　

　

　

　

　

File Snake on a Manns 10+

For the rest of the afternoon Sue and I washed half the dirt in the Top End off our car, boat, trailer and caravan. Needless to say, at the end of that 4 hour session we were well and truly knackered. Happy hour never tasted so good, though the stubbies felt extra heavy. A unanimous decision was made for a takeaway dinner from the roadhouse.

Humpty Doo – 22 June 2012

We left this morning for the short run to Humpty Doo to stay with our ex-Brisbane friends, Bob and Margaret Edwards. They have a 10 acre property just off the Arnhem Highway, where they have built a large shed, that they spend time in every dry season. With family nearby and many friends, there is rarely a quiet moment. After a chat and setting up the van, we settled down for an extended happy hour and bbq for dinner with many new friends. The girls had a ball playing tiggy around their property with the local kids.

Our van at Humpty Doo

Bob and Margaret's shed

　Georgia feeding the beasts at the block

　
Humpty Doo – 23 June 2012

We drove into Darwin and out to Casuarina, where we did some shopping. Then we went to Lake Leanyer, which is a free government maintained water park in the suburb of Leanyer. It had 3 large water slides, a big pool and a kid’s water playground, similar to Whitewater World on the Gold Coast. There was also a regular playground, skate park, basketball court, free bbqs and a kiosk. Sue and I found ourselves a spot in the sun on the ample lawn and sunbaked while the kids went wild. They did manage to coax Sue in for a couple of runs on the slides and a swim in the pool. I wasn’t so accommodating.

　

Leanyer's free water park

We returned to Humpty Doo and joined the crew for a meal out at the Humpty Doo Golf Club where I consumed possibly the largest meal I’ve ever eaten, a monster Surf and Turf.

Humpty Doo – 24 June 2012

We had a lazy day in the caravan today. While I did some drafting work, the kids, tired from a couple of late nights, veged in front of the tv. Sue had an extended havachat with Margaret’s best friend Carol.

That afternoon we drove in to the Mindil Markets and enjoyed a beautiful sunset while we ate dinner from the stalls, washed down with a cold ale or two, of course.
　
　

Sunset over Mindil Beach

　

Sue lends a hand

　
Humpty Doo – 25 June 2012

First stop today was Casuarina Shopping Centre again, where we bought a few essentials and then took the girls to see Ice Age 4 at the movies. After the movie, we met up with one of our old Darwin friends, Mandy, and her son Nicholas. They had been to a movie earlier and waited around for our session to finish. We chatted for about an hour before we headed off to see other friends, John and Penny, for dinner at their place in Karama.

We had a delicious meal and a great time catching up on the old times we’d spent together off road in the Kimberley, at Kalumburu. Sue was thrilled that Penny was also heavily into scrapbooking, albeit digitally. There were many photos of Sue and I in the album she’d put together of that trip back in 2001.

John is the second in command at Crocodylus Park, one of Darwin’s most popular tourist attractions. In his time there, he has spent many wet seasons collecting crocodile eggs from nests out on the floodplains. Those nests, more often than not, are guarded by female crocodiles. The kids enjoyed many photos, and some video footage, of the fun and games that John has experienced over the years.

Humpty Doo – 26 June 2012

Today I spent repairing the cracked mud guards from the boat trailer while Sue did a few things around the van and the kids watched a couple of movies. A hot busy day for me, and somewhat less for the rest of the mob. That night before dinner, the girls were playing tiggy in the dark and Georgia had a head-on collision with one of the boys, Justin. Being shorter, Justin ended up with a slightly sore head, while the taller Georgia ended up with a very sore jaw. She had a lot of trouble eating her dinner because of the pain.

Humpty Doo – 27 June 2012

We started the day with a trip to the local doctor for Georgia. She advised a few days of pain killers and observation, and if necessary, an x-ray after that.

From the doctor’s we went straight to Crocodylus Park, where John works. Penny met us at the front and took us through. We did one of the regular tours and then met John afterwards for a personal tour "out the back", off limits to the general public. We all got to feed some small monkeys and then drove down to the lower lagoons to see the commercial area of the park.

We then left John and all went for a walk to see the other attractions the park has to offer. We saw lions, tigers, Australian native animals, monkeys and ostriches. We were passing the turtle pool just as the keepers were feeding them. Our girls were lucky enough to be invited in to help. They both got to kick their shoes off, walk into the water and hand feed the turtles with pilchards. Certainly something not everyone gets to do. Lucky to be in the right place at the right time. Earlier, following the regular tour, we all got to hold baby crocodiles (although Kelsey opted out), and both girls also held a blue tongue lizard and a python.

　