Leaving the Top End

Thursday 26^th September

I have officially retired! I had a lovely last week at Alawa School where the school council presented me with a gift at an assembly and several students read out some lovely reflections about my contributions to the school. It was very touching to hear words like: ‘the birds sing and the flowers bloom when you are at the farm’ and ‘while the name Smith is common, you are certainly not’. They presented me with a book of drawings they had done, many of which featured my banana, watermelon or pineapple shirts. Then we had a few drinks after school with the staff and they gave me a fabulous sculpture for our garden and topped it off with some Yeti wine goblets. If you haven’t come across Yeti products yet, I recommend you check them out. Great for travellers.

The Australian School Sport 10-12 yrs Athletics Titles are over and so are our volunteering duties. We are tired but have enjoyed being involved in such a well-run event and to see so many of the 500+ youngsters from all states and territories mingling and having fun through competition.  My travel golf bag, which I had ordered online, was delivered yesterday so we were on the road mid-morning. Our only regret about leaving the Top End at this time of the year, with the humidity rising, is that our mango tree has a good crop but they were still too green to pick. I have left them to Luke and Tahlia, we hope they get them before the birds and possums. Emily will be staying in the house most of the time we are away but not expected for a couple of weeks yet. My consolation was to buy a 3kg bag on the roadside which will be eaten along the way.

We had a late lunch at Emerald Springs then arrived at Mataranka in the afternoon. Along the way we have been listening to Eric’s music collection which he has now saved to a memory stick as we know we cannot rely on connectivity along the way. This was an enormous task which took him many hours. The stick has over 4000 songs on it. This last week, as we have driven around town, we have been listening to it alphabetically and today we moved on from ‘A’ to ‘B’. You have no idea how many versions of ‘Bird on a Wire’ Eric has. By the time we got to Leonard’s original version we skipped over a few more to a new track.  I’ll let you know when we get to C.
We have a site in the Elsey National Park so spent some time in the hot springs before happy hour.  On the way here we were reminiscing about previous visits. The first time we were in the pool a python landed with a splash right beside Eric. It had been after a bat in the trees above, and having crushed its victim, the bat let go of the branch and they both ended up in the drink. On that same occasion, Eric went off for his 5km morning run (this was 1998) and left the boys and I to pack up and be ready to depart on his return. But he got lost and ended up doing 12kms to get back. Meanwhile, I had left the boys to monitor the refilling of the water tank while I went to get clothes off the line. However, they were so engrossed in their game of UNO that when water was lapping at their feet they just lifted them and sat cross legged on the couches so when I returned there was a big mopping job to be done. I had forgotten the real colour of the van's lino after all those kms across the red centre. That was a great trip though! Eric did recover but I think I did all the driving that day. 

Heart of the Barkly

Friday 27th September

Dinner under the stars and waking to the sound of birdsong. Life’s good. 

It was expected to reach 38 deg in Mataranka today so we didn’t linger. We hit Larrimah too early for a Devenshire Tea at Fran’s, the woman famous for her homemade pies and more recently under suspicion for some involvement with the missing person, Paddy Moriarty. He was a local and one of Fran’s rivals though no one has been able to find any evidence to implicate her or anyone else. Both of us used to drop in for coffee and a scone or pie on our way to families we visited when working at School of the Air in Katherine. Further south we went past Hi Way Inn where the Carpentaria Highway takes you east for 400kms to Borroloola, the hub of Eric’s Cluster. I only went 300 kms to Heartbreak Hotel then turned south onto the Tablelands Highway to visit families on Mallupunyah, Wallhollow and Anthony Lagoon Stations. What a lot we gained from those experiences.

We are not exactly sure where one region ends and the next one begins but the vegetation gets shorter and more spindly in the tropical savannah and more rocks appear on the surface while you travel towards Elliot and into the Barkly.  

Apart from fuel stops and a quick sandwich for lunch in the shade, we kept going and made it to the wonderful Devil’s Marbles in good time for sunset. This area is so surprising, springing up in the middle of km after km of regular scrub and washout. Everywhere you look is another inspiring sight, especially as the sun goes down. 

After both taking far too many photos we had a quick and simple dinner and enjoyed the stars. By the way, we are still listening to B tracks after another 670kms. 

Into the Centre

Saturday 28th Sept

Another big day behind the wheel and the scenery didn't change much. We tried playing Spotto, but it was challenging to think of something we might see! A photo opportunity, a bend in the road, double lines? 

Around Barrow Creek we moved into the semi arid zone of the Red Centre. It apparently rained in Alice last Wednesday though you wouldn't know it now. We are settled in for a few days so the washing is done, the laptops are out and we have our feet up. Not going anywhere this afternoon except to maybe take the bikes for a spin along the Todd riverbed once the heat dissipates late in the day and the footy GF is over.