Well we’ve been here a few weeks now and still here – which apparently is a lot longer than the last couple! We had a pretty quiet Easter here they say compared to previous years due to the recent Cyclone which dumped heaps of rain and closed most of the roads in the area.  There are lots of small bus groups coming through now though and it’s interesting to see the mix up of the tourists on these and to meet the different tour bus drivers.  Some of the ones we have met so far are real characters and give you a good laugh.  The roadhouse provides a BBQ area and tables for the tour groups who in turn purchase drinks etc whilst they are here.  We also have a Dormitory where some of them stay overnight. Don’t mind these as they are easy to clean.

In the bar section of the Roadhouse we have ‘Colin’ the Crocodile.  Colin is a real drawcard and everyone loves to check him out.  Tony (boss) obtained a licence to have a crocodile and purchased Colin 1 only to find out he was a Salt Water Crocodile.  This would have been okay except he started to get quite aggressive and attack the tank whenever anyone went near it.  So he was relocated and they purchased Colin 2. 

To get around the park we have 2 x 4wd buggy’s.  On the back of one they carry a rifle “for emergencies”.  Nice look when it’s parked out the front of the roadhouse but I hope we don’t ever have a need to use it.  We all carry 2way radio’s when away from the shop as a caution.

We’ve met 2 of the local Park Rangers so far.  Joe is a regular here at the bar and brought his wife Carol and 3 boys in last night to meet us.  Billy is the other one but not so friendly – maybe needs to change his job!    Joe was showing us photo’s last night of some of the local waterfalls which he sadly tells us we won’t get to see when the waterfall is flowing as it doesn’t flow for long and by the time they clear the area of crocodiles so that tourists can come in the waterfall has stopped.  I’m trying to work on him to take us in there before they let the tourists in..

I'm writing this now on friday and this past weeks been a busier.  My daily walks having taken a bit of a change - on Tuesday I spoted signs of buffalo hanging around and then on Tuesday night the rangers told me they had to shot a buffulo during the day as it was attacking cars.  They then told me that last season Tony had one attack him in the caravan park area.  Needless to say this has curtailed my walks to staying within the immediate area around the roadhouse.  AND that rifle I mentioned above may come in handy afterall!!

We took a helicopter flight over Kakadu last week which was amazing.  The escarpment was stunning to look at from the air.  
Firstly we went over Ranger mine which is in the process of closing down.  Then we headed out to see five of the waterfalls.  I went pretty crazy with the photos but will post only a few for you to get the idea.  The pilot told us that once the falls are open to the public (still closed due to crocodile sightings) that they cannot fly over the falls themselves so we were glad that we did it now! It was a great day out.

Enjoying the flight

Escarpment

Jim Jim Falls

Twin Falls

Ranger Mine Kakadu

Twin Falls

   

The edge felt so close

The road below

                                                                                                  

Mary River Roadhouse

Well what a hectic couple of weeks.  Our house sit finished up on the 31^st March and we said a sad goodbye to Swansea.  The weekend saw us enjoy a lovely time with Rob, Lucy & the boys – catching up with Lucy’s family on Saturday night with a celebration of Lucy’s 30^th Birthday.  During the day we received a call from our new employers at Mary River Roadhouse asking if we could make a dash for the NT as one of their employees had an accident and they were short staffed.  WOW yes I guess we could rearrange how next couple of weeks.  Sadly this saw Rob’s weekend at BluesFest go out the window.   So on Sunday morning after attending Frankie’s christening we hit the road once more.

A quick stop over in Port Macquarie on Sunday night saw us catch up with Bruce & Louise once more and then onto Kingscliff.  We were detoured through Lismore – such a sad sight with so much flood damaged to business’s and homes.  The same again in Murwillumbah and Chinderah. 

Jen & Garry kindly put us up for a few days and it was great to catch up.  (You guys could get your van out and join us on the road again 😊).  Our lovely mechanic at Chinderah Motors assisted us by fitting our car in for a service  week ahead of schedule - Thanks guys we really appreciated it.  Then a quick check on our house to make sure all was good and a catch up with friends before hitting the road to the NT.  Thanks everyone for meeting us with such short notice.  A big Thank you to Lynn & Kym – it was great that you came down from the Coast and we really enjoyed catching up with you again.  Maybe next at Mary River!!

3,350 km in 5 days !!   Actually a pretty good trip all round.  We had a few issues with the van hitch on the first day so stayed the Thursday night at Mitchell Caravan Park.  Craig there was very helpful and we were all good to go on the Friday.  Free camp near Winton on Friday night and another free camp between Camooweal and nowhere on Saturday night.  Funny thing about this one – we had 1 bar on our mobile but couldn’t get any radio reception.  Go figure!  Sunday saw us reach Mataranka around 3.30pm and we stopped at Territory Manor Motel & Van Park to check it out as this is where Favourite niece Aimee is going to be working after Easter for the peak season. Couple of meaningful words in their ear to look after Aims.  

Monday was a short drive into Katherine and a bit of shopping before heading to Pine Creek to check out what services are available to us in our nearest town.  Cute little place with a small supermarket, bottle shop ( a necessity ), post office and other basics.  58km further on and we reached our destination of Mary River Roadhouse.  Now we weren’t sure what to expect really as it’s been 2 years since we were last up here but I can say it’s a pleasant surprise.  The grass is green (although they say as the dry sets in this won’t last) the place, although old, is well looked after and clean. 

Mary River Roadhouse

Amenities Block

Camp Kitchen

Camp fire in grounds

Our campsite at Mary River

Accommodation block

Our employers are Tony & Christy, who took a leasehold on the Roadhouse 2 years ago, are working on improving the property.  Although old we were pleasantly surprised as to how clean the place is and the grounds are a lovely green and well maintained.  Note though the green probably won't last through the whole dry season.

There is Bob (blue) and Ruby (red) the resident cattledogs here for protection – so I’m making really good friends with them as I'm thinking I might need them sometime.  Ruby has a tendency to nip your heels if you’re not watching but I’m already working on training her to choose someone else’s ankles rather than mine.  I take either one of them with me when walking as there is dingo's and water buffalo around :(

There is also a dozen chooks which are well caged up due to the roaming Dingo’s.  

Rob and I are doing a bit of everything work wise.  Cleaning, stocking drinks, serving in the bar and cafe, food preparation and now I'm learning to do the cooking as well.  Hopefully I don't poison anyone.   The bar is interesting work.  The whole liquor act in the NT is so confusing and each premises has their own legalities.  Our bar is open 10am to 10pm daily.  And as far as I can see there are no restrictions on how much alcohol one can purchase.  Weird because in Darwin, Katherine, Alice Springs there are restrictions on this.  You can drink in the bar (all cans) however if you want to take away then we have to record your name and where you are from and where you are planning to consume the alcohol.  There is also 4 pages of names of people that are banned from purchasing alcohol by either their local Aboriginal council, the police or self banned.  Pretty time consuming when you are selling the stuff!!  Most of the local indiginious (our main customers in the bar) speak their native language plus english but are so hard to understand.  I've taken to asking them for ID so I can copy their names off that. 

At Mary River there is no Mobile reception (although I can get Messanger through Satellite so use that if you want to contact me), there is no Radio reception, TV only through Satellite (which we don't have), no newspapers - and it's a 58km drive to the nearest "town" where we can get mobile reception.  Guess Rob & I will get to spend a lot of quality time together.

Relaxing by the pool after a hard days work!

Did I mention the pool - the saving grace as it's so damm hot and humid here at present.  The Dry season hasn't officially started as yet so I think Rob & I are dropping weight by the hour!! 

More next week but needless to say we came here for the experience and so far loving it.  Take care xx