On the Road again.
 Katherine, Kakadu & Darwin Arrived in Katherine in time for the show and another rodeo. I think we've seen enough of them now. Took a cruise ( no alcohol) to see the famous Katherine Gorge which lived up to its reputation. Kev is really into walking up steep hills and climbing over rocks. Obviously didn't do enough as a child. I don't do hills and was wrecked when we walked up over Edith Falls. The only thing that saved me was the rock pool that we were able to swim in when we got to the top. Many people have suggested we didn't bother with KAKADU the world heritage national park. Many of the sites were inaccessible to us because we needed a 4wd to get down the dirt roads. However there were lots of talks and guided walks and two brilliant culture centres that we visited. Some of the rock art we saw was 15000 years old. The terrain varied from wetlands to rain forests and we saw lots of wildlife including crocodiles. We camped out in the bush in the humid heat and the mozzies tried to eat us each night but we loved it. Right in the middle of the bush miles from anywhere was a Thai restaurant where we had a fantastic meal and the best carrot cake in Oz. (Kev has been trying it in every town) On to Darwin where we managed to just get onto a site with tv reception so we could watch the opening of the Olympic games at 5am. We have kept up with the games and proudly worn our team GB tee shirts. Darwin is wonderful with so many places to see and lots to do in the dry season. The weather is a dry heat and it is hot day and night. We met up with a group of Aussies who travel to the north in the winter for 4 months. They have shown us Aussie hospitality at its very best and included us in trips to the Casino and the Darwin Race Cup. Lyn even lent me a hat and bag for the races. At the casino on over 50's night we got 20 dollars each to play on the pokies, a free drink, 5 dollars for keno ( a bit like bingo) and a fantastic buffet meal which cost us 10 dollars. (£6.50) We actually came out with more money than we went in with. Our new friends invited us to happy hour which usually lasted much longer with drinks, nibbles and even sausage sizzle. Darwin was badly bombed in WW2 and had a cyclone in 1974 and so has been totally rebuilt. There are lots of interesting museums showing the effects of this on the city and the people. The highlight was when we took a picnic to the park to watch a free concert by the Darwin Symphony Orchestra who played theme music from Bond films. The compare and conductor arrived in Aston Martins dresses as Bond and Blofeld. We were very sad to leave Darwin and our new friends.
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