Cranes

Its interesting what is seen when on a bus. We were taking the number eight bus which either took us straight into Darwin CBD or the other way to Palmerston, another large shopping centre and like a satellite city.

A no 5 also went into town and it meandered a bit and went mote into the industrial area.

The scene appealed to me so we had to retrace the bus route to take the photo.

New Wheels

As the tow vehicle is to be sold once we have finished travelling we opted to buy a ute. It is a work vehicle but only done 41k and is a very clean tidy unit.

It is a manual so I probably wont be driving it and only a two seater.

We took everything out of the jeep I was even able to prise our stickers off and add them to the ute. The 3D one is Warren's archery membership and the red poppy I bought at the Anzac Memorial at Albany WA.

Last night we went out for dinner and found that it needs more room to park than the jeep. parking was at a premium, obviously it was the night (Friday) to be out. The first park we found had a motor home on one side and a 4wd on the other.

I got out to help direct in and I didnt think that I would be able to open my door after it was parked anyway. Couldn't swing it in without hitting something so Warren backed out and we continued on finally finding a park and had to walk quite a way to the restaurant area.

This morning we went out and filled the fridge and freezer but there is a hassle with a two seater vehicle and that is, there is nowhere to put anything, of course there is a big tray at the back but I am not putting groceries in there in the elements so they had to go under my feet.

Funny, driving around this morning, we kept seeing these Madza BT 50's!

We bought another vehicle/ on going car saga

Oh what fun that was! (dripping with sarcasm!) After the dramas we have had with parts for the car, the complain we put into Jeep hasn't been acted on yet! Couldnt see that anything was going to happen until at least the second week in June and yes we could sit here until then paying $45 a night or we could buy something else and continue on.

So last night we searched the net for a suitable tow vehicle under the money we were prepared to pay. Found a tray top ute, low mileage, auto and diesel, $13K. salesman got back to us this morning and we said we would come and look at it.

That car yard was alongside of Kerry's where the Jeep is residing and we thought that we would call in there, just in case they had any news, they have been tardy about calling us. We were referred to a saleman in used cars and he suggested a couple but they had no towbar. Found one in yard a little higher than we had set our budget and we ended up buying that one.

The other one was cheaper but at least at Kerry's they could take the jeep as a trade in so went with the Madza, it is a tray top ute, manual diesel. Needs electric brakes which they could get fitted and 6 months rego as only reged til 28 June.

They offered a price taking those things and the jeep as trade and came uo with a tad over 12K, we had thought 10K and told him that so he offered to come half way which was shook hands on plus signed the contract.

We have another car to pick up tomorrow around lunch, paid a deposit and then organised a bank transfer for the rest. After it was paid the service manager rang us saying that we owe for the part (the part that hasn't been delivered or fitted yet, $1100).

A couple of heated phone calls and of course we have to pay but they have dropped the price to $700.

Apparently it was an over sight and they hadnt realised that the part hadnt been paid for, I think it is for them to wear but at the moment they have our Jeep, our new/second hand vehicle and our money and we have a contract. We are heading back in tomorrow and will see the customer service person as there seems to be one guy in particular who has been very slack, no ringing when he says he will and now this.

I dont think we will win but at least we will have our say. I have documented our dealing with Tom the supposed service manager.

Bus Stop painting

Yesterday we walked to the bus stop to catch a bus and it seemed that the three guys there were getting ready to paint it. There were drop sheets over and around the seats. One moved some stuff so we could sit down as they said they had to wait for something before they started.

Then i noticed that there was several spray cans and then a light bulb moment and I asked if they were going to put a mural on the stop and they said yes. We have seen many of the shelters had been painted in different things one was a brahman bull done in pink. The other thing we noticed that none of them had any graffiti on them.

We arrived back a couple of hours later and this was what we saw.

A huge green tree frog with some aboriginal art on the front wall.

I commented to the guys about how fast they were and was told that they had had to learn their skills pretty quick and also be able to run from the cops as well. It was said with a laugh but possibly some truth in that.

The final piece of art.

The bus shelters are in two parts with a roof and seats on both sides so that no matter where the sun or rain is coming, one can be sheltered.

Crocosoarus Cove

Dont think that I have the spelling right but it is a tourist place to see lots of crocs, reptiles and other things. A bonus for us and I;m sure many other people is that it is the middle of the Darwin CBD, so very easy to get there using a bus, which we are still needing to do atm.

Twenty eight dollars each for OF's (old farts) and we could stay all day even leave and come back if we wished.

Warren getting up close and personal with a smaller croc.

These were in the aquarium and just massive, there is a ray on the bottom, which is what I wanted to photograph and these two just swam through, talk about photo bombing!

This was my favourite

We did sit in on a chat about reptiles but when they were passing them around we left, there were quite a few kids there which was surprising. The lizard and python that they brought were hanging on to the handler, not the other way round. She said that they were used to people and not frightened, if they were frightened they would both puff themselves out to become bigger. 

MV Reggie

We toured Darwin streets and harbour in Reggie for a very pleasant seventy minutes.

This is Reggie.

No air con except for the windows were open or non existent but it was nice and cool travelling along.

There was a commentary as we toured the Darwin streets and quite a bit of history that we learnt. I didn't know that there had been a meat works here and after a dispute, where the workers marched on the Administrators house and in the end nothing was resolved but it did fold and the workers all lost their jobs. 

Sounded similar to Ballarat and the Eureka Stockade. I'm sure none of them saw or realized that could/would be the result. It must have been a bit nasty as the admin guy and his family were bundled out of Darwin never to return. The Darwin Senior High School is now on the site.

We drove past the Casino and Mindil markets and then down to the beach. A funny (strange) thing, as we set off from outside the visitors information centre, we were asked/told to put our seat belts on, that was fair enough but when we were on the ramp to enter the water, we were asked to take the seatbelts off. Life jackets were above our heads if there was a need. Seatbelts went on again as we came up the beach.

Hitting the water, we continued on the tyres until we were fully emerged and then we were under power from the boat engine. 

Quite a few boats, mainly catamarans were in the harbour which is five to seven times as big as Sydney harbour depending on the tides. 

We were mainly close to the East coast and could only just see the West coast and during war time a chain mesh had been put/build between the two to guard against submarines coming into the harbour. I cannot imagine the size it would have needed to be. 

What does a $1 buy these days?

Well in the caravan park if we have two one dollars and a fifty cent piece, we can get a can of soft drink from the machine. Four $1 and I can do a load of washing.

If I walk down the road a bit, one dollar gets me a ride into Darwin city and return (provided I am back on the bus not more than three hours after buying it. CBD is about eight to ten ks away, it takes 20 minutes and is a short walk from the park.

Concession, which includes seniors, pensioners and disadvantaged people, one whole dollar. 

Buses are quite new and the first time we came back, we got off one stop to early but we had a nice shady path to walk along and it was only about 500/600 metres between the stops. 

They were repainting the signs for the bus stop. All had covered shelters and seats to sit on while waiting, buses are about forty minutes apart.