Day 14 Nhulunbuy sights in 'Taking the scenic route to the beach!'

 As I write today's events, a Nightjar is tweeting in the evening sky, the 3/4 moon lighting up the sky, so the stars are more dim. The waves are crashing in the distance and the evening is pleasant apart from mozzies, midges and the odd cane toad hopping on the grass.

We went out in the hired Hilux, with Simon and Elise and headed to the Gove Yacht Club, to sample their coffee. this was 12 km in the wrong direction mind you, to get a coffee. When we arrived, we were pleasantly surprised to discover that the local Police were offering to shout coffees to the patrons, ("Coffee with the Cops") and so we got free coffee, (chai for me), which wasn't too bad, especially being free. We had a chat with the Police officer, who had originally worked in the Police force in Tassie for many years. He was telling us how hard it is to transfer between states and work within the Police force, and that you pretty much start again with your training. He also told us how great the community is here in Nhulunbuy and this is something we have observed.  every person we have spoken to that lives here says they came for 3 months and are still here 5-10 years later. everyone loves the place... The town is looked after and there are lots of facilities and the spirit is friendly and welcoming. There are lots of Indigenous owned and run business and initiatives too. Having said that, the Police officer said that this is partly due to the alcohol restrictions and when the alcohol isn't restricted it can be very different.

 

From there we headed down a dirt road to the Rainbow Cliffs, which were red, yellow and white coloured cliffs, but due to respect to the First Peoples, as this area is sacred, we are unable to share photos of them. But we enjoyed the rockpools that were again filled with life if you looked long enough. All the shells were alive, and the little mudskippers were darting about. Matt found a couple of hermit crabs chasing each other along the sand as well. There were beautiful beaches stretching along this coastline.

                                    these two had a bit of a punch-up then went their seperate ways

                                                                                  hi i'm hermy

 

From there we drove to Goanna Lagoon, down another dirt road, (there are lots of dirt roads that just head randomly off into the bush) and found this beautiful freshwater lagoon, with crystal clear waters. Between the pools of water, a passageway of rocks had formed and the gentle flow of water down some of these rocks like a little waterfall,  and into this passage, took you with the flow to the next pool. It wasn't a warm enough day for me to want to get in the water, but I watched the others enjoy the not too cold waters.

We headed back to the Clippers for lunch and a restful afternoon and evening together planning tomorrow's sightseeing. Apart from one of my TPN bags exploding everywhere, and making a sticky and smelly mess in 'Bridget', it was another enjoyable day. I also had a very large Cockatoo come and visit me cause i was eating some nuts, (unsalted) and he muscled in on them so i didnt argue cause he bites harder than i do, 

 

Day 13 Nhulunbuy rest day in 'Takingthe scenic route to the beach!'

 Today we opted to catch up on chores like washing, and Matt tried his hardest to troubleshoot and fix the failing hot water system, sadly to no avail. There is no parts readily available, yet alone nearby, (nearest parts are in melbourne )so we will have to just use kettle boiled water for washing up and the camp ground showers until we get home. We checked out the local Woolies and got some groceries. Wow exciting day for blogging, readers are overwhelmed, actually no, just whelmed. not quite underwhelmed. heres a picture of a cane toad.

heres a picture of something prettier

lots of coral washed up on the beach. 

 

i spent 4 hours today between internet searches, troubleshooting and general hatred toward an electrical device today. not to mention the two hours i spent on it last night. manufacturers have put so many processes and safety lockouts in place in gas water heater appliances, so that idiots dont get blown up, and then put a computer in charge of how it works. a box full of water, heat and electrics. what could possibly go wrong. i wish i had the old mechanical gas heater with the pilot light back. at least that worked even when the humidity was a bit high.and if you were stupid with it, you blew up and natural selection took its course.  our current unit has a fault code for every day of the week and ive seen all of them this trip. i think its going in the bin at 2 years old. dont buy camec. and their customer support has 0% technical knowledge. rant over.

us in our hire limousine about to discover where all the broken cars end up. 

We went for a short drive with Ian to check out the industrial area and local neighbourhood. (preferable to working on the water heater ) we went to look at the lookout at the highest point in town, only to find that the trees are higher, so they built a three story tower so you could get above the trees and actually see the view, except that they seem to have deemed it too risky to climb, so the put a fence around it to stop you going up. so we turned around and went elsewhere. should've gone to the bakery. 

  Tonight we went and watched Brenda, David, Elise and Simon play Pickleball at the local tennis courts. Kind of looks like giant ping pong! Another perfect weather day, and despite the disappointment of the hot water system failure, it was a relaxing day. however the balls did not resemble pickles at all. confusing sport. did you know that you can play 4 times as many games of pickleball than tennis in the same space? makes singles tennis look like an extravagant use of real estate. 

night view of the town centre - pool and tennis courts 
 

 

Day 12 Nhulunbuy area in our 'Taking the scenic route to the beach!'

 Another cruisy start to the day, as we waited for the drop off, of the hire 4WD we were using for the next couple of days, to enable us to sightsee the harder to reach beaches. The Azure kookaburra, which sounds quite different to the normal Kookaburra calls, were out singing this morning. The night before, it was a Nightjar that was calling. I have been loving hearing these bird calls, that are so different to what we hear at home. Anyway, 5 out of the 6 of us climbed into the ex mining spec dualcab Hilux ute, that due to the blistered window tint needed the windows wound down so you could see out, but then the air con didn't work, so you needed the windows down anyway! It was in our price range to hire, so we were happy to just be not using the Clippers, as there was no way they would have got down the roads we went on today.  Its only got 200000km on it but it looks like it's driven to hell & back. on red dirt the whole way. basically a registered farm ute. actually i need to check the rego... We headed out of town and down the dirt road turnoff, and this dirt road started out wide and well maintained as we drove past the mines, and eventually became a narrow and washed out bumpy road, with blind corners and sections of sand. But it's all part of the adventure as David likes to keep reminding us!! Our first stop was at Macassan Bay, as Elise and Simon had been camping here the night before. It is a beach and area where historically, the Macassan people would trade with the Indigenous locals, for hundreds of years when they would come to fish for sea cucumber. It was a peaceful relationship that benefitted both peoples, but once eventually stopped by red tape from the South Australian government in the early 1900's. We explored the rocks and area, and had morning tea, before we jumped back into the ute and headed for Turtle Bay, another pristine beach with fine white sand and amazing rock pools. If you sit and look long enough into the rock pools, it is amazing what you discover. I spotted what initially I had though were little fish, but i looked hard and noticed that they used side fins a bit like feet,and kind of looked like a gecko in their face and it was decided that they were tiny mudskippers. I had never seen them before. Meanwhile, Matt was spying crabs and taking photos of them. We have loved seeing all these new wildlife local to our diverse nation.

From Turtle Bay, we next stopped at Little Bondi Beach, and enjoyed our lunch under the she-oaks there. It had been a sandy and steep road to get there, and definitely not a road for the Clippers. (Well not a return trip anyway) We took a stroll after lunch and dared to dip our feet in the warm shallow waters, despite being croc territory. We didn't spot any. nothing but my little crabby critters.  After our stroll, we headed back down the sand and dirt road, and back onto the main road. We opted to check out the Mulka/ Yirrkala art and cultural centre in the local Indigenous Yirrkala community. The building was very unassuming on the outside, (this means it looked derelict and closed ) but inside was filled with the most amazing Indigenous art work, historical art and stories inside.(it was much better inside) It was fascinating to read the stories and history and see some artists at work. lots of great indigenous art but really really expensive. 4-5 figures before the decimal point expensive. and some of it was engraved on council road signs that im pretty sure no one paid for, as a base to create art from. heaps of the local trees are ring barked and dead as they have cut slabs of bark off them for the painting bases.i couldnt take any photos in there as there was a ban on photography so youll have to go there yourself. i didnt take any photos of the building cause it was uninspiring. the crabs were better . 

 As we left the building, I noticed a man wearing a Uniting church t-shirt and called out to him and asked if he was the minister of the Uniting Aboriginal and Islander church across the road from the art centre. Although he wasn't the local minister, he worked for the Uniting Church in Darwin, as a support worker for the Northern Regional Council of Congress he told us that there would be an ordination this coming Sunday and it will be an awesome experience to hear the service both in language and English, and to be part of it. So we are aiming to attend. 

We headed back to the Clippers, and enjoyed a read and snack before dinner. There has been one bird call that I heard last year and again this year, and the bird has been elusive to both sight and name. But as I got my medical care ready for tonight, I heard it really close to 'Bridget' and looked out the window, and lo and behold, this tiny grey dove was on the ground. Thanks to google, I was then able to work out it was the 'Peaceful Dove!' so now I can stop wondering. Another happy day and amazing beauty around us, feeling blessed.

the video show maccasins  beach (the rocky bits), little bondi beach and coming back into the township of Nhulunbuy where we are staying. 

 

 

Day 11 Nhulunbuy in our 'Taking the scenic route to the beach!'

 Feeling like we are on holidays, and were able to have a sleep in today. We had a late breakfast of 'bubble and squeak' with the leftover roast veggies, with some tomato, mushrooms and chicken mixed into a scrambled egg. You can be rest assured that although it's holidays, Matt still eats well. (im twice the man i used to be) We decided to do more exploring while the Baker's were on a fishing adventure. We headed to the Town Lagoon, and discovered a 3km nature walk. So we followed the trail, that went alongside the lagoon, with the odd warning sign erected beside the path saying there had been recent sightings of crocodiles. Whilst on the look out for crocs, I was on the lookout for snakes as well, and just as I was thinking that I should look for snakes, I saw one, a tiny, golden tree snake, sunning itself on a pile of sticks, and interwoven into the golden and green weeds that had grown over the sticks. I stopped and tried to call out to Matt quietly, so I didn't scare it away, though Matt will no doubt tell you that I was scared,  but yes I was scared to disturb the snake, not scared of it as such. Matt came back as he had already walked passed it and hadn't seen it, and by the time he was able to get the camera out, it had rapidly retreated back into the leaf litter under the nearby bushes. So you will just have to trust me on that, that it was real! It was real. i saw it too. but the little beggar would've been quick on his feet if he had any, im still amazed how fast something without legs can move. heres one we saw last trip so you dont miss out.

 The walk took us to a wetland and we enjoyed some bird watching and Matt did some photography, but also on the lookout for floating logs. No crocs were spotted, and we continued on the path and back to the bus, where a couple of indigenous girls and their non-indigenous carer, were admiring 'Bridget' and taking selfies. We had a lovely chat with them and they gave us some sight-seeing tips and recommendations too. 

town Lagoon Nhulunbuy 

Our next stop was at Middle Beach. where we took a stroll down the beach to the rocks at the headland, and again always trying to be on croc watch. The tide was out and we were able to walk around the rocks and to the end of Town Beach, where the wind immediately hit us and the sand was blowing towards us. The sand was softer and less coarse, and we sat here for a while and watched the sea. I spied a couple of crocs at different times, coming up for air and then disappearing beneath the green waters. There was also crabs of various sizes and types, busy running and hiding and digging holes. When you walked along the sand, you would see the little shells moving, and then come to a stop when you got close to them. As the tide started to come in, we went back around the rocks, and sat under some in the shade, and continued to watch the crabs, and there was this one particular crab that would keep reappearing come towards us, then run back and disappear down its hole, or not quite entirely disappear, and all you could see were the two little eyes on short stalks, poking up out of the hole!

 

We headed back to 'Bridget' and drove to the other end of Middle Beach and sat on a high spot, under the shade of some she-oak trees. The wind would whisper through the trees, as we ate our lunch, and watched the seagulls dive into the Arafura Sea and catch fish and re-emerge. There was a lagoon at this end of the beach, and a couple of men were fishing there. After lunch, I was suddenly feeling very exhausted in the humidity and connected up to my IV nutrition and fluids, and we headed back to the Walkabout lodge for a rest.

We enjoyed a quite afternoon, and I started to read a book, and Matt was sorting out photos.The Bakers kindly shared some of the fish they had caught at sea, some silver sea bream, which we had wrapped in foil and cooked on the BBQ with options of butter, garlic, spring onions and lemon to accompany it. I had some fish, which was delicious, but unfortunately, did not agree with my stomach later. I just need to remind myself, how good it was to taste and enjoy it momentarily. I headed into the bus to clean up and wash up, and then a few other guests from the lodge came over to ask questions about the Clippers, and had wanted a look inside, and I was relieved that Matt hadn't been open to letting them in, it was 8pm and I was about to go and have a shower. i didnt really want to have people thru when we are trying to pack up for the night. pick your times people. We know it comes with the territory with having the Clipper, but sometimes, you just have to say no, putting up some boundaries is quite ok. But otherwise it was a great day.

oh and the clutch is working nicely again, thanks for asking. 

 

Day 10 Nhulunbuy on our 'Taking the scenic route to the beach!'

 It was nice to have a slower start to the day and hear the waves crashing in the distance. We cleaned our buses inside and out, and then took a rough tour around Nhulunbuy in convoy looking all shiny again. and we top soiled the campground grass, which is now red. We got plenty of smiles, waves, photos taken, as we drove around some local streets. the best wave i got so far is a commodore full of indigenous blokes, and as the approached there was an arm extended with thumbs up, out of every window in the car. it was like it spontaneously grew limbs. i couldnt get a photo, so i got chat GPT (the enemy) to draw me the scenario, just to see how badly it could stuff it up. and well the results were pretty impressive at first glance, until you zoom in on the driver and front passenger, each who have 3 arms. oh well looks like we are still safe in the art department. 

 

 We headed to the Gove yacht club and wharf and got blown away on the stroll down the floating jetty, and went to Melville Bay past the mines to check it out too. There is a large solar farm here. The Gove mine mines bauxite, and will close in 2029. Locals have told us that 1,000 jobs are to be shed in the coming year, which the community is worried about the impact on them all.

 

After lunch, I had a rest while Matt worked on Bridget's clutch.  

Bridget decided not to want to go into gear anymore from a standing start, couldnt get forward or reverse and if i got it into reverse i couldnt get it out without turning the engine off. ended up having to adjust the clutch. 

 We took a stroll to the Town beach with Simon, Elise, Brenda and David, but didn't spot any crocs, just little crabs being busy scurrying around and going in and out of their homes beneath the sand. We watched the waves roll in, and clouds moving in the sky, and the rain fall in the distance over Bremer island. It was a relaxing way to spend the afternoon.

 
We headed home to prepare dinner, as Ian roasted a lamb on his Weber BBQ, while I roasted veggies, and Brenda cooked the greens and gravy. We watched the bats take to the sky at dusk, and took photos of the Clippers parked up together with their lights on for effect. We sat under the cloudy night sky and ate dinner together, and chatted. Another great evening and day. 

 oh and heres a photo of yesterdays python, it doesnt look as big from this angle, and it may be an olive python i think, but im not an Ophiologist...