RS in Oz

Hi Roland ,Your going well ,sirvived the NT sharks and crocs and darwin stubbys,The rest of the trip should be a breeze . ian.

Gday All

RS Reporting in.
Its bloody hot up here
Seen a few 4 trailer road trains, ...Mighty beasts.
Not got pics in front of me at the moment so cant say whose they were,
Been to see crocs this morning on Yellow River cruise at Cooinda.
Very Good trip
Went up to Ubir cave art site yesterday.
2 more days in Kakadu then back to Darwin.
Then off to Sydney for 4 days.
Then back to Melbourne.
Cya.

Cheers
RS

Roland - You sure picked the wrong time of year to be in Darwin. October and November in Darwin are the months when people go "troppo" with the heat and humidity. You're getting the buildup to the "wet" season .. without the refreshing rain every afternoon. It's a pretty unpleasant time to visit the North.

Here's some things you must do, when you get back to Darwin ..

(1) Visit the 1934 Qantas Hangar, located between Fannie Bay and Parap, about 4 kms NW of the city centre .. here, you'll find an eclectic mix of steam, trucks, cars, stationary engines galore, tools, and remnants of machinery used in the early days of the Territory.

The Hangar is leased to the Motor Vehicle Enthusiasts Club (MVEC) and they use it as a restoration base as well as a museum.
The hangar was the main airport base in Darwin, pre-WW2, and Ross Smith Drive used to be the main runway!

The airport was moved to its current location by the Military, at the commencement of WW2 .. and is the only airport in Australia, that shares commercial use of the runway, with the RAAF! The RAAF is still a big force in Darwin.
Check out the 20mm cannon shell holes in the frame of the hangar! .. and have a look at the pictures of how badly it was destroyed by the Japs! .. then totally rebuilt! ..
You'll need 2 hrs here at least, and entry is a gold coin ($1 or $2) donation ..

(2) Make sure you pick up a copy of Kurt Johannsen's book, "Son of the Red Centre", from the NT library, at the Art Gallery, situated between Darwin and Fannie Bay.

www.roadtransport.com/blogs/big-lorry-bl...am-uncovers-a-t.html

(3) Check out the Air Force Museum on the Stuart Hwy at Winnellie. You've gone past it on your way to Kakadu. There's a nice old airport fuel tanker parked outside, an AEC, IIRC .. not to mention the mind-boggling collection of aircraft, WW2 and Air Forces memorabilia. You need 4 hrs here at least.

(4) Check out the East Point Military museum if you like war items and history. $10 gets you entry, and there's a lot of interesting stuff there.
Check out the remains of the massive 9.2" naval guns that could send a shell 64 kms out to sea! .. but which never fired a shot in anger, because Darwin was attacked from the air, not by sea! .. :'(
Then find out that the guns were sold a few years after the War .. to the Japs! .. for $500! .. who then cut them up for scrap!! ..

www.tropicaldarwin.com/East_Point_Reserve_Park.htm

(5) Go visit the markets at Parap (Sat mornings) or Nightcliff (Sunday mornings). The Mindil Beach markets are bigger/n/better .. but they are closed for the wet season now (ended in Oct.).

australia.shopsafe.com.au/northern_terri...ining_eating_out.htm

www.tropicaldarwin.com/Nightcliff_Markets_Darwin.htm

I trust you enjoy the remainder of your stay in Darwin, and that you get some rain to break the humidity! .. Cheers, Ron ..

R.S.
GuddayM8
Thanx for the update

Have we got a big backyard or wot!!
LOL

Spose we may have to wait till u're back home so u can uplaod u're pix n adventure

LOL

JuanTrak
GuddayM8

Gr8 Info to keep a pom bizzy

LOL

Cya
[ch9787]

Roland,go out and visit East Piont,and then you can do the Qantas hanger on the way back.When you get to the Qantas hanger have a walk around and take the place in,as Ron says it is a very interesting place,then before you do the Harold Holt,ask if Leo Izod is there,he`s the dude who owns an awfull lot of stuff that you will have been just looking at.Have a chat with him and tell him that your mates with all these dodgy dudes down south and you love old trucks etc,then (forget your a fan of the Duetz for a moment,though you most certianly could mention it) tell him you love early Fords,the earlier the better,and that Henry was a god without a par etc (I might ad at this piont I am definatly not p****ing in your pocket,and my fingers are not crossed).He may just put you on to one of the largest collections of old Fords in OZ,and only viewed by invitation,otherwise I`d just give you the address.It`s worth the effort if you can get a look mate.

And Roland if you get hot and bothered checking out Onetracks bang on things to see in Darwin you can finish the day off in Mitchell street..start at the Irish bar on the west end and by the time you get to the Blue heeler bar down the east end you will be all refreshed
Got to keep up your fluids up in the territory.

Basil

I dunno, Basil .. I think Roland might be better off, doing the Pommy tourist bit .. rather than sitting in bars, and filling up on high strength Aussie beers .. and then having to watch the little backpacker girlies parade past, in skimpy tops and shorts!! ..

Roland would make Bigcams performance .. being interviewed by the big-titted radio station chick .. positively reserved, in comparison! He's liable to return from Darwin with a severe case of twisted neck muscles, from the constant rubber-necking! .. and I'm not talking about rubber-necking trucks, either!! ..

Roland - If you get a chance, go out to Berrimah Rd and East Arm Point, and you'll get a good chance of spotting and snapping pics of some of the big rigs - including the 4 trailer road trains.
There's a hill on Berrimah Rd, just before the Stuart Hwy, that's an excellent spot to park the camera on a tripod, and grab pics or even videos of the trucks climbing that rise. You have to be fast .. they fly up that hill at speed .. they aren't exactly using 120HP AEC's and Leylands ..

Another good drive is the old WW2 section of the Stuart, that's been left as the Tourist drive .. now known as Dorat Rd. This runs off the new Stuart Hwy just Sth of Adelaide River, and is a 27km detour that was bypassed by the new Hwy alignment.

You can get a good feel of what it must have been like for those blokes in WW2, pounding up and down the "Track" .. dragging fuel and supplies in convoy, with GMC's, Studebakers, KB Inters, Chevvies and Blitzes (CMP's) by the hundreds .. and sitting on a maximum of 30 mph convoy speed, to conserve tires and fuel and trucks .. and this section is the "new, improved", sealed part, after the Yanks sealed it! .. :

If you're lucky, you might even find some of the old roadside troughs they used, filled with water, to cool the tyres .. the blokes just had to sweat, with the pathetically inadequate, "ALL-30" Model air-conditioning .. (ALL windows open at 30mph) ..

Gday all

Thanks for tourist advice.

Done East point.
Quaintarse next..
maybe Berrimah later.
I do have a stiff neck. but I blame AirCon

got good pics and vid of 22 axle KW road train yesterday. Driver said it is as big as they get ?

Sydney tomorrow.
Mel next week.

Cheers
RS

Better Cut Back on the Mint Flavored ticktackViagra Roland that should eliminate the stiff neck prob.
-Monty

Enjoy it all Roland, Sydney will seem like a rat race after Darwin.