Darwin Road Trip - Part 4 - Heading South

Owing to accommodation bookings (or lack of available beds) we didn't leave Darwin until Easter Tuesday to head for home.

Day 1 - Darwin to Katherine

WW2 Strauss Airstrip just south of Darwin

Day 2 - Katherine to Wycliffe Wells

Mataranka

Devils Marbles

Devils Marbles by Drone

Devils Marbles by Drone

Devils Marbles by Drone

Devils Marbles by Drone

 Day 3 - Wycliffe Wells to Alice Springs

One of our Rest Stops

More Termites

Barrow Creek Telegraph Station

Just north of Alice Springs

Day 4 - Alice Springs to Coober Pedy

Stuart Highway heading South - Storms building up

Spring in the Red Centre

Wide Brown Land

South of Alice

Further South of Alice

 Day 5 - Coober Pedy to Port Pirie

Shell Fuel at Coober Pedy

Opal Mining

Coober Pedy Rest Area

Out on Lake Hart

Remains of a railway on Lake Hart

Lake Hart

Southbound Goods Train

Stuart Highway from the air

The sign says it all

Port Pirie Harbour

Sunset over Port Pirie

Port Pirie Sunset

From Port Pirie, it was a dash towards home with a sick Molly dog.

Darwin Road Trip - Part 3 - In and around Darwin

We arrived in Darwin at the tail end of 'The Wet' - Storms every few days, mostly in the evening and at night.

Honeyeater and gum blossoms

One of my favourite places not far from Darwin is Fogg Dam - now a bird watchers' delight, but it was originally built for the Humpty Doo rice growing project in 1956.

(More information on the Humpty Doo Project -  http://foggdamfriends.org/images/documents/Humpty-Doo-RICE-TRAIL-booklet-14-May-13.pdf)

Now Fogg Dam is a haven for waterbirds, water pythons (predators) and Dusky Rats (Prey).  I only saw a very small water python and no rats.  Wild pigs aplenty though.

This trip was the first time I had seen a jabiru there and it was present on all visits.

Jabiru

Jabiru

Magpie Geese

Fogg Dam sunset

I was often up at daybreak and out and about.  There were some wonderful sunrises and sunsets to be seen.  The middle of the day was hot and humid, but an afternoon bout of liquid sunshine improved conditions.

Trawler at Fishermans Wharf

I received a camera drone for my birthday, and it caught up with me in Darwin.  Very tentative with it, and still learning to fly and trust the drone.

First flight in Darwin

Dragonfly at rest

Sunset - Nightcliff Jetty

Sunset - Nightcliff

Mural on a storage Tank

Mural - same tank

Lemon-bellied Flycatcher

Sanctuary Ponds at sunrise

The Ghan

Luggage loading onto The Ghan

The Ghan

 Back to Fogg Dam

Azure Kingfisher

Fungi

Water lily

Wallabies in dispute

 Sanctuary Ponds

Little Corella

Blue-faced Honeyeater (F)

White-gaped Honeyeater (outside our back door)

Pandanus

Fogg Dam (again)

Jabiru wing stretch

Pied Heron

Billabong

Riding a Water Buffalo

On the 'Jumping Crocodile Cruise'

Snappy Handbag

Snap!

Mum - protecting her nest

Kite

Kites manoeuvring for handouts

Snap!

Sunrise at Dripstone Cliffs

Dawn and the storm is receding

Stone Curlews

Dragon (outside our back door)

Lee Point by drone

Lee Point by drone