The Old Bloke's Pixels

Sunday, 7 May 2017

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

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

Wednesday, 3 May 2017

Darwin Road Trip - Part 2 - Yulara to Darwin

Days 6 and 7 - Uluru

The next leg of our journey took us from Erldunda to Yulara (Uluru and Kata Tjula) before back onto the Stuart Highway heading north.

Sunrise at Erldunda

Desert Oaks Rest Area

Mount Connor

On both days at Uluru, walking tracks were closed by 10.00 am because of the heat - topping 40 degrees C.

Uluru

Uluru (it is a rock of many colours)

Milky Way at Yulara

Kata Tjula (The Olgas)

Kata Tjula

Day 8 - Uluru to Tennant Creek

Given the heat, we were on the road before sunup as we also had 900 odd kilometers to our next bed.

Sunrise on the road (Lasseters Highway)

Sunrise through Desert Oaks

Mt Connor

Zebra Finches in the morning sun

At the Tropic of Capricorn in 40C

Anmatjere Man - Airleron NT

Now getting into the land of the Termite Mounds

Some dressed as workers

Others - bushrangers

Karlu Karlu (Devils Marbles)

Karlu Karlu

Walking Molly near Devils Pebbles

We stayed the night at Tennant Creek and, as it was so hot in the room we drove about 20 klm north to the Devils Pebbles - much smaller in size than the Devils Marbles. (No photo because it was very overgrown after the recent heavy rains).

Day 9 - Tennant Creek to Mataranka