We were on the road by 8.30 this morning after having to swing by the managers workshop at Litchfield Tourist Park to put some air in the tyre that was the spare replacement after our blow-out at Lawn Hills. Philip seems to think that it has a slow leak and should be replaced when we get to Darwin.
We asked the manager what the road was like to Darwin via Berry Springs and he said it was almost a highway now that the last section had been sealed. Although it is a longer route than returning to Batchelor and heading along the Stuart Highway, he said it was a nicer driver.
The first 52km we had driven over the last two days so we were beginning to know this section quite well. We both noted that there was hardly any traffic compared to what there was over the long weekend. The distance to Darwin via Berry Springs is just over 180km compared to 164km via Batchelor so there was not a great deal of distance. What surprised us was the changes in altitude driving along Litchfield Park Road. We went from around 60m in altitude at the van park, up to 230m and then back down to 87m before finally reaching 37m at Berry Springs.
There was quite a bit of smoke today as the rangers were conducting the necessary "cool burns" to get rid of some of the long dry grass. We passed through sections of rainforest and then scrublands. The majestic termite mounds rise high and mighty in the middle of the Savannah grasslands and then we are back amongst the pandanus palms. We crossed the contaminated Finniss River many times and I am still appalled that we could let that contamination happen. It would not happen now.
We finally leave Litchfield Park Road and come to a T-Junction. Left is Wagait Beach (yes we are close to the coast) and right is Berry Springs. Berry Springs and it's neighbour Tumbling Waters are both popular places for Darwin residents to come for a day out. It is less than 50km to these two places. From what we can see, Berry Springs consists of one shopping centre that houses an IGA, liquor store, Post Office and Cafe. Philip bought a coffee here and asked the young girl serving him about Berry Springs and she said "lots of houses on large acreage". We had seen very large mango tree farms on our drive into Berry Springs so I guess that makes up a large percentage of it's economy.
We are members of the G'Day Rewards program giving us a 10% discount so our stay in Darwin is at the Discovery Park. It is almost a shock to the system to be in a park that is so crowded. We have pretty much had all the van parks, up to this point, to ourselves where the owners have said "park wherever you like". Having said that the park is clean and tidy with nice grassy sites, although we did have to pick up dog sh...t before we could lay down our mat. UUUgggghhhh!
We were booked to have our flu shots at 2.00pm in the Darwin CBD so we gobbled down a salad sandwich and headed into town. I also had to visit Telstra to replace my Wi-Fi USB stick as my laptop was telling me it was no longer compatible with the latest Apple version. As we drove along the freeway towards the CBD we commented that Darwin has changed so much to the extent that we hardly recognise it. It is such a lovely city and there has been a lot more development since we were here in December 2019. We can't wait to explore a little more. We are booked on a city tour while we are here.
After our flu shots we headed back out of town to the biggest Bunnings we have every been to, complete with undercover parking! As we rode up the escalator we commented that they would need undercover parking to compensate for the Darwin summers. Cairns Bunnings could do with the same! We purchased a track for our concertina door that had broken on the road from Hells Gate to Borroloola. Philip is going to try and repair it himself. It is not a big job, just fiddly.
We then headed to JB Hi-Fi to purchase a Go-Pro. We had done a lot of research and were now ready to make the purchase. Philip will be the main operator 😜 but I will have to teach him 😩. Tomorrow I have to take my laptop into a shop to have it serviced. I think the fan might have died as it is getting very hot. I am hoping to have it back the same day but I will have to wait and see. We are also booked into Bob Jane to get two new tyres for the rear of the Toyota. This is where all the weight is so it's in our best interest to have good tyres. We plan on doing some of the Gibb River Road sans caravan when we reach the west so tyres will be important.
Until tomorrow......
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