Friday 11th July

Today was another sorting out day.

I went for a nice ride of about 40 kms along the coast to Fannie Bay Sailing Club. On the ride I went through some lovely residential areas which I understand are quite expensive. One of these houses is on the market for $11,000,000. It is massive with several pools, many bathrooms, etc.

Also, along the area I rode were the aboriginal communities with their dishevelled appearance. The cars are in various forms of either destruction or just running. The dogs are running anywhere they like including across busy roads. It is a wonder they have not made furry speed bumps on the roads. Then, as it was early, there are those that are just trying to find their homes after a night on something that makes them have a wobbly boot (drinking or drugs or even both). It is sad but as very few seem to have jobs, so that is inevitable.

Anyway after a nice ride and a shower, we went for a bit of a drive as we had to be back at our current location by around midday. So bearing this in mind, we went to a nice cafe that is adjacent to Fannie Bay. It is a very popular location and we were very lucky to eventually get a table and seats. A nice coffee and raison toast to make it seem like home!

From the cafe, we went over to the East Point Reserve which also houses the East Point Military Museum. On our way in, Prue took some nice photos looking over Fanny Bay. It seemed like all the four wheel drives, at one time, were from NSW. We took in the scenery which included watching several Navy vessels either arriving or departing the Darwin area.

There is quite a military presence here with the airport being a shared facility between civilian and Air Force aircraft. The Navy have a very active base and there is Army presence, too. After all, it is the most northern city and is closer to many Asian/Indonesian cities than most Australian cities.

After waiting most of the afternoon for a courier to come, at 1600 we were told he would be here by 0930 Saturday morning. A wasted but restful afternoon, even if it did mean a wash of the Mazda and putting the awning up.

In the evening we took Richard and Rita to a buffet dinner on the wharf in Darwin wharf precinct. The location was wonderful looking out over the harbour and seeing the various boats running around and the Harbour Cruise boat as well. The buffet was excellent but I probably consumed more than I should but I enjoyed every mouthful especially washed down by several nice glasses of New Zealand Merlot from Preece. It was ok but I will not have it again. There are many better.