SUNDAY 30 APRIL   MATARANKA TO DARWIN (LEE POINT)   430kms

Today was a hot drive on a very humid day.

As we passed through Katherine, could see little evidence of the big floods that happened earlier this month. But there were lots of high-flowing streams along the way.

Refuelled in Katherine – done 312kms. $1.43cpl.

Stopped at the Emerald Springs Roadhouse, north of Pine Creek, where John bought some chips for lunch. I did not fancy any of the offerings, so passed.

Long time since we had been to Darwin, so I picked out the Lee Point Caravan Park for our brief stay. I thought it was the closest to the sea and might be a bit more pleasant than those further from the water.

Our powered site cost $25 a night.

It was a very large park. The person who booked us in seemed quite disinterested in the whole process – not a great omen – but we would not be here for long.

Set up the van in a pleasant, grassy spot. A general area where we could select our own site had been indicated. But it was quite a walk to the ablutions block, and they were rather ordinary too. There was little provision for one’s belongings in the shower – no shelving at all, just two small hooks and a small soap holder. It was not easy to juggle clothes and towel – just had to sling them over the door, and hope that its top had been wiped clean by previous people doing the same thing.

We found out later that they had en-suite sites!

I was disappointed in this park. Wouldn’t be recommending it to others. Maybe it was different in the real tourist season.

Darwin was really humid, despite the proximity of the sea.

We drove to Leanyer shops for a few groceries and a newspaper.

It became obvious in the late afternoon, that there were sandflies around, so we slathered on the Rid so we could sit outside in the more pleasant temperature of the early evening.