I had the day off. John was needed, because there was a BBQ group booked in, and a big lot of other bus numbers for lunch.
I just wandered around and generally relaxed.
Thought about my mum, who would have been 94 today, were she still alive. She would have been delighted by the life I lead these days – lots of travel and different experiences.
There is something sentinel-like about these pandanus
We both had a day off.
I did the usual washing and cleaning up in the van.
For a little exercise. we did the short walk around our Monsoon Creek. Boss 1 had made this a while ago, for guests to use. It was only a few hundred metres, but it was quite pretty.
Light and shade along the creek
Lemon breasted flycatcher
John had a funny event happen, in relation to the creek walk, a while back. Some German visitors asked what there was to do and he directed them to this walk, and jokingly called after them “Watch out for crocodiles!” Then there was a shriek and they came racing back saying there was a croc on the little log footbridge across the creek, that is the start of the walk. John did not know it then, but there was a resident freshie hangs out in that area of the creek and it was having a sunbake. It made the tourists’ day!
Little croc lived in there
These were routine days to begin with.
Boss 1 seemed to be feeling in an unusually expansive mood on Friday morning. He really was quite mercurial. He decided that we should have a staff breakfast, starting at 8 and opening the cafe a little later than usual. We sat out on the lawns in front of the cafe, eating grilled haloumi cheese that he had made for us, and drinking coffee. It was a pleasant start to the day.
The boss swap happened as usual on Sunday, with boss 1 and B heading off to Darwin.
But boss 2 came down with some sort of flu bug, during Sunday afternoon, and took to his bed in the old caravan.
That left the three of us to look after the evening trade at the cafe.
I had to wing it a bit with the evening menu items. Fortunately I had observed the men making things like the special rice they served with the poached fish. Also fortunately, only a couple of meals were required on each night – and they were items I knew how to do. Also fortunately, the dinner guests did not stay late.
As well as staying on duty for the evening meals, I had to start early in the mornings, due to having the cafe open for breakfast from 8am. I did a couple of 12 and 13 hour days.
Each of the two nights that boss was off crook, I closed up the cafe and took the register tray to his caravan, before heading off to ours. I didn’t know what the bosses usually did with it, but I wanted to be safe.
We had noticed that each of the bosses, when heading off for their turn in Darwin, took a heap of cash out of the cafe register. The register itself did not work properly – hitting the keys only rang up that sale and opened the cash drawer, it did not tally any ongoing amount. So there was no record generated. We felt this was risky – made it easy for any light fingered staff. i.e. some of the WOOFERS, who we overheard talking about helping themselves to some pocket money. There was no way of knowing what should be in the till. I decided the book keeping here must have been somewhat hit and miss!
When we first started work at the cafe, wondered if there was a cash flow problem – that might have accounted for the fact of no produce deliveries. For a while, wondered if we would get paid! That seemed delayed, but we had received some wages now, and could only hope that they got all caught up – and that the compulsory superannuation got transferred as it should. This was especially so as all of John’s wages were to be salary sacrificed into super! But, sometimes one had to both trust their gut feelings about people – and I felt boss 2 would do the right things – and just have some faith.
John was given Tuesday off. He enjoyed his leisure, but of course it meant no wages for that day. But I needed to start at 7.45 to open the cafe, and was needed to do the bulk of the kitchen work. Although boss was back on deck, he was still not feeling great and went off to have an afternoon sleep.
I finished at 6.15, when he came up to take over and do the dinner shift.
THURSDAY 15 JUNE LITCHFIELD
We had another relaxing day at camp, until just after lunch.
Then B appeared at our camp – unusual in itself. She said we’d had a phone call to the cafe and we were to phone M – John’s cousin. John went up and did that. They were at the caravan park in Batchelor.
We drove in to meet up with them, for a little while. After arriving at the park, and setting up their camp, they had gone to the store/PO to check for mail. They have the same surname as us, and the lady informed them that the mail had already been collected by someone from the cafe. Eventually, they twigged that it was probably our mail and that we were working there.
We had an enjoyable catch up, for a few hours. Tried to persuade them to come and camp at the caravan park next door to the cafe, but they had to meet friends in Darwin so were on a tight schedule. We continue to be ships in the night with these two, meeting up with them at unpredictable places on our respective travels.
Today we managed to get more energetic. Drove to the Wangi Falls carpark.
The Wangi plunge pool was still closed to swimmers, which was a great disappointment to many tourists, especially the backpackers. It was quite late in the year for it still to be closed. Officially, it was because there was still so much water coming over the falls that there were dangerous currents. But we had been told by the rangers coming into the cafe for a coffee, that they were still not sure the pool was clear of crocodiles, after the big wet season. The traps were still in there.
After looking at the falls from the pool level, for a while, we took the track beyond the viewing point. Now we were venturing where the majority of travellers who visited Wangi did not bother to go. It was the falls and the large plunge pool/swimming hole that defined this place for most people.
This climbed up the side of the falls, sometimes on steps. It was quite a steep climb, in parts.
I spotted a frogmouth owl, tucked away in a tree beside the track, just sitting there with its beak in the air, pretending we were not there.
Frogmouth Owl blending into the background
The climb was interesting, in that we transitioned from the monsoon type forest down at the falls level, up to the much more dry, short and sparse growth up on the stone country at the top.
Climbing up from the forest level
Stone country at the top of Wangi Falls
The track crossed surprisingly small creeks up on the top. It was hard to believe that these created the volume of the falls themselves.
At the top of the Falls
The track continued on, came back down the escarpment at a lower point and looped back to the falls and car park.
Wangi Falls and the walking track (Zoom)
It was a pleasant outing, not too hard, and very pretty. However, my heel would be sore for a few days after the walking – really annoying.
We had another run of three days off. A good rest would be much appreciated.
Tree flowering near our camp
Did our washing. Lazed about the camp. Read.
Interesting tracks….
These were mostly routine days, occasionally enlivened by the shenanigans of boss 1.
One morning, I turned up in the kitchen at the usual 8am. He was there and called M in from her usual tasks, because he had decided to dismantle and clean the stove and oven. So we both had to scrub away at the rather revoltingly dirty parts, while our normal morning work waited. It put us both behind for the rest of the day, and I didn’t finish until 6.45pm. On well, at least on an hourly rate, he was paying for it!
That boss, when he cooked the fish poached in cream and garlic, for evening meals, had a bad habit of letting the cream boil up out of the pan, all over the stove. He never cleaned it up, but left it for whoever happened upon it, next morning. As M had gotten into the habit of cleaning up the kitchen, first thing, ready for the coming day, this was usually her.
Another morning, he told M to clean something that involved the use of heavy duty bleach, which he informed her was on the top shelf of the store room. She went to get it down – and the top had not been screwed on, just rested on the top. Bleach spilled all down her front. Fortunately, most of it went on her apron – my green one – which was thus rather ruined. She was convinced that he had done it deliberately. Had it gone on her face, would have been extremely nasty.
There was a bit of a cat and mouse game going on between them. M would stand up to his tactics and tackle him back, so she was a challenge for him! A couple of days after she had started work, he came storming over to where she was working, telling her the fern baskets along the front of the cafe were wilting, and why hadn’t she watered them? She replied that no-one had told her that was part of her work, and now that he had bothered to do so, she would, in future, water them. Challenge on.
I had noticed for a while that the bulk pasta salad was not very popular with diners – there was often a lot left, even after all the others had been used. So I decided to try making up a rice salad and see if that was better. Cleared it with boss 2, who said to go for it.
So I used boiled rice, put some orange juice on it while it was still hot, so this soaked in. Then put in peas, corn, chopped red capsicum and red onion, and dressed it with a little sesame oil. This was very well received, with M reporting that people were going back for seconds of it. Boss 1 was not happy about it when he got back for his duty turn, but by then it was a proven addition. From then on, I did not make the pasta salad, though he sometimes would.
Helicopter in day wear
Helicopter at work. The art display rotunda that boss & John built is to the left
It was a long weekend, so we were exceptionally busy. We sold a lot of cheesecake!
Our day off.
We had to go to Darwin to get the problem clutch fixed.
Left at 6.50am, travelled via the shorter dirt road again, and got to LandRover in Darwin at 8.40am.
We had arranged to have a hire car from them, so we could get around town for the day.
The clutch was repaired, but the new radiator could not be fitted, because the wrong sized one had been sent – so we had to return in yet another two weeks, to get that done. Again, the sort of occurrence that was pretty typical in the NT.
The hire car had been going to cost us $35, but in the end we did not get charged for it, to compensate us for the radiator mix up, so we did win something! Our car was a Mitsubishi Colt – a very zippy, nice little car, an automatic.
After dropping off Truck, and collecting our car, we drove to the Cool Spot – a big cafe establishment in Fannie Bay, that I’d gotten to know on my earlier school trips to Darwin. We had breakfast there. John had an eggs and bacon meal, I had ham and cheese croissants, and we had a couple of coffees each. Ate our food out on the tiled Art-Deco-ish patio area at the front, looking out to glimpses of the sea at the nearby road corner. All very pleasant, but costly at $37!
It was a lovely morning and we felt rather privileged to be there enjoying it. I texted daughter that we could be very tempted to move up here permanently. Her reply must have set an all time record for speed. It said: “Too many cyclones, too many crocs, and too bloody far away!”.
Outlook from the Cool Spot
After the very leisurely breakfast, we went shopping, to buy John some more work clothes – a couple of long sleeved light weight shirts, and a pair of shorts.
Went to the Darwin Fishermens Wharf, where we walked and watched the boat activity. It looked like there might have been a captured Asian fishing junk moored out in the harbour.
After the substantial brunch, we were not hungry again, so passed on lunch.
Went to the centre of the city, to the Mall area, to buy some tourist souvenir type T shirts for the grand children. Walked and browsed the various shops there.
Collected Truck and got back to our camp in time for happy hour with M, and then an early night, after the early morning. It was a relief to no longer have the clutch problem.
On the way back, refuelled at Coolalinga – $1.38cpl.
Officially winter down south. Wouldn’t know it up here. The weather was very pleasant now, and we were acclimatized, so did not feel it as all that hot – unlike the tourists.
Thursday was a long day for me. It was M’s day off, so I did not have her help in the afternoon, cleaning up the kitchen and washing the cafe’s lunch dishes.
As we got steadily busier, it became later in the afternoons before I could get to the bulk salads prep, and then the cheesecakes. It all compounded.
It was 6.45 before I finished on Thursday! Even John did not knock off until 6.30. Without M, his outside work cleaning up after bus groups took longer, too. B tended to be busy serving in the cafe so he was on his own out there.
There was now a helicopter in place, on a cleared area a bit away from the cafe buildings. It was there to do joy flights over the Park. The pilot was accommodated in an old donga up behind our van area. He was getting a few customers each day.
Helicopter in pyjamas
I found it got a bit noisy at times and the chopper stirred up a lot of dust. But it was an added tourist attraction, I guess.
Joy Flights banner went up by the entrance
Sunday saw a minor disaster in the cafe. The electric grater broke down! Given the very large amounts of grated carrot needed each day, I hoped it would soon be fixed, or a replacement bought. Using the old stock standard circular metal hand grater was a royal pain in the butt – and on the fingers too, when some skin invariably got grated. It also added to the prep time needed, greatly. It would have to go to Darwin with boss, during the week, for repair.
In the event, a special part was needed from “down south”. This took almost two months to arrive. Boss told me that NT stood for – Not Today, Not Tomorrow, Not Tuesday, Not Thursday, Next Train, Next Truck……and that was to prove true, so often.
On Monday after work, John and M again went off to bowls at Batchelor. I didn’t finish till 6pm, so had another solitary evening at our camp.
John put 25 litres of fuel in Truck at Batchelor – $1.58cpl.
Dusk at the Monsoon
We had been given another day off today.
I made us sandwiches for lunch, at the cafe, and grabbed some cans of cool drinks too.
We took French John with us, after clearing stuff off the one back seat of the Truck, and drove the dirt back road, to the Territory Wildlife Park at Berry Springs.
We had loved the Park at Alice Springs, on our visits there, and had not been to this one before.
It was, of course, totally different to the Central Australian one, featuring the wetlands and environment of the Top End, rather than arid lands. But the principle was similar – a whole lot of different exhibits. We walked around the various exhibits, then caught the little internal transport “train” between them.
Like its arid counterpart, one could spend a whole day here. We spent hours here.
Turtle
Sawfish – from below
We found Dory!
I was really taken by the side-on view into a freshie croc pool, where a croc was actually standing on the rocky bottom, with just its snout poking out of the water. Saved it the effort of floating, I guessed.
Not the usual view of a freshwater crocodile
There was, of course, a featured saltwater crocodile on show, and we were lucky enough to actually see baby crocs hatching from their eggs.
Saltie on a sand bank
Crocodiles hatching
We walked a path around a wetland lagoon area, and another by a billabong.
At the water’s edge, not far from the path, saw a freshie croc, very well camouflaged amongst the dead leaves floating on the surface of the water.
Find the crocodile!
Ate our sandwich lunch at the picnic area by the entrance gate, then got back on the train to go to another section, to see the birds of prey feeding display. My favourite there was the barking owl. We had so often heard them at night, over the past few years up north, but so rarely saw them.
Barking Owl
Got back to camp about 5pm.
Happy hour was spent telling M all about our day out – and her filling us in on the day’s happenings here.
This Adventurous Age 