16/7/12 - 19/7/12

This week just involved a lot of driving and ending up in Darwin.
After saying goodbye to the crew at Daly Waters the next stop was at Katherine where I needed to fuel up old Freda.
I was pretty impressed that she made it from Threeways to Katherine on less than a tank.

680kms on less than a tank..Go! Freda! Go!

I then kept driving and spent the night at Noonama, about 50km out of Darwin.
I was hoping for a relaxing swim in the pool there until it was overrun by about 10 kids. One kid in particular was a real bad seed and I've taken note of his name as I guarantee he will be on "Australia's Most Wanted" list in about 10 years time.
The next day I made it to Darwin.
It seems like a pretty nice place - I thought it would be bigger but first impressions are kinda like Cairns.

Driving into Darwin

I went for a bit of a drive around the place then went for a walk once I had my bearings.
The waterfront area is pretty nice and very reminiscent of Cairns, especially with the wave pool.

Wave Pool......yeah!

After dinner I parked Freda at the Esplanade and sat outside taking in the balmy evening and wonderful warm breezes.
Again, it's hard to imagine it's the middle of July.

Darwin Esplanade..check out those colours

The next day I caught up with Eva whom I last saw at Cape Trib.
She's had an eventful last couple of months which included blowing out a tyre and rolling her van (poor Sam!).
It was good to see her again and we spent the day hanging out at the Waterfront then in the evening we went to the Mindl Beach Markets.

Mindl Beach Markets

There were heaps of people everywhere, lost of food stalls and live music - a really good atmosphere.

Eva's probably gonna kill me for posting this pic but....pffft!

After dinner we walked down to the beach and had a couple of drinks and waited for the famous Mindl Beach sunset but unfortunately it was thwarted at the last moment by clouds - bummer!

Damn you! Clouds!

After that we sat and listened to a band called "The Lucky Wonders" a group of girls from Byron who were pretty cool - reminded me a bit of Frente.

The Lucky Wonders doin' their thang..

The next day was just spent hanging out and getting ready to board the Ghan (destination Alice Springs, Adelaide, Melbourne then back to Darwin again) and see what the next chapter of this journey will bring.