25/08/12 - 28/08/12

Not much to report over the next few days.
Just chilling out in Darwin, slowly getting things ready for the journey west.
I've enjoyed my time in Darwin but sleeping in the van when the temperatures reach a minimum of about 21 degrees only by 3am is becoming a bit draining so it's time to move on.
I wanted to capture the sunsets while I was here this time but unfortunately cloud cover duped me again.
The first night I went to Mindil Beach:

Sunset at Mindil Beach

Dude on a Beach

Damn you clouds!

The next night I went to Nightcliff:

Nightcliff Sunset

Nightcliff Beach

Clouds.....

......clouds

...and last night I caught up with Eva again and we had dinner at the Casino...and of course I didn't take my camera and the sunset was perfect..d'oh!
I can heartily recommend the Casino for a great feed.. the buffet was fantastic and it's good to be leaving Darwin on a full stomach...I'm sure it's also the only Casino in Australia where thongs are considered suitable footwear....ah....only in the NT!!
PS. As I make my way west to Broome I'm not sure what the internet availability will be like so if you don't hear from me for a while, don't fret, I'll still be livin' the dream....    :)

23/08/12 - 24/08/12

Another early start this morning as we did a walk to the Florence Waterfalls for pictures and breakfast.

Florence Waterfalls from below....

....and above

We then did a bit of driving for not a lot of gain with Tolmer Falls, Cascade Falls and Walker Creek all being pretty lame and I assume much better in the wet season.
We popped into Wangi Falls which is the main and most popular waterfall in the park and with it's size and the facilities, you could see why.

Wangi Falls....and half a torso

As it was quite crowded there, we decided to go back to Buley Rockholes for the rest of the day and to camp again for the night.
The next day we went back to the rockholes for a few hours before making the drive back into Darwin.
It was pretty hot by the time we got back into town but I was thankful to go for a shower and refresh after what was a good five days in Kakadu and Litchfield.
Kristina was good company and we managed to remain friends for the full five days which is a credit to both of us!

22/08/12

The Kakadu waterhole was so nice yesterday that we decided to go back again this morning.
We left about midday and made the surprisingly long drive to Litchfield National Park via the Batchelor turnoff.
The first stop once we entered the Park was the magnetic termite mounds which kind of resembled a cemetery.

Magnetic termite mounds...or ancient burial site? hrmmm

This is not a magnetic termite mound, just a normal one:

My, that's a big one...

From there we drove to the Buley Rockholes where we set up camp then went for a swim.

Buley Rockholes..I'm sure I have spelt it wrong but can't be bothered googling the correct spelling...

21/08/12

Early start today as we went down to Yellow Water for the sunrise.

Dawn at Yellow Water

After breakfasting back at camp we were off again to Gungural and did a walk down to where the river normally runs, shitting ourselves after reading this sign:

My name is Steve but not Irwin...

Fortunately the river was dry and croc-free so we then went up to the lookout which wasn't all that impressive and by this time of the day it was more than a little hot.
We had contemplated driving to Gunlom which is a dirt track but is meant to be ok for 2WDs but it was heavily corrugated so we turned back and went on to the Mary River Roadhouse.
After talking to a tour guide yesterday, Kristina got a tip-off that there was a beautiful unsigned, croc-free waterhole not far from The Roadhouse and when we got there we asked for directions and we were glad we did!
After walking a pretty rough 1km dirt road, we got to the waterhole and it was magnificent.

One of Kakadu's best kept secrets...

We then forced ourselves to leave late in the day and set up camp at the Mary River Roadhouse campground where Kristina took some more pics of the wildlife....

Rainbow lorikeets

....and made chocolate bananas for dessert - yum!

So wrong....yet so right

20/08/12

Today was the start of a five day trip to Kakadu and Litchfield National Parks.
I picked Kristina up early and we made our way in Freda firstly to Kakadu.

Welcome to Kakadu

It was suprisingly foggy and misty this early in the morning but we eventually made it to our first stop, Mamukala, where we did a 3km walk and spent some time on the viewing deck watching the water birds and other wildlife.

Kakadu wetlands

Bird and lillies....and stuff

From there we drove around to Nourlangi and walked up to the lookout and viewed the rock paintings.

Nourlangi

Rock paintings...

We waited around there for a ranger to give a free talk then it was off to Yellow Water to camp for the night.

Camp at Cooindi "resort" near Yellow Water

I managed to score a gig at the camp ground that night in return for the reimbursement of our camping fees and a meal each at the bistro.
So while I set up, Kristina went down to the Yellow Water viewing platforms and took some photos including this one of a kingfisher:

With the number of photos she takes, she was bound to get a good one eventually

I then played for about an hour or so to a laidback and appreciative audience (thanks to my Ghan experience I now have a repertior better suited to these sorts of holiday crowds). At the start of my set, the mozzies were ferocious and with both my hands occupied on the guitar I had no opportunities to get rid of them so being the true professional that I am I finished the songs before swatting the little buggers away.  I did however have to stop one song halfway through and kindly borrow some repellent from an audience member then picked up where I left off which got a good reaction.
At the end I was shouted a beer and sold a cd so all in all it was a good day.

I've encountered some slimy audience members in my time but this one takes the cake

14/8/12 - 19/8/12

Today it was all aboard The Overland train again to take me from Melbourne to Adelaide.
I wasn't in the best of moods due to the early start, lugging a lot more stuff this time (80 cds in tow) and just generally being by myself again. I didn't now how I was going to perk myself up for my gig on the train but once I started it was all good.
I launched into "You are my sunshine" and the whole carriage erupted into song so that made my job a lot easier from the get go.
I had a really good set and got a few (financial) tips from the people on board and one woman was nice enough to say she'd been travelling on The Overland for years and this was the first time she was entertained so I was pretty chuffed with that (I should have been playing John Denver and Cat Stevens years ago I think!).
I also met a lovely lady from NZ who is also a singer songwriter and she played a few tunes as well.

Jan from NZ

In the afternoon gig it was only really a group a French Canadian girls in the carriage so the set list was vastly more contemporary with Oasis getting a run as well as Nickelback's "How you remind me".

Only faces like this could force a man to play Nickelback

Did someone say I was livin' the dream?

The next day it was back on The Ghan again - tough life huh?
I enjoyed the trip back a lot better mostly because of the people I met on board.
The first night I was asked to play for the Red section people which was a lot more fun than one of my experiences in the gold/platinum sections on the way down.
There were about 5 couples from WA (all characters), a couple from Adelaide, a couple of women (including country singer Beccy Cole's Aunty), a couple from Mandura in WA, a bloke from NZ and a few others.
I was shouted 3 beers during my one hour set and after not drinking all that much this year, the crownies didn't miss me!
It was all good fun though and a good night was had by all.
The next day the train stopped for a few hours in Alice Springs and it was great to feel the warm sun on my skin as I got off the train to stretch my legs.
That night there were two other performers on the train so one of us did one of the bars in the gold section and the other guys did the other.
The other guys just happened to be Lucy Wise and her partner Mischa whom I had only met at the Wintermoon Festival in May - it's so funny how you run into people again.
They're a a really nice couple and they managed to talk their way into allowing us to eat in the gold class section for dinner so we had a lovely catch up that night over a lovely meal. The guys in the red section gave me a bit of curry saying I had forgotten my roots by defecting to the gold section but I assured them I'd always be a "red boy" through and through.

My peeps from the Red section on The Ghan. The bloke up the back right now has a new nickname and it's "package" after Leslie said he had a "big one" supposedly referring to his bar....of Toblerone 

They were all a great group of people and hopefully we will stay in touch.
I also caught up with German girl Kristina who I met in Adelaide and we have made plans to go to Kakadu and Litchfield National Parks on Monday.
So the next couple of days were spent just getting Freda up scratch (it was good to see the old girl again - thanks to Jack and Sarah for looking after her) and a few domestic duties before hitting the road again.
I never thought I'd say it but getting back in Freda made me realise how much I have missed driving so I'm looking forward to clocking up some more km's on Monday.
Oh! And for those who are wondering what's making news in the top end...

Shit happens...

31/7/11 - 13/8/12 (Melbourne)

The next couple of weeks were spent in Melbourne hanging out at Amanda's place, doing a gig and catching up with Ma and Pa for Dad's birthday. If Adelaide was cold, Melbourne was freezing but there were odd 5 minute windows when the weather was bearable. I wore three or four layers most days and at times even that didn't feel like enough. But apart from the weather, it was a good couple of weeks, catching up with the family and having the luxury of modern comforts like a fridge and a shower at my beckon call. I spent a lot of my days learning some new songs which the people on my journey have suggested (or told me) that I should play. So I can now add "Country Roads", "Moon Shadow" and "Duncan" to my song list. Speaking of song lists, I did one gig at Bar Betty in Melbourne where for the majority of my set, the only people in the audience were Amanda and her friend Zoe!

Thank goodness these two turned up - Amanda (left) and Zoe

At the end of the set a group of three women and a crazy lady with a ukele (probably a song title in that?) came in but yeah it wasn't the biggest of turn outs for my first Melbourne gig but by now I've definitely learned to take the good with the bad and was stoked that Amanda and Zoe even turned up. Thanks guys!

Steve Case solo (almost literally!) at Bar Betty, Melbourne

No I haven't all of a sudden grown, I'm attempting to tune "Crazy Lady With A Ukele"s  uke

I was also fortunate enough to be in Melbourne for my television debut on Channel 31's "Nu Country" program. Unfortunately though they played the wrong clip and instead of John Corlette's excellent video of "The Runner" my dodgy powerpoint presentation video of "Home Town" was aired! d'Oh!

My Tv debut on Channel 31..they aired the wrong video...

Mum and Dad then came down and we had a good couple of days eating, watching the footy, and eating.

The Cases reunited.......awwwwww

Amanda and Mum went to a trendy dessert bar.....Dad brought his own  chocolate...

....and then splashed out on his dessert across the road at Maccas  - two 30 cent cones!!  Classic.

Steve and the folkers in Melbs

Saturday was spent with the mandatory AFL game and dinner on Lygon Street.

My smile belies the fact that I was friggin freezing

Dad does Lygon

Sunday we had a quick serve of birthday cupcakes before Mum and Dad returned back to Wagga.

Birthday cupcake before the Cases were de(?)united..

It was then time for me to get ready to transition back into solo steve mode. Melbourne was great but I'm definitely looking forward to getting back to the warmth of Darwin.

27/7/12 - 30/7/12

The next few days were spent in Adelaide or "Radelaide" as some like to call it...
I'd never been to South Australia before so everything was new to me.

(R)Adelaide

The Adelaide YHA was pretty swanky and reminded me a bit of what it would be like to be in the Big Brother house (or maybe I have a good imagination?).

YHA Adelaide....or Big Brother?

There was an Anime and Video Game Convention on this weekend and I was room mates with a couple of very odd nerds.
They were in their mid 20's and one had to leave early because his Mum called him and was worried about him and told him to come home then the other guy got in trouble from his Mum for staying on without his mate being there...it was like being on the set of Big Bang Theory...LOL!

Calling all Sheldons...

The weekend was spent just walking around and checking out the city.
Adelaide seems like a pretty civilised and inoffensive sort of place. A bit too cold for my liking but not unbearably so.
Over the weekend I saw:
The Markets...

mmmmmm Markets...

The Botanic Gardens...

mmmmmm Gardens...

The churches...

mmmmmm churches...

The Museums...

Mmmmmm Museums....

..and and an unfortunate last name...

mmmmm Coc....Oi! Wait a minute! No, no, no!

There was also some cool street art all about the place...



On Monday I jumped aboard The Overland train for a 10 hour trip to Melbourne where I'll catch up with my sister for a couple of weeks and Mum and Dad are coming down next weekend so the family can be together for Dad's 60th. Woo!

The Overland train - Adelaide to Melbourne