In Adelaide River..............

 It is Wednesday afternoon, and this post will catch you up with the latest newsfromjude, and covers our few days here at Adelaide River...........

Barry went to the bore at the Showgrounds to check out the pump etc in the shed, as a farmer would do. And another camper started chatting to him, and before long they were comparing caravans as both had the same brand and design.....won't be long he said as I waited by the car......a 'short' time later they finished inspecting each others vans and we departed for our day checking out Adelaide River and surrounds. I made good use of the time to make some phone calls.

Our first stop for the day was at the Adelaide River War Cemetery. This place is immaculately kept and maintained and full of information. 

                                      

              

             

This is the headstone for a local lad that was killed at the age of 22years.

There is a lot of information here about what happened in the north of Australia. I was amazed at how much Australia was attacked by Japan in  WW2! Why weren't we taught all this information in our school lessons? 

There was a video playing and interviews with men who were directly affected by the invasion. It was certainly an education for me to find out all this.

It was a very moving place and we will be doing some more fact finding in Darwin at the museums there.

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The vegetation has changed as we came north and also the rock formations have changed colour from the red further down to lighter now.

I mentioned the termite nests earlier, and here are some on the roadside. They have got bigger as we came north and you can see them easier in this photo as the roadside has been burnt to reveal them.

Much of the roadsides have been cool burnt as a hazard reduction process. 

Further on we came across these extra large termite nests..............

....and this was a photo opportunity for me so that you can see just how tall they actually are.

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We were now in the Litchfield National Park and here is the first place we found........Florence Falls.

This place was amazing, so quiet and peaceful, and I took the photos from the viewing platform, as I was NOT going to climb down and back up again, the 139 steps to the bottom. We could see a lot of people down at the bottom swimming in the water.

The view of the trees at the other end of the valley.

Our next port of call was to the Wangi Falls.................

This photo taken from the viewing platform also...............

.............and we asked another tourist to take a photo of us in front of the falls.................

There were many people swimming in this water hole, and Barry is here wondering if he was going to be brave............the water here was much colder than that of the Thermal Springs............

......and here is the smile after he did get in!! Once again, I declined. I used to love swimming but gave away my swimming gear many years ago..........should I go shopping??

There were many other places on the map to see, but it was getting late in the afternoon by now, and the temperature had reached 35degrees. We did a 270km round trip through the park area, before heading back to the van at Adelaide River.

We enjoyed a yummy evening meal at the Adelaide River Inn, and once again listening to live country music........one meal of Barramundi and the other Pork Ribs.

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Yesterday's adventure was a crocodile cruise. Thankfully this one was not live, and Barry wondered if he needed his teeth cleaned?

This was the boat we cruised up the river on to see the crocodiles............

                            .................as we set off this was the bridge crossing the Arnhem highway................

.............as the boat travelled up the Adelaide River, we could see crocodiles just under the water on the muddy banks..........

The boat operators hung meat out the side of the boat on a rod, for the crocs to jump up and eat.............

The river edges were muddy and swampy and full of crocs, so not a place to go walking around in..... there are warnings all over the territory to be careful where you walk or swim...........

The birdlife was amazing and I would like to have taken a better shot as they flew overhead........

......so I went online and found a photo of one of the birds that we saw, although I don't know what they are called.

It was a lovely afternoon and a slight breeze was blowing. although by the time we disembarked the sun had a 'bite' in it.

Driving along the highway we saw many fruit trees and market gardens. I wondered what the trees were, and later learnt that they were mangos. 

Since yesterday afternoon, I have spent considerable time sorting my photos and writing for newsfromjude. Today we did domestic duties, which including these 2 catching up posts and Barry spent time on his laptop doing  EOFY (End of Financial Year) duties.

Tomorrow morning we pack up again and head up the Stuart Highway further to Darwin. This is the only capital city in Australia that I have not been to, so am looking forward to Barry showing me the sights. He has been before, although not for some years.

Be back in a few days,

Blessings, From Jude