Katherine, Northern Territory - Clear blue skies -          Temp High 34C      Distance - 513km

Very reluctantly we departed from Lake Argyle & set off on our journey to Katherine which is over the  border in the Northern Territory.   Soon after leaving Lake Argyle we crossed the state border from Western Australia into the Northern Territory.   At Katherine we had to make a decision as to whether we turned north to Darwin - only 320km north or travelled south on our way back to the Queensland border.

On the Lake Argyle Road back to the highway, we saw the first snake of our journey from Cooroy.  It was crossing the road minding its' own business.  Many overseas people are under the impression that there are snakes everywhere here but that is not the case although if you go bush you have to take sensible precautions such as shoes and long trousers and avoid long grass etc.



A Warning requesting care in preventing bush fires.

We refuelled before we left Lake Argyle and then again at Timber Creek.  Petrol is very expensive up here - $2.22 per litre.  HOW MUCH??

Timber Creek

Devonshire Teas at Timber Creek in the middle of nowhere????

Water in the rivers again! Wow!

BLONDE POWER!

We refuelled again at Victoria Crossing and we had to smile as we watched the following unfold......
As I pulled into the servo there was a ride-on mower parked by the pump with two bushies having a yarn.  The driver spotted me and attempted to start the mower so that he could move out of the way.  The two of them struggled to start the old mower to no avail and ended up pushing it out of the way.  We were refuelling when a tall young blonde came flying out of the office stepped in front of the two bushies, jumped on the mower and immediately started it!  I went in to pay and told the blonde that I liked her style.  She replied that was why she was paid "big bucks".  As I returned to the car, I diverted over to the 2 bushies still talking by the mower.  I told them it was a good job they had a blonde to start the mower for them.  They laughed, waved their arms & said "Get out of here!"  Then they turned round and shouted at Terry "Get her out of here" - all in good fun!  They are certainly good blokes out in the bush!

Victoria Crossing

Green bushy countryside once again - Great!

We arrived at Katherine & went into town to pick up some much needed supplies at Woolies. Katherine is not a big town but it has a big indigenous population. There are police patrols everywhere and also many Community Police even in the shopping centres.

We settled in for the night - thankfully a little cooler.  We decided to turn north to Darwin for a few days!