Corroboree Billabong

Crocodile looking very pre-historic 

Bruce and Julie organised a Boat Cruise on the Mary River from Corroboree Billabong (part of the Mary River Wetlands and home to the largest concentration of saltwater crocodiles in the world).  At 7.30 am a convoy set off arriving at Corroboree Billabong at 8.30 am and boarding a houseboat for our day out on the Mary River.  We enjoyed breakfast, bacon and eggs, and BBQ lunch on the houseboat plus the weather was great for cruising up the river.  We saw quite a few crocodiles and heaps of birdlife and thoroughly enjoyed the relaxing day.

From the moorings it looked so tranquil, so was keen to head off.

We headed out from the marina and further along the billabong.

It was only around the first corner when we spotted this Jabiru.

We passed through narrow sections with water lilies on the banks, then the billabong opened up.

It wasn't too long before we spotted the first crocodile

 Went over for a closer look before he slowly disappeared under the water.

White-bellied Sea-Eagle

This was one of the largest crocodiles we saw on the day.

View from the front of the boat watching for crocodiles and the occasional fishing boat

Fishing party looking for a good spot to cast in a line.

Juvenile Comb-Crested Jacana (Lily-trotter)

Crocodile under the trees

Very relaxing as we slowly cruised along the water way

More traditional houseboats on the water, ours was more of a day BBQ/party boat.

White-bellied Sea-Eagle

Bruce and Julies

A nice quiet site surrounded by bush

After 4 weeks at Darwin River we decided to move back to Bruce and Julie's property at Noonamah, a bit closer to Darwin and easier to drive to doctor appointments and catch up with other friends before leaving Darwin. We had planned to stay for a week maybe two but as the leg needed attention we stayed another 4 weeks.
This also gave us time to do some extra day trips, one was to Gunn Point and another a cruise on the Corroboree Billabong, both have separate posts.

One of the Whistling Kites which Norm would feed.

Unfortunately I had quite a large cancer cut out of my lower leg and the cut became infected - luckily the infection was picked up early and antibiotics prescribed. Seemed to take forever to heal and we were visiting our Doctor more than doing anything else in Darwin!

Looks good here after the op, then broke some stitches and got an infection.

Had another catch up with Karen, Con and Richard at the Mindil Markets and visited the iconic Humpty Doo Pub for lunch (a must if visiting Darwin).

Richard forced me to get some vanilla slices from the "Naughty Corner" at Mindil Markets, yummy!!

With having extra time in Darwin I decided to have a GVM upgrade fitted to the Toyota, Initially we arranged for this to be done at TJM and booked in for a day. After getting Helen out of bed early one morning with the promise of a breakfast we dropped off the car and headed into Darwin having a nice breakfast near where Helen use to work. Just as we finished we received a call from TJM to let us know that they didn't have the required parts.  I was not happy as we had booked this in 4 weeks prior and I had rung during this time to check they had the parts and was reassured they where in stock.  Needless to say I cancelled the work and picked up our car.  I then called into L&S Suspension who gave me good customer service and explained the different options which they could do within 2 weeks. As we had to stay for my doctor appointments I booked it in and had GVM upgrade done.

Found another lump on my wrist where doctor had previously cut cancer out, so had to have another procedure.  Leg had not healed properly so delayed our leaving Darwin until the all clear was given.

Meanwhile we went to the Speedway again and attended the Shannons Rockabilly Classic Car Show at the Noonamah Pub.

Always a good night at Hidden Valley Speedway

Rockabilly Classic Car Show, was entertained by Little Billy band in the beer garden of the Noonamah Pub

Rockabilly Classic Car Show

Rockabilly Classic Car Show

Before leaving Darwin we took Jenny and Frank to lunch at the Palmerston Tavern.  After our final visit to the doctors we were given the OK to leave with instructions to have the stitches out in a weeks time.  Did enjoy our time in the Territory (even though most of the time we were visiting doctors!).  After nearly 5 months in Darwin we are ready to move on and experience new adventures.

Wagait Beach

We made a days outing to visit Wagait Beach for lunch, a 67 km drive from the Stuart Hwy where you reach the Charles Point Road. To the east it's a short drive to Mandorah and a view across the bay to Darwin CBD. A ferry crosses at this point daily taking commuters to work and back, plus tourists.  The warf is also a good fishing spot and on our visit there would have been 6 or 8 people fishing.

We had a walk out onto the jetty then returned and drove back a short distance to Wagait Beach. Even though we had been here previously we drove through the community and found a beach access to check out. I was able to get the drone out and take some photos which I hadn't been able to do previously.

Wagiat Beach, houses along the beach front.
Just see Darwin in the background across the harbour.

Looking east towards Charles Point along Wagait Beach

From Wagait Beach we headed back to the Charles Point Rd and a further 5 km towards Charles Point to visit the remains of the B24J Liberator Bomber, "Milady" which is a short distance on a dirt track from the road. What actually happened on 17/1/1945 to the US Army Air Force 30th Bombardment Group's B-24J-15-CO Liberator bomber aircraft nicknamed Milady will never be known for certain.  The four-engine bomber with a crew of 6 left the Darwin RAAF base for training bombing mission at Quail Island and it was Lt Bobby Neal's first mission in this aircraft as pilot-in-command. Some account talks of a fire on board before the crash, although there are no reports of a distress call or the bomber having been sighted on fire by the many military personnel based on the Cox Peninsula before it crashed.

Just off the Charles Point Rd, Cox Peninsular are the remains of the
 B24J Liberator Bomber, "Milady"

A wing section of the Wreck of B24J Liberator Bomber, "Milady"

After visiting the plane wreck we got back onto the Charles Point road and travelled a further few kilometers to power pole 53 (directions given to me from a local when we lived in Darwin) and took this track through the bush until it came out onto the beach.  From here we followed the beach further west past numerous camp spots until we found a shady spot to ourselves over looking the bay for lunch.

From our lunch spot looking west towards Wagait Beach

Our view for lunch

A nice shady spot for lunch

Just enjoying the view