Australia Day Long Weekend

On Australia Day there was a Ute Run and there were lots of ute's like this one proudly showing the Aussie Flag.

On Sunday I storm-watched at Stokes Hill Wharf.

The pearling family Paspaley's received Australia Day honours.
"For service to business and commerce through the marketing and promotion of pearls and Australian designed jewellery,and to the community. " This is one of their pearling vessels Paspaley 4, built in Norway.

On the Fort Hill Wharf there was a controversial vessel,the trimaran ACV "Triton". I was curious as to why the ABC Darwin News Crew were filming the vessel behind the tug. It appears that there is an industrial dispute over the crewing of the Customs vessel. Read more!!

A brief stop at Knuckey's Lagoon to check out birdlife. There were quite a few Magpie Geese flying and settling for the night, as well as Magpie Larks and a couple of Egrets

Colour on a Saturday morning

Seen in a plastic cube,a very small lizard.

I then put it out on the grass.

Frog in jar

Last night there was quite a noisy thunderstorm. When I went out to check the state of affairs, this little guy jumped inside the living room.I coached him into the empty cookie jar and then showed him to the door, well at least the front porch.

Hugh's new wheels

Hugh found driving 120km a day to work at Berry Springs and back was costing $$$'s so a new set of wheels has been acquired, a very tidy Volkswagen Polo.



A quick trip to the car wash

Parap market on Saturday morning

Parap Market was as usual a busy colourful place to be on a Darwin Saturday morning.

Hugh has had a busy week at work, helping to clean up the damage from Cyclone Helen and working in two locations, Window on the Wetlands as well as the Territory Wildlife Park.

My first trip to Fogg Dam for 2008

I took a drive alone out to Fogg Dam this morning. Saw a small number of birds,

a lizard, quite a few dead Cane toads. Plenty of water about so that's perhaps why the birds were hard to find as there are many ponds of water also along the Arnhem Highway.

Found in our pool Limnodynastes convexiusculus

Sadly it did not survive the experience, it was dead when removed from the leaf trap

Cyclone Helen blows hard in Darwin

Many large trees around Darwin like these African Mahogany were pushed over by Cyclone Helen on Saturday morning.


Days of monsoonal rain had allowed the soil to be really wet and 110km winds did the rest.

Lunch with friends..

One of my final visits last week was to friends of Barbara,Graham and Ellen and their daughter Claire.


After lunch there was time for a dip in the pool.

New Years at Iron Bank ....

I spent New Years Evening at Wayne and Jo's enough said about Wayne and Stan, Barbara's brothers in law!! They were the life of Wayne's party and also put in appearances next door as well. Not sure of Stan's Brett Whitely look alike appearance in his sister-in-laws sarong,


but then he is a Kiwi I am told...