Ronnie's in Gray Palmerston NT

Arrive, feeling so happy to finally be in Darwin and to be catching up with Rog's best mate Ronnie. Ronnie is not at home, though it's obvious he's not planning to be away long, as music is playing and doors have the screens for airflow. Ronnie's place has room for us to park our caravan to one side of his home so we are doing that when he comes back. We finish settling the van and unhitching the ute, then Ronnie gives us the tour (Roger has been here before) of his place so we can make 'ourselves at home'. We will sleep in our van, and use Ronnie's down stairs bathroom as our ensuite. We sit on Ronnie's veranda (his home is 2 storeys) which is on the 2nd level (his vehicles - 3 bays - park underneath) and enjoy the view, some drinks and a chat. I get washing happening as we have 2 loads to do. Then Rog and I decide we have a few things we'd like to do at the shops, so we drive about Palmerston - post card., caravan key cut, check out solar panels, see if I can get a new screensaver on my mobile (didn't today). When we get back to Ronnie's it's pool time - Ronnie doesn't join us (water in his small pool is still too cold for him) - though he sits in the surrounds and chats. Gary (his older brother) turns up to say G'day which is great. Learne, Gary's wife, and their daughter Zoey arrive shortly after. By this time Rog and I out of the pool, I've had a shower and we've started organising tea. Gary and family don't stop for tea. Tonight with Ronnie we have chicken kebabs (spicy) with salad. After tidy up, Rog has his shower, and we stay chatting out on the veranda. I go and make a phone call to Jenny (Jen and Michael have started their fabulous tour Perth to Darwin, flying and yacht cruising). When I return to Rog and Ronnie we all agree time to call it a night. Back to our caravan, Rog straight to bed and I'm writing this up before my bedtime too.
Wednesday morning, thinking of Stacy and her family very much as they have the funeral of their Mum, Nan. Great Grandmother Lorraine East happening today. Rog and I get up around 7am. Roger goes and has breakfast in the house with Ronnie, I stay and have my porridge (just more convenient) in the van and do some updating of our budget books. Later in the morning Roger and I drive into Darwin, stopping at places on the way that could stock solar panels/blankets (pricing). While at one of these shops I purchase a fold up camp chair for Rog's birthday gift - have to pretend it's for me lol. 1st stop in Darwin is the Tourist Information Centre- stock up on brochures for ideas. Then we go walking about the shopping area - end up at a Woolworths getting the sunscreen we like at a better price ($19 instead of $28 for 400ml). Next we have lunch at Nonna Dumplings - very good. Go back to our car ($6 for 2hrs parking) and drive to a waterfront carpark ($5 for the day), so we can do the tour of the WW2 Oil Tunnels- amazing! Now we got walking and check out the Darwin City Waterfront precinct - love it! Stop and have a drink and a snack at Hot Tamaly, before going back to our ute to drive about and check out Cullen Bay area, really liking this place. Get some fuel in Parap, cheapest we've seen for a while $1.75 per litre. Go back to Ronnie's, I get another load of washing going, Roger disconnects the empty gas bottle off the caravan (so we'll remember to exchange it tomorrow), then it's pool time! Ronnie comes and joins us at the pool for drinks. Relax here until we feel we'd better get organised for tea. I go have a shower and give Ronnie's spare bathroom a clean, as grateful to have the use of it, then hang out our washing. Tea tonight is a slow cooker lamb casserole Ronnie has cooked for us - really tasty. After tidy up, do the dishes, I try to make a camp booking for Litchfield National Park - after numerous failed attempts, have conceded we'll have to ring tomorrow to see how we can book. Now relax in Ronnie's loungeroom chatting, I get a call from Raels so I go out on the veranda to chat 😀. Roger goes for a shower and then we all decide to call it a day - bedtime.
Thursday sees us up by 8am. Roger breakfasts with Ronnie in the house while I have my porridge in the caravan. Once we're organised we leave and go shopping around for a solar panel for our caravan set up, and get the gas bottle refilled. We also get some spare Anderson plugs, a battery pack and some Bluetooth ear buds. By this stage it's time for Riger's donating blood appt in Casuarina so we head there. While Rog is off donating, I have a quick call with Stacy, her Nan's funeral went as well as she could have expected, and her news that her passport is already on its way to her - yay! When this call finishes, I wander around the Casuarina Square Shopping Centre - all I purchase is 2 more sunscreens (stocking up on the one we like while we see it at a good price). I head back to the ute once Rog let's me know he's back there. Now we drive to the Museum, once there 1st thing we do is have lunch at the Cafe. Very nice, corn & zucchini fitters with avocado and poached egg for me, and eggs Benedict for Roger - both of us have cold drinks., OJ and soft ginger beer. Now enjoy a good 3 hours in the Museum - wonderful as it is free.
When we have finished at the museum, we drive to Darwin Sailing Club to have a drink and take in the magnificent seaview. Keen to get back to Ronnie's to relax and have a swim, so when we get back to Ronnie's, that's exactly what we do. I shower before tea - Roger using our thermomix to make a Mushroom risotto, and Ronnie cooking up some of his Barramundi- so very nice meal. Followed up with some watermelon for dessert. Tidy up, do dishes, then watch some TV with Ronnie, before Rog and I retire to our caravan to go to bed.
Friday morning up around 7am, Rog has breakfast in at Ronnie's, I have mine in the caravan. We get ourselves ready to leave on time to make sure we get to Crocodylus Park when it opens at 9am. We achieve this.
We have a beaut time here, about 4 hours, before heading to Palmerston Oasis shopping centre to get groceries for our planned picnic tea we're having tonight with friends Lisa and Tony. While here Roger gets his hair cut and I check out SpecSavers and make an appointment to get transition glasses. Then as I see a 50% off sale on eye liner tattooing, I make an appointment to get that done on the same day as well (Wednesday 4 September). Also while we are at this shopping centre I manage to get Roger to try on some hats, as he needs a new one, and we find him a good one. Yay, that's his birthday gift sorted. Time to get back to Ronnie's for a late lunch, we use up the leftover Mushroom risotto. Roger also has a quick dunk in Ronnie's pool to cool off. Next we get our picnic food and drinks organised, and I get in my bathers as well and we head off to Berry Springs to meet up with Lisa Sanders and her partner Tony. Google maps leads us astray a little, so we were later than our 4pm scheduled meet up time (Lisa and Tony were too!). All good.
Once we get back from this outing at 9.30pm we catch up with Ronnie in his home, before we head to our caravan for the night. Rog has a shower before bedtime. I sit up for a while, catching up 'budgeting books' and writing up this.
Saturday sees us happily having a 'rest day'. We did drive out, following Ronnie with his trailer he's building, to Gary and Learne' s place (live nearby) in the morning, but apart from that we stayed put at Ronnie's for the day. Also used this day to eat up our leftovers from previous meals, and general tidy up. Roger washed the ute.
Sunday sees us up at 7.30am, Roger has breakfast in the house with Ronnie, I have my porridge and cup of tea in our caravan. I go and use Ronnie's kitchen to make up a potato salad, and I use my thermomix to make a banana cake (we had 3 overripe bananas). Once I finished cooking, Ronnie offers to take Rog and I to Howard Springs to feed the Barramundi and turtles. We haven't had lunch yet, so we decide to get something on the way. As we're heading off we get a Whatsapp call from Tegan, a group chat as Robert has answered as well. Thankfully, Robert remembers (thanks maybe to Stacy? Lol) to wish his Dad a Happy Father's Day, so Tegan does as well. We stop at a Palmerston shopping centre and buy some Subway - which we take to Howard Springs and have at a picnic table there.
Once we get back to Ronnie's it's pool time for Roger and I (pool water still too cold for Ronnie). Ronnie happy to sit at the side of the pool chatting with us. I go for a shower, to be ready to leave around 4.30pm to go back out to Gary and Learne's for tea. As it's Father's Day Learne's Dad and her brother, and a lovely family friend Jazzy is there too. With Learne and Gary's children (young adults) Zoey and Josh there as well (still living at home) it's a lovely evening with a beaut group of people. Learne and Gary have been busy preparing a lovely meal, smoked brisket, roast lamb (this meat we provided for them to cook), roast chicken. potato bake, salads and Learne's sourdough foccocia. Followed by Sticky date pudding. Needless to say my potato salad wasn't really in demand, and I didn't produce my banana cake (it came back to Ronnie's). We leave and come home around 9.30pm - I drive Ronnie's car as both Ronnie and Roger have had a few drinks (I didn't have any tonight - just water). Roger goes and has a shower, then we all agree it's time to go get some sleep.Leia mais