• Cathy Pendergrast
  • Graham Pendergrast
  • Cathy Pendergrast
  • Graham Pendergrast

2024 The Lap

Una aventura de 245 días de Cathy & Graham Leer más
  • Darwin

    31 jul.–4 ago. 2024, Australia ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

    We left Kakadu after a lovely stay at the Aurora Caravan Park (powered site and a great pool). We stopped for coffee and saw buffalo at Bark Hutt Inn, passed some huge termite mounds and after grocery shopping, overnighted at Strangy's Place. The next day was spent in Darwin. At the time, Darwin was holding the defence exercises, `Pitch Black`. This was a joint France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Republic of Korea, Singapore, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States and Australia exercise. We saw a large convoy of military vehicles and saw fighter jets in the sky's throughout our stay.
    We walked the Botanic Gardens, Waterfront Precinct, and Mindil Markets before spending late afternoon and evening at the Darwin Sailing Club (thanks to a recommendation from Robyn).
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  • Darwin Sailing

    3–4 ago. 2024, Australia ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    As we planned on being in Darwin on the weekend, we checked in with the sailing club to see if there might be any opportunities to help for the day. Graham offered his services but was asked if he would like to skipper an Elliott 7 keelboat for some match racing. The result was Graham steering a boat for a 2 day match racing competition. Having never competed in match racing before he enjoyed some close quarters racing and finished the weekend in third out of four teams. Good fun and a very friendly group.Leer más

  • Litchfield NP - Florence Falls

    5–7 ago. 2024, Australia ⋅ ☁️ 31 °C

    Termite mounds were the first stop on entering Litchfield. This area demonstrates 2 different types, Cathedral mounds that reach 5 metres high and Magnetic mounds that are narrow edges facing North/South and broad faces East/West (always allows a cooler side to retreat to).
    From here we stopped at Bluey Rockholes for a cool and relaxing soak.
    At our Florence Falls campground, we once again met up with Doug and Denise who we originally met in Eugella for a swim in the Florence pool and an enjoyable evening catching up on our travels.
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  • Litchfield NP - Wangi Falls

    7–9 ago. 2024, Australia ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C

    We left Florence Falls and continued West on the bitumen stopping at Tolmer Falls. This area has significance for its bat colonies and has a viewing platform looking over the expanse of Litchfield.
    Our next stop was Wangi Falls. This place was busy throughout the day with lots of day visitors and tour groups. It even had a small cafe!
    We went for an investigative walk up to the lookout through monsoon forrest. The resident flying fox colony was very noisy and we enjoyed the short walk before spending the rest of the day (and the next) swimming and relaxing.
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  • Litchfield NP - Surprise Creek Falls

    10–11 ago. 2024, Australia ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    Initially, we had planned to take the Reynold Creek Track south through Litchfield, but the first river crossing was at 600mm, meaning that we would risk water coming through our doors - not something we wanted to risk. We decided to forgo our campsite booking at Sandy Creek and take the long way around to Surprise Creek Falls. We stopped overnight in a powered site at Adelaide River Inn. We had a lovely meal, swam, and enjoyed some air conditioning overnight before driving to Robin Falls on the way to Surprise Creek Falls.
    Getting to Surprise Creek Falls required a short trip off-road with a few water crossings. Our number plate managed to stay on this time.
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  • Lazy 🦎 @ Pine Creek

    11–12 ago. 2024, Australia ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C

    After leaving Surprise Creek Falls, we had planned to head to a campsite near Daly Waters, but we found out it was closed for the rest of this season.
    It was still too early to head towards Katherine so we looked to see if Maguk had opened. When we first entered Kakadu, this waterhole was closed as there had been damage to the roads during the wet season. When we googled, we found it had opened a few days earlier. This was a bit far to go in one day so we stopped again at the Lazy Lizard. Graham managed to get a look around the car museum on-site there.Leer más

  • Lake Argyle Cruising

    17–19 ago. 2024, Australia ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C

    We organised a sunset cruise through Lake Argyle Cruises. Claire was a fantastic guide, and we spent four hours learning about the dam's creation and the wildlife found there. We then enjoyed nibbles and champagne whilst watching the sunset on the water.

    Being out on the water was so enjoyable that we hired a Tinny the next morning. The drone gave us some fantastic shots.
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  • Kununurra - Mirima National Park

    18–21 ago. 2024, Australia ⋅ 🌙 27 °C

    In Kununurra, we stayed at the Hidden Valley Caravan Park, from which you can walk directly into Mirima National Park. This area was like a mini Lost City with amazing eroded rock formations. The weather here has started to heat up, with maximum temperatures around 35 degrees, so we walked this area early in the morning.
    While at Kununurra, we took the opportunity to grocery shop and look around the galleries on the main street. The Artlandish Aboriginal Art Gallery displayed some amazing Indigenous paintings.
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  • The Ivanhoe Crossing

    20 de agosto de 2024, Australia ⋅ 🌙 29 °C

    The Ord River's Ivanhoe Crossing is one of several iconic river crossings. Unfortunately, the flow is too high right now, and the road is closed, but that didn't stop us from getting some amazing photos!
    On the way home, we visited Ord Metal Art and Kimberly Ornamental Stone Art both of which produced some fantastic pieces - alas, we have no space to store souvenirs (or spare money to pay for them).
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  • Spring Creek

    21–22 ago. 2024, Australia ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    This was a day excursion from Kununurra that ended up as an overnight stay. We drove along Valentine Spring Road to check out Black Rock Spring and have a look if we could make it to Spring Creek Falls. Reviews for Spring Creek falls suggested it might be difficult with a number of water crossings. An hour (to cover 10 km) and twelve water crossings later, we arrived at beautiful pools and falls that made the trek worthwhile. We had planned to return to Kununurra, but the lure of soft light for photography and not wanting to get stuck somewhere on the way back close to dusk had us free camping there for the night and enjoying a morning swim before returning.Leer más

  • Zebedee Springs & Pentecost Crossing

    23 de agosto de 2024, Australia ⋅ ☀️ 36 °C

    After yesterday's trek, Graham and I felt a little body weary. We had a slow breakfast before deciding to visit Zebedee Springs. This destination was only an easy 10-minute walk from the car park through Livistona Palms to some thermal pools. This is usually a bustling spot, so we were ready to find it crowded, but luckily for us, many groups were departing, leaving the springs relatively quiet. Much to Graham's disgust, the pools were warm—we think about 32 degrees—so not refreshing. I, on the other hand, found a secluded comfortable spot and spent the next hour relaxing to the sound of birds and gurgling water.

    The Pentecost River Crossing was next on our list of places to visit today. This is another iconic water crossing located at the eastern end of the Gibb River Road and has a great view of the Cockburn Ranges.
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  • Walardi NP - Tunnel Creek

    1 de septiembre de 2024, Australia ⋅ ☀️ 36 °C

    We've spent the last couple of nights enjoying a powered site at Fitzroy Crossing. The temperature has been hitting at least 40 degrees every day over the last week. This has prompted us to review our plans somewhat. I've been rearranging bookings whilst Graham has been editing photos.
    Today we've begun an overnight trip off bitumen to a couple of sites before heading to the WA coast for some sea breeze relief.

    The first site was Tunnel Creek, and it was a bit of an adventure: You climb down through a cave entrance into knee-deep water and an underground cavern to walk, wade, or swim along the creek, viewing the cave formations and fauna (bats, freshwater crocodiles and fish). At the end of the cave, there is a short track to view some indigenous artwork.
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