East Arnhem

Sunday 16th

Sunday was washing and cleaning up day.
We discovered this morning that our portable induction cooktop, which I use all the time was not working. We don’t think it liked all the corrugations on the road up here. Theo (aka, Mr Fixit) pulled it apart and was able to repair it by borrowing a portable soldering iron from the neighbour behind. I am so happy that it is now working as I am pretty sure that we would not be able to replace it here.

Rick then mentioned that he had a problem with his electric hotplate in his caravan, so he and Theo spent an hour or so crawling around under the van and in cupboards and managed to locate the problem. It is now working. Rick was so happy, he shouted us drinks with our dinner at the Boat Club.

Tomorrow, we plan to drive out to the Yirrkala Art Centre, about 26kms from here, as I would really love to bring home some local art. Then maybe fishing in the afternoon.

We have eaten at the Boat Club the last two nights, but it is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays so will eat at home tomorrow night. Bugga, that means I have to cook!

Tuesday 18th
We have been asking the caretakers if there is any chance of extending our stay, and today Danny said that we can stay 3 more nights, but tomorrow Tuesday they are full. He offered to let us move next to the camp kitchen for one night, then move to Site 12 for 3 more nights. We packed up and moved to the grassy area next to the camp kitchen, and Pat and Rick packed up to leave.

We sadly farewelled them, as they could not extend, and exchanged details so we can keep in touch. We had such a great time with them and loved their company and had so much fun and so many laughs. We were all like-minded, and Theo and Rick had a real ‘bromance’ happening. Rick said he ‘had a mate who drove a Ranger, Rob, he’s a good guy’, so many times that we finished the sentence for him every time he started talking about Theo’s ranger. Rick was a retired engineer, world travelled, with several degrees and interests, and Theo hung @#$% on him and Rick hung @#$% on Theo. All in fun, and we were always laughing. Pat said on leaving that she felt that we had packed 6 years-worth of dinners into 4 nights.

As we are now staying longer, we had to go online to sort out our NLC transit permit which expires on 22nd July. Turns out it was easy, I found the number and rang the office, quoted my permit number and it was extended over the phone.

Also, a Liquor permit is required to buy take-away alcohol. We did not arrange this before arriving as we thought we were only staying 3 nights and brought enough alcohol with us, but when we extended our stay, we needed to buy some more beer. The permit is issued by the Dept of Industry, Tourism & Trade in Darwin. Information is online, but the application form needs to be printed, scanned and then emailed with a copy of your driver’s licence.

We don’t have a printer, so I rang the office and Jodie suggested that we could get the form from one of the offices in town. We went to the Visitor Centre, and KK was very helpful. I completed the form, she copied my licence, then we went around the corner and put the application form in the letter drop box. 3 hours later, I received notification by email that my permit had been approved. Now all I had to do was produce my licence in the bottle shop and it would be scanned to see the status of my permit. Easy. And no restrictions on what we could buy. Thirsty Camel, here we come.....

While waiting for our site to be vacated, we went out in the boat, and dropped the line in for a couple of hours but had no nibbles. The water got very choppy, so we headed in. I got drenched every time we hit a wave, and really appreciated the long hot shower when we got back to camp.

In the afternoon, we drove past the wharf and walked down to the beach and fished from the rocks, but nothing was caught except a small turtle wanting to eat our squid bait for a quick meal. We let him have the bait and released him to go on his way. This is the second turtle Theo has snagged on his fishing line, the first one was at Etty Bay about 12 years ago.

After a long walk along the beach, then dinner and drinks at the Club, we had an early night. During the night we both became very itchy and realized that we had been attacked by sandflies. We wondered whether we got bitten while walking on the beach, or at the Club but are now pretty sure they may have come through our flyscreen door or windows during the night on the new site.
We both counted over 35 bites. Theo’s bites are itchy red lumps, but mine are driving me out of my mind. I have an allergy to them, and they swell to the size of a 20c or 50c piece. Itchy as hell. We went to the chemist and got some cream and antihistamines, and then had a lazy afternoon.

We turned on the air conditioner for the first time ever, and we had it on all afternoon and plan to leave it on tonight, so we don’t have to open the door or windows. We didn’t get any bites at our other site which had full sun, but the new site has more garden and is close to a sandy track. I sprayed some barrier/surface spray on all the fly screens and door and am not taking any chances with the horrible little insects coming inside.

Early morning and late afternoon, we now coat ourselves with Bushman's, Heavy Duty 40% Deet, turn on the Thermacel, light mozzie coils, or all of the above.Read more