29^th June:Darwin

Our last day in Darwin. A very social day as well! After washing, we had lunch with Mary and Richard. Still the same Mary! She looks well and is full of life. Richard and Glen had a few quips to each other on the side and it made a change for Glen to have another male to talk to. We did lots of catching up and in the middle of it all the boys and their girls returned from camping. We don't see Tyler much but he is becoming more talkative and I really like Jaryd and his Emma. Nice young people.

Near here is an enormous FIFO camp for workers on the huge project to build a second gas storage and loading facility for the North Sea Shelf Gas Pipeline. The one alreeady in existence exports gas to SE Asia and China and this will double those exports. 5,000 workers live in air-conditioned dongers and have a 2 week turnover. Peter doesn't believe they contribute much to the economy as they only leave the camp to work, no cars but a fleet of 100 company buses and of course, they don't buy houses. 

 

Last night, we went with Karen to a regular Sunday night dinner at a friend's place. Lots of seafood cooked in the open kitchen in the entertainment area. This was one serious house! Pavillon style, very open with covered walkways between the pavillons. And running through the middle and to the back was a fantastic pool, lit with blue lights at night. A candidate for Kevin McCloud's Grand Designs! You would never be able to build it in Qld as there were no fences. (You don't need them in NT if you have 5 acres or more of land. Go figure! They had 8 acres.) There had been a 9th birthday party and there were 6 little boys and 3 bigger ones but honestly,there was so much room we didn't notice then. Blonde stone and matching marble everywhere. Beautiful! It took them 4 years to design and build and they've only been in it for a year.

It was a pleasant evening, with everyone lending a hand. But when we came home, we still had things to do to ready ourselves to move on to Litchfield NP where we will spend 2 nights. We'll have to cut one out of our stay in Kunnunurra to catch up!