Almost the birthday treat

Florence Falls I rose in good time to prepare myself for today's excursion which I had managed to eventually confirm last night. An 'interesting' sartorial statement! With instructions to wear good walking shoes and being aware of the expected temperature, I attired myself in a cotton summer dress and my walking boots. Not a look I would generally aspire to but one to make a teenage girl proud. Although I suspect to do that, they would need to be Doc Martens with platform soles.  Dragonfly on the path to  Wangi Falls It had been raining and while the forecast suggested otherwise it looked as if it might continue and we did in fact have a few short sharp showers during the morning and later in the afternoon. Upon pickup I was allocated the seat next to the driver which suited me beautifully. With a complement of nine passengers the tour set off and it was not long before we reached our first destination, Berry Springs. The hot springs raise the water ...

At the botanical gardens I put yesterday's clothes through the washing machine while I was having a shower but forgot that one really should not wash a brand new burgundy coloured fleece with white things. I no longer have white things. After a breakfast of leftover sushi, never as good as when fresh but still okay. I headed to the start of the hop on hop off bus tour, noting that there were many murals on the way but I didn't have time to look at them.  A Royal Flying Doctor aircraft I opted to do the complete circuit to start with, but did get off to visit the royal flying  doctor service museum. Very interesting, and combined with the bombing of Darwin museum it provided interest and education for a bit over an hour. Hopefully, the only time I get to see the interior of a RFDS plane With time to kill, I headed round to some of the eateries and opted for a plate of prawns which I consumed, watching over the harbour and watching a group of, presumably tourists, on jetskis nur...

Sunset over Darwin The journey to Darwin was relatively uneventful as all good flights ought to be.  The Uber was outside and waiting before the appointed time, the flights left relatively on time. I had booked and paid for the comfort of extra legroom and I had the bonus of no one reclining their seat in my face, no oversized person in the seat next to me trying to share my seat as well, and no obnoxious children behind me. I emailed sushi X from Melbourne with my order for dinner and pick up time and then rang them to make sure the email hadn't disappeared into junk.  The Jetstar seats were not exactly luxurious. I'm not sure who designed them, but they must have a very strangely shaped back.  As we passed over outback New South Wales, South Australia and Queensland and into the Territory I noted just how brown everything is, but also how sculpted it was with water courses.  Landing in Darwin, I saw the extensive array of military aircraft; I hadn't rea...

 In thinking about where I wanted to spend my birthday this year, a conversation with a bushwalking friend led me to investigate Kimberley cruises. Apart from her passing on her friend's preferred company, which would cost an arm and a leg, and a kidney if I wanted to secure a solo passage in a decent cabin, I did find that Kimberley cruises do not operate around my birthday. Not to be deterred, I investigated further, with the specifications that I wanted small group, solo cabin and ensuite. The agency provided a couple of options, one of which met all my specifications, so I looked at dates and flights and booked. My flight specifications involved leaving Hobart at a civilized time and getting into Darwin at a civilized time.  This unfortunately involves Jetstar, but the Flight Centre managed to ticket it for me on the one ticket. My flight specifications back from Broome involved minimal air time, and finding that there is a single direct flight from Broome to Melbourne eac...