22nd July
Nearly up to date so this one will be a hotch potch of bits and pieces of whats happened in the last weeks in no particular order.
We have been assailed by Jet noises all day and some of the night as Operation Pitch Black thunders on. This is an Air force operation between the RAAF, Singapore Air force the Indonesian Air force and a few Yanks and Kiwis thrown in as well. They had an open day at the end of it which was pretty special as you could get up close and talk to the guys involved.

                     A Sukhoi 27 single seat interceptor of the Singapore Air force.

                                             And a Sukhoi 30 two seater

                              An F16 Fighting Falcon of the Singapore Airforce.

                                       A Singapore  F15 Eagle

                             The business end where all your tax money comes out.

                    The Aussies were there as well with their Super Hornets.

                 An old Lockheed Orion long range surveillance Aircraft.

                A Kc135 refuelling tanker. An ex Boeing 707. I thought they had all been retired by now.
                          It did have later engines fitted though.

                       A Gulfstream G550 Airborne Early warning aircraft.

Thats enough Aircraft for one night.
More soon.
Cheers Helen and David.

19th July

I will concentrate a bit more on this post with stuff around the Lee point Caravan park.
We shifted from our first site as it got pretty hot in the Afternoon when the sun cleared the trees and shone straight into the Caravan. We moved to a site opposite from where we were, but under a big Mahogany tree.

A lot cooler in the afternoon when we get back from work. Oh didn't I mention that I scored a job in the caravan park cleaning the ablution blocks,all 7 of them. There are 14 in all in the park but we only do 7 of them. 48 toilets 48 showers and hand basins. I say we as Helen gives me a hand though she doesn't get paid but we get the job done in half the time which gives us the afternoon to do things,like sleep,relax or go sightseeing.

                                I have the choice of 2 company cars/Vans.

                     The Van I use most of the time is Delta.

We had a bit of excitement on the night of the 19th when a bush fire which had been burning in scrub a little way from the camp threatened to head our way with a predicted wind change.
The decision was made to back burn it and the first we knew was a smell of smoke and a red glow in the sky.

All very spectacular and glad it was burning away from us.

An interesting couple of hours with everybody at the camp peering through the fence to make sure it was burning away from us. All the Victorians were more worried than most and some were hosing their Caravan and Awnings down with water. I suppose they have seen more of this sort of thing than most of us.

Helen Di and Warwick looking for burning embers on the ground. There were a lot of them floating around.
For a week after there was black ash and stuff blowing around and getting in the Toilet blocks making a real mess and the cleaning a lot harder.

On our days off we cruised around Darwin soaking up the sites like Cullen Bay.

 A nice Marina and Helen managed to find the right place to relax.
More to come soon, now the Olympics have finished.
Bye for now.
Helen and David

13th July
As an addition to the WW2 theme we travelled to Mandorah which is directly opposite Darwin city across the bay,about 8km as the crow flys but a 180km round trip by road.
There is a nice Pub to have a meal but not a lot else. There is also a crashed Liberator Bomber from WW2 in the bush you can go and have a look at.

 This way through the bush on a rough bumpy track.
The tailplane assembly.

What is left of an engine.

 A part of a wing and an undercarriage leg.

The reason for the crash is unknown but it was either a low level run gone wrong or a mechanical failure. All 6 crew were killed.

This is the Mandorah Pub with a nice view across the bay to Darwin and unfortunately where I left the mobile phone,never to be seen again. Bugger

On the wharf at Mandorah with a map of the area above me.
More to come.
Cheers Dave and Helen.

13th July
To continue with the WW2 theme, there are a couple of old Airstrips beside the Stuart Highway as you approach Darwin. They were built behind the lines so to speak, but close enough to scramble fighters if Darwin was about to be attacked. They are the Strauss Airfield and the Hughes Airfield. They are not in any condition to land a plane on anymore but you can still drive down them.

                  Looking North up the Strauss strip with the Stuart Highway to the right.

A bit of History about the place.

                                                       Looking South.

Another place worth a visit in Darwin central, is the Oil Tunnels. These were dug into the hills after they realised that the above ground oil installation were a bit vulnerable to attack from the air. There are 6 tunnels under the hill all lined with steel and all piped up ready to go, but in the end were not required.

 Some of them are not open as they have water seeping into them.

 Some interesting history and Photos on the wall.

Me standing in the hole cut in the end wall so you can walk in, instead of having to squeeze in the square hole to the left. You can also see the big pipes that were going to be used to fill and drain the tunnels. On the other side were the big valves to control the flow.

Another spot of interest was the Quarantine Anti Aircraft Battery installation.
This is the biggest surviving installation left around Darwin.

 You can see the bolts for holding the gun down still there.

There was an underground control room, but I wasn't game to go down there as it looked like a Snake Pit.
Well that's enough about the War. There are other sites but well out of town and too far to go and visit.
Cheers
Helen and Dave

2nd June
We paid a visit to the defence of Darwin Museum at East Point Reserve and had a look around.
There was a lot stuff on show from the period of the Japanese raids on Darwin so it was really interesting.

A mock up of a service area of the time,complete with Horse. I thought a Camel would have been more fitting.

 One of the Guns looking out towards one of the big concrete gun emplacements.

A selection of Guns on display with an interested spectator!

And then there was the old Searchlight. The mirror was in good condition so a photo was in order. I had to invert it so you could see who was in there without standing on your head.

And then there was the big gun,all wood and steel tube. A reasonable replica I suppose but the irony of the whole deal is that the originals only fired one shot each as a test, then sat there for the rest of the War. There was no seaborne invasion from Japan so they were not required.
After the war they were sold to Japan for scrap metal,that's the irony.
With that I will go and watch some more Olympics on TV.
Cheers Dave and Helen