Our first stop on the road to Daly River saw us pull into the little town of Adelaide River. With no fuel needed our main reason for the stop was to once again enjoy a relaxing walk around the immaculate gardens of the Adelaide River War Cemetery. Kylz and I have visited this park before but it is always a nice place to pull up for a bit of a rest and some quiet contemplation of the efforts and sacrifices made by others during the earlier war years. The place is so well looked after and not something you would expect to find in the little roadside town in the middle of nowhere.

Turning toward Daly River we found ourselves on a very rough, narrow and twisty stretch of bitumen. This first 30km were thankfully the worst and after one more turn off the last 70km into Daly River is a breeze. After some discussion with fellow travellers Carol and Kev (from Mackay also remember) we had decided to put up at the Woolianna Tourist Park. Now this one is a little bit further down the river and along about 8km of reasonable dirt road, however it boasts shady sights and green grass as well as a pool to keep the girls entertained. With the weather heating up we were all pretty happy with the pool.

Upon arrival we found Carol-K had just pulled up in front of us and were setting up. One of our biggest surprises so far happened when Kylz opened the door to our van. The rough road must have shaken one of the over-head cupboards open and sent supposedly unbreakable plates plummeting to their doom below! A couple of smashed plates and a bowl were the only real casualties and we were both left pondering as this is the first time that anything like that has ever happened, apart from the occasional stray tin of baked beans leaping for freedom as you carelessly open the higher cupboards after a long drive!

Once that was all sorted and a tinnie was firmly in my grasp, we headed down to the river front boat ramp and pontoon to see what we would be up against in our battle to bag a Barra! Now Kev had beaten us down there and as we arrived he was already releasing a small Barra of about 35 cm lengths. That had us all excited let me tell you! I can tell you that Kev actually ended up catching 3 of those small barra from that little area so the fish were well and truly biting. He was outdone by his wife Carol though, her personal bag of 13 Sooty Grunter (Black Bream) was a fair effort from the bank of the river.

The rest of that first day was taken up with a drive into Daly River itself for a bit of a tour and a look at the river crossing. That doesn't take long, trust me! There was still just under a metre of water running hard over the causeway and not much hope of a fish from that point. Daly River is a fairly basic little place with a shop, pub and caravan park as well as cop shop and a couple of shacks. The place must really liven up as the town and river host two huge Barra fishing comps each year, the Nationals and the Classic. There are a couple of caravan parks and fishing huts out along the road to our park tucked among mango plantations and hidden just off the road. Only one other of these parks, Banyan Farm, looked any good and the one other that we drove into to enquire about hiring a boat was a real SHOW!! The bloke told me that they had been having some trouble with the motor and that a bit of water had been getting in to it, but it was "nothing to worry about"?? F@#K YOU! I said have you seen the size of the crocs in that river and jumped back in the car and headed back to camp!

The next day heralded the arrival of our friends from Kakadu, Andrew and Janine. After a catch up and a beer Andrew and I decided we would hire a boat from the park to give us a better chance of catching the so far elusive Barramundi. The fishermen returning from down the river all seemed to be getting good fish and some big ones amongst them! Now I can shorten the story a bit for you all here, we got our boat and out on the water by about 8am the next day. For those who have not seen the Daly River it is truly a massive stretch of water. It has it all, really long wide stretches, sweeping bends and beautiful postcard scenery. However it is also home to some well hidden from view rock bars, sandbars that appear from nowhere, massive submerged prop stopping logs (even Pete and Ryan would have trouble hitting them all!) and not to mention some of the biggest "Croc's" I have seen in the wild! So after one quick stop on the way downstream to "polish" the prop on a sandbar we arrived at our chosen starting point, the aptly named "No fish creek".

The fishing really started with a bang as after only a couple of trolling runs I had landed an almost legal barra of 50cm. Being a specially declared Barra breeding area you are only allowed to have two Barra in your possession at any time. The 55cm size limit is still the same. After a couple more trolling runs I was on again and this time we had a keeper at 60cm. To say I was excited was an understatement! Relief was also present, as I was feeling the pressure of helping, my "Crow Eating" mate, Andrew land his first Barra. Him, being a pro fisherman to, I don't think he was keen to go home to Janine empty handed! It did not take long though as only a few minutes later while casting around one of the very promising snags Andrew was on and landed his maiden Barra.

Now after the excitement settled down and we had caught and released a few more little fellas and chatted to plenty of our fellow fishermen that were down that part of the river we came to the conclusion that the turning tide, from low to high, had been our window and it was now well and truly gone and the barra with it! So happy enough with our efforts we headed home. The girls were excited to tell me all about their "Girls Day" they had had with Mum and Janine. Charli managed to ask about a million questions while I cleaned our fish for dinner. Janine and Kylz cooked up our catch and we all enjoyed a few drinks and a feed of fish and chips to cap off our Daly River adventure.

We spent one more day at our river camp and then it was time to once again pack up and move on. Now this time we also were saying good-bye again to Andrew and Janine as well as Carol and Kev and Isla and John. We were heading into Katherine to again soak up a bit of Nick and Kerryn's NT hospitality. Given that the weather was really heating up that was not all we soaked up!? We arrived at a pretty busy time for Nick and Kerryn as they were starting construction of their new house. So in between cans of XXXX Gold we managed to help Nick prep his house pad, fit the plumbing and then finally pour the concrete slab. Now this few days, spent mostly re-familiarising myself with the most basic of all tools, the "D1", are the closest yours truly has come to hard labour this year and let me tell you it did hurt a bit! Ahh but sitting around in the shade and sharing a few cans with some of Nick and Kerryn's mates while watching the concrete set made it all worthwhile.

Once again the girls kept themselves busy playing with Elyse and running around checking on the condition of all Nicks menagerie at regular intervals. The arrival of a baby Goat and the 10 piglets were a highlight for the girls and Douglas the duck performing his afternoon fly-by sent them over the edge. All kids really do respond well to animals and I think the girls will miss it all a bit when they get back home. Watching how at ease little Elyse is around all the animals and the goings on of Nick and Kerryn's little operation opens your eyes to the benefits of teaching them early. Young kids really do pick things up probably quicker then we give them credit for.

While in Katherine this time Kylz was not going to let me dodge taking her to Edith Falls a third time! So we loaded the girls and a little picnic lunch into the Patrol and we set off out to Edith Falls which is only about 60km away. We chose to take the 1km walk up to the top pool first as this was a strenuous as it was to get for the day and I wanted to get that out of the way, straight up! The walk did involve a bit of a climb up the first ridge and then a flat stretch followed by a bit of a scramble over some bigger rocks down into the pool itself. Now in the course of writing my little yarns this year I have used about every bunch of words I know and even probably made a few up to describe the various amazing rock features and waterfalls we have come across so take my word for it this one is also up there with the best of them.

A bit of a slippery slide across the rocks and we were in the freezing cold water and having a ball. Even Chelsea was in and paddling her noodle around, while Charli was her usual mad self. Now dragging ourselves out and back down the hill was a bit of a strain but with the thought of, a bit of lunch and then another swim in what is described as the number one waterfall and pool to be seen in the NT, helped make the walk back down more enjoyable as we casually wandered along listening to Charli and Chelsea chatting away to each other.

Our picnic was enjoyed as nature had intended man to eat, with his hands and sitting on the ground under a shady tree. So after this we were off to check out Edith Falls proper! It truly is one of the best you can imagine. The beautiful clear water (cold as! naturally) fills a huge pool easy a couple hundred metres round and its main feature, the awesome waterfall, make it really an amazing natural setting. It is complemented by concrete steps and handrails leading down into the water pool that make access a breeze for people of all ages and abilities. Now I have to add this bit in as Nick actually asked if I noticed the steps into the water, because as he let us know he helped to pour them and set it up the way it is today when he was first in Katherine. Well done mate! Once again Chelsea's fear of water with fish in it saw her sit this one out!? Strange how she decides where she can and can't swim, but the rest of us "filled our boots", so to speak. There really are few pleasures that can match enjoying a swim in a crystal clear, pristine, freshwater pool or stream in this great country of ours. One of life's simple pleasures we can all enjoy, rich and poor alike, because everyone feels like a king or queen in places like Edith Falls.

We were also able to catch up with another good mate of ours this trip into Katherine, Nick's older brother Kim and his wife Jim. (long story, but two Kim's is pretty confusing!) A BBQ and a night full of telling old yarns left a few of us feeling a bit "greasy" the next morning. A visit out to Kim and Jim's had the girl's wheels really spinning, as Kim showed them around his herd. This includes a bullock, water buffalo, dog named Peg and a salt water crocodile!? The two girls were over the moon! This drive also took us out to the Katherine Gorge. Now having already paddled and toured the gorge previously we decided the girls would enjoy a couple hours in the resort pool as much as being dragged around all the walking tracks. So guests or no guests, we enjoyed a lunchtime dip and let the girls loose in what is a very nice pool area.

Also while staying in Katherine, Nick and Kerryn invited us along to watch them play touch-football in their local league. Lack of numbers, not just the unmistakeable raw talent let me tell you, saw yours truly pull on the boots for a couple of games with the NFI green machine. Now it would have been nice to secure a victory but it was not to be our night and despite a brave showing from all the team we were run down in a close one! Well, maybe we were flogged a little bit!!? The girls, and Kylz, thought it was hilarious watching Dad run around and were even giving me a tune-up for "falling over" and "dropping the ball" at half time! The whole team really enjoys the run and gets on well, and we enjoyed meeting them all and sharing a story with them all about our travels for the year.

Our time in Katherine came to an end all too soon. I could easily have stayed longer as catching up with Nick and Kim, two lads I have known since school, is something that does not occur often enough. Eventually though we were stocked up and ready to leave on the same day as the first blocks were laid for Nick and Kerryn's house. So after saying good-bye we this time headed west, as we set sail for Victoria River, only a couple hundred km's along the highway.