The agricultural show at Kununurra was a hit, it reminded us of the Ballymoney show but with some subtle difference, the Cowboy races for example.It felt a little odd being a tourist in a community fair, checking out the local schools art displays and seeing how big they can grow their water melons and pumpkins! After the show we hit the local pub for a bit of local talent, some country music. But we didn't feel far from home since the bar staff were Irish, and we ended up drinking with some guys from Tyrone. Quite a travelling nation!

We spent the next morning in a Canadian Kayak in the lagoon just beside our campsite. It was a beautiful morning, blue skies and lots of wildlife, including fresh water crocs, storks and dragonflies on the lily leaves, Kim was a bit worried because the kayak was ancient and leaking and there were crocs in the lake.

We drove from here to Lake Argyle, an impressive manmade lake, around 18 times the volume of the Sydney harbor. The view from the visitors centre that evening made us stay the night at the campsite. Before they flooded this area right in the centre was a farm station, called Argyle Downs, originally owned by a man from Co. Clare. The Durack family built up a farming empire in the region and their story is pretty impressive (if you like a bit of farming that is).

After checking out the dam we drove on to Katherine and got ourselves a Motel. Not because we were bored with the drab interior of Audrey, but because the world cup final was on! We also spent 4 nights in Nitmiluk national park (Katherine Gorge). A real highlight for us was a 2 day canoeing trip along the gorge. We got a 2 person canoe loaded with our tent and food and off we went. We camped on a sand bank on the edge of the river under the vast milkyway. It was hard work as between each of the nine gorges there were rock bars with rapid which we had to negociate, at one point Brian managed to face plant himself into one of the rock pools after he lost balance when I told him to look at the beautiful scenery.I also had a mishap due to the amazing surroundings, I was holding onto the canoe while Brian went ahead to see the best route to go through the rapids, but I let go, for just a second, to take in the surroundings and the next thing I knew the canoe was drifting down stream! Fortunately Brian caught it.

Our final stop on the way to Darwin was Leitchfield national park. We camped here for our last night and enjoyed various waterfalls and rock holes. We even found Edith falls, named after Edith McKeown, the intrepid Northern Irish explorer!

And now we're in Darwin, having spent the day at a wine and jazz festival in Botanic gardens and sampling the international cuisine at the Mindl markets.

Next stop New Zealand……brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr…