Hi Folks. First off, want to say that we miss you all and definitely do get homesick. My Dad sent me pictures of hiking in Kananaskis and of my mom. Yeesh, tough one! Where's the nearest airport?!?!

Well, this entry is gonna be a bit of everything. No more cults or mind-expanding drugs for us .

There's been a lot of driving to get to the Northern Territory and after a week or so of touring gorges and waterfalls, we're in Katherine to stock up on booze, cheap fuel, groceries, check some internet and then it's a 3000km push to the East Coast. Keep your fingers crossed.

Some of the highlights here have been:

• Having the Florence falls almost to ourselves. Considering how over-run it was the day before, we've decided that morning walks are the way to go.
• Darwin is about as close to Asia as you can get here and this is apparent in the food. We really miss the asian food from home so we filled up big-time at the markets. We also had a rendezvous with Dennis (another refugee from Birdwood downs). He gave us the lowdown on what happened after our exodus. That ranch is a regular Payton Place (Melrose place in today's parlance).
• Kakadu National Park. Not only beautiful but we also were able to listen to a bunch of ranger talks on the culture. The stories that we had read about prior to hearing these talks no longer sounded like weird fairy tales but obviously had a basis and were used to remember things like - when you hear the cricket (who is actually the spirit of the "wild yam" lady), it's the season to eat the Yams. (OK, now I', probably not making sense, but it was cool and these people have existed here for 50000+ years so good on them!)

We finally met some normal Australians and have had some very enjoyable and interesting conversations. We were beginning to wonder about the whole continent - can they really ALL be self centred and disinterested in us?

We've been doing tons of free camping. We've only been paying for camping about twice a week. These spots can be absolutely beautiful. We were right beside a lagoon one night and watched the Kangaroos coming to the water to drink. At midnight we had an entirely different experience. We woke up thinking we were in Tel-Aviv. Shots fired - EVERYBODY DOWN!!! We still don't know if it was a farmer, or native people, or just weirdo's out joy-shooting but a truck had pulled up to the lagoon and was shooting the Kangaroo's that we had been enjoying on the far side of the lagoon. The farmers don't like the Roo's here as they eat the cattle's grass and wreck the fences, but we were both lying in bed hoping that our massive white van looked NOTHING like wildlife and that if it did, that the sheet metal would be enough to stop a rifle bullet. Yeesh!

In other really important news, you'll probably notice that I've had to move to an interim hat until I can get my grey one fixed. Baebs has not left me for another man.

Scoreboard:

Barbara currently leading Punchbuggies 4-1 (I have graciously allowed several questionable points in Darwin due to her apparent color-blindness and inability to remember the word Punchbuggy...who knows how long this generosity will last).

Yahtzee (we join this match in mid-play)

Barbara: 38

Jason: 27

Draws: 1

Hope you're all doing well. Be prepared for 3000km's of internet silence from us.