Picnicers at Mitchel Street Square
The final two weeks in Darwin were spent playing the old waiting game. We played it well, as it turns out, but we had no choice, we had to remain, we could not leave. We were well and truly trapped, caught in a jam, with nowhere to go.
The rain came every day keeping the Victoria River Bridge flooded It is as very simple tale to tell. You see, we did not listen to those who knew more than us. Or, if we did, we nodded, and thought it did not apply to us. At best we simply forgot to heed the (many and frequent) warnings to: "Make sure you get out of the Tropics before the Wet Season". Because: "You'll be stuck, flooded in". 'Oh, we will', we always replied, 'we will', we would agree, 'we'll be long gone before the rains come down, long gone'.
We were slap-bang in the middle of it all weren't we.
We got stuck, flooded in, like they said we would. To the south of us (then again, anywhere in Australia is south to the Darwin folk) towards Katherine the road was intermittently waterlogged, and west of Katherine towards the Western Australian border the road was closed. The Victoria River, 200 kilometres west along the Victoria Highway from the Mingaloo turn-off from Katherine had risen up and over the bridge, at one stage five metres over, a tremendous body of water in a great hurry to the sea and we were at its mercy.
A bird enjoys the flooded roads We decided to stay put in Darwin while the monsoonal trough passed over the Top End depositing more water to feed the catchment areas that force the Victoria River to swell and burst its banks. The Bureau of Meteorology website was daily checked, thanks to the free internet time given us by Parliament House Library, which became our second home. There we updated the sorely neglected blogsite and scoured the collection.
The Vic River bridge just after the rains went down, the river actually came 2.4 meters avove the bridge! That is just under the top of the supports of the new bridge you can see in the background!
A fountain in the Parliament House gardens
After so long in Darwin (we were there nearly five weeks all told by the time we left), we were saved by the Library. They offer everyone one free hour per day, but were more than happy to allow us to work away uninterrupted as long as we liked. It became our office for those two weeks, the staff knew us, the coffee shop fed and watered us, and we got much done. We were also fortunate that the accomodation we found were sympathetic to our predicament. At first the Value Inn, then Meleleuka on Mitchell Hostel, followed by the Palms City Resort, who were amazingly supportive and gave us a luxurious apartment in paradise for nearly two weeks gratis, also doing our washing and giving us free internet access, and finally Ashton Lodge Backpackers, so we were able to have extended stays in the city centre.
The Parliament House building by day and by night
This convenient set-up allowed us to divide our time between the Library and organizing fundraising activities at the various pubs and bars in town, as well as at the Robertson and Larrakia Army Barracks. Deprived of the ease with which we were treated and the support of these people, we would have been severely hampered.
The Northern Territory flag
We were still being fed daily at the Vic Hotel thanks to the armfull of meal vouchers given to us when we arrived in Darwin by Chillies Backpackers, and despite spending so long in town we never went hungry for long. True, by the end we were asking some of the same people twice (unwittingly) and it became harder. Generosity is a finite resource to call upon, and so it became harder to gauge where we would find food next, especially when the meal vouchers ran out, but that was no major hardship and testament to the amount of businesses that readily came to our aid.
Australian army hats on racks outside the mess hall
All up we raised over $6,000 in Darwin. A very succesful time, and one we never felt wasted, even when flooded in. From bar to bar, pub to pub, we trundled with our jar, collecting donations, organizing raffles from the gifts donated by the local businesses, even appearing on local radio to auction some too. Finding ourselves on the front page on the NT News was very handy and we milked our celebrity for all it was worth.
Lieutenant Bill Heck of Robertson Barracks
There is a charm to Darwin that we warmed to, an ease we fell right into. We worked hard and were rewarded. The conviviality of the residents was disarmingly benevolent and readily helpful. The fact that we were on the front page of the NT News obviously helped a lot of people recognize us and dig a little deeper when donating on our periodical tour of the bars. But it was the amount of businesses that donated to us that helped us get that much more money in. From meal vouchers, to a Pearl Necklace and Earring Set, to MP3 players, to a free massage voucher, and much more, we were able to talk the pubs and clubs into allowing us to raffle some of them and make the fundraising easier, and more fun.
Tropical Spas donate voucher to raffle
Thinking about it later, while watching the news with all talk was centred on the Credit Crunch and the Global Financial Crisis, we could not have felt more removed from the situation. Not one person, even those who chose not to help, citing this as a reason for doing so. After all, the meltdown in the World Economy has been the hidden plotline to our trip, the grumbling underbelly of the world around us coughing up debt and disaster for many businesses and individuals. It would be all too easy for those we meet to be in the grip of it themselves, but so far either people are too good natured to use it as an excuse, or too busy getting on with things to worry us with their problems.
Jim Bancroft from Darwin Reef and Wrecks donates some fishing trips to raffle off
We are not oblivious to the circumstances, we hear of the closure of mines, the loss of jobs and the instability it is all generating, in or near some of the towns we pass through, but, as in the situation of the flood, when there is nothing you can do about it, you get on with things and keep working away. That is a very Aussie attitude also, I think. Get into it mate! So, as all we can do is ask, we kept asking, and people either obliged us or they didn't. More people helped out than not, though, and that made it easier to keep asking.
A skirted mushroom we food whilst clearin a rain forest
As February approached the Victoria River was still flowing over the bridge. Our friends Lou and Bernie were keeping us in the loop, as Bernie spends a lot of his days on the road, picking up and delivering goods westwards and, as there is only the one road west, he and Lou told us that as soon as he heard the bridge was passable, he would let us know. This was yet another situation we were to find ourselves in where serendipity smiled on us and allowed us the luxury of being able to use our time well. Bernie waited ten days beside the bridge at the Victoria River before getting through.
The flooded roads of the northern Territory
Had we not been privvy to this insider knowledge we too may have been forced to wing it and wait by the side of the road, instead of air conditioned and comfortable in the Palms City Resort, able to fundraise and bring in the money. Part of me wanted to be stuck by the road though. Waiting it out. And as it turns out they had a great time there too. Someone would daily drive the 200 kilometres to Katherine, Bernie told us later, to pick up the cartons of booze and the steaks, and they would play cards, cook a barbie, drink stubbies and go fishing, watching for the crocs on the bank, of course.
As week five was approaching we decided on leaving Darwin. We had to work for Jeremy and Michelle Barndon in Howard Springs, south of the city, so we figured this into our plans. Michelle had heard us on the radio and phoned in to offer a days work picking up palm fronds from their small rainforest. The river may rise five metres in an hour, but it is just as likely to fall by that too, we were told. The rain was abating a little and we felt the need to be nearer the action in case we only had a window of a day or so. We would make our way slowly out of Darwin and see what the river was doing each day.
Jeremy and Michelle stood in their rain forest after we cleared it
It was raining when we cleared the palm fronds for Jeremy and Michelle, and there were a lot of them to pick up, but the work was made that much easier when Jeremy asked the question "what beers do you lot like? I'll get a slab in for ya". We stayed there that night and got royally drunk too. On our way next day to Humpty Doo to see a lady called Fiona Scott, who has been in touch with us for many months now, who we had promised to visit since we were in Tully, on the east coast, we heard from Lou, who had just heard from Bernie, that the Victoria Bridge was passable, but for who knows how long, so get yer arses down there sharpish. A flying visit to Fiona Scott followed, long enough to have a chat and a cup of tea, and we were off to Katherine that night, to make for the bridge the next morning. Sorry we couldn't stay longer Fiona, we were gutted to run in and out like that, thanks for the biscuits and the donations!
The floods had subsided, and we could run but we could not hide, but for the moment we were on the road again, putting the slipper into it and at the drop of a hat heading to see the big fat load of water that had been in name only so far a very troublesome problem to us but a sight to behold we were sure. We were running out of time in the Northern Territory, but we had no time to stop and smell the roses. There were one thousand kilometres of floodplains to traverse until we were (apparently) safe in Broome, and the road was liable to flood again at any time. Read a cheeky bit more!
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