We caught up with Kyran’s friend, Ian. He and his girlfriend, Leah, were berthed in Darwin for a week. We met Ian previously in Nhulunbuy and he was kind enough then to take us out on his yacht. This time we caught up with them again at Cullen Bay and went on board his new boat, a trimaran. (see below). They were packing up ready for a trip out to Berkeley River, lucky things.
Talking of Berkeley River, we caught up with Fran and Mal, friends from Kalbarri who were visiting Darwin after an amazing few days at the Berkeley River Resort. Their photos were beautiful. We met them at the Waterfront and had a coffee and long catch up.
We also had a couple of visitors come and stay for a few days. We know Talei and her family from Nhulunbuy (and coincidently know her grandparents in Mandurah. Gill and I worked together years ago and we catch up often!) Talei and her boyfriend, Levi, were visiting Darwin with a plan to move here. They turned out to be the easiest guests as they were gone all day and sometimes didn’t come home until we were already in bed. On their last evening, however, they asked us if we would like to meet them at Mindil Markets and have a look around and something to eat. And we did. We even wandered down to the beach next to the markets to look at the sunset. It was beautiful.
We had a lovely evening wandering around the stalls, choosing from the vast array of food, and then watching the sun go down. We were surprised to see camels as we thought they belonged to Broome.
When things quietened down, John and I left Luna at home and took a drive out to Litchfield National Park. We had been before and loved it. The second visit did not disappoint. As we were only doing a day trip, we followed advice from “Trip in a Van” and used our memory to go to three spots – Wanga Falls, Florence Falls and Buley Rockpools. We loved the drive, the scenery and swimming in the waterholes and rock pools. Since it is still early in The Dry, the waterfalls were in full flow and they were quite spectacular.
We had actually left Luna at home before, and Vanessa had recommended leaving her inside. But we felt we had secured the area where she likes to go outside, and we weren’t going to be that long. You guessed it. We came home a couple of hours later to no mad, excited, barking. The place was deathly quiet. We felt sick. We did not know the area and neither did Luna. So I took the car and drove around the streets calling her name. I refused to go near the main roads. I just kept thinking of Tommy and Joey. They would be devastated if anything happened to Luna and we didn’t want anything to happen to her – especially on our watch. While I was driving around, John stood outside the house with his phone in case she came home. After about half an hour, he sent me a brief message – “Luna is at the vet”. My heart sank. My first and only thought was that she had been hit by a car and who knew what state she would be in? However, she was not hurt. A neighbour’s daughter had noticed her on the road and carried her to their place. Luna played with their dogs while the owner rang the vet. After a while she took her there but asked them to call her if no-one came to claim her. She did not want Luna going to the pound. Luckily, she had seen John standing outside with his phone and put two and two together. What a relief! I went to collect Luna from the vet but when I got there, they required proof of ownership. I must have looked crestfallen as I had no proof because she is not our dog. The girl asked me if I had any photos of her. Did I have any photos of her? I had heaps! Phew. We were both very happy to get home!
We were happy to be just having a quiet time until Kyran, Vanessa and the boys arrived but….that’s not what happened!
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