Darwin

 April 5th

And it was all going so well too! Alarms set for 4.45 am, showered and breakfasted by 5 30 am and picked up to take to the station by my brother's neighbour at 5.45 am.We had plenty of time then to catch the 6.20 Hornsby train to Central station in Sydney.

An announcement over the station tannoy informing all the passengers that the train had been held up at Gosford and therefore would be 10 minutes later than scheduled. Ah....now we had a problem, a change at Central station was needed in order for us to get to Sydney airport's domestic terminal. The meticulous planning by Sally went out of the window because from Central station's platform 9 where the train stopped, to get to platform 23 for the airport connection was a very tight 8 minutes dash. We were confident this was achievable but because of that delay we missed the connection. Another train wasn't for 15 minutes but this meant our arrival at the domestic terminal for check in wouldn't be until 7.45 am  Our flight was for 8.30am! Long story short, we made it by the skin of our teeth. Getting pulled out at security didn't help. My neckless was the culprit and I had the complete 'pat down' just in case I was smuggling some illegal substance! Anyway we were nearly, but not quite, the last on the plane but what a relief when we took our seats and almost immediately the plane taxied to the runway.

Four hours later we touched down in Darwin and stepped out into an oven! My goodness was it hot. 34 degrees but felt nearer to 40 and the humidity...draining can be the only description. A shuttle bus was waiting to take passengers to their various hotels. At $15 pp it was cheaper than taking a taxi. It was to the Oaks we went. Lovely hotel overlooking the harbour, with a huge bedroom and bathroom. Three nights at this hotel before the Ghan trip on Saturday. 

Tomorrow we are going to the Crocodile park. Told my brother if he misbehaves he will be used as bait! Dangle him over the water and watch those crocodiles jump! Should be a good day. 😎