Sunday 27th Northern Territory

Sunday 27th May, and a Tropical Top End day after overnight rain which dropped from the sky once the air was too saturated with moisture to stay up. So relief from humidity was short lived. This is the down side of all the green lushness written of previously. There was a large group attending the birthday “Camp Kitchen Dinner” with the yellow fluorescent lights, intended to discourage insects, providing an eerie light, and the overhead fans thrashing the air in an effort to create enough turbulence to disrupt insect dive bombing accuracy, all helping to create a “tropical paradise ambience” . Like most times people get together “on the track” everyone came intending to enjoy themselves and did, laughing as they ducked for cover when the rain came down. These informal “BYO and bring a plate to share” evenings are something quite special at the Mango Farm, and always great for meeting people.
Yesterday morning I was woken at 3.15am as a twin engine aircraft zoomed above the palm trees taking off from Nauiyu Catholic mission across the river, most likely the Royal Flying Doctor transporting someone to Darwin Hospital. That’s good service.
The neighbours on their way into Nauiyu on Friday had to stop and wait while a ten foot python struggled across the track with a large swollen belly of tucker, but Jeanette and I didn’t see it when we went in. We goofed going in anyway, as the newspapers arrive on the Monday plane!