Back in Darwin (again!)

G'day!
After a great week spent on our friends' cattle station we have arrived back in Darwin.
On monday the 18th we were told that the level of the creeks had gone down enough for Markus (who used to be my boss when I was a cook on the buffalo mustering camp in 2004) to come and pick us up from Darwin. So around 4pm he arrives in his ute and drives us 100km down the Stuart Highway to the turn off to Mount Ringwood, where we leave the sealed road and take a red dirt track. We reach the spot where he left his tractor that morning, he parks the ute and we transfer our luggage and the supplies he got from town (they can only shop every few weeks so there were a few boxes there) to the bucket of the tractor. The three of us climb in the cabin, and we continue towards the house. We cross a couple of rivers in the tractor, then the night falls and we drive on to a crossing where there is a bridge, but it is too small for the tractor. We offload everything and wait for someone to come and pick us up... after a little while we decide to leave the food there and start walking with our luggage. Three quarters of an hour later, our moonlit walk in the sound of choirs of frogs is interrupted : one of Markus's workers arrives in his ute... there had been a slight misunderstanding about the meeting time, but he is there now : we jump onboard, go back to pick up the supplies we left behind, and finally reach the house around 9pm.
It was a delightful week, it was great to catch up with Markus, Maree and their two boys after 4 years of communicating via e-mail and post, and we enjoyed their new pool and the company of the cattle, the wallabies, kangaroos and tropical birds. It was relaxing, but never dull : while we were there there was a helicopter (the only way to get in and out when the water is too high) crash not far from the house! Amazingly and thankfully no one was hurt and the helicopter was only slightly damaged, but the pilot and his passengers got a bit of a fright...
The day after we arrived the water level went up and we were cut off, but it went down just in time for Markus, Maree and the children to get away for their holiday and drop us off in Darwin again. This time round there were 6 of us plus the dog in the cabin of the tractor, and it was a bit of a squeeze, but good fun though!
The wet season here is very pleasant. There seems to be a big downpour every now and then, and quite a bit of warm sunshine in between. It is very varied, not monotonous at all. The landscapes are very different from their yellow and burnt appearence of the dry season ; everything is lush and green, and saturated with water. The other day we hired a car to visit a couple of National Parks in the area, but had to stop on the edge as the water was over the road, and you could only see the top of the roadsigns! So we drove back to Darwin and made the most of the public barbecues there by having a picnic by the sea.
We are leaving Darwin tomorrow on the Ghan, the train which links the North and South coasts. We will be hopping off in Alice Springs, in the red centre, and from there taking a 4WD tour down to Perth through the desert. Then we take the Indian-pacific, another train, to Melbourne, before heading to Tasmania to do the Overland track, a 65km, 6 day hike through some stunning National Parks. So we should be busy enough for the next few weeks!