Escaping from "Carlos" Feb 2011

 On the 15th February there was a Cyclone Watch alert issued .  This meant that we might have to leave the park and we received a text from management to that effect. So in the pouring rain we packed up the annex and put the awning up. Lynn was thoroughly soaked by the time he had everything squared away even though he had a rain jacket on. It was really quite windy too which didn;t help at all.

 After a wild night when a lot of trees were uprooted or blown over and there was lots of rain , we checked with management about their plans and said that they would play it by ear. Lynn had already decided that based on the threat maps from the BOM it would be prudent to leave town while we could and head" down the track".

 When we got to the Elizabeth River it was like a lake there was so much water you couldn't see the river and traffic was diverted onto the higher bridge that has been built for this purpose. We also saw lots of smaller trees down and plenty of water lying around and nearly over the road in a lot of places at creeks etc.

 We continued on to Pine Creek and decided that we should be safe enough here. We checked in to the Lazy Lizard C/park and are the only ones here. It's a nice park but again because of the rain there is lots of water lying around, all the grass is totally waterlogged so a trip to the loo is like going for a swim.
 the amenities are clean but very rustic. There doesn't seem to be anyone else staying the other parks either.

 Yesterday we went for a drive in the afternoon when the rain eased off. although we have driven through Pine Creek many times we haven't spent time and explored the area. So our first stop was the lookout where you can see the old mine pit which is now full of water. It was filled many years ago.

 From the  Lookout we drove back into town and looked around at the other caravan parks and then drove out to Pussy Cat Flats about 5 klms out of town on the Jabiru road. There is caravan camping there too at the racecourse.
 On our way back to the van we stopped at the Railway museum. This is mainly some old buildings and a shed that houses an old steam engine and a more modern diesel motor.

 an old mine shaft at the Lookout

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 1877 locomotive at the Railway Museum

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Old railway station



 newer diesel Locomotive



 From the museum we headed home as it was about to rain again and we spent a quiet night with no flies , no humidity and peace and quiet but with lots of rain and no wind.

 The next day we decided to stay put and let things in Darwin settle down as well as there were concerns that the bridge at Adelaide river would go under due to the large volume of water coming down the cathcment area. however this didn't eventuate.

 As Lynn had decided to clean the awning on both sides I thought that I would go for a walk in the drizzly rain and take a look at the old mining relics that are on display not far from the museum.

 Although Pine Creek is associated with gold mining there is a lot of old uranium mines in this area mainly towards Kakadu on the road to the UDP or Gumlorm falls. This   set of  story boards had the history of uranium mining.
 

Mining Machinary



 boab trees :note rain spots on camera lens



 More machinary

 Head frame

old stamping mill and boiler

 While we were at the museum yesterday I noted a plaque to a "Walk through Time  but thought nothing more of it as I couldn't see what it referred to . As I was walking to the mining musem  along a footpath that extends almost the lenght of the town I came across some tiled plaques which depicted the history of the town through time. Unfortunaely some of the aboriginal stories had been vandalised.

 We really enjoyed our time at Pine Creek and when we got back to Darwin we found that it was optional to leave  and only a few of us did, the rest decided to stay put.