History of Darwin (wikipedia)

The Aboriginal people of the Larrakia language group lived in the greater Darwin Region before European settlement. They had trading routes with Southeast Asia (see Macassan contact with Australia), and imported goods from as far as South Australia and Western Australia. Established songlines penetrated throughout the country, allowing stories and histories to be told and retold along the routes.

The Dutch visited Australia‘s northern coastline in the 17th century, and created the first European maps of the area, hence the Dutch names in the area, such as Arnhem Land and Groote Eylandt, which still bears the original old Dutch spelling for “large island”.

1800s

Lieutenant John Lort Stokes of HMS Beagle was the first British person to spot Darwin harbour on 9 September 1839, 69 years after the first European settlement of Australia. The ship’s captain, Commander John Clements Wickham, named the port after Charles Darwin, the English naturalist who had sailed with them both on the earlier second expedition of the Beagle It was not until 1869 that a permanent European settlement was established by the South Australian Government who had control of the Territory at that time.

On 5 February 1869, George Goyder, the Surveyor-General of South Australia, established a small settlement of 135 men and women at Port Darwin. Goyder named the settlement Palmerston, after the British Prime Minister Lord Palmerston. The Port of Darwin was first used for modern commerce in 1869 when it was discovered. It was used to supply the new settlement of Palmerston.

The 3,200-kilometre (2,000 mi) Australian Overland Telegraph Line was built in the 1870s between Port Augusta and Darwin, connecting Australia to the rest of the world. During the construction, workers uncovered some gold near Pine Creek, about 200 kilometres (120 mi) south of Darwin, which further boosted the young colony’s development. In 1872, Government House (also known as the House of Seven Gables) was built, then in the 1880s it was pulled down and rebuilt. In February 1875, the SS Gothenburg left Darwin for Adelaide with approximately 100 passengers and 34 crew (surviving records vary). Many passengers and crew were Darwin residents. On 24 February, in heavy storms she hit a reef at low tide off the north Queensland coast and sank with the loss of about 102 lives. The tragedy severely affected Darwin’s population and economy and it was slow to recover. Another ship, the SS Ellengowan, sunk in Darwin harbour on 27 April 1888.

The Fannie Bay Gaol was built between 1882 and 1883.

In 1884, the pearling industry brought people from Japan, Timor and the Philippines, many of whose descendants are prominent families in Darwin today.

1900s

In 1911, the city’s name changed from Palmerston to Darwin.^[2] The Northern Territory was initially settled and administered by South Australia, until its transfer to the Commonwealth in 1911.

On 17 December 1918, the Darwin Rebellion occurred. During the rebellion, members of the Australian Workers’ Union, led by Harold Nelson, burnt an effigy of the Administrator of the Northern Territory, John Gilruth at Government House, and demanded his resignation.

 

On 19 February 1942, at 9:57 am, during World War II, 188 Japanese warplanes attacked Darwin in two waves. The incoming Japanese planes were first spotted by Father John McGrath at the Bathurst Island Mission north of Darwin. McGrath radioed at 9:30 am and the sirens wailed at 9:57 am. It was the same fleet that had bombed Pearl Harbor, though a considerably larger number of bombs were dropped on Darwin, than on Pearl Harbor.

The attack killed at least 243 people and caused immense damage to the town. These were by far the most serious attacks on Australia in time of war, in terms of fatalities and damage. They were the first of many raids on Darwin.

This event is often called the “Pearl Harbor of Australia”. Although it was a less significant target, a greater number of bombs were dropped on Darwin than were used in the attack on Pearl Harbor. As was the case at Pearl Harbor, the Australian town was unprepared, and although it came under attack from the air another 58 times in 1942 and 1943, the raids on 19 February were massive and devastating by comparison.

Another significant raid was conducted by the Japanese on 2 May 1943.

Darwin was granted city status on Australia Day (26 January) 1959.

Cyclone Tracy

On 25 December 1974, Darwin was struck by Cyclone Tracy, which killed 71 people and destroyed over 70% of the town’s buildings, including many old stone buildings such as the Palmerston Town Hall, the Old Police Station, the Court House and Cell Block all on The Esplanade which runs along Lameroo Beach which could not withstand the lateral forces generated by the strong winds.

It was Australia’s worst natural disaster. The anemometer at Darwin Airport recorded winds of 217 kilometres per hour (135 mph) at 3:00 am before it stopped working; winds of up to 250 kilometres per hour (160 mph) were estimated to have hit the city. The total damage cost $1 billion. Sixteen people were lost at sea, their bodies never recovered. The historic schooner Booya sunk due to the cyclone.

After the disaster, an airlift evacuated 30,000 people, which was the biggest airlift in Australia’s history. The population was evacuated by air and ground transportation; due to communications difficulties with Darwin airport landing was limited to one plane every ninety minutes. At major airports teams of Salvation Army and Red Cross workers met refugees, with the Red Cross taking responsibility for keeping track of the names and temporary addresses of the refugees. Evacuations were prioritised according to need; women, children, the elderly and sick were evacuated first. There were reports of men dressing up as women to escape with the early evacuations.

By 31 December only 10,900 people (mostly men who were required to help clean up the city) remained in Darwin. The city enacted a permit system. Permits were only issued to those who were involved in either the relief or reconstruction efforts, and were used to prevent the early return of those who were evacuated.

Post 1970s

The city was subsequently rebuilt with newer materials and techniques during the late 1970s by the Darwin Reconstruction Commission. A satellite city of Palmerston was built 20 kilometres (12 mi) south of Darwin in the early 1980s.

As a result of air raids and cyclones, Darwin has few historic buildings although some of the stronger stone structures survived and have been restored. Since Cyclone Tracy all buildings are constructed to a strict cyclone code. Steel is a popular building material and led to a distinctive modern style associated with Darwin known as Troppo. Southeast Asian influences are also apparent in some of the architecture. A growing population and relatively scarce land has seen a boom in high rise apartment style housing in recent years especially around the central business district and coastal fringes.

11^th June, Wednesday

Not a big drive today.  We stopped off for a bite to eat at Hayes creek road house. Home made pies……. MMMMMMM. It’s all very pretty here in the Territory. We are quite amazed.  Not sure what we expected but it’s not what we thought.  It’s very green and quite tropical, in fact it was a lovely drive from Pussy cat flats and we didn’t really feel it.  We have booked into Coolalinga caravan park for 3 nights and this place is awesome that we think that we might stay for 2 weeks. We would like to go to Litchfield and see all there is to see there. We can’t take Hugo with us so will put him into daycare for the day. We would also like to do Kakadu so will have to put him into daycare for that day as well. They have given us a double site under trees and quite private.  There is a pool and all the amenities here. It’s 26kms south of Darwin.  We can’t stay in Darwin because none of the parks will take dogs but from what we have heard they are all cramped, vans parked so close to each other.  I think that we have the better option and it’s only half an hour drive into Darwin.  Ralph is going to do all the war museums and airfields etc. on his own.  I will stay in the camp with Hugo and do some more painting.  War museums etc. are not really my cup of tea and so Ralph won’t feel rushed with me as the baggage. The markets here look awesome so that will be my day out with the credit card.  The markets sound wonderful and I can’t wait to try them out. Anyways Goodnight and thank you all for the lovely birthday wishes and thank you to my precious 3 little girls for the lovely  birthday calls. I love you all heaps xxx. And I love you all as well, until tomorrow xxxxxxxxxxx

12^th June, Thursday

We went into Darwin town this morning. It’s about 20 minutes from where we are staying.  We had a look at the wharf (which was bombed in WW2).  We had a walk around the waterfront, the mall and the CBD. The waterfront is awesome. There is a place for the kids to swim with surf life saving people present. There are loads of restaurants, coffee shops and novelty stores. We bought take away breakfast and ate it in the park overlooking the little beach where the kids swim.  It’s very relaxing. The walkway from the waterfront to the CBD is 5 stories high going over the road and covered in trees, it really is quite beautiful. We took a drive to Fannie bay going through town and the botanical gardens. There are these huge trees on either side of the road that cover the road making a wonderful avenue.  It’s quite beautiful. Fannie bay is obviously an affluent area.  The houses are huge and the gardens are magnificent.  The look like they could be entered into the Chelsea garden show.  The houses are older in architecture… not at all like that modern ones that look like office blocks that you find along the beach front in Perth.  These places are classy and tasteful. Darwin is a beautiful city, clean, green and friendly, it’s not what we expected – it’s quite an impressive city. The only negative so far is that Darwin is not a very pet friendly city.  Everywhere else we’ve been, we’ve had no problem with Hugo.  I don’t know why because everyone we came across travelling with animals are very responsible, keeping them on their leads, keeping them quite and picking up after them. We came back to the campsite and booked in for another 10 days as there is a lot we want to do and see. We have booked Hugo into a daycare for Monday because we would love to do Litchfield National Park.  Some people have said that it’s better than Kakadu, but I guess that’s a matter of opinion and everyone has one. There were a Queensland couple camping next to us (they’ve gone now) and he was complaining that there are now too many crocs, too many bloody whales (he can’t go fishing in his boat because the sodding whales get in the way) and it’s all the fault of the bloody tree huggers.  His words not mine, it cracked us up.  Queenslanders, you’ve gotta love them.

13^th June, Friday

I am so tired.  Some drongos in the cabins next to us decided to have a party until 1.30 this morning.  I think they are construction workers that are staying here.  Their work vehicle beeps when it is reversed and they were doing this at 1.30.  In a caravan park it’s not funny.  Usually you have to be quite after 10 which is fair enough.  There were women screaming and laughing and that sound carries.  Not happy Jan.  We didn’t do much today. We took a drive to Darwin city and looked at all the bays and Ralph was sussing out a fishing spot he was told about where the locals catch Barra. Tomorrow, I will go to the market and see what’s on offer.  Have to go on my own because Hugo is not allowed and Ralph is very happy about that.  It means that he doesn’t get dragged about the place and can stay behind and read his paper and watch his footy. Will have and early dinner and hit the sack early tonight.  The weather is still hot and we are running the air con  in the van.  I don’t know how we ever survived without it in the camper trailer…. It’s age, I guess. 😉

14^th June, Saturday

Today is our anniversary and we are going to do zip.  I went to the market on my own, as you do on your anniversary ;-).  Ralph and Hugo were happy to stay at home, read the papers and watch the footy. I can’t tell you anymore about today…… as I said… “Zip day”.

15^th June, Sunday,

Ralph took off at 6am, (still pitch black) to go fishing.  I did some chores and read my book.  He caught a few small ones, undersize, so came home with nothing.  He got caught in some traffic jam and got diverted because there was a large piece of equipment from the wharf being transported to the Darwin LNG plant and the whole of Darwin were out on the road watching this piece of equipment being moved. Perhaps they don’t have that much excitement up here and have to get up early on a Sunday morning and watch this phenomenon happening??  Our little friend with his little dog has arrived in the caravan park, he saw our car and came straight over with Boz the dog and spent a few hours here chatting and playing with the dogs.  A nice little boy who is being home schooled but perhaps a little lonely so he spends his time chatting to the oldies.  We have seen them in 2 previous camp sites. Anyways folks……… another zip day.  We will put Hugo in doggie daycare tomorrow and go to Litchfield, so hopefully will have some pics and a better story to tell you all. Xxx

16^th June, Monday

We dropped Hugo off at Doggie daycare at 8.30. He was a little uphappy that we were leaving him but he took his blanket and his toys.  Litchfield was about an hours drive from where we are staying. What a beautiful National Park.  Waterfalls galore and swimming holes galore.  You are only allowed to swim where they say as I have told you before, this is all croc country and the biggies inhabit the creeks as well.  We were going to see old ruins of a homestead but because of the unseasonal rains there is a lot of water on the road, in fact some of the roads are closed at the mo.  We came across a creek crossing, really big and we are not scared of crossing them but the rule is, if you can’t walk it, you don’t cross it and I couldn’t walk it because of the crocs, so unfortunetly we turned back. If there had been another vehicle crossing in front of us or in the opposite direction we could have sussed it but it’s not worth the risk.  Ralph got to have his swim in his very own private little place. Everywhere we went there were a squillion people swimming in the holes so we walked and walked and eventually found one with no-one around. We stopped off at a few places, Florence falls, Buley rockhole (where there were a squillion), Tolmer falls & Wangi falls. We walked our arlies off today and are pretty shattered now.  We picked Hugo up (he was so happy), got back to the caravan park had some sundowners, dinner and bunked down.  Tomorrow we think we will do the Botanical gardens. Night. Xxxx

Litchfield National Park (wikipedia),

covering approximately 1500 km², is near the township of Batchelor, 100 km south-west of Darwin, in the Northern Territory of Australia. Each year the park attracts over 260,000 visitors.

Proclaimed a national park in 1986, it is named after Frederick Henry Litchfield, a Territory pioneer, who explored areas of the Northern Territory from Escape Cliffs on the Timor Sea to the Daly River in 1864.

Aboriginal people have lived throughout the area for thousands of years. It is important to the Mak Mak Marranunggu (northern portion), Werat and Waray (southern portion)Aboriginal people whose Ancestral Spirits formed the landscape, plants and animals and are still present in the landscape today.

Recent history

The park was named after Frederick Henry Litchfield, a member of the Finniss Expedition that travelled from South Australia in 1864. This was the first European expedition to visit the Top End of Australia and it was their aim to explore as widely as possible and establish a settlement at Escape Cliffs, on the mouth of the Adelaide River. Previous attempts at settlement of Australia’s northern coast at Fort Dundas, Raffles Bay and Port Essington had already failed.

The surveyor and soldier, Boyle Travers Finniss, was chosen by the South Australian government to be their government Resident in the Northern Territory. His decision to choose an area near Escape Cliffs for settlement was disastrous. The settlers suffered from inadequate food rations and infected mosquito bites. Finniss was disliked by the settlers who had accompanied him and argued with his officials.

The area which is now known as Litchfield National Park was first visited by Europeans in September 1865, when Litchfield led a small group to explore the Daly River. His diary of Monday, 25 September describes his travels:

“Monday, 25 – Three horses look as if they were going to knock up; will give them a day’s spell here. There are fine plains here, splendidly grassed and watered; small belts of stunted gum, vaquois, fan palm, and honeysuckle. Most of the timber is small, but plenty of it is adapted for station purposes. The country from here to Manton’s Creek on the Adelaide (River) is as fine a country for stock as I have ever seen, the whole of it being well grassed and well watered at all times of the year.”

The discovery of copper and tin led to the establishment of several small scale subsistence mining operations. Pastoral occupation also began in the 1870s, with loggers and graziers facing the difficult conditions of torrential rain, mosquitoes and sandflies.

In 1888 Mt Tolmer became the site of the first tin mine and produced a continual supply of tin. Bamboo Creek’s tin mining operation began at Makanbarr, A Mak Mak Marranunggu campsite, in 1906. High-quality tin was often found in the ancient riverbeds and on the surface of the hills. All it needed was to be bagged and sold. Small groups operated this way for the next 30 years. By 1941 miners began following the tin-bearing seams into the hills using picks and shovels, and loading the ore into wagons to be pushed or pulled back to the mines’ entrances.

Charles Stead, Thomas Niciloff and Charles Claydon took out the first real lease and set about turning the mine into a commercial venture, with the assistance of local Mak Mak Marranunggu men and women and some Europeans. However, the mine was closed in 1951 after a large flood filled many of the shafts with water. A relic of the old tin mine at Bamboo Creek stands as a reminder of the difficult conditions endured by the pioneer miners.

In 1924 a small homestead was built by the Sargent family on their leased land in the lowlands near Tolmer Falls where there was reliable water and reasonable grazing for their cattle. Their farm proved successful and in 1928 they built Blyth Homestead as an outstation a little further south, so their cattle could take advantage of the good grazing among the paperbarks in this area. Typical of other structures of that time, the homestead is supported with cypress pine tied together with heavy wire and covered with corrugated iron. The family was able to farm their own vegetable and fruit crops, and held up to 13,500 head of cattle, due to the permanent water nearby. After 40 years, the Sargent family sold the lease to the Townsend family who farmed until the early 1960s. The abandoned homestead stands as a stark reminder of the tough conditions graziers faced.

Logging of paperbark, cypress and Leichhardt pines began in 1948 in the north-western section of the park. Again, Aboriginal people assisted and ex-army equipment was utilized to take the timber to the mill where it was prepared for local builders.

Uranium was discovered outside what is now Litchfield’s eastern boundary in August 1949, by a local prospector, Jack White. Australia’s first fully operational uranium mine was opened at Rum Jungle, and underground mining occurred from 1950 to 1953. The name Rum Jungle is derived from an accident that occurred in 1871. A bullock-wagon load of rum, destined for the construction gangs, was said to have been bogged near a patch of jungle on the crocodile-inhabited East Finniss River – the bullockies untethered the oxen and set about drinking the rum, having one of history’s most glorious binges. Production from the open cut area started in 1953 and proved to be one of the largest economic influences in the development of the Top End, with sales to the United Kingdom for their atomic weapons program. The mine closed in 1971.

The park was originally part of Stapleton Station, Tipperary Station and Camp Creek Station pastoral leases. The pastoral activity persisted until the declaration of the area as a national park when in 1985, the lessees of Stapleton Station negotiated the surrender of the pastoral lease and it was subsequently taken up by the Conservation Land Corporation.

Flora

The Central sandstone plateau supports rich woodland flora communities dominated by species including Darwin Woolybutt and Darwin Stringybark, as well as banksias, grevilleas, terminalias and a wide variety of other woodland species.

Remnant pockets of monsoon rainforest thrive along the bottom of the escarpment, and in the deep narrow gorges created over thousands of years by the force of the waterfalls cutting into the escarpment walls.

They are significant because of their size and lack of disturbance. Here visitors will find lilies and slender ground orchids growing among Pandanus, paperbark and swamp bloodwoods.

Fauna

Common wildlife species include the Antilopine kangaroo, Agile wallaby, Sugar glider, Northern brushtail possum, Fawn antechinus, Black and Little red flying foxes and the Dingo. The caves near Tolmer Falls are home to a colony of the rare Orange leaf-nosed bat and the Ghost bat.

Litchfield is a habitat for hundreds of native bird species. Black Kites, and other birds of prey are common during the dry season. The Yellow Oriole, Figbird, Pacific Koel, Spangled Drongo, Dollarbird and the Rainbow Bee-eater inhabit the sheltered areas close to waterfalls. A species of marsupial mouse (the Northern Dibbler), the Rufous-tailed Bush-hen, a frog (the Pealing Chirper) and the Primitive archerfish, occur in the Wangi Falls area.

Wangi, Tolmer and Florence falls and Buley Rockhole, are popular with visitors and tour groups. The falls have large pools that attract birds and reptiles such as monitors. Orange-footed Scrubfowl, honeyeaters, Figbirds and Torres Strait Pigeons share the fruit and berries in the areas with nocturnal mammals like the Northern Quoll, Northern Brown Bandicoot and Northern Brushtail Possum. Frill-necked Lizard are common throughout the park, but will not be seen as frequently during the cool dry season months. The Finniss River area also hosts a number of large Saltwater Crocodiles, commonly abbreviated as “salties”.

The magnetic termite mounds are a popular tourist attraction. These wedge-shaped mounds are aligned in a north-south direction as a response to the environment. The termites which build them feed on grass roots and other plant debris found in plains which are seasonally flooded. Therefore, the termites are forced to remain above the water, in the mound. The alignment of the mound acts as a temperature regulator, and allows the temperature to remain stable.

17^th June Tuesday

Today, we went to the Botanical gardens.  They are beautiful gardens and there is one section that is all rain forest with a beautiful water fall at the end of it.  There was a huge python nesting up in one of the trees, I am not sure if you will be able to find him in my photo.  After that we went to fishermans wharf and got a huge mudcrab which we will turn into Singapore Chilli crab when we get back to the caravan park. Apart from that for today, there’s not much else we did, so I will ask you all to please keep working and pay your taxes so we can keep travelling.  Love you all. Xxxx

18^th June Wednesday

Today we decided to go to Humpty Doo, not because there is anything to see there only because we have to visit a place called Humpty Doo.  Well! Off we went and there really isn’t anything to see there, a school, a couple of shops, a police station and a pub.  Anyways, now we can see that we have been to Humpty Doo. Apart from that, Ralph worked on the car, having a bit of a problem with the auxiliary battery for the fridge.  I think that my Mr. fix it has fixed it again. Xx. Tomorrow, Ralph is thinking of visiting the War Museums and the war aircraft museum.  I will stay here with Hugo and try and do some more pictures.

19^th June Thursday

Ralph went off to visit his war museum and war aviation museum.  Hugo and I just kicked back our heels at home and had a veg out day.  When Ralph got back he said that he had seen all the trucks with the V8’s coming into town.  It’s V8 supercars here this weekend. The caravan park is starting to fill up because of that.  It is cloudy today and hot and humid.  This is only a little bit of humidity and I am battling. We are sitting in the van with the air con on. I don’t know how people live with this in the wet because I know it’s 100 times worse, no wonder they call it ‘going troppo’.  Not for us, no thanks. Tomorrow, we will go and buy a fan to sit outside. We are going into Darwin to the waterfront (it’s nice there) and will get take away morning tea and find a bench overlooking the water front. We are planning our next destination and routes etc as we leave here on Tuesday.  We will probably take about 1 ½ weeks to get to Queensland and then spend about 2 months there. We want to spend some time around Port Douglas to see Mike and Barbs. There is so much to see and do and we won’t get to see even a quarter of it.  Just one thing that I wanted to mention before. The Northern Territory is very red neck.  Gun shops everywhere and you can buy fireworks at so many places.  Last night in the caravan park (I must admit that this is a bit of a redneck caravan park), they were Yeeeeee haaaaaing and then the fireworks went off.  What a place! But, it’s still nice and very laid back and people are very friendly and helpful and we still

20^th June Friday

Not much to tell you for today.  We went to the waterfront for a milkshake and a walk, went to the camping shop to get a few things and then back here to do nothing but read and loll around.  It’s hot again today, so the air con is running yet again.  The other day it was 18 degrees at night and the whole town was whinging about how cold it was.  US……. We had the air con on the whole night but didn’t say anything. :-).   I think tomorrow, I will go shopping and we will spend the rest of the day doing nothing again. Might go to the pool if it’s hot, which, no doubt it will be.  Night all xxxxxxx

21^st June Saturday and 22^nd June Sunday

Saturday was a non event.  I went shopping, Ralph stayed at home watching, footy, rugby, V8’s, World cup soccer, whatever sport was on.  Sunday, Ralph went fishing. Steak for dinner. Another non event day, more footy, soccer, V8’s etc. and I am reading lots and doing some knitting. We are going to be doing a lot of travelling from Tuesday so we decided to have this little veg out session for a few days.  This trip is also about having some veg out time, not just go, go, go. Tomorrow, we will start packing up to get an early start on Tuesday.  We might not be updating the blog for awhile (I’m not sure what the reception will be like as we are doing a few overnight camps at 24 hour stops and they generally don’t have cover for the phones and internet. I probably won’t be able to tell you much for tomorrow, as we will start packing and checking things out as we have been here for awhile. Ralph wants to go to the Dept. of mines and minerals to get a licence to fossic when we get to Tennent creek (Lots of fossicking to be done there).  Anyways, will catch you all on the flip side.  Love you all xxxxxxxxxx

23^rd June Monday

Ok, so I lied yesterday! I found some more stuff to tell you and as you all know, I am never short of a word. J. I went shopping to get the last bits and pieces to stock up as we will be staying at 24 hours camps so we need to be stocked with food, water etc. We spent the rest of the day packing up and doing a trip plan for the next leg and a bit.  We will head to a 24 stop tomorrow and then another the night after. From there we have booked into Tennent creek for 2 days and then will move on.  As I mentioned before, not sure if we will have coverage so will update when I can.  Having a night cap and then will have an early night.  Night all. xxxxxxxxxxx

 

24^th June Tuesday

Well! Here we are still in Darwin.  We started packing up when our little friend ‘Millen and his companion, the dog ‘Boz’ came to say goodbye.  Boz the shar pei is a boofy little boy and really lively. He jumped on Hugos back (just played) and Hugo screamed and went down like a bag of cement.  He couldn’t stand up as his legs just gave way.  We rushed him to the vet and the called out the vet on an emergency.  He stayed there all day, x-rays and they decided to keep him overnight.  His hips and spine are fine for a dog of his age but his right hind leg is what is giving way. We will see how he is in the morning.

25^th June Wednesday

The vet called early and said that Hugo is still battling to stand without assistance.  We had the choice of leaving him there for a few days or collecting him and caring for him ourselves.  We decided that he would be better off with us and he can get all the rest time he needs while we are travelling. Poor little bugger is sore and frustrated.  We will leave tomorrow but have had to revise our trip plan.  Had to cut one of the National parks out as we can’t leave Hugo in doggie day care at this stage.  It doesn’t matter, there’s lots to see and we won’t get to see everything or even a smidge of it on this trip. A lady just knocked on our door and said that she could see that we had problems with Hugo and could they help because her husband is a vet.  People are very kind.  She has given us her no. for when we get to Brisbane so that Hugo can get checked out.  Such a caring lady.  Will write when we get to our next big stop. xxxxx