DAY 91 FINAL COOMALIE UPDATE

MONDAY 13 SEPTEMBER 2021

The temperature has been rising steadily the whole time we have been here. The last few days have been very hot and the humidity levels are rising too. I have been very grateful to have access to the plunge pool and I don’t mind having to share it with Chinner and other locals who take the plunge here as well.

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We have enjoyed so many happy times around the table at James’ and Denise’s mansion, as well as a fabulous pizza night at Party Central last Saturday.

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On Sunday Dave took us on a guided tour of the old WWII Snake Creek Munitions site.

“Snake Creek Armament Depot is one of the Northern Territory’s most extensive extant World War II military sites. It was constructed between 1943 and 1945 after the Navy identified the need for a semi-remote magazine. The design included a road system and a 2.85 km rail loop from the North Australia Railway, an ammunition storage area capable of storing 3,500 tons of high explosives, and related facilities. A total of sixty-nine structures were built, some into the hill slope and some entirely above ground. It appears that the whole complex was camouflaged against aerial observation. The RAAF controlled the facility between 1953 and 1962, a period which included the days of the confrontation with Indonesia.”Gantry (http://users.tpg.com.au/borclaud/ranad/about_snake_francis.html)

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The old rubbish dump was very interesting too. Dave showed us some rusty old cylinders that left him intrigued as to their original purpose. After much detective work the two men finally determined that they were old fire extinguishers.

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Leaving Snake Creek we drove up to the Batchelor Markets for a sausage sandwich from James’ Men’s Shed store and to check out Denise’s Coomalie Creations store.

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On the drive home, Dave took us up to the Crater Lake. It was used as the water supplyor the Rum Jungle township, when the Rum Jungle Uranium mine was in operation. There is a beautiful gentle serenity there. I could imagine it would be lovely to spend time there just relaxing in meditation.

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Last Saturday morning Rosie and I enjoyed a magical early morning walk as the sun rose painting the sky in the most delightful colours of gold, pink, orange, purple and grey-blue. We wandered up to the white house on the hill, and with permission already given by Richard, we popped inside to enjoy the views back over the property from the lounge windows. There was a most incredible bent wood dressing table with a chair. I later learnt that it was a computer desk. We also explored the quaint little Bluebell Cottage with it’s very enticing outdoor bath and shower. Next on our walk was a short stop at the Marina, where we took the stairs up to the deck of the Steel Hulled yacht. It seemed to have a huge amount of space below deck.

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This afternoon Richard and his little lookalike pup, Carlie dropped in for a chat. I think Rosie loves staying here with her new playmates.

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Late this afternoon the humidity increased, and finally the clouds erupted and the ‘rains came, Marge’. As the gentle storm refreshed the air, we drove into Batchelor for our farewell dinner with our dear Coomalie friends. We are going to miss them and their company so much.

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