Stormy afternoon at Mandorah

Today we decided to catch the ferry across to Mandorah. We had heard good things about the pub there. Mandorah is connected  to Darwin by land, but it's a long meandering drive, as opposed to 20 minutes on a ferry.

Privately I have been hoping for a cyclone this evening, so I get out of a two-day "team-building" work trip starting at 5:30am tomorrow. But that's another story. Anyway as we set out the skies seemed clear enough, and we happily left Darwin behind us.

Apart from the pub, with a few hotel rooms and a very lovely view back across the water, we're not sure what else there is at Mandorah. Possibly with bikes we could explore further afield, if Pete wasn't allergic to cycling. Nonetheless, we found  the pub had everything a pub needs to make a pleasant afternoon:

A child-friendly attitude;

a praying mantis, good for practicing close-up photography;

and plenty of fine Irish cider.

So we settled in, and much to my delight a storm brewed over Darwin. We watched, and photographed, the city disappear, reappear, and disappear again as the storm moved across the water.

As I watched the storm move towards us, and seemingly engulf the jetty from where we were about to catch our return ferry, I fantasised about getting stuck overnight at Mandorah, with nothing but pub food and whiskey chasers, and missing  my early flight to Nhulunbuy tomorrow.

Alas, we got home safely, although negotiating a wet jetty and  slippery boat deck after a few drinks is inadvisable, to say the least.

So, it's off to Nhulunbuy I go tomorrow, the less said  the better, then two weeks in Central Australia, which I am truly looking forward to, then the national Easter refugee rights convergence in Darwin (see http://refugee-rights.net/darwin-2012/about/), then three weeks in Vietnam! Woohoo! If nothing else, hopefully my blog posts should get more exciting...