The wait is over !

Check out our website for more action www.ethicaladventures.com and Litchfield National Park Tours and Adventures.

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After 4 years and many hiccups along the way we have finally got the 'Green Dream Machine' (tGDM) accredited as a tourist vehicle and can now take any and all on adventures if we so choose :)  For Ethical Adventures the season will begin in April 2014 !!!!!!

4x4, Sky Lights, Captain Seats, Dual Air Con ...
.... and all the rest...
'The Green Dream Machine'

Until then Trace and I have got a few adventures that we need to/want to do first.  Starting with last weekend when we headed out to Fogg Dam and Daly River for Trace's birthday.  She had told me that she just wanted to catch a Barra for her birthday and that was it ... what a girl ! So I thought that I would take her on a surprise fishing trip down to the world famous Barra spot of Daly River.  We have been down there a few times and pretty much fell in love with the place such that we will be trying to include it in some tour/adventure for EA in the future. Trace had met a lovely guy, Lee who worked at Casuarina pool some time ago and they got to talking and it turned out that he and his wife, Jenny had just started building a camp ground and caravan park down there.  From that point we have made it our mission to get down and visit as often as we can and enjoy their hospitality and fruits of their labor.

So this trip I had organised us to stay, and on birthday day it was 'pack your bags Trace for 2 days we are off on an adventure !'

Photo taken from Fogg Dam Wall with Lotus Lillies
and Spike Rush adorning the water

Needless to say she was pretty shocked as she thought we were just going to go for a day trip somewhere ... so off we went, firstly to our favorite bird watching place (Fogg Dam) for some viewings and walks and then to Daly River.

Fogg Dam is always interesting in that it is always changing.  Water levels rise and fall with the seasons which impacts on the type and number of birds that are present and what they get up to (more on Fogg Dam in another post) and also on the plant life.  It is incredibly rewarding to take a walk along the Rainforest Walk or Lily Walk and notice the changes.  Trees in fruit, flowers, growth ... all bring depth of appreciation and understanding for what was previously unknown. 

Buchanania obovata

Barringtonia acutangula

Some of the cool trees such as the Freshwater Mangrove (Barringtonia acutangula) and Green Plum (Buchanania obovata) are in flower and beginning to fruit, native bees getting around harvesting their bounty, lichens and fungus performing their role ... love that place !

Trace after the Barra !

From there, onto Daly River via Adelaide River township.  Took us about 2 hours before we were driving through the gates of Lee & Jenny's and the rest is all about us kicking back and doing that thing called ... relaxing :).  

For the record we will give a full account on Lee & Jenny's and Lee & Jenny themselves later on and of course details the results of the fishing :)  For now though I figure this is enough for one blogg ! 

Lee & Jennys Signage out front ...
tGDM in the background

The Finish/Start line approaches ... at last !

Check out our website for more action www.ethicaladventures.com and Litchfield National Park Tours and Adventures.

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... forgive me people for I have sinned !  It has been an eternity since I last updated .....  actually in reality it has been 2 years ... that is how long it has been since my last post ! Before I update on the present I might recap on some of the missing past.  It has been an interesting time which saw me pause the start of EA in the Territory and build some links elsewhere in Australia for future developments ...  to this end I headed down to Victoria for a period to do 3 day trips along the Great Ocean Road and the Grampians.  I sub contracted for Bunyip Tours and a fella named George Josevski.  He had come up to the NT for a holiday and came on a trip I was guiding into Arnhemland and asked if I wanted to come down for a look .... he seemed like a good bloke and I had never done tours in Victoria so I thought ... why not !  And off I went.

For those who don't know, Victoria has some of the best places to get out and about in Australia.  Coast, rainforests, mountains, skiing, rafting, hiking ... and the list goes on and on .... a fact that I only really appreciated after I started work down there !

I have to say that I suffered from what many suffer from ... the taking for granted of my everyday surroundings.  I had grown up just over the border and I had always believed that as soon as you crossed the NSW / Vic border the clouds began and no matter what I packed I always ended up being hot in winter and cold in summer when I travelled south and that outweighed anything else (I was a lot younger then) True to form after doing a 5 week journey through central Australia I arrived in Melbourne on a bitterly cold October day with drizzle and clouds and cars and ... I thought here we go again !

I could not have been more wrong.

What followed was one of my best summers ever ! Without going on and on and on ... I met some great people, made some true friends and discovered another part of Australia that I call home.  Hopefully EA will be able to link up with Bunyip and do a few things down there in the future.

Have attached some pics to give you an idea of how I spent my time.  Thanks to my co-conspirators (passengers) for the good times and the pics, George and the team at Bunyip and Trace for getting on board :)