Mt Bundy Station - Adelaide River

Thursday 16th July 2009
The campfire had enough hot coal to cook pancakes for brekkie this morning - kids love pancakes. We were packed up and back on the Stuart Highway by 10am heading for Adelaide River - total trip distance around 100km. About 3km from Adelaide River is Bundy Station where we made our camp for the next two nights. Although not a "real" station, there are a few buffalo and cows in the front paddock and plenty of horses around the place.
A peacock is also wandering through the camp grounds and the horses, roaming around free, came for a visit to see if we had any food for them.
After lunch we checked out Adelaide River which has a Pub, General Store, Primary School and a couple of Service Stations.
It's claim to fame is the Wartime Cemetery which is a mixture between Cemetery and Botanical Gardens. Being located 100km from Darwin, Adelaide River played a very important role during WW2 and was chosen as the place to bury the casualties of war including the post office workers killed in the attack on Darwin.
We also drove over the low level river crossing and saw the crocodile warning signs (for salties). We have also been told that Mt Bundy Station, where we camp, has one Saltie upstream and another downstream.
The flood level of the rivers in this region is incredible - the level gauge at the crossing in Adelaide River has a top level of 13mt (see photo) and the level where we stood is already 6mt above the river. These gauges are not just for decoration, on the bridge opposite there was a heap of driftwood from the last wet sitting just below that 13mt mark.
Back at Bundy Station the kids tried the swimming pool and I sat in the shade to see the day out. Now that we are back in a phone reception area we will also catch up with emails and business matters to fill in the evening.