Quickly back on the bitumen and soon turned north on Dorat Road for Batchelor. About twenty kilometres along near a private Land for Wildlife nature reserve I was a bit slow reacting to wiggle on the road and ran over a Greater Black Whip Snake. She got wound up in the rear cluster and torn open. All messy but I wasn’t going to touch a very angry, terminally wounded somewhat venomous (poisonous but fangs too short to inject venom) snake. Finally used a stick to unwind it. I should have killed it but didn’t think of it and last saw its mangled rear crawling off across the road.

About 10 kms short of Adelaide River township I came across Chris O’B who had been slow in packing up from his camp at the Robin Falls. We rode together to Adelaide River where we had lunch at the roadhouse and pub next to the 4 m stuffed crocodile (he had been caught biting outboard motors at Borroloola). He was huge! The 4.5 m crocodile Darius saw back at the Marrakai Crossing must have been awesome.

Chris charged off up the road to get to Darwin for his plane. I turned west and went up the Coach Road (a gravel track) back to Batchelor. The dirt track was slower than the bitumen but a lot more fun.

‘Pullem Downs’ a hobby farm on the back road to Batchelor. Blockies often have different views on the value of the native environment

.Back to the Batchelor Holiday Park where the owner again said that the crocodiles don’t do much when the water is clear in the dry season, the same as most other people we had met up here. Everyone did warn that they will chomp if you come close too them and they do hunt in the Dry Season in rivers with muddy water (they are ambush hunters).