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Getting Ourselves Into Hot Water!
Hello from Darwin, right-up at the Northern end of the country, which the Aussies call, with typical unpretentiousness, “The Top End”. The Snowy Mountains, The Blue Mountains, Little Sandy Desert and Great Sandy Desert are other fine examples of their no-nonsense nomenclature.
So, having left Uluru, we headed back East towards the Stuart Highway. We had initially intended to take a detour to King’s Canyon, another geological site to rival Uluru, but the weather was pretty grim and it would have been another couple of days of dust and flies, and in reality we just wanted to get back on the road. So we made the difficult decision to skip it and instead headed South so we could spend 1 night in South Australia - just so we would have visited every state - even if we didn’t see anything other than the “Welcome to..” sign.
Having ticked that box, we headed North back towards Alice Springs, stopping on the way at the Cannonball Memorial which we’d seen on our way down and presuming it was something of historic military interest, made a note to stop on our return. We were quite surprised to see that it is in fact to remember 4 people killed in a horrific accident that occurred during the Northern Territory Cannonball Run car rally in 1994. A Ferrari F40 that had been travelling at up to 170mph (quite legally as the road is unrestricted) lost control under braking while trying to stop at a checkpoint. The Ferrari skidded sideways into the checkpoint, killing the two Japanese occupants and two marshals who were trying to run away. Despite this tragedy, the rally continued, albeit with a 110mph speed limit.
At a rather more sedate pace and limiting ourselves to about 200kms a day, we continued North to Alice to stock-up with supplies and once we crossed the Tropic of Capricorn (for the third time), the weather almost immediately improved. Gone were the cold nights and cloudy days, hello again huge blue skies and balmy evenings. The free camping is a bit limited along this stretch, with the best spots filling-up by mid-afternoon, so we spent a few days bumbling along until lunchtime and then parking-up, getting the chairs out and chatting to the other travellers.
At Newcastle Waters we met Dennis, a lovely older chap in a Mercedes Sprinter camper, who we would bump into a few times over the next few days. We both took a shine to him - he had a sort of benevolent, favourite Uncleness about him and was forthcoming with helpful info, without all the doom-mongering “you don’t wanna be doing it like that”, “watch-out for the natives” and “if the mozzies or snakes don’t get you, the crocs will” that we’ve endured from many of our co-travellers.
Also here we met Ian, a Kiwi bee-keeper, who was driving his parents’ motorhome from Brisbane to Perth for his sister to use. He was more our age and had travelled extensively, he even lived in London for a while where he worked at Madame Tussauds. We had a very relaxed afternoon and evening swapping stories and sharing jokes about our Aussie hosts.
Our next main stop was Daly Waters to view the airstrip that Amy Johnson landed on in her record breaking flight from England in 1930. It was subsequently used in World War II, but other than the tarmac itself and some dilapidated metal buildings, not much remains. There is a great pub nearby though, similar to the one we visited in Prairie, Queensland, that is decorated with all sorts of tat. Business cards, foreign currency, armed and emergency forces insignia, bras, knickers, number-plates, you get the idea. We had a great lunch here and discussed what “ornaments” we could donate, but decided we have got so little with us, we couldn’t part with anything – and certainly none of our underwear.
Next it was on to Mataranka, a nothing-much-town but there are two thermal springs nearby that you can swim in. We spent the first day at Rainbow Springs, which was a bit disappointing as although the setting was beautiful, surrounded by palm trees and squawking parrots, the bathing hole itself had concrete sides and was quite small. It gave the impression of a neglected public bath that was slowly being recaptured by nature. We stayed that night at the Mataranka Homestead campsite, which was quite basic with gravelly plots, but was right on the edge of the National Park, so we had lots of visits from peacocks, hawks and some beautiful wallabies, one of which had a joey in her pouch, that kept poking his head in and out as if he was playing peek-a-boo. The evening entertainment included a whip-cracking display by Nathan Griggs, the World Record Holder for most whip cracks in a minute using two whips, at 530! He did lots of tricks, cracking to music, making sounds of horses and then used two whips on fire that sent up huge balls of flame when they cracked. It was different.
The next day we went to the other thermal pool, Bitter Springs. This was much nicer, same sort of setting, but other than some steps to get in and out, it was all natural and much longer. You can swim up and down the little river in crystal-clear 34 degree water, with a monsoon forest above you, little fish and turtles below you and beautiful dragonflies, butterflies, lilies and lotus flowers alongside you. It really did feel like a bit of paradise.
We then headed towards the Kakadu National Park, the biggest in Australia at 20,000 square KM, apparently it’s bigger than 75% of the World’s countries which we find hard to believe, but all the tourist bumf here is full of such claims and mind-boggling stats that you just accept it after a while.
On the way we stopped at Katherine for more provisions, including some beer, as you can’t buy take-away alcohol in Kakadu. Katherine itself has alcohol restrictions in place, so we had to provide ID to the police first and we were then explained the laws as to where we could and couldn’t drink the booze (eg only at campsites, not near licensed premises). There’s a daily limit you can buy too, although the 30 can box we picked up would be fine for our meagre needs!
That night we had intended to free-camp at another disused WWII airstrip (there’s loads in the Top End). The road in to it was bit rough, but we were looking forward to a peaceful night, well back from the highway, to enjoy the simple but humbling surroundings of the “billion-star-hotel”. When we got there, it seemed perfect – not another soul in sight - and stopped on an old taxi-lane about halfway along the runway. Soon we both thought we’d heard voices in the bush, but couldn’t see anyone or anything, but got an uneasy feeling. We drove up and down the 2kms of runway looking for other spots, but something just didn’t feel right. Most probably we have become too accustomed to parking up with other travellers, so the feeling of isolation spooked us a bit. But we have always moved on if we’ve had a gut instinct that something wasn’t right, so we bounced back along the road to the highway and in to nearby Pine Creek, to stop at the delightfully named Pussy Cat Flats – an old racecourse.
Here we met the charming Jenny & Dave who gave us loads of info about Kakadu and the Top End. We swapped stories and they recounted their travels in the UK, their love of The Cotswolds and around Europe in an ex-Thames Water Commer van, reminded us of our travels in Europe in our ex-AA van. We were like kindred spirits!
So then it was on to do Kakadu. The place is huge, but to see most of it, you need a 4x4. Even the unsealed roads “suitable for 2WD” were too rough for us – too many rock-hard corrugations caused by speeding motorists for poor Mario and us. We did try one road, but soon turned back – the risk of damage was too great and we’ve come too far to wantonly damage our “home”, so we decided we’d stay on the black stuff and just see the main sights.
The weather was now again truly tropical, so although it’s winter, the day temperatures are in the 30’s and don’t fall below 20 at night. Due to this, we decided we’d pay for camping with electric hook-up while up here, so we can have the fridge running as well as our myriad of fans, to keep cool at night without worrying about our batteries. The campsites also provide drinking water, shade and have the benefit of a bar and swimming pools, things you don’t get at free-sites!
First we spent 3 nights at Cooinda, near the Yellow Water wetlands – cue a lot of mozzies! We donned our walking-boots and mozzie-net hats and did some leisurely walks, including one at dawn watching the sun rise over the waters with loads of huge magpie geese and white egrets. It was an unforgettable experience, Caroline getting up so early that is. What we really wanted to see were the crocodiles, though. There’s the small and relatively harmless “freshwater” variety and also the bigger, aggressive, killer “salties”. You can do river cruises to spot them, but we decided we’d only do this if we couldn’t find them ourselves. The first 3 days drew a blank.
Somewhat ironically, the Aussies get a National Holiday on the 2nd Monday in June for the Queen’s birthday, so a “long weekend” was upon us. The campsite started to fill-up with lots of families from Darwin and soon we were surrounded by a load of them who seemed to be having some sort of reunion. The evening air was full of raucous laughter and singing from the boozing adults and the morning brought a cacophony of screaming, rampaging rug-rats who had been turfed-out of the caravans by their hung-over parents. It was time to move on.
After some phone calls we found a place in Jabiru with plenty of room, where you could choose your own pitch, it sounded perfect. As there’s not much in Jabiru, it was a very quiet site, but a perfect base for a couple of nights and would allow us to drive out and visit the nearby Ubirr area. So we picked a quiet spot, dumped our table and chairs to bagsie it and set-off.
Soon we were driving through a thick forest canopy and then suddenly we’re among these huge rocky outcrops. If you’ve seen the movie Cars you’ll probably remember the mountains around the town of Radiator Springs are shaped like 1950’s American car bonnets, complete with “hood ornaments”. This place looked like that. Some create overhangs which the indigenous people used to use as shelters and there are many examples of ancient rock-art in these. Some are estimated to be 15,000 years old, which is incredible enough, but the fact that they’re all water-based paints and still visible is amazing. Some of the art was in the traditional “x-ray style” – although we doubt this is what the artists called it at the time. These pieces show fish as if dissected, highlighting the backbone, intestines and what have you, like an early biology-cum-cookery book.
Some of the art was a bit ropey, even if ancient. What was truly breathtaking though was the view from the top of one of the outcrops – highlighting that the true master painter is of course Mother Nature. Wetlands with shimmering blue lagoons, verdant monsoon forests and majestic mountains in every direction, as far as the eye can see. Photos don’t do the view justice, let alone words. Easily the best view we’ve seen in Oz, perhaps the whole trip. Apparently the sunset there is amazing, but we could also imagine the mozzies and trying to climb back down in the dark, so we took one last look and left. Besides, we had crocodiles to find.
We drove to Cahill’s Crossing, where the road literally goes through the East Alligator River at the far North-east of the park. Here, we were told, we would see crocs. We parked up and strolled to the water’s edge and immediately saw a big “saltie” just swimming along, luckily not interested in the 3 anglers stood at the edge trying to catch barramundi. We couldn’t quite believe there was this huge croc in its natural environment just swimming past us. It soon went under though and disappeared, so we walked up the bank to a raised viewing platform which would give us a better and somewhat safer view of the river. It turns out we were quite lucky with our first sighting as it was ages before any emerged again and then it was only briefly. We were there for about an hour and saw 2 salties and 2 freshies, but apparently for every 1 you see, there will be up to another 9 lurking beneath. We didn’t go swimming here.
So that about brings us up to date. We are now just outside Darwin and will go in to see the city tomorrow, not really knowing what to expect other than a city rebuilt after WWII and then again after a huge cyclone in 1974. We’re quite looking forward to seeing the sea again.
Quick wildlife check - at our various free-camps since Uluru we have encountered dingoes wandering around outside the van, a very cute furry caterpillar which turned out to be a Gumleaf Skeletoniser with venomous hairs and a few live snakes. One we drove over (accidently) in the van, so that posed no danger, but another, a small venomous brown shared a toilet with Caroline, but she only realised it was hiding over the top of the door when she had sat down. And we’ve seen lots and lots of bush fires. We drove through one yesterday and you could feel the heat off it in the van. They just seem to be accepted here, either started by indigenous people rejuvenating their land, natural causes or whatever, they’re just left to burn themselves out and no-one seems to mind too much. It’s made us wary of where we park up at night though.
Bry’s shoulder update – no more sling, now doing strengthening exercises with one of those big rubber band things. He no longer needs to stand on the cool-box to get in and out of bed!
Hoo Roo!
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