The Northern Territory

Leaving Kununurra was hard for us. We loved the community there, the people we worked with and it was sad to miss the harvest period after watching the Chia grow over 11 weeks. As much as we loved it we had to keep focused on our main objective of traveling the whole of Australia in ten months time.

We rushed through driving and made it to Kakadu on the second day of driving. We were surprised to reach the park and find out the only pass available was a 14 day pass for $25 per person. We decided to drive through and see if it was worth it. We managed to do a short walk at Yellow Waters in the park and to check out a bird watching spot but ultimately decided against paying as we knew we would visit Litchfield park soon for free.

We passed through a tiny roadside place called Bark Hut Inn where we met a talking parrot who liked to say hello and tell people they were clever. We saw our first cattle filled road train there as well. We also checked out the Window to the Wetlands after that on our way by.

At Adelaide River we decided that the jumping crocodile cruise was a must do. It was $35 per adult but was well worth the money. As soon as the boat starts out on the river the crocs come rushing out because they know an easy snack has just arrived. We watched from upstairs and downstairs and I think the lower level was better because you can see the crocs up super close as they jump up to try and snatch the meat dangling from a line above.

We reached Darwin just in time for the famous night market at Mindil Beach every Thursday. We watched a man do a show using cattle whips which was amazing. We started to wander thru the market when a huge rain started to downpour. Vendors were holding down their tents and cursing the wind and rain. It was said to see the market get shut down after only thirty minutes because everything was well priced and it was all very diverse and beautiful stuff. The food section was what we mostly got to see and actually snuck back in to get some food at discount after they were told to close. Francis also scored 3 fresh Darwin mangos for $5.

The next day we parked downtown and walked around for the day. We visited the big convention center with the wave pool, the Chinese temple, the World War 2 storage tunnels (very cool ), the WW2 sites at East Point Reserve, and walked through the big outdoor mall. After that it was time to hit the road again but on the way out of town we drove past a man selling camel t-bones and crocodile meat. We bought some of each along with a piece of passion fruit. Francis being the great cook that he is cooked both to perfection. Mmm

The next morning we woke up in Litchfield parks Lost City. It was so incredible walking through the huge boulders. We climbed around on them taking pictures. Francis took a nice swim at Florence Falls where there are two small twin waterfalls feeding the swimming hole. Next stop was the Bulley Water Holes where even I couldn’t resist a dip. I loved it there because the river ran down into small pockets everywhere meaning everyone could have their own little shallow pool to relax in. One last stop at the magnetic termite mounds where we took pictures with one that was more than twice our height.

The next day we started the morning off with cruise down the Katherine Gorge. For $58 each we took a two gorge cruise which included a small walking tour and a spotting of Aboriginal Rock Art. The scenery was amazing and I made Francis sit up front with me the whole time so we could get the best view and pictures. Our boat captain was a hilarious host and definitely made the trip more fun with all of his jokes and commentaries. Back in Katherine we crossed over the town bridge in time to see all the bats flying down the river. It seemed like thousands of them flew over us and it went on for quite some time. Truly spectacular and unexpected.

We visited Mataranka where Francis hand fed a Barramundi fish at the Territory Manor. That was totally awesome and I caught it on film. The man there could catch them by hand and pull them out of the water. We witnessed a peacock strutting his stuff with all of his feathers fanned out as he purred to catch the females attention. We then walked around the movie set homestead from “We of the Never Never” before plunging into the thermal pool. The walk down to the pool was nice because there are hundreds of flying foxes (bats) that live in the trees and they squeel the whole time you are there. The pool itself is surrounded by palm trees and is very calming.

Tennant Creek was a quick stop for us but I liked the small town. You could see there was a strong community there and everyone was very friendly to us. After our stop there we were able to check out the Devils Marbles which were very impressive. They are these huge round boulders balanced precariously on top of other large boulders. Francis of course had to climb up the tallest set to have me take a picture. From there it was straight road to Alice Springs.

The town of Alice Springs is much bigger than we expected. As soon as we arrived we looked for the visitor center. Outside there were public washrooms. We walked in and had a laugh at the bathroom attendant sitting there collecting money from people needing to use the facility. Luckily I had a few bucks in my pocket. We only stayed long enough to get some groceries as we knew we’d be back after visiting Ayers rock.

On our way to the rock we decided to go through the West Macdonnell Range. Beautiful!
Just before the rock you come across Mt Conner which from a distance looks amazingly like Ayers. Francis tricked me once it came into view and then quoted the brochure which states how it is often mistaken for Ayers. Ha ha Francis!

We arrived at Ayers in the evening so we only had time for a quick visit to the cultural center before watching the sunset on the rock. Truly stunning! For a very small window of time during the sunset the rock glows a deep fiery red. In the morning we went the sunrise viewing area for the Olgas. The Olgas were beautiful but even more impressive was the view of the sun rising beside Ayers to the side of us. We spent the morning walking trails around the Olgas then moved onto Ayers for the rest of the day. The rock was closed for climbing that day due to windy conditions. We found it very confusing how everywhere there is signs and literature from the local aboriginals NOT to the rock but then to see how a climbing area is all set up and ready to go with pegs and everything. We instead did the 10.6km hike around the rock which was worth the effort because from pictures the rock looks so smooth but in reality its completely different looking from every angle. So many cracks and crevasses everywhere. We ended the day watching the sun again set on the rock and felt satisfied with the visit after our 5000km detour to get there. 

We stopped back at Alice Springs on our way back up and took in the view from Anzac hill where we could see the entire town. We stopped at Todds Tavern for a cold drink and walked thru Todd Mall. For dinner we went to the Overlanders Steakhouse. I had been harassing Francis for two weeks to go there. This place serves a world wide legendary meal called “drovers blowout”. In one giant meal you get to eat all the Aussi foods you’ve been dreaming of. It starts with soup and dampier. The second course is a tasting of four meats including Roo, camel, emu and crocodile. Third course a choice of steak or Barra. Finishing off with desert. Every course was amazingly good. Portions were huge and we had to take dessert to go. A must do!

The only other place we really stopped on our way back up to the top of Australia was Wycliffe Well which claims to be the UFO capitol of Australia. Not worth the stop unless you want to read ten thousand news articles stuck on every wall of a room. I just read the tiny jokes and then made a quick exit.

Then we were headed onward and upwards to Queensland!