March 28 - Exploring Darwin

Today we wanted to do some exploring around Darwin.  Our first stop was Nightcliff Village Market.  This market is open every Sunday from 8:00 to 2:00 and it is suggested going there for breakfast, however, we found out about the breakfast thing after we had already eaten.  We went anyway and it would have been a perfect place for lunch.  They had food from every ethnic group you can imagine.  It was a good thing that you couldn't distinguish the drool from the sweat pouring down our faces.  The temperature at 8:30 was 32 degrees and when we stepped out of the van our glasses steamed up.  This weather is terrific for dry skin, you stay moist all day.  The had delicious watermelon there, so I had some, this is how I should be getting my fluid intake.  Our fridge is too small.

We decided to go downtown, even though it is Sunday.  All stores do not open on Sunday here in Australia, much to my chagrin.  However, they do have free parking.  We located a nice shady spot, parked and strolled (as fast as our legs would take us).  First location was Lyons Cottage which was in pretty good shape for a WWII home.  Darwin was bombed pretty badly by the Japanese during WWII.  Hurricane Tracy arrived Christmas Eve 1997 and destroyed nearly the entire town.  It is with great determination that this City is surviving today. 

We took in Crocosaurus Cove where we got to see them feeding the Crocs.  They had a Reptile house also and I thought they would have one of those frilly lizards, however they didn't.  Dalton took some pictures.

There are two escape hatches attached to each pen.  I wonder why!!!

This is the vehicle Dalton wants when we come back and tour Western Australia

We made it to Darwin

March 26 -

We stopped at Lelewy Falls to take a look but we couldn't get in because of the flooding and there were salt water Crocs in the area so we had ice cream instead of a hike.

This would have been a lovely place to swim but you never know about the Crocs.

The majority of the men here wear short shorts and when they swim its budgie smugglers.  Can be quite an eye-full.

We decided to take the scenic route to Adelaide River, however, all of the sights we were hoping to see were closed off because of the flooding.  We did meet up with a paving crew, really surprised to see them on a secondary highway.  We only had to drive through a little tar and gravel.  We were very happy when we arrived at Adelaide River where we spent the night, at a beautiful campground, lovely swimming pool, we were the only ones in it.  We had a couple of drinks in the pub where Crocodile Dundee drank and they have stuffed the water buffalo that was in the movie, it now sits at the end of the bar.

 The Water Buffalo's name is Charlie, and when he died the owner took him to the Taxidermist, he now resides on the bar.

You just have to love the signage in this country....Every time you enter a National Park or enter a town that has a large Aborigine population you will see a sign:  Warning:  Prescribed Area: No Alcohol and No Pornography...see the two do go hand and hand (or something of the sort)

When we got up this morning it was 32 degrees, and it felt like we had just stepped out of the shower.  We stopped at Florence Falls, took a short hike down to the pool below had had a lovely swim, there were fish all around and they must be used to people because they didn't get out of the way, they were various sizes but they appeared to be covered in blue velvet.  Next we went to the Burley Rockhole - That is a really neat place for kids and those who have an adventuresome nature (not being a chicken helps).  There are a series of waterfalls one below the other, you can take an air mattress and slide down all the falls.  We just went into the pool at the end.  The water was cooler than our swimming pools have been but not very cold, however, it was very refreshing.

Florence Falls

The pool is where we swam, just below Florence Falls.  Dalton tried swimming to the falls but the current was too strong.

 

 He is trying to touch the fish.

We both got to swim with the fishes.

Isn't it just so beautiful!!!

When we arrived there was a kid on an air mattress charging down the falls.  He was really enjoying it, too much for me though.

Remember the termite mounds, well they are nothing compared to these.  Apparently they are magnetic termites and they build their mounds facing North and South.  

We drove into a little place called Bachelor.  There actually is an Institute for Men there!  Who know!!

There was a lovely park with Hibiscus trees, we parked under one that had dropped its flowers, they smelled wonderful.  Had a lovely picnic lunch.  Just before we left, we stopped at the public toilets and I think a frog wanted to turn me into a princess, well, that's the only reason I could think of that he would be in the toilet, however, it didn't work.

We arrived in Darwin at about 2:30 and checked into the Shady Glen Caravan Park, about 10km out of Darwin.  We took a drive into town to have a look around.  It has over 66,000 people here so it is a good size.  We found the Casino and contributed to the economy of the Northern Territory before going back to the park for dinner.  There is a bus stop across the street from the park so we will probably use it to get around.  There is much to see and do.  Dalton may even get in a game of golf.

March 23, 24 & 25

When we were staying at Wycliffe Wells, we took a run up the highway to see the Devil's Marbles, they are really amazing to see.  Everything around is flat for miles and miles and all of a sudden you see these outcroppings:

We wandered around the area for a while taking lots of pictures, however, it is taking a long time to download where we are so am only putting in a couple.  It was really a strange feeling being the only people in the area. The tourists are next out in about 2 weeks and then we will have to make reservations everywhere we go.

There are outcroppings like this on both sides of the road just in this one area and then everything is totally flat again.  Very strange!!!

Just as we were leaving it started to rain.  By the time we got back to the campground it had stopped.  There was a restaurant at the campground, we went in to keep cool, had a couple of beer and the best Chinese food we had in a long time.  After we got back in the van it started to rain again, and this time it rained a little heavier, just enough to cool it down for sleeping.

I think I have already mentioned my experience with the frog(s).

We drove through a little place called Tennant Creek and met with one of the locals, he let me take a picture of his vehicle.

The majority of vehicles here have bull bars in front for the kangaroo encounters in the early evening and early mornings.  He was quite proud of his!

We drove past the Tropic of Capricorn, now we are in the real heat, wet too...

We stopped at a place called Daly Waters, they have a very famous pub there, it holds the oldest liquor licence in Australia, granted in 1835 or thereabouts.  Everyone stops there along the way and leave certain mementos:

One can only hope these are extras!

Those are dollar bills in the background, behind the sign.

They even have familiar people drinking in the pub...oh, it's Dalton sitting in front of a shoe tree!

We met a couple who have been travelling around Australia for the past two years.  The bought an old bus that had been converted, it has a trailer with a car on it that they pull behind.  They have been working along the way to make gas money for the bus.  Nashwa and Bob, she is from Egypt and arrived in Australia when she was 4.  We also met up with the couple we met in Alice, Elwin and Denice.  Apparently this happens a lot when people are travelling, you are often running into each other along the way.  It makes the evening very pleasant because you exchange stories and you get to hear about a lot of places not to miss along the way.

Our next stop was Mataranka where they have mineral pools, the water temperature is 35 degrees which is not a lot different than the air temperature as it happened to be 32 that day.  It was a very nice pool, however, the down side was that the area was full of flying foxes aka bats - there were thousands of them.

The smell of bat guana, uuhgg!

The pool was nice though if you could get past the smell!

Next we arrived in Katherine, a lovely town the biggest since Alice Springs.  We had to do a quick grocery shop and fill up with diesel before rushing out to do the Katherine Gorge tour.  We took a boat through one of thirteen gorges, at the end we had a 400 m hike to pick up the next boat for the next gorge.  It was a beautiful trip.

It really is pretty amazing to see!

This looks like a lovely mist, however, our boatman put the front end of the boat right under the waterfall and a bunch of us got soaked, it was coming down pretty good.  It did feel wonderful.

Along the way we met a couple of "Freshies" they are fresh water crocks and are supposed to be more scared of us than we are of them, however, no one was willing to find out.  This one was just laying there in the sun until we got really close and sent it in the water.  We only saw 2 and one was really small.

After we left the gorge we stopped at a Top Tourist Caravan Park, it was very nice, beautiful pool.  

The first thing I wanted to do after our experience at the hot pool, was wash our clothes and towels, so I put the clothes in the washer, a beautiful front end loader, put in my money and 1/2 hour later went to get them out to put them on the line....half way through taking them out I saw a frog sticking to the inside of the washer.  I went to get Dalton, I wasn't going to touch the thing, it was still alive, but you could see it had been on the ride of it's life, can you imagine going through those spin cycles, and the soap taste it must have had in it's mouth.  I hope this is the last experience I have with frogs.  It would happen to be one of the endangered species.  Needless to say, the clothes went back in the wash, sans frogs.

A few things I forgot to mention:

Don't leave your vehicle on the side of the road for any reason, the next time you see it, it will be a wreck, the windows would all be smashed and the roof, hood and trunk will be all beat up.  We have passed a few in that condition.  I don't know if the Abos drive up and down the highways until they see something they can damage or just how this happens but we were warned about it and it seems to be true.  We were talking about caravans vs. 5th wheels (goose-necks) and were told that if you break down in a caravan, a tow truck will come, put the vehicle on a flat deck and tow the caravan.  If you have a 5th wheel they have to leave it because they don't have the ware-with-all to tow it.  An elderly couple were travelling up the centre and they had a break down of some sort and when they got back to their new 5th wheel, it was totally demolished.  There was not a thing they could do about it and were just totally devastated.   I don't know how insurance works in this country, but you have to be very careful.  We are not to go on any gravel roads or it will nullify our insurance on the van.  We could be in big trouble when we get back.  You have to read the fine print.

They also have road trains here.  They are 18 wheelers towing up to 5 trailers behind.  The roads are so narrow that you have to pull way over, almost in the ditch and stop for them to go by because if you don't they tend to go off the road and spray gravel all over the place, they can also suck you over.  Some times it can be pretty scary.  We have been lucky and have only run into the ones that have four trailers, it is a real nail biter getting past.

There are wild camels here also, I didn't know that until we saw a couple.  They do look odd here, however, it is a good place for them being desert and all.

Alice Springs & North

I keep referring to it as Port Alice and Dalton keeps reminding me that it is a long way from Port Alice.  However, the natives are still plentiful.  Next to the small places we have been driving through, and there aren't that many, Alice Springs is quite big.  We stayed at the MacDonnell Rangers Holiday Park and had an Ensuite Site, never even heard of one before.  It is a site with your own bathroom and shower, very handy.  We spent two nights there as a treat, they have 2 beautiful pools.  You really feel like a swim after driving for several hours.  We have air conditioning but when you get out into the 35 degree heat it is really something.   We spent an entire morning cleaning the van, Dalton's arms were like rubber when he got finished with the outside.  We should have taken a before and after picture.   The bugs are terrible and the birds keep flying at us as well.  We are driving a real "murder machine" at least it looked that way before we washed it.

After cleaning the van, we wandered around Alice for awhile, checking out the art works, jewellery, etc.  We also checked out the golf course, it was really nice but there was no one on it and there wasn't going to be either so as Dalton didn't want to play alone and we had planned on leaving the next morning, we gave it a miss.

We had lunch at the Casino and lost a few bucks in the bargain.  Spent the evening sitting around with the people we met a Coober Pedy and another couple from Adelaide who were on their way to visit their kids in Darwin.

We left Alice early in morning and headed up the Stuart Highway to Wycliff Wells, the UFO Capital of Australia.  Apparently people from all over the world come here, it has been written up in the paper and everything.  We were the only ones in the campground and when we went to bed the people in the restaurant there (the owner and staff) said they hoped we would still be there in the morning.  Well, I have to say, I did have an encounter with a UFF - an unwanted flying frog, I thought a grasshopper had gotten into our van but it was a tree frog.  I squealed and made Dalton get up and get it out of the bed.  Next morning, I had to share my shower with two of the little buggers.

This picture and the next are to show what we have been looking at for hundreds of km.  They are termite mounds.  Since these pictures were taken we have seen some that are 3m tall.  It is hard to imagine what they would do if they got into a city.  This picture looks like there is a UFO in it....ha ha ha...

These were taken at the same place, on on either side of the road.  I was just fascinated with them, I am not kidding, they were on both sides of the road for hundreds of km.

We also passed the Tropic of Capricorn so now we are suffering from the humidity as well as the heat.  It is unbelievably hot.  You can shower and you never really dry off.

Kings Canyon

After we left Uluru, we headed for Kings Canyon, another must see on our lengthy list from those who have been before.

The drive to Kings Canyon was very interesting.  Just the week before we arrived it was closed due to flooding so we were not sure if we would be able to see it.  The road was passable, just barely in some places.

This was one of the flood-plains that we had to drive through.  The mud about 18-22" deep.  After we made it through, Dalton got out to take a picture, we should have taken it while the vehicle was in the ruts just to see how it looked.  The next one had rocks all across the road.  People were just driving over with their 4 x 4s to flatten it out enough for the rest of us to drive over.  When this stuff dries it is just like powder.  When it is wet, just like gumbo.  Remind anyone of Saskatchewan!

We got to the campsite, checked in and then went to look at the Canyon to see what we were in for.   When you go to Kings Canyon, you have to climb it and walk the rim.  I don't know who made that rule, but it is the thing to do.  Everyone knows that I think exercise is a four letter word so you can imagine what was going through my mind when we drove up to take a look.  Everyone had told me that the first part was difficult but the rest was worth it.  Well, when we got to the bottom and I saw the sign that said 5.5 km. I knew that everyone had been lying to me.  I was quite intimidated and very nervous.  But I was there so up we both went.  Dalton was very supportive of me, and he was there to lend a hand and encouragement whenever I needed it.  I made it to the top, I know I missed a lot of the scenery on the way up, but I was so busy concentrating on not losing my balance that I kept my eyes focused on where my feet were going next.  I made it to the top, but that really was not the end of the climbing, it was basically up and down for the entire 5.5 km.  It took us 4 hours to do it in 35 degree weather with a dozen flies buzzing around your face the entire time.  But we made it and here are the pictures to prove it:

That really is me up there!

My Hero!

The view is pretty spectacular - you can see the cars below if you look closely.

The formations are really something to see and the plants growing out of the rock is rather odd.  I always though plants needed soil, who knew.

This cliff face looks like it was opened up with a shovel.  Dalton says that this is what the ground in our back yard looks like when he is digging it.  Except for the colour of course.

We really were right at the very top of this Canyon.

They call this "The Garden of Eden" because there is lots of plant life and little critters living there.  We only saw the birds and one lizard.  I didn't look to see if it was one of the poisonous ones or not.  I just kept on walking.  Isn't it beautiful, you can swim here if you wish, the water is very cold.  We didn't go in but there were three young blokes that did, they said it was coooold!

Sunset and Sunrise at Uluru

We couldn't imagine driving all this way to look at a rock and we actually went there three times.  The time we already wrote about, and then again at sunset, it really was lovely to see and the next morning we actually got up before the sun, waaay before!  We were at Uluru by 6:00 a.m. and sunrise was 6:45.  Dalton took a photo about every 30 seconds for both the sunset and sunrise, we have oodles of pictures when we get home to sort through.  Thank goodness for digital, can you imagine the cost if you had to go through the developing thing.

Sunrise on Uluru!  One of the many pictures that were taken.

Yes, it really is us and we were up that early.  Obviously someone else was too, to take the picture.  Don't we look lovely with our little bug nets!

Some aboriginal artwork on the backside of the rock!

The rock is solid granite but it looks like it is made of sandstone.  These gouges look like someone scooped out a portion but it is actually the way it is eroding.  This is millions of years old.

This is the watering hole, it is a spectacular place.  It is a natural waterfall, when it rains, and I guess it has been raining a fair bit in the last little while.  There is a beautiful pool below and it forms a creek going all around the back portion of the rock.  This is a sacred place for the Aborigines.

We did enjoy our visit very much.  It is really hard to imagine the feeling of spirituality, or whatever the feeling is, but there definitely is a feeling you get when you are there.  It is not hard to understand why the Aborigines revere it so much.

Coober Pedy to Uluru aka Ayers Rock & Kata-Tjuta (the Olgas)

March 17 & 18

There were a couple of things we didn't get to see yesterday because they were too far to walk and it was too darned hot...one of the things was the Serbian Church, it was incredible to see and very large to be underground.

This is a church, hall & residence, it goes into the hill a long way.

This is the entry into the church

Looking up at the stained glass windows from the alter area

This is from the window area looking toward the alter

After we left the church we headed out to the breakaways.  It is an area that looks like it was broken away from the rest of the land around it.  You will be driving along and all of a sudden there is a totally different landscape.  Ground temperatures here get as high as 65 degrees.  I can't even imagine how hot that is.

I forgot to mention the Golf Course...they give you a piece of Astroturf to carry around with you for putting your ball on so you don't have to smash your clubs into the desert sand and/or gravel.  Dalton didn't want to play there...I wonder why!

It just looks so different from flat, flat, flat

Dalton can't believe how they are just able to leave all the piles of dirt where it is.  He says the government should make them fill in all the holes.

The entire area around Coober Pedy is like this.

We finally got out of South Australia and into the Northern Territory.  We were told it would be desert all the way, however, the 80 year drought broke several weeks ago and everything is lush and green, it is hard to imagine that nothing grew here when you see all the grass growing.

We arrived at Erldunda, and ran into the couple we met in Coober Pedy, Des and Penny.  We were camping beside them, it was 37 degrees and there was a pub so we went to check it out.  We stayed there for a few hours before heading back to the van.  The air conditioner had cooled it down nicely.

We wanted to get an early start for Uluru but had to fill up the van with diesel at $1.66 per litre, it was the highest price yet.

Oh, I also had to fight with the Christmas beetles for space at the sink when I wanted to brush my teeth in the Ladies washroom, the worse one yet.  This is very surprising because they are usually so clean.

If you are wondering what a Christmas beetle is (picture a lady bug, only 10 x bigger and iridescent green), not really yucky, just big and bothersome.

On the way to Uluru, we actually passed two vehicles cutting grass beside the road, that is something that has probably not been seen in 80 years.  Again everything was green instead of red.  The dirt is really red.  Red dust gets into everything, however, it hasn't started to bother us just yet.

We couldn't believe we drove all this way to look at a big rock, so we looked at several.

You have to admit it does look pretty spectacular, we are going back tonight to see it at sunset, supposed to be awesome, We aren't sure about seeing it at sunrise, we may be on our way to Kings Canyon by then.

Kata-Tjuta (the Olgas) from a distance

The front part - wish we had a wide angle lens.  We really need one to capture the whole vista

  The back side of the Olgas.

Dalton at Uluru - dig his fancy headgear!

 It might not be pretty but it works!

And not to be outdone... isn't that a beautiful bench I am sitting on!

This is at a look-out at Uluru.

We are staying in a huge campground just out of the National Park. Yulara...pretty name!