Week 10 · 30th May to 5th June
Darwin to Kakadu
Day 64 – 30th May
Darwin has 2 seasons: the wet – where high temperatures and thunderstorms occur daily and literally metres of rain falls in 5 months (Nov – Mar); and the dry – where temperatures drop to the twenties and clouds dissapear giving very little or no rain and there is no humidity. That is, apart from when Orla and I decide to pay a visit! We had ‘unseasonal’ rain all weekend with storms and ‘cold’ temperatures of 18C! (We later learned that this is the coldest May day for the last 80 years!) Not to mention the wind – in the end I had to put on a jumper.
Naturally, I’d organised a fishing trip for today! A 4 hour trip on a small tin fishing boat in Darwin harbour – courtesy of M&D for my birthday. The trip was great though, apart from one thing – we didn’t catch any fish! (well, none to speak of). I actually caught 3, one went back (frogfish), one was used as bait (moonfish) and the other was used as Sashimi by myself and Drew later on that night (Sand Bass).
Drank a good few beers to wash the fish down and keep us hydrated during a mammoth cards session which lasted till 2am – I had to be up at 6:30 to play golf with a campsite neighbour!
Day 65 – 31st May
Jock, our neighbour in the campsite, had no problem in persuading Dean to play golf with him this morning … even though it was raining. Worst weather for this time of year for 80 years apparently.
Eventually said our sad goodbyes to Drew and Fiona and left Darwin at about lunchtime. We’ll really miss them and hope we’ve found friends for life.
Drove to Kakadu and set up camp at Malabanjbanijan (try saying that after a few pints of Fosters) – the wetlands area - where we spent 12 hours of hell! The mozzies were unbelievable: thick, biting, everywhere, in the tent, in the bed-clothes … everywhere. Our wits and nerves were truly frazzled by morning. The glorious Kakadu wasn’t living up to its billing, not by a long shot.
Day 66 – 1st June
Vowed to get the hell out of Kakadu this morning as the mozzies were winning the battle big time. Decided to go to the Bowali visitors centre first and had a coffee there. A strict member of staff there set us straight and told us not to give up and leave just yet.
OK, we decided one more night. Spent the day looking at Rock Art including the famous lightening man and Yellow water wetlands but passed on a boat trip. Both were great and whats more the mozzie count was low.
Headed a good 90km south to Gunural where as promised the mozzies weren’t as bad (in fact there were barely any).
Day 67 - 2nd June
Glad we stayed another night in Kakadu now and didn’t let the mozzies win. We were joined by a lovely German couple last night – Ralph and Jeanna and the four of us chewed the breeze for a few hours with the usual talk of where we’ve been, where we’re going etc etc. Today was another day of waterfalls. First up, Gunlom falls at the southern end of Kakadu. Scrambled up to the top and had a lovely swim without fear of crocs!
The we bid farewell to Kakadu and hit the road south to Mataranka – the location of hot springs which we decided not to visit as we’ll be seeing some later on.
Met and spoke to a man from Townsville called Dudley who is cycling for 14,000kms around Australia – mad man!
Day 68 – 3rd June
Imagine driving from London to Edinburgh in a car that can only average 80kph (~50mph) – that gives you an idea of how long we were behind the wheel today! We started at 6:30 in Mataranka and made it to the Devil’s Marbles by 4pm.
The Devils Marbles are a collection of sandstone boulders deposited quite conveniently next to the Stuart highway. Like most geological marvels in Australia, they have special significance to local Aboriginal people. We had enough time (light) to set up camp and then sit on top of one of em and watch the sun go down. Naturally, being so close to the highway, we were not alone.
Slept pretty badly because of a (near gale-force) wind that appeared from nowhere – still, at least there we no mozzies!
Day 69 – 4th June
Just caught the sunrise this morning before packing up and to finish the 1500km Darwin-Alice journey at last!
Arrived in Alice – the red hot centre of Oz … to rain and freezing cold! Within an hour of arriving we had our jeans and jackets on! What a change to only 2 days ago! Again, unseasonal weather so we are told.
Spent the afternoon familiarising ourselves with the town – bigger and modern that I expected. Had the obligatory coffee at Todd mall, checked email, shopping etc.
Dean cooked up a Rogan Josh curry for dinner – yum! Who says campers have to do it tough all the time.
Day 70 – 5th June
Stuff, stuff and more stuff – and none of it was bad although I wasn’t all that impressed with the Royal Flying Doctor Service RFDS. The reptile centre was class and I fell in love with Scarlet the Olive Python. The Overland Telegraph Station talk was given by a genuine mixed-Aboriginal man whose outlook on life was quite refreshing and not what you’d expect.
