It was time to hit the road again today and for a change, we managed to exit the park with time to spare. So I’m claiming the five minutes and now fully expect to be back in Melbourne at 8:25PM on the 11^th October. We’ll see you then.

We had barely turned right out of the Park and onto the Victoria Highway, heading west bound, when we were reminded that we were well and truly back in the outback. Only minutes from Katherine, and we could have been miles from anywhere. The ochre red earth was covered in gold and grey grasses and silver trunked trees rose forth to a bleached green smattering of foliage, other than in the many areas that had been chastened by fire, and become a blackened scar on the otherwise picture perfect landscape. The sun beat down from somewhere behind us, washing out the colour of the sky, while even the road was a sun bleached grey dotted, patches of black indicating recent repairs, as a shimmer of heat haze obscured the further reaches as it strove for the horizon.

This is truly the type of country I love to travel through. Don’t be mistaken that there is nothing to see out here and that the road travels from town to town in a dead straight line through unchanging panoramas of billiard table flat landscapes. Nothing could be further from the truth, as the road winds its way around tabletop flat mesas that rise skyward from the surrounding plains. Each is spectacular in its own right, and deserving of further investigation by those with more time than ourselves.

We rounded one bend in the undulating road, to be confronted with a hill that rose steeply from the roadside, before straightening into a towering cliff like escarpment overlooking the highway. Judging by the well worn path on the dirt verge alongside the road, we were not the first to have been astounded by the sight enough to pull over to record the view as best we could on camera. Looking back even now, I can honestly say that the photographs do little justice to what we viewed with our own eyes.

Spectacular.

As we moved on, excitedly nattering about the scene, we rounded yet another bend, to be faced with an even more jaw dropping scene spreading out from the road. Another towering escarpment, reaching for the sky through the surrounding forest of silvery trees, another photo stop was called for to record our memories to film.

The photo does it little justice.

Sadly, we have neither the time, nor due to the dogs, the ability to reconnoiter this area further. There will indeed be a time that we return to fully explore everything that is on offer here though. As I said at the start, this is the true out back, and truly some of the best country Australia has to offer.

By 2:15PM, we were pulling into the roadside rest stop we had chosen to be our camp spot for the night. Even at this early hour, space was at a premium, as we trudged around the site on foot, looking for a suitable spot into which to maneuver our rig. The thin layer of dust atop the hard packed dry earth was so fine, that with each and every step we took, a brown cloud emanated from beneath our feet, creating a hazy, choking mist of dirt. Despite the dust, the campsite had a fantastic view towards a lofty escarpment, upon which the sun was striking brightly, creating a myriad of changing colours as the angle of the light changed with the progression of the sun across the sky.

As we walked around looking like lost puppy dogs, a couple that were already parked up for the night took pity on us, and invited us to park next to them. We quickly assessed the site and found that it was as suitable as any other we were likely to lay up in, swung ‘The Beast’ around, with van in tow, threw out the welcome mat and called ourselves ‘home’.

With little shade to be had from the leafless tree under which we had parked, and the sun still hammering down upon the flank of the van, it was much too hot to even consider remaining inside. So we lugged a couple of camp chairs and the dog beds outside, to relax in the shade thrown by the van. We quickly struck a conversation with the couple, John and Betty, in the next van, who are slowly making their own way home to Geraldton in Western Australia. Before we knew it, we had whiled away 4 hours and nearly the same number or beers.

A cold beverage after a day on the road.

Given that we had not stopped for lunch, planning to eat when we pulled into the rest area, which naturally didn’t happen either, we were getting kind of hungry by this stage. It was time then to brave the oven like interior of the van to cook dinner. Not such an easy task when we realised that it had slipped our minds this morning to take something out of the freezer prior to leaving. To Becs credit, and thanks to the judicious use of the generator to provide some electricity to run the microwave to help prepare the gourmet spread, she cooked up a feast. A feast I had been meant to ably assist her in preparing, except for getting caught chatting to John at length again when I went to fire up the generator.

As I hungrily wolfed down my delicious dinner, Bec pointedly reminded me that I would tonight be in charge of cleaning up. Oh well, I can live with that, although the cleaning up was going to have to wait. Even with the little fan running in the van, it is not enough to keep the heat at bay, so as we ate dinner, we watched our butter melt and a can of drink didn’t even form a cooling layer of condensation on the outer surface such was the insipid warmth. By the time dinner was done, Bec was panting as heavily as the dogs, as we retreated to the camp chairs, and spent another few hours conversing with John and Betty, who were as happy as us to be sitting outside their also stifling tin can.

The sun sets…

…over our camp.

As day turned to night, the glassy clear sky was filled with thousands of pinpricks of light, the stars appearing like you never get to see them in the city. Peering up through the tree, it was, as Betty so eloquently put it, like looking up at a tree covered in fairy lights.

A good night was had by all, but as time wore on, it became evident that the evening chill we have been experiencing in Katherine was not going to materialize here, so we said our goodnights and retreated to the van. With the harsh sun no longer striking the side, it had cooled slightly inside, but there was no breeze to speak of, so the stillness of the air created a turgid, stuffy feeling, that even the fan couldn’t release us from. I can feel a sleepless night coming on, unless the weather changes during the early hours of the morning, a prayer for which I can only keep my fingers crossed.

Until next time, stay safe, have fun and don’t forget to write.