Our Aussie Adventures

We were faced with a much milder climate overnight than the last few evenings, no doubt brought about by the dreary grey blanket of cloud that encompassed us. The moisture in the air was also palpable to the extent that we were forced to endure the constant whirring of the air conditioner again, in an effort to keep the warmth to the exterior of the van. Regardless of our preparations, it was still the stodgy heat that interrupted our repose this morning.

Our itinerary for today had called for us to motor 60 odd kilometres out of Katherine, to visit the northern end of Nitmiluk National Park and Edith Falls, where there was the worthy promise of an inviting plunge pool in which to have a dip.

Waking, still feeling somewhat under the weather, and with the knowledge that I have a big day behind the wheel in front of me tomorrow, I vetoed our plans, preferring to stay in the local area. I am still sorely disappointed that my continuing illness, whilst not incapacitating, has saw us have to miss a couple of our planned attractions here in Katherine. The optimist in me however just sees this as a great excuse to return to the region another time, maybe during the wet season to see the grandiose flows of the river through the gorge.

So with our plans for a day out annulled, we moved onto plan ‘B’. This started out with me doing some further research on our upcoming destinations and figuring out at which roadside camp we will be likely to pull into tomorrow night. We have a few options for where we can bed down tomorrow, but we are hoping to put as much distance between us and Katherine as possible, leaving just a short hop into Kununurra the next day.

It was already early afternoon by the time we dressed and headed for town with a short list of what we wanted to do. First on the to do list was another swim at the thermal springs. We figured that if we weren’t going to get to have a swim beneath the cascading water of Edith Falls, we would make do with a casual plunge at the hot pools. Far from being the tranquil hydro-therapy that we had visualized, the springs today had been overrun by a gaggle screaming children. Add that to the garbage that had been abhorrently left laying about that wasn’t present yesterday, and the area was disappointing. If we’d not enjoyed ourselves here so much yesterday, I couldn’t see myself being able to recommend the springs to anyone. But for the negatives, we still waded in the restorative waters for an hour or so, before continuing in to town.

Back to the thermal pools.

As it is our plan to leave reasonably early tomorrow, this will be our final visit to Katherine, so we needed to stock up on groceries for our onward trip. This was more difficult than it seemed, as we were unable to purchase any fresh fruit of vegetables. The border crossing into Western Australia has some very restrictive quarantine laws, which will see us having to discard any fresh produce that we have left after tomorrow night. We managed to buy enough with which to create a suitable menu for the next couple of days though, before heading for home.

Cruising. The main street of Katherine

In readiness for a quick get away in the morning, I carefully backed ‘The Beast’ up to within an inch of the caravan draw bar, to make for an easy hitching up process. Then having unpacked our goodies, Bec reminded me that the toilet cassette needed emptying. Emptying the toilet had been on my mental list of things to do, but GNS saw me leaving it off of the written list. Thus, the cassette had remained in-situ at the van, rather than accompanying us into town where the nearest dump spot is located. Despite all of my ranting and cursing, there was nothing else for it, but than to make the trip back into town to do the deed. Not a happy chappy was I.

Finally back again, and with ‘The Beast’ again positioned nicely for an easy get away in the morning, I could make a start on dinner. In a further effort to negate too many chores this evening, I had decided to cross over to the camp kitchen and acquaint myself with the free barbeque to fry up the elements of our steak sandwiches.

Two things struck me as I readied my ingredients by the barbeque. Firstly, what is with blokes of a certain vintage (IE: Old) who consider that anything cooked on a barbeque plate needs to look like shriveled up chunks of charcoal before being considered culinary masterpieces? Such was the case, when I got to the camp kitchen to find the barbeque already in use, as a guy was prodding and poking at a couple of unidentifiable, char blackened chunks of something. He let them sizzle for a further 5 minutes, the burner turned to high, before sliding them, with an audible and solid clunk, onto a waiting plate with a parting comment of: “Well, if they’re not done by now, I guess we’ll just eat them raw.”

Secondly, as I spread out our onion, steak and a few slices of sweet potato, I was asked, and not for the first time: “Gee, are you feeding an army?” It is generally to the accompaniment of dropping jaws and mirthful grins, that I reply that there is only the two of us. Judging by the two shriveled chunks of charcoal that the last bloke removed from the hotplate, big eaters must be in the minority!

One sandwich down, one to go.

Following our dinner of steak sandwiches, which were delicious and filling thank you very much, it was time to start working them off. And what better way to start, than jumping into bed and watching some sport on TV. Go Melbourne Storm!

Before I go tonight, just a reminder that we will be roadside bound tomorrow night, and thus an update can’t be guaranteed. Actually, I can provide a guarantee of sorts, in that there won’t be a blog post published tomorrow. Stay tuned for when we arrive in Kununurra, where I ought to be able to get on line and catch you all up with our adventures.

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

If a dawn wake up call wasn’t bad enough this morning, I had to go rummaging through the cupboards to find a pair of long pants and a long sleeved jumper to don, for an early morning walk with the dogs. With the warm embrace of the sun yet to be realised, it was positively chilly out and about during our walk through the park, with the babies in tow. I don’t think that even they are overly impressed with the direction the overnight weather has taken.

Our early morning start was all for a good cause however, as we readied ourselves with a warming cup of steaming hot coffee, then drove through Katherine and in the direction of the Katherine Gorge National Park. Well, that is what it was previously known as, until such time it was handed back to its traditional indigenous owners, and reverted to its original name of Nitmiluk National Park.

This national park is where we have organised a boat tour along the first 2 of 13 gorges, which are known collectively as Katherine Gorge. It was the fact that our tour was due to depart at 9:00AM that we were up so early, so I was hoping beyond belief that it would all be worth the effort. If it was of any indication, at least the temperature had risen to a reasonable level by the time we parked ‘The Beast’ and taken the longer than I would have thought necessary walk to the boat ramp. I wouldn’t have thought that it was too much to ask for the river to have been routed closer to the car park.

Like clockwork, at 9:00AM we were ushered down the jetty to the waiting wide, flat bottomed punt of similar size and description as that we had floated through Kakadu in. Along with about 60 other eager participants and a funny Kiwi guide we boarded and took up a position close to the bow as we pushed out into the first gorge. With the sun just poking its golden orb above the lofty escarpments that created the gorge walls, the water sparkled like a jewel encrusted satin ribbon wending through the landscape.

Spectacular scenery.

The constant click of camera shutters accompanied the narrative spieled out adlib by our guide as we slowly meandered along this natural wonder, until before we knew it, we had come to an impassable rift of rocks the width of the watercourse. In order to continue on through the second gorge, we all disembarked our faithful punt, and proceeded to walk the several hundred metres to where a second craft was awaiting us. The march provided us with ample opportunities to take even more photographs as we marveled at the raw forces of nature that must certainly have been in play to create such a phenomenon.

On foot.

During our travels, we learned that the rock is a variety of sandstone, which over the last millennium has fractured and subsequently been eroded by the flow of the river, leaving it in its current state. Being that we are travelling in the dry season at the moment, we weren’t seeing the area at its best. During the wet season, you can expect the water to be raging at a level many metres higher than it is today, with the added marvel of waterfalls around every corner as tens of thousands of square kilometres of catchment area feed into the main stream.

Through…

…the…

…Katherine…

…Gorge.

The return trip was a bit of an anti-climax, as we cruised by already admired vistas. Our guide was prepared for this, as he switched from pointing out the natural wonders and began to give us a run down on the flora and fauna that is found in the area. The only issue I have with his commentary is that as a result of his New Zealander accent, I was left wondering if the pronunciation of the park name is ‘Nitmiluk’ as it is spelt, or ‘Nutmuluk’ as he pronounced it.

Just as we were about to dock, a shout went up, that chorused down the pews of the boat like a vocal Mexican wave. A crocodile had been spotted. Our guide congenially backed the craft up, to give us a closer look at the 3 and a bit metre fresh water crocodile. Having seen menacing ‘Salties’ in the wild, hell, having swum with a hungry ‘saltie’, this ‘freshie’ didn’t even register on our excite-o-meter. We sat unmoving and uninterested as the majority of the passengers rushed for a glimpse of the reptilian. Go ahead, say what you will, but we’ve turned into right crocodile snobs.

Returning to the visitor centre from which we had departed, we had a few options. There were a few walks through the park, one of which is a multi-day affair, although we decided that having seen the views from water level, it would be difficult to beat what we had witnessed by viewing it from above. So walks were out of the question. A swim was discussed, but croc snobs or not, I don’t think either of us relished taking a dip only a stones throw from the dominant male in the river system, ‘freshie’ or not. Rather, a better idea was forming in our minds.

First, we stopped in the car park to fill our stomachs with a cut lunch we’d brought from home, then headed back in the general direction of the caravan park. It was between Nitmiluk National Park and the van that we would stop at the Katherine Thermal Pools. A natural aquifer spilling from the earth at a balmy 32^oC, we decided that this would be a safer bet than the swimming hole at the gorges, for a relaxing dip. And we weren’t wrong.

Selfie at the springs.

Casting off all but our swimmers, we threw ourselves into the tepid, rejuvenating waters. Much like the springs we had swam at in Mataranka, the water is crystal clear and flows with a current strong enough to float you downstream although, sans noodle or any ability to maintain my own buoyancy, I was relegated to wading through the chest deep flow. It was just what the doctor had ordered though, as all of my recent muscle aches just seemed to melt away into oblivion. It was bliss, leaving me sorry we hadn’t stopped here yesterday.

Bec floats downstream.

We eventually dragged ourselves from the water, to make our way back to the van in a state of relaxed delirium. Such was our state of mind that it felt much later than the 1:30PM that it was. A walk with the dogs and a shower was all it took, before Bec was napping blissfully, leaving me to endure what she would call ‘heavy breathing’ and I would term as window rattling snoring. I guess she has to get her own back every now and then.

Napping featured heavily in our schedule this afternoon, as we struggled to get ourselves fired up enough to complete some chores and prepare dinner. An early night would seem to be on the cards.

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

Happily, I woke up this morning feeling much better than what I felt yesterday, and it was at a much more reasonable hour of the morning that we arose. Our acclimatisation to the cold nights is a continuing process however, with the mercury dipping to a positively cold 12^oC during the darker hours. It sure makes for a deeper sleep however, with no need to try and close the ears to the constant thrumming of the air conditioner or fan. That said it was the sound of a different type of breeze that caused our awakening this morning.

Waking to the whistling noise of a strong squally wind outside, I was thankful that I had decided to leave the awning rolled up. Despite the gusts, it was a most perfect morning. The sun was shining brightly, filtering through the canopy of foliage shading our campsite, while the cloudless sky was that hue of blue that can be best described as vivid. Yep, things were looking up.

We had nothing planned until Bec was due in town for an appointment at 2:00PM, so we unhurriedly prepared ourselves for an afternoon out. That included taking the dogs for another walk down by the river, which I have been able to identify as the Katherine River. A highly original moniker that begs the question, what came first? The river or the town?

As we trod along the hot dusty path set a little ways back from the river, the dogs happily sketched up the dirt as they ran back and forth, from one side to the other, sending up choking clouds of dust. We did a circuit today, coming back to our own site through the caravan park. This gave us a chance to see the rest of the park, and whilst there is very little here, it is a fantastic little location.

The Beast among the bushes at Manbulloo Homestead.

There was a time when I would have baulked at staying at a park with so few facilities, but I now eagerly search out this kind of place. It’s hidden little gems like these that you find out about, more through word of mouth than glossy advertising brochures, but they are indeed worth the effort to uncover.

The fancy parks are great, if you are intent on sitting by the pool all day and in the bar all night, while the kids are dropped at the recreation room to play computer games or table tennis. To boot, these fancy sorts of parks also generally cram as many vans as possible, into the least amount of space, so that any semblance of privacy is lost, and then charge you a premium price for the convenience. Manbulloo Homestead, as well as several of the other parks we’ve stayed at, are more like bush camping grounds, with the bonus of having access to power and water. The sites are large enough on which to spread out, the people seem friendlier and the rules are more relaxed, creating an atmosphere of camping in the scrub amongst like minded folks.

Back from our wander, and everyone fed and watered, it was time for Bec and I to head into town. We’re only about 15 minutes out of the central area of Katherine, but we have a stop to make on the way. There’s an odd little place called NT Rare Rocks, about which any quantity of quality information is tough to come by. Driving up the gravel driveway of what looked to be no more than a rural residential property, we honked the horn as advised by the signs. By the time we alighted from ‘The Beast’, a crushed and beaten Akubra wearing old-timer had come out to greet us. Beneath the distorted brim of his hat was a weather worn face, perpetually brown from the exposure to the beating sun and creased with wrinkles. His voice belied his age, or had the sun made him age more than his years? I couldn’t say, as he said “G’day” and threw open the doors to his little show room for us. All four walls of the small shed, as well as a display table running down the centre of the room were covered in all manner of apparently collectable rocks and stone. From lumps of untouched rocks, to highly polished and formed specimens, there wasn’t a spare inch of room left in which to cram any more stone, and it all had a price. None of it appealed to us, so after spending what we considered to be a polite duration of contemplating the pieces, we bid our host farewell and continued on our way.

Stopping in town, we parked ‘The Beast’ then wandered up and down the main street. It is only a few hundred metres end to end, with nothing of note or interest to slow us down for more than a few minutes here and there. It was evident that personal hygiene doesn’t rate too highly amongst the locals here though, as an overbearing stench of foul body odour wafted towards our nasal passages from nearly every person we passed as we strolled along the sidewalk.

At 2:00PM I left Bec in the good hands of the massage therapist for an hour, while I headed back to ‘The Beast’. Staying out of town, our Internet reception has been slow to non-existent, so I used the time to get online and upload some new pictures to Flickr.

After meeting up with a freshly massaged and relaxed Bec, we performed the necessary evils of grocery shopping before stopping for a late lunch. Our plan had been to make use of the Katherine thermal pools on our way back to the van, but it was already getting later in the afternoon than we had envisaged by this stage, and we were both eager to head back to the van.

We therefore made the decision to make our way succinctly back and spend some time with the dogs before dinner. They were excited to have us back, and even more so when we offered them the chance of another walk.

By the time we got out with them, the sun was setting, turning the sky a luminous pink, and sending the temperature plummeting again. So cool was it that Bec found the need to don a jacket to fend off the chill.

After dinner and ready to relax for the night, Bethany had other ideas. She’d been coughing a little since eating her evening meal, but it wasn’t until she lay down across Becs chest that she unleashed a vomitus outpouring that evidenced her lack of masticating action at dinner time. Naturally, this saw Bec and I needing to perform another unplanned changing of the bedding, not to mention the associated washing. Not exactly the bedroom action I had been thinking about!

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

Have you ever had one of those days where the seconds meld into minutes, the minutes into hours, the morning gives way to afternoon, which gives way to evening and then night, all without achieving anything of note? If so, you would know how we feel, because that was the kind of day we had today.

We suffered through a typical outback night, during which the temperature dropped substantially from its daytime maximum, seeing us reach for the comfort of an extra blanket or two. At least the fireworks were short lived in the immediate vicinity of the caravan park, although a constant low pitched drumming could be heard from the pyrotechnics being sent skyward down the road in Katherine. Thankfully the noise wasn’t so brutal that it bothered Bethany and she settled down nicely.

That was more than I could say for Bec and I, as we sat up for hours watching TV. It would seem that while the drive from Darwin had been mentally exhausting, it was far from physically fatiguing. It was almost 2:00AM by the time we eventually turned the lights off and turned in for the night. It felt like we had been snoozing for barely a few minutes, when the ringing of Becs phone rudely awaked us though. She had left a message yesterday for a massage therapist to get back to her, and he had decided that 8:30AM this morning was a suitable time to return the call. Well, I guess we can’t all be on holiday can we?

Still feeling relatively cool and extremely tired, not to mention suffering yet another throbbing head ache, I rolled over and went straight back to sleep. Bec was not far behind me, as the dogs looked on, most likely wondering what was going on. They have become accustomed to being allowed to jump up onto the bed once we are awake. It no doubt crossed their minds that since we had technically been up, then they ought to be allowed to join us. They were both swiftly removed to their own cribs, as Bec and I fell back into a deep sleep.

I’m not sure about Bec, but it was only the stodgy heat that later roused me from my slumber. I was surprised to see that it was already almost midday, and our first day here in Katherine was quickly slipping away from us. I also woke though, feeling like I’d been run over by a bus, the symptoms of my cold coming back with a vengeance. I was physically wrung out, like a dirty old dish rag, ready to be tossed on the scrap heap. Every possible muscle ached, and I was moving about with a pained lethargy.

I felt terrible, wasting away a day during which we could instead be out exploring, but there was nothing for it. After breakfast, I curled back up into bed, where Bec was happy to join me, as we watched the final ever few episodes of ‘The Shield’.

Feeling bad on account that the dogs had been cooped up all day with us, with nothing but a quick lap around the van to relieve themselves, we decided to take them for a walk down to the nearby river. We’ve been warned to watch out for fresh water crocodiles, which apparently only inhabit the deeper holes and billabongs. At least the big man eating ‘salties’ are not known to reside in this area, although I would hazard a guess that even the smaller ‘freshies’ would find a feed of dog very attractive.

Down by…

…the river.

So, keeping Alvin and Bethany on a short leash, we sidled through the back gate of the park to the river. Far from the narrow trickle I had been expecting, we were confronted with a wide, fast flowing channel, although you could still see how high the water level would reach during the wet season. The soft sandy banks we walked along would evidently be under water during the height of the wet. It was hard to imagine the power that would come with such a torrent.

Bec meets a couple of the locals.

Back at the van following our short walk, the only one worn out was me. I felt like I’d run a marathon. As a result, it was back to bed for a bit more TV, although I could not even tell you what we watched. I was pretty wasted by that time. Before tending to dinner duties, I went over to the amenities block for a shower. While I generally prefer the ease of showering here in the van, I didn’t think the 20 litres our hot water heater holds would last too long, as I turned the pressure right up, and let the scalding hot pin pricks of water wash relaxingly over me. In fact, I don’t know for how long I stood beneath the steady jet of water, but I do hope that the park has a somewhat better hot water system than our van, or else there might be a few unhappy people enduring a cold shower later tonight.

Back at the van, feeling somewhat more akin to being human again, I made the effort to cook us up a feast for dinner, because despite my better judgment, my stomach was still making all the right noises and feeling pretty empty. It wasn’t too long before another wave of exhaustion washed over me though.

The view from our kitchen window.

It’s early days, but I might yet have to break out the dreaded ‘man flu’ expression again if this keeps up, while Bec has been asking me about mozzie bites today. I think she secretly hopes I have some exotic disease like Dengue Fever, because that would make for a much better holiday tale than just a boring head cold. Whatever I’m suffering, I just want rid of it so that we can get back on with our scheduled activities. Time is of the essence, and I certainly don’t want to be frittering away too many more days, doing nothing and lying about idly.

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

We are so out of practice at this whole moving on game that we took ages to get ourselves sorted out and back on the road this morning. It should have been a fairly simple exercise, but I think a healthy dose of GNS kicked in as we fiddled about getting things packed, and the van hitched up. Checking out, we also got to find out how much our reliance on the air conditioner and all of our other electrical gadgets has cost us. Just over $120 for the 3 weeks was added to our bill, but that was actually a little bit less than we had been steeling ourselves for. It was 10:20AM by the time we finally rolled out of the gates of the caravan park for the last time. Our new ETA for Melbourne is now 8:30PM on October the 11^th.

Our original itinerary actually had us staying in Darwin for a few more days, as today is the 1^st of July, which is Territory Day up in these parts. It is supposed to be a celebration of the Northern Territories status as a territory and its independent government. Territory Day can be roughly translated to ‘cracker night’ however. We were in Alice Springs a few years back for Territory Day, and it’s a huge night of fun and games. It is the only day of the year here in the Northern Territory that fireworks can legally be purchased and let off, so people go nuts. Driving around Darwin over the past few weeks, every second business is advertising that they will have fireworks for sale today. From supermarkets, to crash repairers, to shops set up specifically for the single day of trade, crackers will be available everywhere. As much as I had wanted to stay and watch the show, we thought better of it. Bethany is terrified of the loud noises, and when we thought about it, we decided that Katherine might be a quieter spot to stay. The caravan park we have booked into is about 10Km out of town, so there oughtn’t be too many errant kids (or adults for that matter) running around indiscriminately letting off crackers.

On the road again, we were therefore headed due south, backtracking over terrain we covered on the way up here. There is only one main road out of Darwin, so there was no choice to be made as we pointed the nose of ‘The Beast’ in the direction of Katherine and set the cruise for a bit over 100Km/h. At that rate, we’d be on the road for a little over 3 hours, which makes for a pretty easy day.

I know I said on the way up here that we would take it easy on the south bound trip to call in at a few places, but we made an executive decision to make the run down to Katherine non-stop. About the only thing that we have missed that was of interest to me was the Adelaide River Hotel, where the stuffed hide of Bill Charlie the Buffalo (Blame it on GNS), of Crocodile Dundee fame resides. I am sure I can survive without getting to meet the stuffed beast this time round.

Partially to blame for our decision to roll on non-stop was getting caught up amongst a slow moving convoy of military trucks hauling tanks and bearing ominous ‘wide load’ signs. Passing them was an effort in itself, as overtaking lanes are few and far between out this way. Once at the head of the queue, I saw no good reason to let them get back ahead of us.

We still made relatively good time, pulling up at the caravan parking area in Katherine after spending 3 ½ hours keeping the seats of ‘The Beast’ warm. As the caravan park is a little way out of town, we decided we’d better stop at the information centre to collect a few brochures on what to do around the traps. A trip to the supermarket was also on the cards, or else dinner would have consisted of tinned spuds and beetroot. Not exactly the culinary delight I was looking forward to.

Pulling into the caravan park, Manbulloo Station, which is situated on a corner of a working cattle station, we headed for the reception area. The lady behind the desk quickly picked me as a city fella, based on the cleanliness of my hat, as she collected our money, then pointed us in the direction of the campground. Even though we had rung a few days ago to book a site, it was still a matter of park where you want or can. If I had realised that it was going to be a free for all, I might have made an effort to get here a little bit earlier, although we did manage to pick out a lovely shaded site, which allowed for us to drive onto it without the need for any embarrassing reversing action.

With the van unhitched and everything sorted for a stay of a few days here, we retreated inside to have a bit of a rest. It is surprisingly tiring sitting behind the wheel for hours at a time, so we were due a bit of a lay down. As we did recline though, the dulcet tones of a Kenny Rogers tune found our ears. As it turned out, there was a bit of a concert going on over by the camp kitchen and barbeque area.

We grabbed our chairs and a couple of drinks then went to listen to the music for a while. It was just one man, his guitar and a backing track, but it was a bit of fun, if not for one thing. Sitting in the shade beneath the canopy of foliage, we got cold. Apparently the temperature is still hovering around the mid 20^oC mark, but our bodies have become more accustomed to the Darwin climate than we ever realised. It sounds crazy, but now that we don’t have to consider how much electricity we use, there was the consideration that the heater may be called into play tonight!

Back in the van, to extricate ourselves from the cool night air, we made a start on getting dinner prepared. Dinner was subsequently eaten, with Bethany squeezed onto Becs lap, as nearby volleys of fireworks started to get her worked up into a frenzy. Thankfully, there hasn’t been too much cracker action so far, and she all but ignored the explosions overhead as she tucked into her own dinner, but the night is young.

The source of…

…Bethanys frenzy.

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