Every man and their dog seems to be along for the ride. Its early in the season, but there are quite a few travellers out and about.
Daily
We’re up and away every day before 9am. (Amazing for Albert who is a natural night owl) The sun rises at about 6.30. I do an hour of exercise, come back, make sure the boys are up and running and we eat breakfast and tidy our van. Jett sweeps everything. Sometimes he wipes everything too.
Bodily Fluids
We’ve been sharing body fluids with the ground, since we often don’t have a bathroom nearby the van. It’s a rather freeing experience and one of the highlights.
Camera madness
Something appears along the track and we scramble for the camera, and then swoosh… its gone… Sometimes we catch it, or drive back. (At my insistence) I take lots of road footage. Not sure what we’ll do with it yet.
Work
There is seasonal work EVERYWHERE. If you want a job, come on down the track. There are all sorts of jobs on offer just about everywhere doing just about anything. We embark on little fantasies of living out bush.
Termite Mounds
Everywhere. Different sizes, colours, shapes. They are a part of the country side. They are picturesque and light up in sunset and sunrise.
Caravaners and Aboriginals
We’ve met caravaners who say things like -
‘I wouldn’t stop in Tennant Creek. The streets are crawling like ants with ‘em.’
‘The ones you meet in town, naa, you can’t trust ‘em. The other ones, you meet out back, they’re different.’
‘They need to be educated about alcohol and their children.’
‘They look so dirty.’
‘They won’t give you eye contact, will they?’
(Arrogance concerning correct, normal, right behaviour is a hindrance to viewing other’s culture. It impairs understanding and thus respecting and validating other people. It also makes my blood boil, so I’m happy to have a little rant here – thank you)
These caravaners also went on to talk about admiring the 110% effort mentality of their own children and the success of the weight watchers program.
Ghost Gums
Please don’t write on their skins. I can’t stand it. Seeing their beautiful skin glowing in the sun and then scarred by initials or stupidities – I feel bile rising.
Kakadu
Ngad ari bolknahnan Look after this country
Crocs
You got to know your crocodile basics. The freshwater ones are usually ok, but can get snappy if disturbed. It’s the salties that you have to beware of. They lurk in all sorts of waterholes. There are signs everywhere. Read and learn.
Ubirr – rock art. The sandstone formations in the area are beautiful. The rock art eerie sometimes. You’ve got to see it, at least once. Learning about the natural shelters in the area. I thought I heard children laughing. There is a feeling of habitation.
We saw
A flock of ten or so black cockatoos
Wallaroos
A Dingo (super cool)
Long necked turtle
Fresh water crocodile
Magpie geese
Freshwater croc
So many birds and insects
We heard
Dingos howl at night (pretty scary)
Buffalo snort and call (scary)
Mosquitoes buzzing in fury outside the van (horrific)
Kakadu is a heaven of plantlife and wildlife. Birds everywhere. Since moving out of the area, most of the wild life we have seen is road kill.
There were quite a lot of people around. Many fishing and using the rivers for boating.
Jabiru
The people we met in Jabiru were friendly and helpful. We used the internet services in the town library. Jett read books and watched Merlin on the TV with a few local children. Considering they don’t have rate payers (Jabiru being in the centre of a National Park), the library has to be resourceful for income. They promise to have internet connection for laptops in 2009.
Kakadu is especially designed for four wheel drives. You must check road conditions before planning your trip. Its well worth it. Its just a little piece of Eden.
Since we’ve been down south, there’s been a drop in all wildlife, including mosquitoes. Be warned, in some areas, they are ferocious. Take all precautions.
South of Katherine
Free overnight stays become available. We were happy to see a welcoming sign. We love them. We think they are one of the greatest inventions for travellers. It makes you feel welcome. It’s a meeting point for people going crossing paths and an easy way to share information. They have toilets, water and BBQ’s. Thank you Northern Territory for these!
Alcohol
We’ve seen truck drivers of ‘oversized trucks’ stopping by country pubs for a top up.
Generally we drink a beer each a day.
Gambling
We’ve seen the pokies in Tennant Creek chockablock full of Aboriginal people in the middle of the day. The bar, by the way, was rather empty.
Daley Waters
The pub is a fun stop.
Elliot
A local said ‘Just keep drivin’. There’s nothin’ here to see.’
Renner Springs – clocked up our first 2000 kilometers since leaving Darwin.
The road from Tennant Creek south over to Alice
There’s a surprising amount of rubbish along the sides of the road. Apart from the glint of crushed beer cans, broken glass and trapped bits of paper and plastic, you can see things like a folded chair hanging from a tree, a cap on top of a termite mound, rusty and rather photogenic barrels, the burnt skeleton of a car upended, tyres hanging on posts. Otherwise we have the dark shrub of bushes, an occasional cluster of ghost gums, the never ending termite mounds (varying in size and colour along the way), knee high tufts of grass, the electricity lines stark and black, sudden depressions in the landscape for promised water, tree stumps, the long stretch of highway, the never ending red earth, and the horizon. There is the constant blue tinge in the distance of the highway. It looks smoky and evocative. It heralds the approaching caravan, four wheel drive, road train, campervan and very occasionally, a little group of bicycle riders. Sometimes we are accompanied by a bird or two dipping in to race us along the road. The flash of their wings moving faster than fast.
Karlwe Karlwe. (Devil’s Marbles)
Beautiful. The colours are pure desert. Point the camera, you can’t go wrong.
Make sure you see it at sunrise/sunset.
Saw the biggest, brightest flash of a shooting star. And the most persistent blow flies we have experienced thus far.
Wycliff Well
We met a cowboy, Ronnie, from Alice Springs. He’d broken down at the famous Wycliff Well with a couple of his buddies. They were heading down to Daly Waters for the Rodeo. I asked him about the alleged CIA occupation of Alice, but he quickly denied they were CIA and retired to his drinking buddies. (I obviously suspected he was a son of one of them CIA and probably reported our questions to his papa)
Jett really liked this stop. Aliens come through here regularly.
Tennant Creek
Bought Mum a hat badge. Gold mining place. Meeting place for dreamtime.
Using the only internet place in town. The library is closed for ANZAC day (that is suppose to be tomorrow, but they take two days for it) We’ll have our first shower since Nitmiluk.
On to Queensland and Mt Isa
