Today we decided to get off our backsides and head to Litchfield National Park. The waterfalls in the area are something we wanted to see. Did I mention that it was hot up here. Just thought I'd rub that in a little. Anyway we started off on the trip back down to Batchelor turned off the Highway and onto the tourist route. Yep just follow the signs and you'll be OK. The strange thing about their signs up here is they'll say lookout falls 250mtrs. The thing is there is no sign at 250mtrs, you have to look for the turn. So many people missed them and were sighted turning back. Back to the interesting stuff. The termite mounds in the area are huge. I thought the ones we spotted a few days ago were big well these suckers are like the Eureka tower up against the Rialto. Anyway I thought that this would be a bad area to build but found out that the termites are the grass eating variety not timber. Now I know why I have seen any hippies around the area. (not a lot of pot plants)


Back in the car and off to the first of many falls and swimming holes. The Buley rockhole was the first on the round trip, this was fairly busy so we took a stroll down to see what it was like. Well besides the hoards of people at the swimming area was a group of small pools that cascaded down and on to a small creek. Very pretty. As the area was busy with people coming and going we decided to move on to the next as we were told that there were plenty of places to swim.

Next on the routewas Florence falls(left & above). Well this was an interesting place to see, not only did I decide to go for a swim but I thought it might be a good idea to check out some of the wild life at the same time. Have you ever seen people trying to get out of the water when someone yells shark. Well whilst paddling around someone decided to tell me there was a snake in the water. I can tell you those rocks under the water are very slippery. As I was exiting the water I could see the snake heading up the banks. Two young guys then told me it swam straight past me and was only a few inches from my side. I was out of that water very quickly. I'm not sure what type of snake it was but it was about 6 foot and very angry, I wrestled the mammoth beast with its body wrapping itself around me trying to crush me..... then I woke up. No the snake part is true not the wrestling. Oh, the water was cool but very nice. It was worth swimming with the snake.

Next stop was the Tolmer falls (right), this was a nice fall but you can only see it from the lookout and that was disappointing as the area below looked good for a swimming hole, The features of the rock were interesting but you just couldn't see from the lookout. The area behind the tree looked like a cave of some sort and would have been good to have a closer look.




Next it was off to the Wangi Falls, this is the main attraction for pretty much all the tour groups, it seemed like everyone headed straight to this location. You could see why when you had a look around, the falls were beautiful and the scenery just as nice. We decided to sit and have lunch here and contemplate going for another swim or just relax. The relax part was it. Grabbed an icecream from the one girl kiosk with people queuing for food. It was a bit hot waiting to be served whilst this poor girl cooked hamburgers and other health foods for the hoards of starving people. Lucky for us Gabby made some nice healthy salad sandwiches.

As we were all falled out, it was homeward bound and I, yes that would be me, decided to go the short way down the unsealed road back through Berry Springs. It was pleasant drive and yes we came across a river, not a big river but a river. It looked like there could be fish in that river. Got the rod out and fished for about 40 min. I was then told that crocs could be in the water and to be careful. As I was aware of my surroundings I didn't really think there was a danger. Anyway no fish but was told that the crocs up here are pretty fast and will size you up from a distance and come out of that water before you can say oh S**T and run. After a while decided I could hear footsteps and packed it in. The only reason to stop and fish is to relax a bit, I really don't care if I hook something or not because the scenery alone is what pulls you into these places.
Oh yeah, that bulge in my pocket isn't because Iam glad to see you that's because I'm hot. Nah, that's my water bottle.

It was then back to the camp and into the pool. Yep typical Melbournian person jumping into the pool and it was cold. Bloody solar heating softens you up. This quickly went and just relaxed in the pool talking to the other guests about our day.

Off to Bark hut today which would be tomorrow if the Internet was working properly, this would have to be the worst place for wireless Internet. Anyway not sure if this will make it the stars and back to you computers but here goes.

 Good evening to all. Today we had grand ideas to visit Litchfield National Park but we found that the pace, activity and all that driving over the past two weeks just caught up. And as Victorians, we succombed to the heat and humidity of Darwin, hence, we needed a day to rest and recuperate.  We did however venture into Darwin city to the visitor centre to collect yet again more tourist information. We began our visit of Darwin by visiting Cullen Wharft, Darwin's version of Docklands.  Rodney discovered FISH, actually visible to the naked eye, how amazing. Sadly, however, no fishing was allowed . Yes, so close and yet so far.

From there, we  visited the Museum and were reminded of the Cyclone Tracey devastation of Christmas 1974 when Darwin was virtually obliterated. Today it is a very attractive city surrounded by clear blue water and sunny skies, or as the locals say 'the dry season'. Next visit was the Fannie Bay gaol, yes folks, there is such a place. Like all old gaols, there is a sense of past ghosts. Interestingly, the infirmary was the place where the last two hangings occurred in Darwin in 1955. Two young men aged 19 and 20 found guilty of the murder of a taxi driver. According to the information, there have been ten hangings in Darwin, seven Aboriginal, two European and one Asian.  An interesting but not surprising statistic. Rodney was once again lured by the

idea of catching that big one so he did  a spot of  fishing but again no fish caught. The day will come I have no doubt or he will be sadly disullusioned. Our last stop was the Mindil Beach market. We have heard how good this is so went with high expecatations but were disappointed. Sometimes I think expecations do not always follow reputation.  None the less, an experience just the same. Tomorrow the plan is to visit Litchfield so hopefully we will have some new photos to show you. Take care and bye for now from Rodney and Gabriella.

Good evening, we left Katherine early this morning due to a warm night and little sleep. Not much to report about Katherine as we had a look around town and did a bit of fishing on the river before heading back to the van for the night. As we have to drive back to Katherine to head west we decided to leave it to see on the return trip.

The only stop today was at Emerald springs as they had Devon shire tea for $6. This was the cheapest meal we've had whilst on the road. The Roadhouse itself was not like the other tourist attractions as it was very well maintained and clean. The truckies seemed to like it as they were in and out while we sat and enjoyed  scones and tea.

It was only a short drive into Darwins Big4 Howard Springs caravan park, it's situated about 26ks south of the CBD area. When we arrived the young girls on the reception told us to just find a spot and it's yours. Well it looked like everyone took their advice. People just parked where they wanted. No set out areas, just if it fits park it. Anyway we finally found a spot, setup and did some house work. It's amazing how much washing you go through on the road.

We headed into Darwin so I could get a hair cut and yep, check out the fishing areas. Through a line in down at the wharf but it just doesn't seem to be working. Looks like I might have to get on one of those charter boats. Darwin itself doesn't look like a bad place, not too big and a pretty place to be.

The weather on the other hand is great, warm but very humid. We managed to stay reasonably cool down on the wharf as it was later in the day. I'm not sure if it's the weather but we haven't seen a lot of people in town. Maybe they stay indoors to get away from the heat.

It was BBQ for dinner again due to the heat/humidity and I think everyone else in the park had the same idea. You could smell it as we drove past all the sites.

It's off to Litchfield National Park tomorrow and probably more walking. We will go to the falls and go swimming. The weather is going to be hot again, what better way to cool.

Oh yeah, I found out they have these pesky little ants that are about 2mm in size and they bite you. You wouldn't think something that size could hurt. Well they do, so if you stand still too long they bite you, hence they got me several times. Learnt by my mistake, keep'a dancing Maria.

Well it was a late start this morning with bacon and eggs. Thanks Graham for the portable cooker, it makes things easy and I don't have to pull everything out. Anyway after we decided to get going we headed off towards Katherine. It's amazing to see the whole of Daly Waters camp area depart before 0900am. We stopped and talked to the guy (Steve) who organises the  parking of the vans on their arrival. He comes to Daly waters for the peak season and heads back to Orford Tasmania and a pretty interesting guy.

As we were driving into Larrimah we stopped off to check out the Pink panther pub. It's a strange place with a zoo that actually does not have a lot in it. The main things they had caged up were birds, a wallaby and a small croc. Gabriella said anything that's old and falling apart is a tourist attraction. She said put some beer behind a bar, call it a historic site and they will come. Well they come alright, the hoards of visitors through these places is amazing. Oh, they make heaps.

How would you like to have one of these babies sitting in the pool room. I haven't seen the originals yet and I'm not sure if they still make the Darwin stubbies anymore. Will have to pick a six pack if they still have them.

We continued onto Mataranka and headed over to the springs. Mataranka township was interesting with a lot of the locals congregating in the park area. This seems to be a regular thing in most towns. As we drove down the road to the springs we stopped to look at the termite mounds which adorn the roadside pretty much all the way along the Stuart Hwy. This was designed by a structural termite engineer with a background in architecture. As you can see they built this with the support of the gate rails.

As you can see I couldn't resist getting into the hot springs. Unfortunately the weather was about 22deg and overcast. Fortunately the water was warm, it seemed everyone was enjoying their visit until they had to get out, because it was cool and as I didn't take a towel I was colder. Didn't take me long to get back to the van and change.  We didn't stay long due to the weather and we wanted to see some of the other hot springs in the area.

Well I didn't take any other photos on the way as it was only about 60ks up the road to Katherine. We were going to head out to the Katherine gorge but it was getting late. The next thing was to head to the camping and fishing shop, didn't need anything but it was there and I'm a bloke. Yep, couldn't help giving the guys a call (Deano, Katy) and let them know how much fun we're having. I did find some fishing gear that I just had to have. As you can see I had to go and use it. We headed down to the Katherine river and fished the lower level for about 2 hours. Yep no fish, but they are coming, I just have to keep trying. As you can see by the photos I'm wearing shorts, you ask why, because it's warmmmmmmm up here. I think they make me look slimmer as well. What do you think?

We left Alice springs and headed to the Devils Marbles for an overnight stay. We had four days to get up to Darwin. The traffic has been good with not many road trains bothering us during our travels. We stayed at the Devils Marbles campsite and low and behold someone decides to build a condo next door. Make are unit look like a backpack accommodation. Anyway lifes tuff on the road for some.

During our little stop we had a visitor roaming through the campsite but didn't seem to worried about the humans. Actually he seemed very happy lying in the sun and obviously relax. We spoke with one of the people who had been there for a while and said we were lucky getting in early because the site went pretty quick as the day got on.

Well here are some of the shots taken as the sun went down over the Marbles.

This was taken first thing this morning as the sunrise hit the horizon.

It was of to Daly Waters early with about 520ks to drive. It was an interesting place to arrive at with most sites nearly taken. We got the last powered site.

Anyway its off to the pub for the beef & barra meal. Running a bit late so catcha later.

 Today we ventured out to Palm Valley. This is an area that is situated on the Finke river about 140 klm out of Alice Springs. From all the answers we were given about the driving conditions, we went against all the answers of, it's a bit rough in parts, are you in a four wheel drive, has it got good ground clearance. Maybe you should only drive to the campsite as it's a bit easier. Well being an idiot and taken all that advise on board we drove to Palm Valley. The drive was approx 140ks to the turn off at Hermannsberg an then the fun began. There was a loud noise coming from the roof area, one of the locks securing the fishing rods was whacking the roof, electrical tape fixed that problem. Then I noticed I wet my pants. No it was water coming out of the jerry cans on the roof, the breather cap had come loose and was leaking. I actually thought that was funny. Madcow again. The corrugations went on for all of the trip. Oh by the way it's only 20ks into Palm Valley from the main road. We had a quick look at the Kalarranga lookout and moved on as I was wanting to get to the valley where all these Palms were hiding.

Unfortunately this is what happens when things go wrong. There wasn't much left of this camper trailer that had been stripped and left to die on the side of the track. This seems to be a common occurrence in the outback with mainly cars. The favorite choice of wrecked or burnt out vehicles are Commodores or falcons. Someone said they are mainly stolen then stripped and burnt out.

Anyway moving on we finally came to the first of many river crossings and managed to get through the rocky crossing. This was one of the easier ones. As we were told that track was bad we expected something worse than this one. The track didn't get any better, with ruts that had both of us getting  tossed from side to side. The kidneys got a bit of a workout. All good fun though.

Well this is what we drove into, an oasis in the desert. Palm trees, ghost gums and small pockets of water everywhere. This was interesting as before we got to the area we were driving through on river beds that hadn't seen rain in a while. The Finke river in some places was 100mtrs wide. This was an amazing place with the colours of the rock, trees and Palms something you have to see to believe.

This photo was of the area were you drive into. The water is low with nothing flowing through. The wild life is abundant with bird life and dingos. You can see the dingos foot prints in the sands, they seem to move through the area as their prints are everywhere.

As you walk further along the river bed, the palms are move noticeable due to their height. Some of these palms are over 300 years old. The sight from the rim walk above is spectacular. This is something you see in a movie scene.

Well that was the trip to Palm Valley, very well worth it even if there was a bit of 4x4 fun and the constant shaking from the corrugations in the road. We had fun and nothing got broken. I was surprised none of the beer or wine bottles in the fridges broke. The 40 ks of driving on the dirt road took about 3hours return. Shaken but not stirred. Gave the car a wash and headed for camp. We met up with some people we met on our trip and had a few beers and told the stories under the stars. Very cold stars that is. The temp in Alice is  very cold at night with the electric heater copping a hammering. Tomorrow we head north, Tennant Creek, but we will stay either south or north of the area due to the free camp sites available. We have to be in Darwin by the 30th May so need to move on. Bye for now.

Yeah, the car is doing fine, she's holding up to everything we're throwing at her.

Good evening all. Today we ventured out to the Gorges along the West Macdonnell ranges that surround Alice Springs. Once again there was a bit of walking to do but there is no point in driving  100ks to sit in the car. The photo below  was taken at Simpsons gap with a beautiful billabong. The reflection in the water was unbelievable and I even tried to edit so it wasn't so blue. Oh, this morning when we woke the temperature was down to a little above 0 deg. Yes it was one deg. Froze those little t***** off. Mine are still ok.

The river beds were dry throughout the area.  The ghost gums  date back 100 years. Some were ravaged by time and fallen only to find an edge along the back to re root and continue their growth. This is a harsh reminder of the arid desert around Alice Springs.

We drove on to Ellery creek and again walked into an oasis of little pockets of water. The rivers beds still dry but the small ponds were scattered around the base of the high gorge walls. The reflection in the water from the sky was beautiful. The wind that blew through the gap was very cool and it was time to get the windcheaters on and not for the last time.

The one disappointment for the day was when we walked up the rugged hill climb of Serpintine gorge. This was just a little bit better than a goats trail. Every step you took was either going to take you up or send you crashing back down to the bottom the quick way. Out of all the walks we did this one put the wind up both of us. And when we did get to the top it was very dissapointing. I didn't even get to photograph anything due to the location of the lookout. Oh then we had to come down the way we went up. Anyway you get the idea.

We finally made it to the last gorge on the road. Ormiston gorge. This was a pretty little place with a kiosk. We sat, drank tea and had a bite to eat. The lady who ran the kiosk was from Ararat and very friendly. We were going to take a hike through the gorge but decided not when told we may have to walk through the water and it was about 2-3 ft deep. The temperature of the water was also a bit cold. We decided to walk up, yes up another 299 steps to the Ghost gum lookout. As you can see Gabriella made it. Nah only kidding the climb wasn't that bad considering an older man was running backdown the steps as we were climbing them. The view was nice but that wind chill was cool. The tree behind Gabriella was the only tree on the ledge. When you look up there is one lonely tree.

As we headed back to Alice with the long drive ahead, I was struck by  'Mad cows disease ' as all the roads look the same the speed limit is the same and the redness is the same. So with one more day in Alice we are heading out to Palm Valley to do a bit of four wheel driving to look at some Palm trees. Yes Palm trees. At least I don't have to climb anything, yet. Could end up climbing a palm who knows. We fired up the webber tonight and cooked roast lamb. Well that was a lovely meal to have at the end of a long day. Looking forward to a good nights sleep. We will be rugging up tonight as the temp is back down to 1 deg. Bye for now.