Brisbane to Darwin and back again

[Rumpig]

Ok... this is going to be the last of my old trip reports i post up here, so any reports i do from here on in will be new trip reports only. I hope you enoy reading this one, the last report i posted only got the one reply, so not sure if people liked it or not...lol. This trip was undertaken in 2011, it's amazing how quickly time flys by. I've copied this from another forum, so hopefully it'll read ok here.

Not long after returning from last years trip into Central Australia and crossing The Simpson Desert, it was decided by some of us who went on that trip to do a drive up to Kakadu and Darwin area this year. Along on this adventure would be 4 vehicles in total, 3 vehicles leaving from Brisbane and the other from Moranbah which is approx. halfway between Rockhampton and Sarina, but a couple of hundred klms inland. Pete and Esther would leave Brisbane a week before ourselves and Glen and Amanda and our families did, they'd be driving up to meet Michael and Lauren at Moranbah and start their holiday together exploring the Isiford, Barcaldine and Longreach areas before we'd meet up with them all. The plan was to meet at Barcaldine originally, but as plans do, this one changed abit and we met them at a totally different location instead. In total we had 8 adults and 6 children along for the ride, with the kids being aged from 3 to 12 years old.

DAY 1: BRISBANE - GYMPIE
With my wife Leanne having to work Saturday morning we didn't end up leaving Brisbane until 3.30 p.m Saturday afternoon. Glen drove over to our house to meet up and we were eventually on the road headed for our first nights destination in the town of Gympie. As many of you may know, Leannes sister lives on a property on the outskirts of Gympie, so after 200 klms of bitumin driving we were at our first nights destination. Now i'm guessing you'd think the run would be without any drama, but you'd be wrong. Heading North up the highway past Anzac Ave, Glens uhf aerial decided now was a good time for the metal bracket that holds it to the roofrack to break off, and the aerial was flying about beside his rear door as he drove along. Apparently Glen went through a drive thru take away joint a few days previous and forgot he'd mounted that aerial up there for the trip, hearing a loud clang he didn't think to much had happened to it, but apparently he was wrong....lol. Pulling off the highway at the Narangba exit we stopped and zip tied the aerial to the roofrack, it would remain that way for the entire trip, not a real issue as it was a second aerial anyway. Dinner tonight was take away pizza bought in Gympie, we knew we'd not be getting in until nearly 6.00 p.m. so couldn't be bothered cooking dinner tonight.

DAY 2: GYMPIE - DULULU
Todays destination would be a free camp at Dululu, a spot just North of Biloela and about 30 klms short of The Capricorn Hwy. Not alot planned for today, just head the back way out of Gympie through Glastonbury where we'd hit our first little section of dirt road to The Wide Bay Hwy, nothing any normal sedan couldn't negotiate though. From here we'd turn left onto the Hwy and head out through Kilkivan to Tansey, up to Gayndah and through Monto to Biloela and stop at Dululu for the night, abit over 450 klms i think from memory.
The drive was easy going and before long we passed through Gayndah, which has one of those places in town that were a popular tourist idea many years back......

THE BIG ORANGE AT GAYNDAH

Abit further down the road and we were soon stopping at a rest area for morning tea just on the outskirts of Mundubbera. Before long a white troopcarrier pulled into the rest also and it just happened to be Troopie Pete (a mate from another 4wd club back home), he and his wife were on their way home from a trip out West, and of of all the places to stop at we ran into him here.

TROOPIE PETE SAYING GOODBYE

On the road again and an unevetful run along the bitumin we were soon in Biloela, we debated about not stopping for lunch and just driving onto todays destination, but we decided to stop at the information centre on the way out of town and have a quick bite to eat and let the kids run around abit.

DID YOU KNOW?

With only about 150 klms left to drive for the day, we were in camp by 3.30 p.m and sitting back having a few drinks and relaxing. Along the way we saw what would be a very common sight on this holiday, a grass fire was burning off in the distance, and this would be something we saw alot of along the way. The campsite like alot of free sites i've seen is nothing special, it was set back from the road abit, but you could still hear the roadtrains at night if your a light sleeper. There was free power available and hot showers also, not the flashest of facilities you'll ever get, but you can't complain when it's all free.

CAMP ALMOST COMPLETE FOR THE NIGHT

DAY 3: DULULU - LONGREACH
Todays plan was to drive to Barcaldine and meet up with the other 2 vehicles in our group, only problem was nobody had spoken to them for almost a week and we had no idea where they actually were :Wow1: . An uneventful run into Emerald and we were soon refueling and grabbing some morning tea from the bakery to have at the rest stop down by the railway line, i think from memory it's the towns Botanical Garden also. Glen tried to buy a dozen bread rolls from the bakery, but at 10.00 a.m they didn't have more then half a dozen available, and only 2 sausage rolls and about 6 pies to purchase from there, which didn't look good for the handful of people waiting to be served inside the store. We grabbed what food we could and headed over to the park for a bite to eat.

MORNING TEA STOP

Leaving Emerald we finally got a hold of the others we'd been trying to ring during the morning, before we could find out where they were we lost phone reception with them. Eventually as we drove to Barcaldine we managed to get a hold of them on the phone again, and found out the others were in Longreach and staying at a free campsite on the outskirts of the Western side of town. We had decided to spend the night in Barcaldine still at one stage, but then decided along the way that we'd just push on and meet up with the others tonight instead as it was only another 110 klms further away, so abit over an hours extra driving for the day.
Sometime around 4.00 p.m i think it was, we drove through Barcaldine and stopped off at The Tree of Knowledge monument in the centre of town. I explained to my 8 year old daughter the significance of the monument and how the shearers strike that happened in 1891 and the meetings held here to make decisions regarding the strikes, basically lead to the formation of the Labour Party (a major political party here in Australia).

TREE OF KNOWLEDGE MONUMENT IN BARCALDINE (the original Ghost Gum tree that stood here at this location was poisoned in 2006 and subsequently died, and in 2009 they opened this monument to the public)

From Barcaldine we then quickly drove to Longreach with the setting sun hitting us straight on, which is not good when you're trying to keep an eye out for suicidal wildlife such as kangaroos.The free camp we stayed the night at in Longreach is called The Waterhole i believe, and was just a dust bowl where alot of grey nomads seem to stay. There's no showers here, just a couple of toilet blocks, one with flushing toilets and one block a composting set up. The site is basically right beside the Thompson River, no water views to be had, but if you walk about 50 - 100 mtrs down the road you can fish off the bridge (closed to vehicles) that crosses the river there. Today we did just over 650 klms to reach our destination, a long day in the vehicle but atleast we were all together as a group now.

THE WATERHOLE CAMPSITE

SUNSET OVER THE THOMPSON RIVER

DAY 4: LONGREACH - JULIA CREEK
Leaving Longreach we headed towards Winton for abit of a look around town, we grabbed some morning tea after arriving and spent a few hours exploring some of what the town has to offer. Winton's main claim to fame i believe, is that an incident that happened at the nearby Combo Waterhole on Dagworth Station, is what lead to the creation of Banjo Patterson writing the bush ballad "Waltzing Matilda". (this youtube video i found should help explain to those living outside Australia) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ElJ9wQllJ0

MY 2 GIRLS AT THE INFO CENTRE

STATUE HONOURING BANJO PATTERSON

From Winton it was on to Kyuna where we'd stop at the famous Blue Heeler Hotel for lunch, we stop here on the run home aswell, so i'll save the pics from here until later in the trip report to explain the hotels significance in history. We purchased lunch aswell as a few gifts, i got a shirt and stubbie cooler for myself and also purchased a Blue Heeler stuffed toy for the kids aswell. A few years ago i bought a stuffed dingo toy for the kids whilst i was at The Fraser Island Fishing Expo with a mate, so to stop the kids fighting over one toy, i purchased this one so they could have a dog each.

DO YOU THINK SHE LIKES IT?

Back on the road and less then a hundred klms later we were stopped at another hotel in the tiny town of McKinlay. The hotel in this town was made famous by the movie Crocodile Dundee, it used to be positioned off the highway many years ago, but after the movie it was moved up to the highway to cash in on the box office success. Our original plan was to stay here the night, but the prices being charged to camp out the back on the gravel seemed abit excessive to us, so we decided to have a quick beer and move on to Julia Creek instead.

WALKABOUT CREEK HOTEL (i'm sure last time i was here it wasn't painted this dull colour, though i could be mistaken)

Leaving McKinlay it was a right turn off the highway onto the dirt, and a nice run of about 80 odd klms of good gravel road before rejoining the bitumin highway once again into the town of Julia Creek. On the Eastern side of Julia Creek as you leave town is a nice little free campsite we stop for the night in, there are no facilities here at all, though toilets are just a short drive (about 500 - 800mtrs) back down the road towards town at another park.

DIRT ROAD HEADING TO JULIA CREEK

OLD WRECK ALONG THE WAY ON DIRT ROAD

GREAT FREE CAMP AT JULIA CREEK

As it started to get dark we noticed what looked like oversized mice running around camp occasionally, don't be alarmed if you see these as they are actually a Dunnart, a threatened marsupial species found between Richmond and the Julia Creek area.

DAY 5: JULIA CREEK - NORMANTON

A quick refuel of vehicles this morning before leaving town and we were onto the Wills Developmental Road, heading for The Burke and Wills Roadhouse which would be our lunch stop today. About 60 klms out of the roadhouse we came across a vehicle towing an older type wind up camper that was obviously broken down. Stopping to see if they were ok, they said they thought the axle had broken on the camper, upon our inspection it appeared the wheel bearing had collapsed instead. Grabbing the tools from my fourby we jacked the camper up and removed the wheel to find our thoughts were indeed correct, the whole thing was a mess with parts from the brakes missing and only 4 roller bearings to be found, we wondered how far they towed it without noticing before it finally came to a holt. Looking at the bearings we had available with us we didn't have anything to suit, so we said we'd ring RACQ (roadside assist) from the roadhouse when we get there, and let them know exactly what was wrong with the camper, but a previous vehicle had already passed by and was ringing RACQ for them. Making sure the couple were ok for food and drinks we left them to continue on for todays lunch stop, about 10 klms up the road we passed an oncoming vehicle and spoke to them over the uhf about the people back down the road further. The oncoming vehicle was from the roadhouse we were headed to, and was coming out to give the couple a message from RACQ, so we left it at that and hoped they got it sorted out ok in the end.

PIC TAKEN WHERE THE CAMPER BROKE DOWN.....IT FELT LIKE IT WAS IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE!!!

Reaching The Burke and Wills Roadhouse, some of us made our own lunches whilst others grabbed a bite to eat from inside. Lunches consumed we were back on the road and Normanton bound. Upon reaching Normanton we checked into the caravan park for a couple of nights just across the road from The Purple Pub, we set up camp and the kids had a swim in the pool. Michael went for a drive to get some supplies and came back with a vital lesson learnt, though it could have been alot worse then what happened. Before leaving on the trip, Michael had put an inverter in his fourby under the front passenger seat, but he didn't put a fuse in the positive line :Wow1::Wow1: the wire had somehow worked loose and started arcing out under the seat and almost set fire to the entire vehicle. In the end, all it did was melt alot of wiring and also one side of his dual battery, he was very lucky he didn't destroy the battery completely aswell. Before long we were over at the Purple Pub having dinner and then after the kids were put to bed, Glen, Michael and myself drove down to the bridge and i watched as they tried their luck fishing. Michael pulled out a brand new reel and chucked it on his rod, backing the drag off the reel, he cast the line and we watched as the entire reel went sailing over the handrail and into the water way below :Wow1: ...lol. Michael had obviously undone the nut that adjusts the drag too far and his brand new reel was gone, for days afterwards we killed ourselves laughing every time we mentioned what had happened. We did manage to retrieve the reel by pulling all the line back up as it was tied on, but with parts missing the reel was good for nothing now. With no luck fishing, we left the bridge to the sounds of baby crocs calling out to their parents in the dark, and returned to our camp and went to bed.

ROAD BETWEEN BURKE AND WILLS ROADHOUSE AND NORMANTON ON TODAYS DRIVE

 

[Rumpig]

DAY 6: NORMANTON

Today was our first stay somewhere in the one spot for more then one night on the trip, we spent the day checking out what was in town aswell as took a drive 25 klms out of town to watch the Gulflander train http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulflander come in across the longest bridge it crosses on it's journey to Croydon and back. Originally we had hoped to ride the train, but you need to time your days right to do this, as it has a limited running schedule, and it wasn't in town whilst we were there.
Starting out in town we visited the replica of Krys the crocodile, a life size replica of the biggest croc ever shot / captured, hard to believe they grow to 8.63 mtrs long

FAMILY PIC AT "KRYS"

From Krys we ventured on to the Gulflander museum at Normanton train station. We had a look around and then spoke to a guy running the souvenier shop about the train and possibly driving out somewhere to watch it come into town. The guy at the shop was very helpful and told us about the bridge approx. 25 klms out of town that the train crosses, he told us what time approx. it would come through there, so we set about making plans to grab a quick bite to eat and then head out and wait for the train. The guy also mentioned doing some fishing while we waited, but to watch out for the old snapping handbags, especially with the kids being there.

NORMANTON TRAIN STATION

INSIDE THE MUSEUM

Before heading out of town i took a quick drive down to the free camp site just out of town by the river, with no facilities here you need to be self sufficient, the place was quite dusty aswell but had good views over looking the river.

OLD WRECK AT FREE CAMP

From the free camp site we ducked back to camp and quickly ate lunch before driving out to the bridge location and waiting for the train to come along. As we drove down by the bridge some small crocs were seen, not sure if they were freshy's or salties as they disappeared pretty quickly, but atleast we knew crocs were there for sure. It was probably about a half hours wait before the train came past, once it did i set about joining Glen and Michael who were already fishing in the waterhole, they weren't very interested in the train and were more interested in catching a barra (type of fish) instead.


GULFLANDER TRAIN CROSSING IT'S LONGEST BRIDGE ON IT'S ROUTE

GLEN & MICHAEL FISHING

I'VE GOT SOMETHING!!!

Well actually no i didn't, it was just another snag, of which we had heaps just here. With no luck fishing we packed up and headed back to camp where we all had another swim and generally chilled out. After having dinner we decided to walk up to the pub and take a night time shot of it, when we returned from fishing / chucking reels into the water the other night, i noticed how good the pub looked lit up with it's purple lights, so decided to head up and take a photo of it tonight. With pics taken we headed back to camp and went to bed.

PURPLE PUB AT NIGHT

 

[Rumpig]

DAY 7: NORMANTON - ADELS GROVE

Heading South and leaving Normanton, we were soon turning right onto the Savanah Way. Before long we were soon turning left and visiting Burke & Wills camp #119, the most Northerly camp of the exploreres ill-fated 1860 expedition. It's a short detour off the main road and the signboards about the area give you some informative reading regarding the explorers trip for those who don't know all about the expedition. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burke_and_Wills_expedition

MONUMENT AT CAMP #119

EXPLANATION OF THE TREE BLAZINGS

Back on the Savanah Way and we had lots of creeks and rivers to cross along the way, being late in the season we had no problems crossing any waterways, but as you passed through each crossing you could imagine just how big the volume of water must be that flows through the area each wet season.

WATERWAY CROSSING (i think this is Little Bynoe River crossing)

Dust was certainly becoming an issue in some places, all you could do at times was stop driving and pull over and wait for the vehicle in front to get far enough away for you to continue on going.

PIC FROM PASSENGER WINDOW AS WE DROVE ALONG

As lunch time beckoned we found ourselves at Leichhardt Falls, this would make a nice little stop over one night if the timeline suited your trip. With signed warnings about crocs, i guess you need to watch were you swim here, but we didn't see any crocs ourselves (it's always the ones you don't see you need to worry about though...lol). The hard stone ground all about the area certainly does reflect the heat up, i would have loved to have a swim in a rock pools somewhere here, but the threat of crocs and the want to reach Adels Grove today, had us having a quick bite to eat and then a quick look around the falls before pushing on once again.

LUNCH STOP

LEICHHARDT FALLS

From Leichhardt Falls it was about 70 klms into Burketown, not needing any supplies we didn't stop here and pushed on towards Adels Grove for a few nights stop over. With abit of road works going on in the area and roadtrains regularly heading towards us, we had plenty of time to pull off the road and try and get some pics as they rolled past in the opposite direction. Getting right off the road is a great idea, not only can you not see for the dust they create, but the stones these trucks throw up would do plenty of damage when they hit your vehicle. Along the way we saw a few eagles getting about, not in the numbers we saw last year out in Central Australia way, but we still saw a few. The eagles up North seem abit smaller aswell then the ones we saw last year.

2 x EAGLES IN A TREE

THE WARNINGS ARE THERE FOR A REASON

PLENTY OF ROADWORKS BEING DONE ABOUT

BOUND FOR INDONESIA YET? THANKS JULIA!!! (that was a shot at our P.M's handling of the live cattle export business for those outside of Australia)

As the afternoon dragged on we rolled into Adels Grove, a privately run campground not to far from Lawn Hill National Park where we planned to visit tomorrow. Checking in at reception we drove down to the unpowered area and set up camp right by the waters edge. The campground was very dusty and could definately do with a water truck being run through the place a couple of times a day at this time of year. Typical of where we'd stayed so far on this trip, most of the campground was empty, some people were about but you knew it was towards the end of the tourist season looking around (during Winter thousands of grey nomads head North in Australia to escape the cold, as it gets hotter they then retreat back home down South again).

DAY 8: ADELS GROVE

Today i was looking forward to seeing a place i have read so many people rave about when reading threads on forums over the years, Lawn Hill National Park. Reaching the day use carpark about 9.00 a.m the temperature was already starting to heat up, looking around the campground here, i was glad we camped were we did at Adels Grove, as there really wasn't alot of natural shade to be found at the area where you actually camped here.
Looking at the walks on offer we set out on the 900 mtr walk to Indarri Falls, it was abit of slow going with the 3 year old in tow, but we got there without any real issues. Climbing the last little rise to the falls we were greated with a spectacular view down below, and instantly i agreed with all who had raved about this place previous, it' really was a beautiful oasis in the middle of nowhere.

ENTERING LAWN HILL

THAT FIRST VIEW OF THE FALLS

From this viewing point it's a short walk down some steps and your at one of the most beautiful swimming areas you can imagine. We spent the next couple of hours splashing about in the water and just basically chilling out. After a while it was time to head back and we decided to go back via the longer route across the top of the gorge itself, this in hindsight wasn't the greatest of options with small kids in tow and being the middle of the day the heat was really bad up on top the rock escarpment there. After climbing up the stairs you previously came down, you turn left (instead of right where we came from) and a short walk brings you to a lookout above where we had just been swimming.

VIEW FROM LOOKOUT ON RETURN WALK TO CARPARK

A few pics taken and we were back on what i think is a 2.5 klm walk back to the carpark, the views along the way can be quite spectacular, but be aware that it involves alot of walking up and down hills and the section towards the end of the walk is very very steep indeed, definately not suited for little kids at all. The main problem for us was the heat, there is very little shade of any description along the way, so you need heaps of water to keep hydrated. Knowing that my kids were starting to suffer in the heat quite badly (we all were actually) i made sure they regularly took small sips of water, and got them to use their towels over their heads for shade, all this time i carried our 3 year old on my shoulders as she was now exhausted from her days outing. I'll be the first to admit, a few of our group were badly dehydrated by the time we got back to the vehicles, if i knew what we were going to have to do in that heat beforehand, i would never do that walk at that time of day with small kids ever again. It really was a mistake we made to go back via that route instead of returning along the shorter track, like Peter and Esther did with 2 of the other kids also. In saying that, we were rewarded with some great views along the way, but next time you'd do it alot earlier in the morning, and not with young kids in tow.

MY DAUGHTER ON TOP OF THE GORGE, THE VIEW WAS AMAZING!!!

Returning back to camp and we all grabbed some Powerade's and drank a heap of water to rehydrate ourselves whilst having a late lunch. The afternoon was then spent relaxing in the water resting tired bones from the days workout.

CAMP AT ADELS GROVE

THE VIEW FROM OUR CAMPSITE

 

[tacomathomas]

Really enjoy your threads, using the pics to convince my wife we need to visit and explore australia.

Envious of your vehicle choices.

 

[charlieaarons]

Brings back memories...

Charlie

 

[Rumpig]

Really enjoy your threads, using the pics to convince my wife we need to visit and explore australia.

Envious of your vehicle choices.

it's funny, because i look at the pics people post of where they are from in their country and think to myself, i need to go there...lol.
as to the vehicles..... they are fantastic for long distance touring and the like with a family especially, not so great for inner city driving though...lol.

 

[Rumpig]

Brings back memories...

Charlie

hopefully they are good ones Charlie...lol.
when were you in Oz?

 

[Rumpig]

DAY 9: ADELS GROVE - KINGFISHER CAMP

Leaving Adels Grove campsite we were soon continuing along The Savannah Way, this part of the track was much more scenic then the previous section, and we were soon out walking the long water crossing of Lawn Hill Creek just to be sure of it's depth. The crossing disappeared around a corner and then had a small section of dry land, before continuing on around a tree to the exit, judging by the looks on the faces of those walking the creek, the water was pretty cold aswell...lol. With nothing over about knee high in depth, we locked the hubs in and engaged 4wd just to be on the safe side, but the base was pretty stoney and it was an easy crossing to negotiate.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN

GLEN CROSSING THE LAST PART OF LAWN HILL CREEK

PETE AND ESTHER EXITING LAWN HILL CREEK

Through this section of track we encountered many kangaroos just off to the sides of the road, luckily they all stayed out of our way and we plodded along keeping a good eye out just incase. Rounding a bend in the road we were met with a beautiful site, not only was there a spectacular view to look at, but a heap of horses were grazing away by the roadside aswell, which made it an even more impressive site to behold. The horses i guess belonged to whatever property we were on, Lauren walked slowly up to one horse and it didn't mind being patted, so they were pretty tame.

HORSES ENHANCING OUR VIEW OF THE OUTBACK

Continuing on we soon were seeing a largish hill in the distance off to the lefthand side of the track, which seemed to have some sort of large cross standing on top it. Curious as to what it could be, we pulled up around the side of the hill were a track made it's way up a pretty steep climb to the top. Not knowing what the terrain was like we didn't dare drive up with the trailers hooked onto the back, so we handed Michael our cameras and sent him up to the top instead to investigate what it was for us....lol.
Once Michael had returned we found out it was a memorial to someones parents who had lived out in that area but passed away, Michael said there was no way we could have gotten up there with the trailers attached to the vehicles, and there was nowhere to turn them around at the top. Apparently the climb up and down the rocky track was fairly steep and slippery, and pretty scary in places for his wife and child.

MEMORIAL ON TOP OF THE HILL (pic taken by Michael)

VIEW FROM ON TOP OF HILL, YOU CAN JUST SEE US BELOW IN THE MIDDLE OF THE PIC PARKED ON THE TRACK

With Michael safely back down from the top of the hill, we pressed on and were soon stopping once again to photograph another old wreck. These old things must have been everywhere up here once upon a time, it's amazing how many you see along the way.

OLD WRECK BY ROADSIDE

Back on the go and the bulldust holes in some places were starting to get pretty bad, it's not bad for photos but you really do need to hang along way back from the vehicle infront of you when the wind won't blow the dust away anywhere.

ANYONE SEEN MY TRAILER?

With today being a fairly shorts days drive, we arrived at Kingfisher Camp around lunchtime. We quickly set up camp and the kids had abit of a play under the tap to cool down. Water isn't an issue here at all, they had sprinklers running everywhere and they pump the water straight from the River which is about 50 mtrs away from camp. Walking around the campground there was no timber to be found anywhere for tonights fire, with Michael and Lauren cooking a pork roast for dinner, Glen and myself jumped in my fourby and headed backout of Kingfisher camp for a kilometre or 2 and found the timber we needed to get the camp ovens working their magic. With dinner cooking away Glen walked down to the river and threw in a couple of yabby nets, he'd return later in the night to find one nice big cherubin inside one of the nets which was promptly cooked up and eaten by all those who managed to get a piece.
We didn't really explore this campsite much, it was so hot we just sat back and relaxed and tried to cool down as best we could, we also enjoyed a beverage or 2 of our liking whilst we waited for dinner to slowly cook. With dinner and the cheurbin eaten, we were all off to bed.

KIDS COOLING DOWN UNDER THE TAP

 

[Rumpig]

DAY 10: KINGFISHER CAMP - LORELLA SPRINGS

Today we had a big drive in front of us, we were on the road by 7.00 a.m and heading for Lorella Springs, pretty much we knew this would envolve driving most of the day and not stopping to much to sight see. Some good roads out of Kingfisher had us fairly quickly back at the highway across the top end once again. As Pete and Esther pulled up behind us at the turn off where we were waiting for eveyone to regroup, they noticed a weird sound coming from underneath the bonnet, popping the bonnet we noticed all the plastic clips had broken off on the surround that goes around the top mount intercooler, and it was rubbing on the fan. Grabbing some zip ties from their vehicle, we quickly had the problem sorted and were soon turning left and driving about 80 klms into Hells Gate Roadhouse. Arriving at the roadhouse we noticed the whole area surrounding here (from about 15 klms out) was completely burnt out, apparently upon talking to the roadhouse operator it was started by people returning from the recent Doomagee rodeo, and took alot of work to save the roadhouse with careful backburning required. Some of us required fuel for their fourby's, and others like myself just grabbed some ice reams for the kids and another new stubby cooler. Across the road from the roadhouse i took a few happy snaps and we were back on our way towards the Qld / N.T borderline.

LEAVING KINGFISHER CAMP

HELLSGATE ROADHOUSE

MAKE SURE YOU HAVE ENOUGH FUEL, IT'S A LONG WAY TO PUSH!!!

About 50 klms down the road from Hellsgate Roadhouse is the Qld / N.T borderline, we stopped for a quick pic and then continued on. Lots more waterways to cross again today certainly helped to break up the constant pounding the corrogations were giving both camper and tow vehicle. The corrogations through this section of the trip were easily the worst we had encountered so far, everything else before this had been hardly even worth a mention. The run from Hellsgate to Borroloola and a section of road heading into Roper Bar in a few days time would be the worst sections of corrogations we encountered along the way. The waterways we crossed had us stopping in the middle of them at times to take photos, as tempting as a swim would be in the heat up here, the constant thought of snapping handbags possibly lurking in there somewhere, makes you settle on the aircon inside the fourby instead. I think i'll leave swimming in the creeks and rivers for the locals.

ENTERING THE NOTHERN TERRITORY

SOMETIMES THE TYRES GOT A TINY BIT WET

SOME OF THE WATERWAYS WERE QUITE PRETTY INDEED

After crossing into N.T we still had something like 260 klms to travel until we reached our lunch stop for today at Borroloola, somewhere along the way in the middle of nowhere we pulled off the side of the road and had some morning tea, it was a nothing special place with a couple of burnt out car wrecks sitting about the place, but it gave us all the chance to stretch our legs and then continue on once again. About 10 klms out of Booroloola we saw another fire roaring away, with the amount of smoke this thing was putting out, i don't think i'll be to concerned about our little fireplace at home and it's emissions it produces over the upcoming Winters of our lifetime.

ROARING FIRE OUTSIDE OF BOOROLOOLA

Pulling into Booroloola around lunchtime we made straight for a fuel station in the middle of town, with my longrange tank onboard the fourby i hadn't put fuel in since Normanton. I can't remember just how much fuel i put in the vehicle, just that the amount came to a nice even $300 exactly :Wow1: i actualy stopped before completely filling the second tank also, as i knew i had plenty of fuel to get to a mre major town back on the main highway later on. Once everyone vehicles were refueled we made our way to the take away store across the road and grabbed a bite to eat, before pushing on the last few hundred or so klms to Lorella Springs which was tonights destination. Somewhere not to far after turning off the bitumin once again we entered Limmen National Park, along the road to Lorella we passed several vehicles towing boats behind them heading in the opposite direction. Whilst the road was nowhere near as bad as what we had travelled on the other side of Booroloola, it most certainly was still very slow going for those guys indeed due to the corrugations in the road.

ENTERING LIMMEN NATIONAL PARK

SIGN ON THE ROAD AT TURNOFF, NOT A GOOD PLACE TO BREAK DOWN I GUESS

Eventually we reached the turnoff for Lorella Springs, it didn't take as long as it felt, but the last 30 klms into camp felt like it took 2 hours to drive. Walking up to reception, Rhett (i think his name was from memory) the owner greeted us in a surprised kind of way. "Geez you guys are lucky, i was just getting ready to shut up shop for the year, this time last year i'd already been closed for a few weeks." Rhett also told of his surprise at our arrival time (somewhere around 5.00 p.m), "normally people who leave Kingfisher towing a trailer don't get here until well after dark" he said, so it seems we had made pretty good time today.
Rhett and his son had been busy today emptying various freezers into one main freezer and packing gear away in preperation for the wet season ahead, needless to say we pretty much had the place to ourselves and there was only one other family camped in the campground when we got there. With no real plans for dinner tonight, we placed an order with Rhett and went and set up camp before heading down to the spring for a relaxing soak.
A bit after 6.30 p.m we wandered up to the bar for a late Happy Hour, cans of Bundy were usually $11 but he knocks them down to $10 at Happy Hour... needless to say, at those prices and with plenty onboard my fourby i only had 2 cans. About 7.00 p.m we had dinner and made our way back down to camp, and after a big days drive it wasn't long before we were all in bed.

 

[Rumpig]

DAY 11: LORELLA SPRINGS

When we first planned this trip, one thing i was looking forward to doing was driving out to the ocean at Lorella Springs. Now here we were at this very location, and guess what we did today?.......absolutely bloody nothing!!!
Why's that you ask?...... well it was hot and i was pretty tired after yesterdays big drive.
So today we spent half the day sitting in the spring having a few cold drinks and basically just chilling out doing nothing at all. The other family who were camped here left in the morning, so our group of 4 were the only ones left about. Michael and Lauren went for a drive out to some rock hole with a natural rock water slide at some stage during the day, but when they got there, they said there wasn't much water flowing through the place. In the mean time back at camp, Esther fired up her bread maker running it off of the genny and made some nice fresh bread that we all promptly ate once ready...Mmmmm love that freshly cooked bread.
As the afternoon rolled around i walked around the campground and took a few pics, but before long i was back in the spring relaxing to cool down and doing not much at all.

LORELLA SPRINGS MAIN BUILDING INCLUDING BAR AREA

THE SPRING YOU SWIM IN

PIC OF OUR CAMP

CHEAP CLUNKER ANYONE?....NEEDS SOME WORK THOUGH

DAY 12: LORELLA SPRINGS - MATARANKA

After resting up all day yesterday we had a fair bit of driving in front of us again today. The 30 klms back to the turn off for Lorella didn't take anywhere near as long to drive back this morning, we turned right and started heading North towards Roper Bar direction. Before long we were making a righthand turn and driving about 5 klms into The Southern Lost City, it's one of those places where the water has eroded the sandstone escarpment, leading to formations of rock spires and making the place look like a "lost city". There's a campground here from memory, aswell as a 2.5 klm walk to do around the rocks if your like, but with small kids in tow we settled on just walking a short way in and taking some pics before leaving and continuing on our way.

SOUTHERN LOST CITY

Returning back the way we came in, we turned right and headed North once again. A bit further up the road we next turned right again into Butterfly Springs, this time it's just a short drive of about 1 klm into the campground, and an even shorter walk of about 100 mtrs or so to the spring. Now the spring itself is not the reason you visit here, it's the Butterflies that you come to see, hence how it's got it's name. Now i'm not sure if this is a certain time of the year event or not, but this spring area has quite litterally thousands of butterflies here, all hanging from the trees like leaves or from the rock wall under the rock overhang. As soon as you walk through the track into the spring area, the butterflies fly off all around you from tree to tree, it really is an amazing thing to see. The spring itself can be swum in, but at the time of year we were there it's become a bit stagnant in some areas, and wasn't overly inviting. I've got some video of the butterflies, and after i finish this report i'll try and work out how to upload it somewhere for all to see, but i make no promises. The video quality isn't great but when you see the butterflies on the rock face you'll be amazed at their numbers i reckon.

BUTTERFLY SPRINGS

After returning to our vehicle we grabbed some quick morning tea and hit the road once again. The corrugations somewhere along here became pretty ordinary once again, and after a short time i stopped and let even more air out of my tyres, something i'd already done last time we hit the corrugations. Back in the fourby and on the run again, the difference in ride was much better with pressures reduced even more then before. About 65 klms before reaching Roper Bar we came across St. Vidgeon ruins. Now i'm still to find out exactly what this place was, but the main thing you need to know is how great the campsite is down at the lagoon behind these ruins. Lomarleum Lagoon which is located here is a massive waterhole covered in water lillies surrounded by a nice flat grassey area perfect for a night or 2 or even a weeks stop over. Now i have no idea if there's crocs in this lagoon (it's pretty big in size), but i'm betting there's a fair chance there is some in there, we were amazed by a couple of people sitting in their chairs relaxing just a metre or 2 from the waters edge, it really didn't look safe to us. I'd love to return to this spot and stay a few days and try my luck fishing here, it really was a pretty little place to camp at.

ST. VIDGEON RUINS

SOME OF LOMARLEUM LAGOON

WATER LILLY AT ABOVE LOCATION

Rejoining the main track we continued on to Roper Bar, passing some more great looking waterholes along the way which would also make great campsites and fishing grounds i reckon. Pulling into Roper Bar (or atleast the shop on the outskirts of town...i didn't see much else about) some people made lunch whilst others ducted inside and grabbed a quick bit of take away. Lunch consumed we hit the road again and before long were back on the bitumin headed for our nights stop over of Mataranka.
Not long after rejoining the bitumin we pulled up and took a few pics of some wild Donkeys whilst the others continued on, all up there was about a dozen donkeys in the herd (correct term?).

DONKEYS IN THE WILD

Photo taken and as we continued on, i soon got a call over the uhf asking where we were. It seems a few kilometers up the road, the others were stopped at roadworks awaiting a guided pilot through the work area. Now i've never been guided through roadworks in my life before, and after driving through this site, i have no idea why we had to do so here either. Apparently there was freshly laid bitumin they didn't want us driving on, but the fact it was as black as black could be and the old stuff a really faded black colour, it wasn't real hard to work out what to drive on and what not to drive on, hardly a need for a pilot vehicle :Wow1:

OUR CONVOY COMPLETE WITH PILOT VEHICLE UP FRONT

Past the roadworks and we were soon pulling into Mataranka for the night. Getting out of the fourby and walking over to reception i was trying to work out what the smell was i could smell, Esther then noticed all the bats in the trees across the road and all was now clear. Literally just across the road from the campground is the springs / thermal pools, and surrounding all this is a massive garden area that has thousands upon thousands of bats living in the trees there, so i'll let you imagine what the place smells like. After setting up camp we wandered over to the thermal pools and spent some time relaxing in the water and chilling out, the smell does get to you some, but after a while it doesn't seem quite so bad...it never gets pleasant though IMHO.
Returning back to camp just before sunset, i made the comment about wandering what the bats are like when the sun sets and if they all fly off for the night. With the sun setting we soon found out exactly what the bats do, for the next 15 - 20 minutes the sky was engulfed with thousands of bats as they started circling above and then eventually flying off somewhere into the distance, it really was a sight to behold.

WATCH OUT AS YOU LOOK UP!!!

A FRIENDLY LOCAL COME TO VISIT

With the sun now set we had dinner and a few drinks, i'd like to say we had a good nights sleep, but a few of the staff and locals (all very drunk and some hardly able to stand) decided to stand outside the pub in the carpark and continue drinking until all hours. I'm not sure who drove, but in the morning the quad bike and work ute they were standing around were gone, so somehow they found their way home.

 

[Rumpig]

DAY 13: MATARANKA - KATHERINE GORGE

Packing up camp this morning we knew we only had a short days drive ahead of us, todays plan was to get into Katherine and do some stocking up of grocery supplies, before heading out to Katherine Gorge for a couple of nights stop over. Before leaving the campground at Mataranka we ducked into reception and the misses did some souvenier shopping in the little shop they have there.
Driving just outside the campground we were soon stopping at our first place to look at for the day. Just outside the campground is the replica Mataranka Homestead, were they filmed the movie "We of the Never Never", i've got to say that whilst strolling around this homestead it did look like quite a lovely place to live, the wide verandahs certainly would make a great place to hang a hammock, it just needs a fridge and big screen tv to set the place off IMHO....lol

REPLICA MATARANKA HOMESTEAD

After having a good look around the homestead we were back in the fourby and Northward bound once again, it was a pretty uneventful drive North along the highway and we were soon in Katherine visiting Woolworths grocery store (prices not alot different to back home) and restocking the camper completely once again. With the food supplies fully restocked we ventured over to CrapDonalds to have some lunch, the kids loved it but honestly i threw half of my lunch away as the stuff tastes like ******** IMHO.
With lunch consumed we were next off to the bottleshop to get some supplies for the wife, only to be told you couldn't buy take aways until after 2.00 PM.....STUPID N.T (this is done to try and cut down on alcohol fueled violence in this state, which i guess is a good thing, but we all have to suffer due to those who can't drink responsibly) . The wife wasn't real happy when i said i'm not sitting around town for another hour waiting for a bottleshop to open (i still had plenty of Bundy rum onboard ), so we hit the road and drove the shortish distance out to Katherine Gorge and checked into the campground and set up camp.

YOU ARE ENTERING KATHERINE GORGE...NOW CALLED NITMILUK NATIONAL PARK THESE DAYS (actually i took that when we were leaving a few days later...lol)

I don't remember what it cost to stay here a night for a powered site, but i do remember it was more expensive then anywhere else we had stayed previously. Now in saying this, the campground is pretty well set up, there was a big pool for all to enjoy which also has a kiosk that opens in the afternoons selling the usual snacks, aswell as more importantly for Leanne... alcohol!!! (the wife loved that bit...lol). Aswell as the kiosk, the place has a laundry that had washing machines you could use for free, which we promptly did, as the supply of clean clothes we had pretty much had just about run out by now.
With the weather by now being stinking bloody hot, we adjourned to the swimming pool and wasted the afternoon away.

SWIMMING POOL AT CAMPGROUND.

A spot of dinner later on and a few more drinks consumed and we were off to bed for the night.

DAY 14 : KATHERINE GORGE

Waking for the morning i walked over to the visitor centre and did what we should have done the afternoon before...investigated cruise options for us to do today. The lady behind the desk was most helpful, and i raced back to tell the crew they had just enough room on the 3 gorges cruise for us all, and if we hurried up and booked we'd have just enough time to quickly eat our breakfast before leaving on a 9.00 a.m boat ride up the gorge.
It was abit of a rush, but in the end we all managed to have a bite to eat and make it to the spot where the boat leaves from, which is only about 600 mtrs down the road from our campsite. With everyone aboard we set off up the gorge, not more then 100 mtrs along the way and we'd seen our first croc, it as a little freshie and more then welcome around here, unlike his salt water relatives. Now i've looked at all the pics we took on this boat ride, and honestly none of them do this place justice, it is somewhere you just need to visit yourself and enjoy in person. There are a few options you can choose betweeen with relation to boat rides, we chose the 3 gorge trip and this takes around 3.5 - 4 hrs to complete all up. It's not all sitting on a boat though, the tour has some short sections of walking through the gorge required, but they are very short in distance and easy to negotiate. Our cruise included morning tea and also time for a swim, IMHO the time frame was not rushed and the trip relaxed, i feel if you were to do the shorter 2 gorge trip, the time frame (trip doesn't take anywhere near as long as our trip did) would possibly feel very rushed and you wouldn't get alot of time to relax and enjoy the gorge like we got to do.
Part of the way up the first section of the gorge we passed a croc trap, this along with white floats hanging from trees at positions along the waterway, is how they make sure no saltwater crocs have moved into the gorge and it is safe for people to swim in there (they check teeth marks on the floats if they have been bitten, to see what sort of croc it is). Before long we were jumping out of the boat and walking up a concrete pathway to view some aboriginal rock art. The amount of work that has gone into constructing the walkways in this gorge is simply amazing, not only have they concreted the walkways, but they have gone to the trouble of making it an exposed aggregate finish aswell, which really did set their work off even more in appearance.
Once at the rock art site we were given an explanation by our guide as to the paintings meanings, along with the talk the guide gave here, he also gave a running commentary along the way of the boat rides, pointing out different trees and their uses in aboriginal culture. To think that when a certain tree is in flower means the crocodiles are laying their eggs, was something that simply would never cross my mind, this along with much more information we were told during the boat ride, really was a learning experience for young and old alike.

CROC TRAP TO HELP KEEP SALTIES OUT OF THE GORGE

THE WORK PUT INTO THE WALKWAYS REALLY WAS AMAZING

ABORIGINAL ROCK ART

MORE ART WORK

STILL MORE ART WORK

TOWERING ROCK WALLS

DO YOU THINK THE KIDS LIKED THE CRUISE?

The water level at this time of year means we need to walk from one section of the gorge to another and hop on and off different boats to continue along the way. None of the walks were strenuous at all, and could be completed easily by anyone of any age or fitness ability IMHO. Upon completing the tour up the 3 different gorges we returned back to the end of the 1st gorge and had some morning tea, it was here we also had atleast a half hour to 45 minutes time frame for us to swim in the crystal clear water. As per yesterday the temperature in the sun was certainly heating up, so it didn't take long to scoff down my morning tea and jump in the water and cool off.

YOU NEED TO CHANGE IN AND OUT OF BOATS ALONG THE WAY

BEAUTIFUL SCENERY

A COOLING SWIM AFTER MORNING TEA

After having a swim we returned back for our last boat ride back down the gorge and had more explanations of trees and their uses on the run back to base. IMHO the trip was excellant and money well spent, i'd reccomend it to anyone who asked me about going on one or not.
Back at the jetty we thanked our guide for a very informative journey and then returned back to camp, we had some lunch and spent the afternoon relaxing in the pool once again. My lovely wife grabbed a few more beers from the kiosk, before we eventually returned to the camper trailers and had dinner and went to sleep once again.

 

[Rumpig]

DAY 15: KATHERINE GORGE - LITCHFIELD NATIONAL PARK

By now the routine is well known by everyone, so before long we are all packed up and ready to go on the drive North once again. Leaving Katherine we are soon turning right off of the highway to Edith Falls, it's about 20 klms down the road from the highway turn off to the campground, and we park up in the day visitors section and go for the short walk to checkout the falls. Looking around the area this would make another great place to pull up stumps at for a day or 2, i know next time we come back up this way, we'll certainly be stopping here for longer then our quick look and go that we did this time around.

EDITH FALLS

Back to the vehicles and we soon returned to the highway, turning right and heading North still, somewhere along the way we stopped to help a guy who had obviously broken down. Upon checking if he was ok we found his fourby had overheated, i asked if he needed any water and he replied "no i'm fine, i'm just waiting for it to cool down". Knowing he was ok, we hopped back in the vehicles and continued on our way. Passing the turn off for Kakadu at Pine Creek and it wasn't long before we stopped once again for another broken down vehicle, this time it was a lady on her own in a sedan, and she was in obvious need of help. As we exited our vehicles into the stinking hot sun, the lady expressed her thanks for us stopping and commented on the fact she'd been standing there beside the vehicle for over 20 minutes now, watching numerous people drive past and not bother to stop and help her out (the vehicle was parked partly blocking our lane, she had the bonnet up and she was standing beside the car on the highway looking very distressed, not hard to realise she needed help). Having a look under the bonnet it was obvious this car wasn't going anywhere any time soon, one of the radiator hoses had blown apart and the engine was well and truely cooked, the smell of overheated everything (oils and fluids) made us think the engine might be well and truely cactus by now also.
Phone reception out here is patchy and the lady couldn't get her phone to work, so Pete and Esther drove to the top of the hill a short way up the road, and rang some people at a pub about 40 klms up the road at Grove Hill that the lady was going to visit for the weekend. With contact made the lady then said thank you and we could go now, looking around there wasn't a decent tree to give any shade, and the fact we were in the middle of nowhere meant i didn't like leaving a lady alone on her own where she was. There was no point all of us waiting here so i radioed Pete and Esther and Michael and Lauren who were up the road on top the hill, to continue on to Emerald Springs Roadhouse, whilst Glen and Amanda and family and ourselves would meet up with them after the ladies friends arrived to help her out. It was at this stage i was getting well and truely baked in the hot sun, i rolled out the awning from the side of my 4wd, and we waited here until the ladies friends finally arrived. In the end it was a touch over an hours wait, but atleast we could sleep tonight knowing she was safe.
As the lady said thank you, we drove off up the road and met up with the others at Emerald Springs Roadhouse, we went inside where the others were waiting and ordered some lunch, a good excuse to enjoy the air con here after being out in the hot sun previously. As we finished our lunch, the lady we stopped to help and her friends rolled into the roadhouse with her broken down car in tow, the vehicle would be left here until parts could be sourced to try and fix the car.
From Emerald Springs we pressed on towards our nights destination of Wangi Falls In Litchfield Nat. Park. It was along this run i noticed my temperature gauge slowly starting to rise on my Landcruiser, the speed limit out here is 130 kph but i was only doing 105 kph, dropping down to 95 kph soon had my temp gauge back down where it normally sits, so for the rest of the drive 95 kph would be my cruising speed.
(I'll mention now that this rising temperature gauge occured pretty much each afternoon whenever i ventured over 95 kph whilst in the Northern Territory, but in the cooler mornings i could easily crooze at 105 - 110 kph and not have any problems with the gauge moving. I checked my coolant level at Litchfield Nat. Park aswell as a few more times at other locations along the way, it was always full. i'll be looking into this issue more now that i'm home, but for last couple of weeks of our trip, it was something that played on my mind quite abit, abit of stress i could have done without).
Arriving at Wangi Falls campground we jagged 3 sites together, suitable to fit all of us into, they really don't set these camp sites up to suit camper trailers though IMHO. With camp set up we walked the short distance to the falls and were once again amazed at our beautiful surroundings. The waterfall drops into a massive rock pool below tailor made for swimming in, and the water was once again crystal clear. After an hour or so's swimming we walked up onto the viewing platform and took a few pics before returning to camp for dinner and drinks and a good nights sleep.

WANGI FALLS

FAMILY PIC AT WANGI FALLS

 

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DAY 16: LITCHFIELD - DARWIN

Not a long way to drive today, abit of sight seeing to do in Litchfield and then on our way North to Darwin we would go. I didn't mention it earlier as i'd forgotten, but the main reason we were heading to Darwin was the fact that we noticed at Katherine Gorge that Glen's battery charger had died in his camper trailer and there was no way to charge his batteries up (well there was, but we thought of that much later on...lol). Our original plan was to go to Koolpin first, then Kakadu, Shady Camp and onto Darwin before hitting Litchfield on the run home. Instead now we would head that general route in the opposite direction but unfortunately miss out on visiting Koolpin due to time constraints and also the fact we had to apply for permission to visit this location for a specific date, and now that had changed completely.
Packing up earlier to avoid the heat (it really was quite hot up here once the sun hit you), i climbed a water tower behind our campsite to get an aerial shot of camp before climbing back down again and having some breakfast.

WATER TOWER BEHIND CAMP

AERIAL SHOT OF CAMPSITE AT WANGI FALLS (Glen has already started packing up, you can see it's a very snug fit with camper trailers to cater for, not exactly the most spacious of campsites)

It was just now that we decided we weren't in any real hurry to get to Darwin, so said to the others we would be going for a swim before leaving here. With Glen and Michael wanting to get going, they left to explore Litchfield and Pete and Esther joined us down at the falls once again for another refreshing swim.

ONCE LAST DIP BEFORE LEAVING

With our swim had, we jumped in the fourbies and started to head back to the main highway. Seeing as though we had passed a lot of Litchfields attractions on the way in yesterday afternoon without stopping, we decided to stop off at some of them on the way out this morning. About 30 or so klms back down the road from Wangi Falls we took a lefthand turn and were quickly pulling up in the carpark area of Buely Rock Pools. The sign as you drive in has a no caravans picture shown and it's for a good reason, there's not really anywhere to park trailers in here. We found a spot to park our 2 vehicles with trailers anyhow, but later in the day i really doubt you'd be able to do this as there'd be way too many cars about, we then walked the short distance down to the rock pools and had a look around. A sign in the carpark area does warn you if there are no carparks then come back later as the place is too busy, looking around the rock pools i can see what they mean, you really wouldn't want to be there when the place is packed anyhow IMHO. The rock pools is basically a series of small waterfalls running down the creek to swim / relax in, personally i liked Wangi Falls much better then what i was seeing here.

SOME OF BUELY ROCK POOLS

From Buely Rock pools we then took a lefthand turn in our vehicles and continued a short distance down this road to Florence Falls, pulling up in the carpark this time they had several places specifically for vehicles with trailers to park in. Not really looking at going for another swim, we took a short walk down to a lookout over looking the falls themselves. As impressive as this waterfall was, at this early time in day the waterhole at the bottom of the falls was already packed with people, as the day wore on i could only imagine it getting much busier down there. We took a few pics then returned to our vehicles and returned back to the main road we had turned off abit earlier.

FLORENCE FALLS

A touch further up the road we stopped off to look at the termite mounds, although we'd already seen thousands on the drive already, i guess when a sign directs you into to see some, you have to wonder why, so we stopped for a look around. Basically just off from the carpark area is a boardwalk that has you overlooking a field area with lots of termite mounds about. We took some pics and returned to the carpark area where there are a couple of much bigger termite mounds you can stand beside to get your picture taken at. With pictures taken we returned to the vehicles and were on our way once again, as luck would happen it was at the termite mounds that Glen and Michael met up with us, so we left Litchfield in one big group Darwin bound.

TERMITE MOUND AT CARPARK AREA

BYE BYE LITCHFIELD NATIONAL PARK

Arriving in Darwin it was just after lunchtime, with today being a Sunday nothing could be done about Glens dead battery charger issue, so we checked into a caravan park, had a bite to eat followed by a swim in the pool, then we got ready and headed down to the Mindil Beach Markets for the evening. One of the main attractions at Mindil beach is the opportunity to grab some great food (there are heaps and heaps of different food vendors of all food types here) then head out onto the beach which is right next to the markets, and sit down and eat some dinner and watch the sun set out over the ocean infront of you. Slowly the sun started to set, i quickly ate the Thai meal i had in front of me, and then grabbed the camera and started taking a few sunset pics, just like hundreds of other people around me were also doing. It wasn't the greatest sunset you'd ever seen, but it didn't matter, it was still a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

SUNSET AT MINDIL BEACH

PLAYING AROUND WITH THE CAMERA

eMDee were playing at the market whilst we were there, they were fantastic to watch and listen too. i don't have any pics or footage of my own in action so i've edited this post to include a random Youtube link i found of them in action at the markets http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMyb0tifHlE

With the sun by now well and truely set, we wandered back to the markets and had a look around for a while before returning back to the caravan park and retiring to our beds for the evening.

 

[Rumpig]

DAY 17: DARWIN

Today was going to be a pretty lazy day, basically all we had planned was for Glen to go see the auto electrician about his charger, and then we'd (everyone except Pete and Esther who went off to do their own thing today) go visit Crocosaurus Cove in the centre of town and give the kids a chance to see crocodiles up nice and close safely.
Just after breakfast Glen drove down and saw the auto sparky to find out what was going to happen Re: fixing the charger, before long he was back at camp and we were packing up his camper so the shop could have it for the day to remove and replace the faulty charger. With Glen gone to drop the trailer off, we got ourselves ready and then headed down the road to meet back up with him, before continuing on into town and croc cove for the day.
Now i will say that once you get inside Crocosaurus Cove, it's not really all that big a place. IMHO if your not going to hop in the CAGE OF DEATH :Wow1::Wow1: you only need to allow half a day at the very most to visit this place, but seeing as we (myself, my wife, Glen and Michael that is) were all going in the CAGE OF DEATH:Wow1::Wow1: we pretty much spent all day here, as we had to wait until the afternoon for our time slot due to the attraction being booked up. Now for those of you who have no idea what i'm going on about with THE CAGE OF DEATH, then have a look at this link and watch the video, all will be revealed then

....WATCH THIS NOW BEFORE READING ON... EDIT..(they've changed the video link now, this was similar to the footage it used to advertise with) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGdT9qMHD7Y

As the name suggests, croc cove is all about crocodiles, they have some big crocs there aswell as plenty of little ones aswell. The place does a feeding of the big crocs a couple of times a day and also the same thing with the little crocs aswell. When it comes time to feed the little crocs, you can take your kids (anyone can go) up onto a jetty and dangle a fishing rod over the edge and get the crocs to jump out of the water for their food. The kids thought this was great fun, but i'd have preferred a proper hook on the end of the line to see what sort of a fight one of those little suckers would put up

FEEDING THE LITTLE CROCS

The enclosures that the crocs and fish live in at croc cove, all have big glass walls downstairs where you can go and watch all the action from under the water also, yet still manage to stay dry. From here you can try and get a good close up pic of one of those snapping handbags.

NEVER SMILE AT A CROCODILE...

As the day rolled on, we had lunch at the eatery at croc cove, then watched the feeding shows for a second time, before it was finally our time slot for THE CAGE OF DEATH :Wow1::Wow1: . Now as much as i wanted to do this swim before we arrived today, having watched numerous people do the swim before us had put me off wanting to go into the water, but not for the reason your probably thinking. You see the problem was, the crocs weren't doing anything all they would do is stay where they were up out of the water in their enclosure and show zero interest to the people or cage inside where they were. Part way through the day i joked to Glen that maybe we needed to go get some tuna flavoured cat food in tins and puncture the lids and put it in our pockets to try and get the crocs wanting a piece of us...lol.
Eventually we all had our turns in the cage of death (you see it wasn't that scary, so no need for big letters now ), and one of the big crocs did actually get into the water with all of us, but he didn't ever attack the cage or swim up to it, he just swam to the bottom of the tank and layed there instead. It was still good to get up fairly close to a big croc like we did, but if you go, i wouldn't expect the crocs to act anything like they do in the pics or on the video footage you see on their website, because it didn't happen like that all day whilst we were there.

GLEN AND MICHAEL GOING IN WITH THE SLEEPY CROCODILES (as my mate Joe later called them...lol)...Glen has pics of us in the cage, i must get them from him one day

With pretty much the whole day gone by now, we returned back to camp and ordered some take away pizza for dinner, before washing it down with a few cans and a fairly early night in bed for all of us.

** On a side note... this happened about a week or 2 after we were at Croc Cove http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3876675/Croc-Cage-of-Death-snaps.html it certainly would have livened up the day had it happened when we were there

 

[Rumpig]

DAY 18: DARWIN

More sight seeing to do today around Darwin, knowing that when we drove past The Humpty Doo Hotel tomorrow morning it would be closed, i headed out to there this morning to buy some souveniers. Arriving a bit before 10.00 a.m, the pub was still closed so we drove a short distance back down the road and went and visited a shop selling Country music CD's. By now our music collection in the fourby was well played, so i grabbed a Best of Slim Dusty cd aswell as a Lee Kernaghan cd just to listen to something different, then we returned back to the pub where it was now open. Being that we were the only ones at the pub, the atmosphere wasn't exactly like what the pub is renowned for, not much we could do about that, we had a beer each (yeah it was early but you have to have a beer here atleast) and bought what we came for and headed back to Darwin.

THE HUMPTY DOO HOTEL

Arriving back in Darwin we headed down to the wharf district where we visited the World War 2 Oil storage tunnels. The tunnels were built to provide a secure fuel storage location, after most of the fuel storage facilities in Darwin were destroyed in the first bombing raid by the Japanese. Work on the tunnels started in 1943 and they were only just completed before the end of the war. A small set of steps leads down to the main tunnel, with some of the original plumbing still intact, photos displayed along the wall of the main tunnel provide a graphic history of the destruction caused by bombing raids during the war. Those of you interested in war history could spend quite some time here looking at the photos, but otherwise it's not a long tunnel and you'll be here for no more then an hour i reckon.

WWll TUNNEL ENTRANCE

INSIDE THE TUNNEL

LOOKING AT SOME OF THE PHOTOS ALONG THE WAY

From the WWll tunnels we ventured across the road and had some lunch at a cafe, where i also rang a mate named Joe and left a message telling him i was in town and how about catching up for a drink or 2. Lunch eaten, we walked over to the lagoon for a swim whilst our 3 year old daughter had a sleep under the shade of a tree (in the company of her mother). It was a relaxing way to kill off a couple of hours in the afternoon, we then returned back to camp where Joe would stop by after work finished and arranged to meet up later in the evening, one Mr CEWilson (a member of a forum i frequented) was also in town at the time apparently, so he'd be joining us this evening also.

LAGOON PRECINCT DOWN NEAR THE WHARF

RELAXING THE AFTERNOON AWAY

When Joe stopped by earlier, he kindly said he'd come back around 6.30 - 7.00 p.m and pick me up, and we'd go meet Chris somewhere. Would you believe it...just as i was putting the first mouthful of my dinner in my mouth the phone rang, it was Joe and he was out front waiting to go. Seeing as it was only 2 minute noodles, i gave my dinner a miss and jumped in Joes mighty Patrol (i'll say anything after a free lift somewhere...lol) and we roared off down the road to the Hyatt Hotel i think it was. We ventured straight to the bar and grabbed a couple of drinks, before walking outside where we found Chris already waiting sitting poolside at a table with a Bundy in hand. It was nice to meet Chris and put a face to a name in person i'd only ever chatted with online previously, the night was enjoyed by myself so much i didn't bother ordering dinner whilst there, and once again i'll say thanks to Joe for being my chauffer for the evening, it was very much appreciated.
Returning back to camp with some local knowledge of places to visit and things to do, i said good bye to Joe and headed off to bed for a good nights sleep.