Chris and Cath's World Tour

After another night in Katherine we started off on the long and empty road south. Our first overnight stop would be in Tennant Creek, near where the road from Queensland joins the Stuart Highway. Tennant Creek was extremely hot; even at 4pm it was 38°c in the shade. Nevertheless the humidity had really dropped off, so it actually felt much more comfortable. We were happy about the high fences around the campsite as shortly before dusk we could hear the locals starting to get rowdy, ensued by a visit from the police. The same happened again at sunrise, and I can only assume most other days. The next day we carried on south to Alice Springs, stopping briefly at the Devil's Marbles, conveniently located just off the main road.

Even being driven all day in searing heat, Sheila refused to overheat and the aircon continued to keep us comfortable. The only downside with all this driving is we were using large amounts of very expensive petrol, a fact we resolved to ignore. We stayed the night in Alice Springs and, rather than move on again the next day, spent the day in the nearby West Macdonnel ranges.

The day after we set off after a leisurely breakfast on the 550km road to Ulhuru. (And I thought it was really close to Alice?) We got there in plenty of time for the ubiquitous sunset photo opportunity:

Accomodation at Uluru is exclusively at the surprisingly-named Ayers Rock Resort nearby. It has a couple of overpriced hotels, a backpackers hostel, and a campground. We stayed at the campsite, and were able to tuck into the pizzas at the backpackers, and use the pool at the hotel. The next morning we got up early for the sunrise photo opportunity!

After having breakfast in the car we then set off on an 11k walk around the base of Uluru/Ayers Rock (delete as appropriate). Luckily we started early because by the time we finished it was sweltering. We had got into the habit of saying hello to other tourists in Australia and waving at people in cars that went past, mainly because they weren't many, and by virtue of having driven for hours to some godforsaken corner of Australia, you already have sonething in common. Uluru, being such an international icon, attracts a separate breed of tourists who think it strange that you are greeting them. Our friendly greetings were generally met with a stoney silence or a puzzled furrow of the brow. Another irritation was that the national park managers gave so much focus on the spiritual significance of Uluru and its human history, there was no mention of the science behind this geographical miracle, or the beautiful natural landscape surrounding it. Instead there were signs informing us that taking photos here and there was disrespectful. It would be fair enough if there were people there enjoying quiet spiritual contemplation, but sadly I saw no evidence of people anywhere around to be offended by my Canon. I must be missing the point.

Later that day we went to Kata Tjuta (The Olgas) a rather more interesting if less spectacular rock formation 25k west. We took a short walk around this incredible landscape before heading home.

Dust storm!

The next day was our most boring drive yet, 750km from Uluru to Coober Pedy, stopping every 250km to top up with fuel. Entering Coober Pedy (where they filmed Mad Max) was an amazing experience. A real outback pioneer town, lying around everywhere were the relics of decades of ad-hoc opal mining efforts, from big piles of excavated rock to abandoned vintage machinery. A lot of the people here live underground to escape the oppressive 40°C heat. It was an appropriate and very welcome place for our first proper bed in weeks, at the blissfully cool and quiet Underground B&B.

Opal mining equipment

Our underground room for the night

We spent our first night in Northern Territory in a town called Katherine where the road from WA meets the north-to-south Stuart Highway. NT is Australia's most sparsely populated state with only 300,000 people. It also has the highest speed limits (130 km/h on main roads where most states have 110). The next day we headed to Litchfield national park and visited a couple of cool waterfalls and swimming holes.

Florence Falls

We stayed the night in Litchfield 'safari park' where it rained a lot. There were so many bugs Cath refused to go to the loo and elected to she-pee instead. It was the low season, but Litchfield is very easy trip from Darwin, so we went to Litchfield's top attraction, Wangi Falls, early the next day to avoid the crowds (and have a wash).

Magnetic termite mounds

After this we went to Darwin, our first city since leaving Perth 3 weeks before. It felt good to be back in.civilisation but Darwin was underwhelming. We both had a haircut. Even though it was just the start of the wet season, the humidity especially at night was fairly extreme and it would rain every evening. After two nights in Darwin we went to Litchfield's more famous brother, Kakadu national park. Here we paid $80 each for a boat tour of the wetlands. It seemed like a lot but turned out to be one of the best things we did in Australia. We saw at least 10 saltwater crocs really close up and all kinds of amazing birdlife. Screw those dry season guys, this was the time to visit Kakadu. It was phenomenal.

Saltwater croc

Just waiting for you to fall off the boat

A Jacana aka Jesus bird

Azure Kingfisher

Little Kingfisher (apparently rare, who knows)

Saltie just after catching a fish!

That evening was the most thunder, lightening and rain I've seen in my life. Luckily the campsite had a bar to hide in, and the trusty tent stayed dry as ever.