Darwin

Good news. Jesse managed to shake off the alien curse and get us to Darwin.

After 4045 kms travelled, our half way point was reached without one ‘are we there yet’. That for me carries the same 'ohhhh thats remarkable' status of the sights seen along the way.

Praise the electronic gods responsible for making Ipods, Nintendo DS’s and of course those portable DVD players donated by the ‘Crows.

Being a very annoying gluten free person has at times been difficult during our journey and ‘hunger anger’ has raised its ugly head on occasions when the BP roadhouse does not meet my needs.

With this in mind I was very excited to reach Darwin as many travellers along the way had spoken of the amazing markets at Mindil Beach.

These markets have the most amazing array of Asian food stalls with the backdrop of the sun setting on the beach. The trick, as i soon discovered, is to wait until the red ball is on its way down as at this point swarms of people leave the market and head to get the best possie on the beach. I am then left with a plethora of culinary options and no queues, brilliant!
Peta

The next day....Jumping crocodile cruise

When we were in Darwin we decided that it would be cool to see some saltwater crocs. These are the ones that eat people. The whole family went on a boat trip on the Adelaide river where there are heaps of them.

While we were waiting I held a python. This snake is so big it can eat a sheep. But they don’t eat people.

Before the boat left the man freaked us out with some croc stories. This man lived he said. But he was teasing the croc. One thing you never do.

The man held out some meat on a big rope to make them jump high in the air. Dad and I went to the top of the boat to get the best view. It was awesome. The biggest croc was 6 metres long and his name was ‘Hannibal’.

Did you know that the only way to tell the true age of a croc is to saw off his leg. This is because they have age rings just like a tree. Probably best just to guess.These animals have lived for over many million years even when the dinosaurs lived.

By Jess

Litchfield episode 2

The next day we ventured off-road in pursuit of Tjaynera falls.

Getting there involved a deep river crossing and lots of corrugations in the road.

Jesse didn’t think he was going to make it through the river crossing alive and made this comment shortly after:

‘Its good to have a pen and paper with you when you think you’re going to
die for 2 reasons:
1. You can write your bucket list (things you want to do
before you die)
2. You can invite your friends to your funeral.’

But he made it and after a 2 km walk we had the whole waterfall to ourselves. Jesse was one happy fella.

Later on we ran into an old Danish bloke travelling alone. We got talking and he mentioned he just spent 10 days in the desert with his wife. He went on to say:

‘She’s decided to swap a 1000 star accommodation with 5 star in Darwin.’

We found this man most hilarious.

Litchfield National Park

After a short drive from Mataranka we pulled into a caravan park in the town of Batchelor. This town is known as the “gateway to Litchfield National Park”, which usually means it has nothing to offer other than being close to something better, but we were pleasantly surprised with our lush green surrounds and spacious sites.

The next day we were on tour.

We checked out some massive termite mounds. These cleverly constructed mounds provide respite from the heat and a well protected base to breed.

Interesting fact for you. The aborigines used the termite mound soil and water as a stool hardener when they had diarrhoea.

We then had a stroll down a canyon and swam in the beautiful Florence falls.

Followed by Wangi falls.

As a rule I am not keen on swimming in any water this far north as only the slightest mention of crocs sends me running, however we were assured by people in the know that this time of year we were completely safe. But in the wet season that they can make their way into the pools when the water level is high. Still, I kept an eye out just in case.

Peta

Mataranka

Mataranka 120 k south of Katherine was one of the best places we’d been to so far. Here we swam in beautiful natural thermal pools just a short stroll from out caravan park. They were beautiful and clear and also warm at around 32 degrees! Because of the strong currents we were able to float down stream for about 100 metres. Mum was not convinced about the sign that said it was a crocodile free area.

After the thermal springs we went down to the Mataranka oval to celebrate northern territory day with the locals. There were fireworks and food.

The moon appeared over a beautiful ghost gum.

And out came the crackers.

To our surprise the fireworks were quite impressive though not so when dad decided to buy fireworks of his own and light them after the main event.

It’s the only legal public use of fireworks in Australia and dad took advantage of it. Although it may not last long given 10 people were admitted to hospital for burns.

On our last day we went for a walk to Mataranka (which was an 8 k walk) falls which was extremely tiring because most of the walk was on soft sand. There wasn’t much of a reward as the water falls were only 3 inches tall! Dad was told that no one ever goes there and by the end we could understand why. The highlight of that walk was probably seeing a wild freshwater crocodile! (they generally don't eat people) It certainly wasn’t mums favourite part, she wasn’t keen on touching the water after what she saw what was swimming below.
By Grace

Daly Waters Pub

Daly Waters Pub is 274 km South of Katherine. This place is one of the most famous pubs in Aus.

And i can see why - its miles from anywhere and it's HOT here. And for that matter probably the aussiest place i've ever been visited.

We got out of the car and setup the van and i can bloddy well tell you i fairdinkum was sweatier than 100 camel drivers armpits.


Character dripping from the ceilings - bras, hats, cards, graffiti you name it - you'll see it plastered on any vertical surface.

So we settled down for a few well deserved drinks and a plate of tucker and took in the entertainment. This bloke had the crowd buckled over for hours - a hilarous set of outback aussie bloke gags and songs - including 20 reasons why a dog is better than a sheila. Not sure if it was the delivery or what but some of them i stopped and thought to myself 'hangon that's a bloody good point!'.

After dinner we went to the watering hole connected to the pub and jesse took some hangers with a footy in the pool.

Ahh rippa of a night. Walked out with a warm glow of all things Aus.

A story of super human strength

When we were at devils marbles a truly unusual event unfolded.

We just arrived right and Jesse setup the whole van by himself, including the really awkward door apparatus that really is a bad design. I digress.

Zon was off doing a photoshoot for a her new book titled ‘How to rock without a guitar’

In the meantime Grace saved a nearby town from being squashed by a massive bolder (It was that alien town Wyecliff Well - which is a shame cause you know how I feel about that place)

Anyway scosha was running past a huge bolder and tripped and fell under it. Sure she looks happy but that’s how she often comes across when she is terrified. Mixed message I know. Anyway she’s terrified – be creative.

Super incredoman sees this situation unfold and pushes the 120 tonne bolder out of harms way with his super strength and good looks. Oh yeah….it then rolled down and took out Wyecliff Well.

Devils marbles

According to aboriginal mythology the Devils Marbles are Rainbow Serpent eggs.

In a historic ceremony held on the 27th October 2008 ownership of the Devils Marbles Conservation Reserve was officially given back to the site’s Traditional Owners. The Reserve will now be leased back the Territory Government under a 99 year lease agreement.

390 km north of Alice. These granite rocks are completely freakish. Precariously balanced one on top of the other behind a big sky and nothing for miles - this place has a magic to it.

Camping right in the middle of these massive granite boulders made the drive justifiable in its own right. The stench from the drop dunny tried to convince us otherwise, but the boulders won out.

That morning Scosha added an extra weet-bix to her standard 2. She will be handy should we get a flat.

Jesse watched the sunset from the top of the biggest boulder.

I know i have overdone the rock drama shots but its just so hard to resist. I blame my dad who took a photo of me holding up the leaning tower of Pisa when i was a kid.

Alien town

Wycliffe Well 380 kms north of Alice.

Some towns have so little going for them they need to be creative when establishing a town icon. Big bananas, big worms, big prawns etc. at least have a vague connection with the truth . This place claiming to be the 5th largest UFO sighting location in the world I believe is for those who have lots of spare hard drive capacity in their heads.

Its an evidence thing. There is none of this to support green people. Clever though - it did make us stop and buy a bottle of water and use their toilet.

This aside – Jesse took the aliens on. It was a fight for the truth.

But alas he lost out – they spat alien slime on him and he is now one of them.

Alice Springs

At Alice Springs we stayed at a great caravan park with a big jumping cushion. We stayed there for four nights because we had been driving lots and it was time for a rest, plus I love jumping cushions. Every morning when I woke up I would go straight to the cushion to meet my friends. One morning we went for a walk to get pancakes but the queue was too long so we went back to the van and on the way all my friends waved and mum and Sophie realised how many friends I had. I love making friends at each new place but I don’t like having to say goodbye.
Jesse
Sweet sunset pretty much every night.

We went west down the Macdonnel ranges and checked out a bunch of gorges. This one at Serpentine gorge we went for a climb until mum freaked out and we had to come down.

Alice Springs Beanie Festival
We were lucky enough to arrive in Alice on the weekend of the annual ‘Beanie Festival’. So that night we all went and had a great time with all the singing and dancing . They also had a presentation which they modelled the beanies made with entries all around the world and announced the winners. There were amazing designs. Here we were thinking it was a nice warm night and the locals were wearing jumpers and eating soup and casseroles thinking this is the start of winter .
By Sophie

This is Ormiston gorge. Here we watched a dingo pull a fish out of the water. Dad was too slow with the camera.

I also had a camel ride which was so much fun.

Kings Canyon

Whilst having dinner dingoes would come within 2 meters of us and this was simply amazing. They are such beautiful dogs and so similar to domestic dogs.
Dad and I walked through beautiful canyons the next day and we were speechless after what we had seen. For our last night at Kings Canyon we watched the sun go down over the beautiful canyons.

Kings canyon was our favourite place so far, we loved it!
By Grace.