From Alice to Darwin, and every disco I get in...

Ok so there was no disco, but I'm hoping that some of you out there get the reference I'm making in the title. If not, moooooving on then...


Day 4

We were picked up from our apartment at 6:30am ready for our tour up to Darwin. The company we were with was called WayOutback, and they do all kinds of outback tours. The original plan was to actually hire a car and drive ourselves up to Darwin, but after extensive research, it seemed like too much hassle to have to make that drive up. Besides, on a tour, I could sleep between attractions and have everything organised for me! On the tour bus besides us were mainly Europeans. Out of the 15 of us, there were eight Aussies, two Germans, one French, one Dutch, one Italian, one Belgian and one Canadian.

First stop on the tour was the Tropic of Capricorn, one of the latitude lines splitting the earth up. We all piled out of the mini-bus and jumped over the line, signalling our arrival into the tropics.

Our next major stop was Barrow Creek Telegraph Station, which was built as a repeater station to transmit messages from the south to the north of Australia (through 15 other stations). It was amazing to think that it was this one person's job to just sit in the station all day and re-transmit messages to the next station. Must have been a very boring job.

Anyways, once we finished exploring the station, we headed down the road for lunch at a nearby pub. This pub was so cool. Located 280km north of Alice in the middle of the desert, you wouldn't think it would get much traffic but looking at the interior of this pub, it was clear that it was a well-known traveller's haunt. Mementos, photos and messages from worldly travellers adorned the walls as well as the numerous folders the owner brought out to show us. Everyone who entered his pub was asked where they came from (or where their heritage lied), and he would escort them to the appropriate sections of the wall where mementos from that country were. It was actually really amazing that he knew where everything was! Such a friendly guy as well. I guess living out in the desert, you rely on tourists for your livelihood - this guy had got it down pat!

After lunch we were off to our next stop: Karlu Karlu (or Devil's Marbles), about 400km north of Alice. These are large granite boulders which have formed through erosion and weathering, resulting in many different types of formations of round stones, many perched atop another. One particular impressive boulder had been split cleanly down the middle due to weathering and the constant cooling and heating, resulting in expansion of cracks. Taking our obligatory photos, we then began our climb to the top of the marbles. In the 40 degree heat, it definitely was a challenge to not burn yourself on the rock as you pulled your body up over them. But the view at the top was definitely worth it. This is something I would recommend but maybe better in a cooler time. I would have loved to have explored more of the formations but alas, it was getting too hot and we needed to be back on the road.

We were off to our final stop which was Banka Banka Cattle Station where we would camp for the night. On the way though, we stopped to view some wedge-tailed eagles soar majestically in the warm winds, before hopping out and taking some photos on the Stuart Highway (running off the road whenever we saw cars hurtling towards us). We continued on through to Tenant Creek, where our guide informed us that this was one of the roughest towns in the NT, and as a result, we would not even be stopping at all. To think, had we been driving ourselves, Tenant Creek was a pitstop I was planning for a night. Peering cautiously through the windows as we drove through, I didn't think it looked like anything out of the ordinary, but I could see a strong police and security guard presence around the supermarket and petrol station.

Continuing 100km up from Tenant Creek, we finally reached Banka Banka Cattle Station, which was the first operational pastoral lease in the region, and was a supply camp during WWII. The campground had decent facilities. It had one house which people could sleep in, or there were little tents/bungalows outside. I ended up sleeping in a tent outside, which was nice and a bit cooler than inside the stuffy house (oh how I would regret that decision later on). Anyways, to kill the time in a place which had nothing to do, we enjoyed the sunset atop the hill before adjourning to the "pub", which was the original homestead of the owners. Those thirst-quenching beers went down so well after such a long hot day.

After a good BBQ dinner, we brought out our beds and just lay on them looking up at the stars. I'm still so amazed just how much you can see without the light pollution. This turned into an impromptu karaoke session, when one of the international travellers pulled out his iPad full of Australian songs. Great way to end the first night on the tour!

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Day 5

I woke up constantly throughout the night, itching with tons of mozzie bites and also freezing cold because I hadn't actually brought a sleeping bag. Thinking it would be really hot, I had only brought a sleeping bag liner on this trip. Bad decision. It was a pretty restless night and I was quite happy to get up for the 5:30am wake up call. A quick breakfast later, we were on the road again.

After quite a bit of driving, we reached Daly Waters Pub, the oldest pub in the NT, established in the 1930s. We spent a while here, enjoying a few drinks and having lunch, as well as participating in the tradition of street bowling (essentially tenpin bowling in the streets). With the lack of cars driving through, we never had to venture off the road throughout our entire game. Similar to the pub at Barrow Creek, this one was also adorned with mementos from travellers past. They even had an underwear section covered in bras and briefs, which was quite unique haha.

After lunch, we were off to Mataranka thermal springs, where the water is a cool 32 degrees all year round. It felt so good getting into the water, which from a distance looked quite green, but was actually crystal clear. It was such a serene environment to relax in, and the current would help you drift downstream. Being quite uncomfortable in deep water, I hung around the entrance point of the springs balancing myself on underwater roots. As everyone eventually drifted downstream, I got out of the water and walked through the forest following the stream just to see what I was missing. I eventually reached the end where everyone was, and just hopped in there. It was really so good after a long day of sitting on a bus to laze around in a thermal pool - I could feel all my troubles floating away! As everyone began the arduous swim upstream, I hopped out and walked back like a boss.

Sufficiently relaxed, we were off to Katherine where we would camp overnight. As we got into the campground, our guide mentioned that there were no tents at this place and that we would be sleeping outside. PANIC. How was my liner going to keep me warm at night, let alone keep me away from bugs and animals of the night?! Turns out we were provided with swags which were like mini-beds. Just pop your sleeping bag into them and you're good. This night was also quite restless. I was being eaten alive by mozzies, and contrary to the previous night, I was boiling in the swag (but continued to cover up because of the mozzies). Not to mention, the campfire was nearby. It was definitely an interesting experience sleeping outdoors. You realise just how noisy the outdoors can get at night. Our camp was also overrun by wallabies which was cool, yet the thought of waking up to see one standing over you was just slightly worrying. Needless to say, it was a very long night.

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Day 6

Last day of the tour, and once again, it was a 5:30am wake up call. We drove to Nitmiluk (Katherine Gorge) where we to spend most of the day. We got canoes and went down the river, trying to see if we could spot any of the elusive wildlife. We had seen so many signs along the banks of the river indicating that there were freshwater crocodiles nesting. Freshwater crocs are smaller, and their jaws aren't big enough to cause much damage - as such, they are relatively harmless, we were told. As we came around a bend, we finally caught sight of a croc just sunbathing on the riverbank. I was actually hoping it would slide into the water and swim alongside the canoe but alas, it was being lazy and didn't move at all.

We canoed to the end of the first gorge, and hopped out to enjoy a nice swim in the lagoon at the end. Unfortunately given time constraints, we weren't able to explore the subsequent gorges. Definitely something I would like to come back and do next time. It is made up 13 gorges, with rapids and falls, connected by the Katherine River. Katherine Gorge is such a beautiful place. I could have just stayed in those waters staring at the surrounding landscape for hours. However, we had to canoe our way back upstream (I count that as my exercise on this trip) for lunch before driving the final leg into Darwin.

The rest of the tour was uneventful. I was so exhausted from the morning's adventures in Katherine Gorge that I pretty much conked out for the rest of the journey into Darwin. I woke to see high rise buildings in the distance - we were finally back in a city! After saying goodbye to our tour group, we picked up our rental car (Kia Carnival - I felt like such a soccer dad driving that) and headed to our accommodation at Hidden Valley, a little hidden place just outside of Darwin. I had initially planned to stay in the city on Mitchell Street (Darwin's main street) but reviews indicated that you wouldn't be sleeping much on such a party street. In the end, as I opened the door to our place at Hidden Valley, I was so glad I had booked this place. It was amazing. Or maybe it just seemed amazing compared to what we had been living in the last two nights. A hot clean shower and a soft bed never felt so good!! 

After thoroughly scrubbing ourselves clean, we were off into Darwin to check out the Sunset Markets at Mindil Beach and grab some food. I had a kangaroo sandwich which was quite tasty but nowhere near as good as the kangaroo steaks from the first night. It was quite surprising to see so much variety in food again. After travelling in the outback for so long, I had gotten used to having very limited choice in what I ate. There was also a very strong Asian influence at the markets with the majority of the food stalls selling some kind of Asian cuisine - I guess it makes sense what with Darwin being the closest capital city to Asia. After our adventures at the market, we drove around town and the wharf checking out what Darwin had to offer (on a Thursday night), taking note of what we would revisit when we came back to Darwin after Kakadu.

But for now, after travelling from Alice Springs to Darwin in three days, we were exhausted and ready to enjoy a soft bed. It was going to be another early start the next day for the drive to Kakadu!

HBL signing out from Darwin, NT.

Up next: Kakadu and Darwin round out the NT trip...
Previously: The Australian outback adventure begins...