The Top End

As we continue heading further north along the Stuart hwy, the temperature and humidity climb as we reach the tropics. After a long hot drive, we pull into a caravan park in the town of Katherine and look up to see hundreds of bats flying overhead as dusk falls.
Traveled up the next day to Litchfield National Park to camp and to check out the waterfalls. We camped near Wangi Falls and enjoyed a late afternoon swim in the waterhole below. Made our way to Darwin on Thursday and stayed in a hostel near the central area of town. That night we went out to the Mindil Beach market, a few hundred tents setup selling food and handicrafts. I bought a didgeridoo, with which I will be entertaining fellow campers and hostelers for the next few months as I learn to play it. We took it easy on Friday, wandered around town and enjoyed an amazing seafood buffet on Cullen Bay. All the oysters, prawns and mussels I could eat, with plenty of beef and chicken options for Jodi.
Saturday was the day of the AFL (Aussie rules football) grand final, essentially the equivalent of Grey Cup or Super Bowl Sunday. Knowing that we had to be back at the hostel for gametime at 2:00, we took a short excursion out of town for the Adelaide River Jumping Crocodile Cruise. It's a one hour boat cruise where the guides hold porkchops of the end of sticks for wild saltwater crocodiles to jump up and grab. One of the crocs even got her hind legs out of the water.
After the required beer run on the way back, we enjoyed a close, hard-fought game with a dozen rowdy Australian drunks. The Geelong Cats defeated the St. Kilda Saints amid the chorus of many slurred shouts of 'Go the Saints!' and 'Go the Cats!'. Needing to slow things down we headed for the rest of the evening to the Deckchair Cinema, where we took in the double
feature of the early 70's Australian film 'Wake in Fright' and recent Hollywood blockbuster 'Public Enemies'.
Next day we went to the Territory Wildlife Park, but after only a half hour, were called in to the main building due to a bushfire across the road. Sat for a while, then were eventually told that we could either leave then, or wait up to three hours for the next safe time to go, so we
packed up and hit the road to Kakadu National Park. There, we saw several sites of aboriginal rock paintings that were up to 20 000 years old and were really impressive. They showed X-ray style paintings of animals, people drawn to represent teaching stories, and depictions of legendary creatures and beings. We also went on a boat cruise down the Yellow River
and saw a wide variety of wildlife, including Brolgas, Jabirus, and several more crocs.


After a minor setback of a flat tire needing to be patched, we're now in Queensland and on our way to the coast, Cairns, and the Great Barrier Reef.

The Middle

Started up north along the Stuart Highway, and made it to Coober Pedy, a little town a million miles from nowhere, with two claims to fame. Firstly, they mine the majority of the world's opal there, and secondly, half of the population lives underground to avoid the heat. Homes, and our hostel, are dug or blasted into the rock, and maintain a year round temperature of about 23C, regardless of the weather outside. Our room was so cool and comfy, though with no windows, midnight and midday are equally dark. Went for a tour through the area to see how opal is mined, and enjoyed seeing the grassless golf course. Also toured the underground home of Crocodile Harry, a real life croc hunter who was the inspiration for the movie "Crocodile Dundee."
From there, traveled further north to Uluru - Ayers Rock. It truly is a remarkable sight, and towers mightily over the flat surrounding landscape. Spent several days camped there, and in that time, rode a camel to watch the sun rise over Uluru, hiked the 9.4km trail around the base, and saw the sunset and sunrise with the mobs of tourists from every part of the world. It really does change from brown to bright red as the sun starts to beam down on it. Also went for a hike through Kata Tjuta - the Olgas. It is a group of rounded monoliths whose name means Many Heads, and is visible from Uluru, some 50 kms away. Walked to the Valley of the Winds, and were just about blown over by the gale force winds that rushed through the narrow end of the valley.
We next drove up to Kings Canyon, where a geological marvel houses a wide range of plants and animals in an otherwise dry and barren desert. Looking up 100m from the bottom, you see sheer face walls towering above you, from where rocks have fallen into piles at the base. Walking along the top, there are series of large beehive shaped rocks, weathered through time to get their shape, that used to be at the bottom of vast inland sea.
On to Alice Springs, where we had a bit of time to relax in a converted school bus that was our room at the hostel. Watched a game of footy at a bar one night, did some shopping, toured aboriginal art galleries and bought an original painting, and even managed to find a great show one night. The Alice Desert Festival was on, and we got to see some great bands, including the Barons of Tang, a klezmer-gypsy-punk band, similar to Gogol Bordello, who got the whole place dancing. It was our latest night of the trip so far, as we didn't get home until 2:30. We are two wild and crazy kids!!!
Last stop in the middle was a place called Devil's Marbles. It's a spot that is basically flat and boring like the last 500kms, except for the giant round rocks scattered around the ground, some piled up on others, and some seeming to defy gravity. The rocks ranged from 1 to 5 meters tall, and appear to have come from nowhere.
Next up, we continue to drive north towards Darwin and the Top End of Australia.

Mount Remarkable's Gorgeous Gorges

Leaving Merimbula, we headed out across the mountains on Snowy Mountain Highway. It was a steep climb, and the rain and thick fog made it that much more exciting, but Wally got us to our destination of Wagga Wagga. Picked up our last pieces of camping equipment, and traveled the next day into Victoria. Passed into a fruit fly exclusion zone along the way, and that meant we had to eat as much of our just bought fruit as possible in about 25 kms, and then throw out the rest at a dump zone. The drive was much easier and straighter, and we arrived in Mildura just before the sun set at 6:00.

The next days drive was much like the last, and another fruit fly zone coming into South Australia, except this time we had to dump our veggies as well. They actually had a manned station that everyone must pull into for inspection. Found the Mount Remarkable National Park, located at the southern end of Flinders Ranges, and a great campsite. Our evenings visitors included several kangaroos and emus roaming the campground. In the morning, we packed our packs and headed into the mountains for a hike to Alligator Gorge. It was a beautiful trail, following and continuously crossing a creek through a valley of red river gums and cypress trees. Then up a steep hill (ugghh), and across a plateau until we eventually reached our campsite. From there, we wandered to the Alligator Gorge and were quite impressed. Steep red walls lined the gorge, eroded majestically so many years ago by rushing waters. One section was only about two meters across, and we had to carefully maneuver along small rocks to keep our feet dry from the creek below. After a well deserved sleep in the cozy little tent, we made our way back in the morning (Jodi only got her foot wet once in the creek this time), and we found Wally waiting patiently for us with cold, cold beers.
* photos will come, out of internet time*

Southward to Merimbula

Our trip continues with a drive 450 km south of Sydney to Merimbula to visit Jodi's family.
We had planned to make the drive in three days, with two nights spent camping.
An hour or so in, we passed a sign indicating that the highway was closed due to bushfires and that we must detour inland. After a few extra hours winding up and then down some steep highways, we arrive in our destination, Batemans Bay. Since it was now 8:00 and the sun had set a few hours ago, we stayed in a motel rather than trying to find a campground and setup the brand new tent in darkness.
Monday morning, we traveled up a short distance to Murramurang National Park to camp. This being a weekday in late winter, we had the campground to ourselves save for other people stopping by to see the dozens of kangaroos lounging near the beach. We spent the day wandering the beach, and then defending our dinner from some aggressive kookaburras and magpies.


We then continued on to Merimbula, arriving later afternoon at Jodi's Uncle Robin & Aunt Margaret's house. This brought back many memories for Jodi, as it was primarily the only place she had visited on previous visits to Australia. The next day we traveled back north to Bermagui to visit Jodi's cousin Kara. Like Jodi, Kara is also a schoolteacher, and that night we attended her school's winter variety show. It was impressive, with each class putting on a musical number or skit. Never before have I seen a fifth grade class present a montage of Weird Al Yankovic's parody songs relating to food.

Friday morning was spent golfing in Merimbula and avoiding the many kangaroos on the course.

Last Days in Sydney

On our last few days in town, we decided to do a bit more exploring, and heading out further than our feet alone could take us. Hopped onto a city bus Thursday, and went to Newtown, a part of the city with some really funky shops and about 30 Thai restaurants in a five block stretch. Spent a few hours wandering there, then back into town as we had tickets to see Avenue Q, a Broadway musical being put on in Sydney. Basic premise - Sesame Street for Adults, and it was absolutely hilarious!!
Friday we visited the Aquarium and saw crocs, sharks, and giant sea turtles.
Saturday we hopped another bus and went to the famous Bondi Beach. Despite the "cold" winter weather, there were still a hundred people on the beach, and dozens of people in the water surfing. The waves were getting quite big at times, and we're hoping to get back in summer and do some surfing of our own.
Sunday we had to leave to head south down the coast, so we packed up Wally, and readied ourselves for our second round of driving on the wrong side.