Lorelei’s
Sailing Outback Adventures
We are having
a short break from Sailing for 8 weeks and are on a Road Trip across Australia
with Paul’s parents George and Chez.
During
episodes 48 and 49 we had travelled over 5500 km from Sydney, through NSW,
South Australia and into the Northern Territory and Central Australia.
At the end of
Episode 49 we were in Alice Springs.
We had
already been in Alice for 4 days and had done a series of walks at the East &
West Macdonald Ranges and done some excellent 4WDing at Palm Valley.
Our route for this
Episode of the Blog.
For our last
3 days in Alice Springs we did some different activities from the ever popular walks
in the Macdonald Ranges.
We spent one
morning looking around the town centre, visiting art galleries and Todd Mall.
Anzac Hill
has some fantastic views over the town and the ranges.
One day we
went to the Alice Springs Desert Park.
The idea was
to spend the morning there and do something else in the afternoon.
Well that
didn’t happen and at 4pm we finally walked out after an excellent day of
activities.
The highlight
for Paul was the Bird Show. It is on twice daily and Paul went to both the
morning and afternoon show!
It featured a
series of Australian Outback Birds and the mountain ranges in the background
were perfect for natural photos.
We also paid
a little extra for the private Wedgetail Eagle experience.
We had seen a
few in the wild (mainly on the side of the road eating road kill) so it was
great to get up close and learn about these huge birds.
The Nocturnal
House is the biggest in the Southern Hemisphere and was Lisa’s highlight for
the day.
We were able
to watch a Death Adder Snake being fed a mouse.
They only
feed them about once every 3 weeks so it was great timing.
Going, Going, Almost,
Gone…..
There were
lots of other exhibits that we visited and the large walk through bird aviaries
were a highlight.
Our last
activity in Alice Springs was to do an afternoon walk out at Trephena Gorge.
We did a walk
around the rim before walking back to the car park via the gorge floor.
Paul’s version of a
selfie – A silhouette selfie!!
Trephina is
home to the largest Ghost Gum Tree in Australia and it estimated to be over 300
years old and stands over 35 meters high.
It is
heritage listed!!
It was nearly
sunset when we left and the 100km run back to Alice Springs was a cautious one
with lots of livestock on the roadside.
We left Alice
Springs after a great week and were restocked, refueled, recuperated and ready to tackle the next leg north which was going to be go, go, go.
We passed
Aileron Station which is an Aboriginal Community on the way north.
It had 2 huge
statues of an Aboriginal man and a woman & child.
We stopped at
Barrow Creek for morning tea and to have a look at the Historic Telegraph
Station which was built in 1872.
Wycliffe
Wells was unusual to say the least.
Its claim to
fame is it is the UFO capital of Australia and the locals firmly believe the
area is subject to Extra Terrestrial Activity.
The whole
place centres around it and everything is painted accordingly.
The most unusual
Australia Post Mail Box we have seen….
We were
pretty excited about visiting The Devils Marbles and it far exceeded any
expectations we had.
It was
certainly a highlight of the entire trip.
The camping
area was right at the base of one of the main areas of round marble shaped
rocks.
On the first
afternoon we walked up into the rocky areas to get certain rock formations with
the afternoon sun setting on them.
George and Chez in the
foreground gives you some idea of the balancing rocks immense size.
Post sunset
looked great from the rocks with the blue and pink glow on the horizon behind
the camping area.
It was an exceptionally
clear night and Paul was able to do a series of night and star trail photos.
Paul wasn’t
in bed for long before he was amongst the rocks again in the dark and well
before daylight.
It was the
time of the full moon and the glow made for some great time exposure photos and
some fun light painting of the rocks.
Lisa decided
to join Paul for a walk after sunrise and they took some fun photos around the
rocks.
We continued
further north and broke the long drive up by stopping at some heritage sites.
We had a look
at a series of wells built in the later 1800’s and The Glenn Maggie Homestead
which was a store to cater for drovers and gold miners in the remote area.
We stopped
for lunch at the well-known Threeways intersection.
It is the
major intersection for vehicles wanting to leave the Stuart Highway and head
east to Queensland.
The roadhouse
had the best Hamburgers we have had in a very long time.
There was a
clever mural on the side wall of the roadhouse with a real bull bar attached to
the wall.
Outside we
saw a great road train.
We had seen
hundreds of them as long as 4 trailers and 54m/180ft in length but this one was
immaculate and had great murals of horses on the side with wild red eyes. Hence
the rig’s name “Crazy Horse”.
Guess he was
a Neil Young fan…..
We were
planning to go on to Elliott but the night before George and Chez spoke to
their friends Dennis & Barb on the phone and they recommended a spot out
from Elliott called Longreach Lagoon.
After all the
rain it was well stocked with water and had the promise of lots of birdlife and
free camping on the water’s edge.
Despite it
being on private property, a dirt road in and not an advertised tourist area,
it was busy with about 30 caravans and motorhomes spaced out around the lagoon.
Fortunately
the young and noisy backpackers in Wicked Campers and European hired Britz motorhomes
didn’t know about it and the Aussie Grey Nomads had the place clean, quiet,
respectful and all to themselves.
It was a
little unnerving getting the caravan through the tight spaces amongst the trees
on the waters edge.
The evening
was super still with no wind which created some nice reflections around sunset.
That night we
had lots of wildlife around the tent from small marsupials to birds, lizards
and frogs.
The next
morning we woke to lots of birds around the lake including some noisy Galahs in
the trees overhead.
The full moon
was behind them still despite being 10am.
There were a
lot of eagles and water birds hunting around the waters edge.
We pushed off
again for another long drive north and stopped at the iconic Daly Waters Pub.
Inside the
pub has loads of interesting memorabilia.
The servo
(gas station) across the road is owned by the pub and is just as eccentric.
Daly Waters
also has an old airstrip that has a lot of interesting history both pre and
post WW2.
The Aircraft
Hanger is the oldest hanger in the Northern Territory.
We then drove
to Mataranka.
It was the
last big single day of travelling (380km) as we were only 450km from Darwin and
with 2 weeks of travelling still to go we could do smaller single day runs of
around 100km or less before arriving in Darwin.
Mataranka has
2 claims to fame.
The oldest
one is from a famous Australian book written about the area in 1902 called We of the Never Never.
It was later
turned into a movie in 1985 and the replica Homestead built for the movie is an
interesting tourist attraction.
Many of the streets,
businesses and landmarks are named around the books characters, author, etc…
The second
and more popular attraction are the Thermal Springs.
There are a
few different spring systems in the area with the thermal ones (that are around
34 degrees C) being the most popular for swimming.
After a few
recommendations George and Chez decided on booking into the Bitter Springs
Caravan Park as it was walking distance to the Bitter Spring Thermal Pools.
The pools
have a slight current running through them and you are able to drift through a
narrow creek with natural banks, trees and wildlife before exiting at the end,
walking back up the trail and drifting back down stream again.
Many people
used pool noodles to keep buoyant in the crystal clear fresh water.
The start point for the
drift down the creek
The beautiful finishing
point - note the crystal clear water
The first
swim we did there was a Sunday arvo and the local indigenous kids were there
having fun.
We played
with them and they thought it was great.
We visited
Mataranka Pools and it was completely different!
It is a very
structured thermal pool with rock and sandstone edging, in water seating and
easy to stand depths.
Whilst we
didn’t think too much of it, it was much more popular with the older grey
nomads and those who were not confident swimmers.
Around Mataranka
there are loads of Termite Mounds.
They range
from grey to rich red colours and are up to 4m/13ft tall.
We found a
small creek with some glassy water and the sun behind us. It allowed us to take
a cool photo of the 4 of us on the bridge in shadow.
Mataranka has
a large Indigenous population.
Prior to 2pm
each day we would see the adult aborigines starting to gather in the park
opposite the bottle shop.
They were
quiet and everything was fine.
At 4pm it was
a completely different scene. The bottle shop opens at 2pm and in they go for
their daily dose of alcohol.
By 4pm they
were obnoxious drunks in the park creating one hell of a scene.
It was just
terrible!
We noticed
lots of makeshift campsites around the park perimeter.
One quiet
afternoon we headed to Bitter Springs Pool with Lisa’s new toy – Cassie the
Caterpillar.
For those
that have followed our overseas sailing adventures, you would know of Nessie
the Loch Ness Monster – our huge inflatable toy that has entertained scores of
children in the Pacific and Asian Countries.
Sadly we
could not take her on this trip so our sister-in-law Hayley brought Lisa Cassie
for this adventure and to be a friend for Nessie when returning to Lorelei.
We received
some funny looks when walking down to the springs with Cassie but we didn’t
care.
George and
Lisa had a blast floating down the quiet springs.
Meanwhile
Paul snorkelled under the banks with a dive torch looking for Turtles.
He found many
and we took turns looking for them.
Not the best photo but
with a point-and-shoot UW camera and a torch in very low light but it’s the
best we got…
The photo
below gives an indication of how clear the water was.
We found some
nice Water Lilies still out despite it getting dark.
Lisa at the finish point
- well after sunset and the only ones left swimming
On our last
morning we headed to Territory Manor to watch the Barramundi Feeding Show which
is on twice daily.
Lisa was very
keen to feed one and she got her chance.
They are so
quick to take the food it was hard to get a photo.
Ironically
Paul had a camera set manually on 16 frames a second, high ISO speed, etc, etc…
and took over 350 photos during the session.
Lisa had
another camera set on auto and only took 6 photos.
She took the
best photo of the day…..
The small dam
had loads of beautiful Water Lillies that were an unusual colour to the more
popular purple and white ones we have seen in the NT.
There were many
Peacocks roaming around the area after the feeding show.
From
Mataranka we headed north and stopped at the Cutta Cutta Caves to do a tour
through the amazing Limestone caves.
We drove in
at 9:52am, booked on for the 10am tour which took 75 minutes and were on the
road again by 11:30am.
Talk about
good timing!
The caves
were incredible with lots of stalactites, stalagmites, columns and crystal that
with the light shining on it created thousands of light points like stars.
Cutta Cutta
in the local aboriginal language translates to “many stars”.
Michael the
guide was excellent and let Paul lag behind the group with his camera, tripod
and light painting torch to get the photos he wanted.
This section was called The
Whales Belly
We stopped
for lunch and re-provisioning at Katherine and by mid-afternoon were set up at
Katherine Gorge which is located within the Nitmiluk National Park.
The campsite is
run by the NT National Parks on behalf of the Jawoyn Aboriginal People and it
has a relaxed feel to it.
It was 38
degrees C and we spent much of the afternoon and evening in the pool and
photographing the wildlife around the park.
On dusk we
had lots of birds and bats feeding overhead and Agile Wallabies coming in very
close to our campsite.
Paul was in
the tent typing this blog with a Wallaby only 1 meter away looking at him
through the fly screen.
On our first
full day we did a boat tour on Katherine Gorge.
Originally we
really wanted to do a full day kayak tour but there was issues with the water
levels and Estuarine (Saltwater) Crocodiles in the gorge so the kayaking was
indefinitely suspended until the water levels changed and the croc issue was
under control.
We had to
walk through a park to get to the boat dock.
The trees in
the park were full of sleeping bats.
One large
2.5m long Olive Python had climbed the tree and caught one of the bats.
The bat let
go and they both fell to the ground.
The snake
then constricted the bat until it was dead and then ate it.
It was great
to watch and it took about 30 minutes to completely swallow it.
There were
also Kookaburras feeding at the park.
The boat tour
was excellent.
We booked
onto a 3 gorge tour which was 3.5 hours and included swimming.
The tour
involved a boat ride on the first gorge to the end and then we had to disembark
and walk over the rocks to gorge 2 to join the next boat.
On the walk
we had a look at a series of large Aboriginal paintings that were a long way up
the cliff face.
It was the
same for the 2nd gorge – a boat ride followed by a walk.
The gorge was
narrower and much nicer with the famous Jedda Rock along the way.
Gorge 3 was
only 1km long so it was a quick 3rd boat ride.
The walk up
to the swimming hole at the end of gorge 3 gave us some nice views over the
gorge.
The swimming
hole was very refreshing as it was a very hot 38 degrees C.
There was a
waterfall at the end of the waterhole and a cave behind it that was filled with
lots of dragonflies.
On the way
home we spotted a few smaller crocodiles.
For our last
full day, just the 2 of us got up early to tackle a long walk to Jedda Rock.
It was about
a 10km round trip but with the uneven rocky walking conditions and the maximum
daily temperature of 38 degrees, it was going to be a challenge.
We stopped at
the first lookout to see the gorge tourist boats leaving for the morning tours.
The next stop
was Pat’s Lookout which was 4km from the start.
It had
terrific views over the end of the first gorge.
The last stop
was at the top of Jedda Rock.
The track was
well worn to Pat’s Lookout but not very well used and difficult to spot from
Pat’s to Jedda Rock.
It seems the
further the trails are from the Information Centre Base, the less they are
used.
On the way
home we saw some nice Red Gum Trees.
After seeing
loads of the amazing Ghost Gums further south, it was a nice change.
We also saw our
first 2 Boab Trees.
The trees are
Endemic to Western Australia’s Kimberly Region but over time they have spread a
little and these are at the extent of that radius.
On our last
night we had a great dinner around the pool.
The meals at
the poolside restaurant were excellent.
From
Katherine we ventured just 1 hours’ drive north to Edith Falls.
Like
Katherine Gorge, Edith Falls is part of the Nitmiluk National Park.
The camp site
was cheap but excellent with lush grass and private roomy sites.
Edith Falls
has 2 swimming areas – the larger lower pool and the upper pools.
For the first
day we went to the lower pool for a refreshing swim.
There were a
lot of fish in the pool that would nibble on your feet.
By 2pm it was
over 40 degrees C!
Everyone was
crashed out and lying somewhere in the shade to escape the extreme heat.
The camp
sites were unpowered so the larger caravans that had air-conditioning could not
use them.
Despite the
heat, Paul decided to tackle the 2.7km round loop walk up to the top pools at
around 4pm.
The view from
the first lookout was stunning.
He had a
great swim and a look around the top pools before returning to camp, raving
about the top pool and insisting we stay another day to explore the top area.
So the next
morning the 4 of us were up early to beat the heat and off we headed towards
the top pool.
We did the
reverse direction to Paul’s walk the arvo before and had a look at some other
lookouts.
When swimming
in the top pools we found a sinkhole that had water running into it.
After a
little searching with a mask and snorkel, Paul found an underwater tunnel
linking the main pool to the sink hole.
He was able
to freedive through it and up into the sinkhole.
George was up
the top and looking down with the camera.
We also had a
swim at one of the waterfalls and after a little searching, realised you could
get in behind it with the water cascading over you.
It was a hard
swim to get in behind it though.
Looking back out from
behind the waterfall
We took some more
shots on the way back down looking over the campground, flood plain and the
ranges in the background.
By the time
we got back to camp it was well over 40 degrees again.
All we could
see across the camp ground was people sleeping under trees and hiding in the
shade.
It was simply
too hot to do anything else.
Ironically it
was also the first day of Winter!
It was so
unseasonably hot it was ridiculous.
We were
calling friends in Darwin who were saying it was hotter than a normal peak
summers day.
Those feeling
it the worst were the Grey Nomads (older retired travellers in caravans or
motorhomes).
A large
percentage were from the southern states and just not used to the searing heat.
Many were
turning around and heading south to escape the extreme conditions and virtually
everyone was talking about it.
We drove
north early the next day and stopped at Pine Creek to have a look.
They had an
unusual Resort Complex that was built in the shape of a train and station.
The interior
was very well done and the Mango smoothies were a cold welcome treat.
We then went
to the world renowned Kakadu National Park.
Kakadu is run
by the federal government unlike most other parks in the northern NT area that
are state run.
It showed in
the prices which were frightfully expensive.
Ironically we
went to the information centre at 11am to find the place closed.
We didn’t get
tickets but it also meant we could not find out info about the road conditions
within the park.
Many roads
are dirt, some are 4WD only and some were even closed still since the summer
months due to high water levels and crocodiles.
We were not
happy….
So we entered
the park and took our chances with the roads.
The first
stop was Gunlom falls.
The
traditional owners – The Jawoyn Aboriginal People, call Gunlom and the surrounding
area “Sickness Country” due to its high levels of Uranium, Arsenic, Mercury and
Lead.
It was 37km
of dirt road and in some spots it was heavily corrugated.
It was very
dusty from the heat but still there were water crossings.
Sometimes the
road was narrow and we had to wait to for cars coming in the opposite
direction.
We could stop
on the small bridges and take in scenery of the creeks and rivers.
It took 1.5
hours to transit the 37km and we found a few broken drinking glasses and
displaced shelves in the caravan upon arrival.
The camp
grounds were basic but very expensive and cost more for the unpowered dusty
camp spot than it did at a 4 star caravan park site anywhere else.
The upside
was the delightful swimming holes both at camp level and up above the
waterfalls.
The lower one
was fantastic for families with great views of the large waterfall on the other
side.
The day use
area had some great looking Redgum trees.
The top pools
were only a 1km walk but it was a steep scramble up a goat track that was very
rocky.
The reward
was a series of pools, waterfalls and stunning scenery and an infinity pool
overlooking the campground and lower pool.
At the
infinity pool we witnessed our first major accident of the trip.
A young lady
in a bikini was walking along the lip of the infinity pool when she slipped and
fell.
By chance the
4 of us were right on the edge of the pool and less than a meter from her when
she slipped.
Lisa
desperately tried to lunge out and grab her but she landed in the rushing water
and went over the waterfall.
The noise
when she hit the rocks below was terrible.
Paul was the
first to look over and was horrified to find her with red marks and blood all over with the worst part being her face.
Thankfully
there were a few medically trained people on hand as well as a guide with a sat
phone and a decent first aid kit.
They were
able to assist her back up for treatment and 40 minutes later a helicopter
arrived to pick her up.
At the infinity pool
ledge just minutes before the fall
George had
his camera sitting on a rock near the edge of the infinity pool.
When Lisa
lunged, she pushed a wave of water right over the camera.
Fortunately
it was fresh water and in the extreme heat it dried out.
It’s still
working – so far…..
On the way
down we could see a large Termite mound down on the valley floor so we went
into the bush land to have a look.
Just before
sunset, Paul went back up on his own to photograph the sunset from the pools.
He was the
only one up there and was able to get some great photos.
Using the
timer and tripod, Paul was able to put himself into some of the photos.
Going back
down in pitch blackness was a little daunting.
Paul had his
powerful light painting torch but it was the only one with no back up so he
switched it to 40% power to conserve batteries.
George, Chez
and Lisa said they could see the flashes and light painting at the top from the
campsite and Pauls light as he transited back down the steep trail.
The first
night in the campground was so busy but the next night it was virtually empty
so Paul took some time exposure shots of George, Chez and Lisa at the campsite
with the stars and Milky Way above.
From there we
went deeper into Kakadu and stopped at Cooinda.
We had heard
reports about the resort/caravan park being expensive, crowded with tiny sites
and a quick walk around confirmed this.
So we had a walk around the billabong before moving on.
We went onto Jabiru where it was much better
at The Aurora Lodge so we booked in for a week and used it as a base to explore
in all directions.
Early one
morning we went and did a ranger guided walk at the Nanguluwur Rock Art Site.
It was a 4km
hike into the rock areas and Christian our guide was fantastic.
The
Aboriginal Rock Artworks were much better than we had anticipated.
It was
incredible to see artwork stretching from 40 000 years ago right up until the
1960’s.
Christian with his
timeline scroll explaining the history of the paintings
Note the amazing rock
art behind him
We were able
to get very close to view and photograph the paintings.
Lisa underneath the
large overhanging rock ledge that protects the paintings
We went up to
Ubirr which is the extreme east side of the park and shares a border with
Arnhem Land.
The most
exciting place there for the tourists is Cahills Crossing.
This is a
weir across the East Alligator River that separates Kakadu from Arnhem Land.
The weir has
a huge amount of water flowing back and forwards over it depending on the tide.
The best time
to visit is 1 hour before high tide and stay for the tide turn.
The water was
screaming over the crossing when we arrived.
The
crocodiles were patrolling the river but were also getting tossed about in the
fast flowing water.
As the tide
started to slow, vehicles turned up on both sides of the river waiting for the
right moment to cross.
The first to
cross was a large 4WD tourist bus that had very high clearance.
There were
still crocodiles on the weir as the truck came through.
George took this photo –
note the Crocodile in the path of the truck
Then the
larger 4WD’s proceeded to cross from both sides.
This 4WD had a lady
driving and no passengers – she got a lot of cheers and thumbs up from the
female tourists watching from the bank
Then the
action went up a notch when a 2WD Toyota Camry station wagon full of Aborigines
turn up to cross. They had water well over the bonnet.
We went to
the border store for a look before heading to the walking trail to do the Ubirr
rock art walk and floodplain sunset.
There were
lots of Screw Palms on the side of the tracks.
The rock art
was very extensive with some sections having a large amount of artwork.
One rock
overhang was huge and was packed with art of all sizes.
These are the
2 paintings that have experts stumped.
One is a
Thylacine (Tasmanian Tiger) which has been extinct from the area for a very,
very long time and the second is an Emu style bird that is painted on the right
of the second photo.
It has been
extinct for an estimated 38 000 years. The oldest rock art in the world is in Africa
and is estimated at 42 000 years old.
This artwork
could possibly have been created around this time or even before!
As we walked
up the path to the lookout Paul found a rock art site with holes within the
rock that had the sun shining through it if you got the angles just right.
Many people
were walking straight past as they couldn’t see it.
The lookout
from the top was simply amazing.
Dad and Chez
had been there before but didn’t say too much to spoil the surprise.
We were not
exactly sure what to expect – but we didn’t except that!!!
It was like
looking over the African Savannah.
Everybody
within earshot was saying the same thing.
We watched
the sunset over the savannah plain.
The highlight
for George was taking us to his favourite place in Kakadu, The Billabong at
Cooinda where we did the Yellow Water Sunset Cruise.
It was glassy
flat when we boarded the boat.
The tour took
us along parts of the billabong and the West Alligator River.
We saw some
big crocs and loads of birdlife.
George took this awesome
shot of a large Crocodile stalking a Jabiru
Above and below are an
adult and baby Jacana Bird.
They have huge feet to
stand on the lily pads.
The sun set
over the billabong whilst we were still on the boat.
We had a
great view through the trees and over the water.
Paul’s favourite shot of
the day was the last one he took…..
We did one
last guided tour of the Nourlangie Rock Art.
Christian
(The excellent guide from the previous tour) was supposed to do it but we were
disappointed to hear he was ill and had a replacement who was not nearly as
good. Additionally there were 36 people so after 20 frustrating minutes we
veered left when the rest of the group went right and did the walk ourselves in
the opposite direction.
In the centre
of Jabiru is the famous Crocodile Hotel presently run by the Mecure Group.
It is hard to
envisage the shape from the ground due to its immense size, but an aerial photo
shows the unique shape.
We took some
funny photos of us being inside the mouth with the eye in the background.
Inside the
foyer are Aboriginal Artists painting artworks that are for sale.
There is a
lot of amazing artworks on the walls and the foyer has some other interesting
features.
On our last
afternoon in Kakadu we took a trip out to a bird hide at a Billabong.
It was late
in the afternoon and the time and sun location was perfect for photos.
The only
issue was there were hardly any birds.
If there were
as many birds as flies and mosquitos then it would have been awesome…..
On the way
home from the bird hide we spotted a Dingo running across the road in front of the
car with what looked like a large white bird in its mouth.
Paul gave
chase on foot into the bushland and found it but it had hidden its meal from
him.
Being the dry
season, the National Park Rangers had started a burning program that is very
beneficial for the park. They create small spot fires with many being along the
road side.
As we neared
Jabiru, we could see the sun setting along the road behind the car.
The road was
lit up bright red.
We found the
arrows on the road glowed white from the camera flash which certainly made for
an alternate sunset photo – particularly when cars roared past at 100km per
hour.
For our last
stop before reaching our final destination of Darwin, we stopped for 2 days at
the Corroboree Billabong.
On the way
from Kakadu to Corroboree we stopped into Bark Hut to have something to eat at
the Iconic Bark Hut Inn.
The
Corroboree Pub and Caravan Park has a large 5m Crocodile called Brutus.
Every time we
have been there he has been hiding in his water hole so we were excited to see
him one morning out on the grass.
We did a
sunset cruise on the Corroboree Billabong that was fantastic.
It was half
the price of the one we did in Kakadu and just as good.
The boat was
able to go into tight areas full of lilies with lots of birds and other
wildlife.
The billabong
has the highest concentration of Crocodiles per square kilometre anywhere in
the world.
We saw some
sunning themselves on the banks and were able to get very close.
The area is
very popular with anglers catching Barramundi and Saratoga.
The sunset
photo opportunities were actually better than the Kakadu cruise!!
On the way
home we had a sad experience and hit a Wallaby that bounded across in front of
the car.
It came out
of nowhere in the dark and we didn’t even have time to brake before hitting it.
Fortunately
we broke its neck and it died instantly.
George and
Lisa pulled it off the road and Paul inspected the car for damage only to find
a bent number plate giving a good indication that it went straight under the
centre of the car.
We were a
little less concerned to find it was a male and didn’t have a pouch with a baby
joey as we had seen many females with joeys in the past few weeks.
The lights of
the car illuminating the road gave an unusual view over the last remaining glow
of the day.
That night we
were in the Corroboree Pub having dinner (and watching the Wallabies playing
England in the Rugby) when Clint and Jackson our friends who own Marrakai
Station walked in.
It was great
to catch up and they offered us a trip to visit the station the following day
which we gladly accepted.
As we drove
back into the camping area (which is behind the pub) we were amazed to see
100’s of Wallabies grazing on the lush green grass of the campsites.
There were
dozens of very tiny ones only 30-50cm tall.
It certainly
had been a mixed afternoon and evening of Wallabies!!
Marrakai
Station backs onto the Corroboree Lagoon and is a huge property of over 550
square kilometres. It has the largest wetland of any private property in the
Northern Territory.
We had been
there before but it was a first for George and Chez.
It was very
different from our first experience there 9 weeks ago.
The water had
receded a lot since the wet season and due to the hot conditions.
Once again we
took Jackson’s super fun old-school landcruiser to bash around the property.
Clint also took
the quad bike.
Paul stole it
for most of the day, but we all got to ride it.
MA-Rated Termite Mound……
Clint and
Lisa even went chasing Water Buffalo on it.
We could hear
the hoots and hollers from the landcruiser!
Some of the
male Water Buffalo were fighting with each other.
The biggest
highlight was the thousands of birds down at the wetland area.
There were
large flocks of Burdekin Ducks, Whistling Ducks and Magpie Geese.
The dry
cracked land on the wetlands was a stark contrast to when we were there last.
The wetlands
are beautiful down on the water’s edge.
There were
loads of cattle grazing both in the forested areas and down near the wetlands.
All through
the long grass were Grasshoppers and Dragonflies.
We got back
to the Pub at 8pm after a full on day at the Station.
We were nearly
falling asleep in our dinner plates.
On the 13th
June we finally arrived in Darwin and back on-board Lorelei by the afternoon.
Overall it
was a sensational trip and even more special to share it with family.
We drove
almost 8000km through the 3 states of NSW, SA and NT in 7 weeks.
Paul took
over 225000 photos and it has covered 3 blog posts.
Overall
(besides hitting the Wallaby on the 3rd last day and watching the
girl go over the waterfall) it was an incident free trip and the Toyota Prado
and Caravan never missed a beat.
George’s OZ
Tent which we slept in was excellent and very quick to set-up.
Whilst it is
the end of the road trip, it is only half way through our time with Paul’s
parents George and Chez.
It is going
to be a busy week of setting Lorelei up for the 4 of us to move
on-board and do the massive re-provision for the 3-4 months we are going to be in The Kimberly region in the remote NW of Australia.
on-board and do the massive re-provision for the 3-4 months we are going to be in The Kimberly region in the remote NW of Australia.
George and
Chez are on-board for 6 weeks of that time for a one-way trip from Darwin to
Broome through The Kimberly.
So that’s it
for our 3rd and last Road Trip post.
It’s been a
special 50th Episode and we return to Sailing for the 51st
Episode which will be from Broome in around 6-7 weeks’ time.
There is no
telephone or internet in The Kimberly (it is very remote) so we will all be out
of contact until early August.
Cool Huh!!!!
Seeya.
Paul and Lisa
Hogger
George and
Chez Hogger – now on-board Lorelei and breaking out the seasick tablets……..