Blogs from Northern Territory, Australia, Oceania - page 2

So today we’ll be heading 450 kms south-west to Uluṟu, the iconic monolith formerly known as Ayers Rock. It’s Mother’s Day, so I went out dutifully last night and bought my beloved a box of chocolates. I then wished her a happy Mother’s Day and espoused her virtues on our extended family chat … well I thought it was Mother’s Day … until someone pointed out that I was a week early. I hope we can still eat the chocolates. We’re up at the crack of dawn for an early getaway … well that was the plan until we notice that one of our tyres appears to be more than a tad on the flat side. Hmmm. But no worries, we’ve got a spare, and a jack, and a wheel brace, so we’ll be on our ... read more

Issy’s opted for another day of rest and relaxation on the large deck of our AirBnb, overlooking a small swimming pool, and why not. … well in my case it’s because I struggle with the whole relaxation thing … so I leave her to it and set off to explore the splendours of the West MacDonnell Ranges. First stop is the spectacular Simpsons Gap, where a stream has again managed to erode its way through 100 metres or so depth of the mountain range. It seems this whole area was once part of the sea bed. As the waters receded they found weak points in the rock and progressively eroded them away over the billenia (is that a word?) to form the gaps, chasms and gorges that we can see today. So that explains the sand ... read more

We’re a bit slow off the mark after our nearly 700 kms of driving yesterday, like nearly lunchtime type slow when we finally make our way out the door. I guess we must have needed the rest. We plan to spend what’s left of the day exploring the town. First cab off the rank is Anzac Hill, where we get excellent panoramic views over the town and back towards the MacDonnell Ranges and Heavitree Gap. No surprise it’s called the Red Centre, the colours of the soil and rocks are an unmistakably distinctive dark reddish orange. Next up is the Olive Pink Botanic Garden. I ask Issy what colour olive pink is, and she rolls her eyes. It seems I should have known better; Ms Olive Pink founded the garden back in 1956. We take a ... read more

An easy three and half drive down to Wauchope from Renner Springs, fuel up in Tennant Creek and straight through! Wauchope is now Devils Marbles Hotel and its about 9klm south of the actual Devils Marbles. Parked van up in park, unhitched, had some lunch and headed out to Devils Marbles (Karlu, Karlu, who the hell would know what this is) these very impressive granite boulders are scattered around a sprawling valley about 100 klms south of Tennant Creek. We have just ticked over 20,000 klms and $5,000 worth of fuel! The reserve itself is about 1800 hectares in size with hundreds of marbles not just a few. So where we sit here is 760klm south of Katherine and 393klms north of Alice Springs....our country is so huge the distances between places is mind boggling! We ... read more

Reluctantly, we left Kakadu National Park and headed south to visit Edith (Leliyn) Falls. Leliyn is part of Nitmiluk National Park, which has as its key attraction Katherine Gorge. We had booked a campsite in Leliyn for our caravan, to enable us to enjoy an afternoon swim in one of the largest croc-managed plunge pools in the NT. The waterfall that cascades into the plunge pool is a long swim across the dark, foreboding pool, with reedy banks just like we had seen in Kakadu, potentially hiding fearsome saltwater crocodiles. With some hesitance, I ended up swimming across to the waterfall twice, taking the opportunity of a massage under the falls. After an overnight stay at Leliyn, we drove to Mataranka for a two night stay. We had unfinished business at Mataranka, as the renowned Bitter ... read more