Day 13 - Thursday July 12th - Kakadu National Park After watching the sky turn amazing shades of pink and orange just before sunrise through our holey mosquito net, we got up and had a spot of brekkie before heading off to Gunlom Falls. As we drove in we were passed by lots of cars driving out. The camping area at Gunlom was pretty big and had we stayed there the night we would not have had the same experience as we had camping at Kambolgie. The hike up to the pools at the top of the falls was only 1km long but was classified as ‘extremely hard’ due to the steepness of the path and the rocks you had to constantly clamber over. As usual, the kids bolted to the top and the adults trailed ... read more

Day 11 – Tuesday 10th July - Mataranka to Katherine Gorge After packing up we decided to check out the Rainbow Springs in Mataranka to see if they really are not quite as nice as the Bitter Springs. The pool was picturesque but not in the same league as the Bitter Springs. Anna and Luke checked out the water while Hazel and Mark went for a walk in the rainforest. We had arranged to meet Lloyd from the Mataranka Roadhouse at the Katherine Country Club at lunch while waiting for the Nicholls family to arrive from El Questro. Burgers, battered snapper, steak sandwich. Naughty but nice! Mid afternoon the Nichollses rolled into Katherine after a 7 hour drive. The 1½ hour time difference between WA and NT (WA is 1½ hours behind NT) scuppered ... read more

Day 9 – Sunday 8th July. Tennant Creek to Mataranka Several hours and a few stiff necks later we woke up from a less than deep sleep to an atmospheric sunrise in a rest area next to the Stuart Highway. We just caught the end of the famous Ghan train passing us on its way up to Darwin. With no tent to pack up and no showers to be had we hit the road early on our way to Mataranka. Our breakfast stop was at the BP centre at Tennant Creek, which proved to be a much larger place than expected. Pies, bacon and egg muffins and coffees kept us going until we arrived at the sleepy little town of Mataranka at around 3.30 in the afternoon, a good 500 kms. Harry Potter and ... read more

Day 7 – Friday July 6th - Kings Canyon to Serpentine Chalet campsite, West McDonnell Ranges As Luke and Hazel cooked breakfast of bacon and scrambled eggs, Mark and Anna went to the resort reception to buy a loaf of bread and the Mereenie Loop Permit, giving us permission to use the unsealed loop road between Kings Canyon and Glen Helen, through aboriginal land. It turned into another full day in the car, kicking up red dirt behind us as we trundled along the Mereenie Loop Road. Gosse Bluff was the most spectacular scenery until the West McDonnell ranges – a site of a meteorite landing millions of years ago. Eager to avoid the crowds, we decided to try to find some bush camping in the West McDonnell Ranges. We stopped at Glen Helen ... read more

Day 5 – Wednesday July 4th – Uluru/ Kata Tjuta We rolled out of bed at 6.15am and rolled straight into the car for the short drive into the National Park for the sunrise viewing of Uluru. Leaving the campsite the car showed the outside temperature to be 2 degrees Celsius but as we got closer to the rock it slowly dropped and dropped to well below zero! As we got out of the car (again, with at least a couple of hundred other tourists) it was minus 4! The sunrise spot gives you not only a great view of the Rock but also Kata Tjuta (the Olgas) in the distance. The angle of the sun actually gave a more spectacular show over Kata Tjuta than Uluru. Frozen through, Luke and Hazel wimped out and took ... read more