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Published: December 9th 2007
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Darwin / Litchfield National Park / Katherine Gorge / Wolfe Creek (AARGH!)
Firstly, apologies for the typos and spelling in the last entry (Alice Springs is not surrounded by a dessert because if it was an apple pie I would have eaten it on the way through! Its actually surrounded by a desert.) Typed it up in around 5mins due to the shockingly bad Internet connections over here! Note to self - proof read before publishing.
Jumping Salt Water Crocodiles on the Adelaide River, South of Darwin
The river looks like something out of Cape Fear, is extremely hot and absolutely plagued with flies. It was a relief when the boat was speeding up river as the flies weren't able to keep up. All of a sudden our lady tour guide would spot a ripple in the water, stop the boat and dangle a pork chop over the side. Within seconds a huge great Crocodile would leap out of the water about 3 feet from the side of the boat to grab it. Needless to say that,during the safety briefing beforehand, you are told to not lean on the side of the boat, let alone hold onto the side
or lean over. We didn't need telling twice! Another interesting point here is that the Crocodiles are most drawn to colour and movement when feeding. Our Croc expert thought it quite amusing then that the boat was fitted with bright Red lifejackets....her tip, in case of an emergency, throw your lifejacket as far as possible to one bank and then swim hell for leather to the other, hoping there wasn't another Crocodile lurking on that side and quickly find a tree to climb and wait for help. Quite an incredible experience especially when the Crocs are swimming next to the boat and you just know that they are sizing you up with their evil little eyes. Very scary!
This was a great little afternoon out and an absolute steal at only AUD20 each (around £8.50)
Onto Litchfield National Park the following day which was has a nice array of Rock Pools and Waterfalls (see pics) which was very pleasant in the uncomfortable heat.
Left Darwin on Thursday for the 3 hour drive to Katherine to visit the Falls and Gorge (see pics) Then onto Kununura for an overnight stop. Left Kununura the next morning and tried to grab
a coffee and shower at the Shell Services just outside town on the Highway. If you should happen to be passing along this road at any time never, EVER stop here. No water in the toilets, out of date milk in the coffee and frogs in the loo (Paul got rid of them, brave lad!) which looked like it had last seen a clean shortly after WW2, either that or somebody was dissolving a body in acid in the corner. It looked like a serial killers basement. ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTING! I couldn't actually bring myself to speak to the girl serving when we returned the key for fear of attacking her with the unbelievably large metal keyring (to stop you from stealing it I presume, although why you would want to is beyond me) Probably our worst experience here and they have the bare faced cheek to charge you for it. I suppose you can get away with almost anything when your nearest competion is 300km away. Left there for the drive to Halls Creek with a huge yearning for a yummy 'Pret a Manger' Coffee and sandwich.
After filling up at Halls Creek we turned off the Highway for
the 140km dirt road drive to the Wolfe Creek Meteorite Crater. The locals say that the film of the murders that took place here is total fabrication. That, however, does not ease an tension when you remember at the end of the film that they never actually found the guy that did it. Add to that a guy parked up on the side of the road who stopped us for a chat (we thought he had run out of fuel or something) who promptly told us that he had noticed that we had left the trailer padlocked back up on the road (It cant go offroad) and it doesn't really make for a relaxing jaunt through the outback. He lived another 4 hour drive down the dirt track and had just gone into Halls Creek for some supplies (a 5 hour drive for a pint of milk!) I'm sure he was just being friendly but have to admit that it did freak both of us out a little! Anyway, after another three hours driving through the most desolate of landscape with only the odd cow for company, we returned to the trailer (it was still there thank god!) with our
windpipes and limbs in tact both feeling very brave. (Is it me or does that look like blood on the Wolfe Creek sign picture??!!????) The crater itself is huge and has been there for an age, its the secong largest meteorite crater in the World, the largest being in Arizona.
Now arrived in Broome on the West Coast and have to say its so nice to be by the Ocean again. Temperature is a far more bearable with the sea breezes and there are far less flies than inland which, it has to be said, are an absolute nightmare.
Broome is a lovely little town with an amazing West facing beach (Cable Beach) just over the road from where we are staying. Went over last night to watch the sun set over the Indian ocean, gorgeous!
Miss you all. Hope the Christmas shopping is nearly done!
TTFN
G&PXXX
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Ev
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Helloooooo!!!
Hellooo you sexy pair!! Whey hey!! I've finally caught up with your blog at last!! Well, what can i say ........you know how to make us all jealous!! You look like your both having a fabby time and the scenery is too die for keep em coming definatley, they beat the snow we had yesterday in Bonny Scotland!! Will speak soon.... Take care, look after each other, miss and love ya loads as always XXEVXX