Australia - Darwin to Alice Springs (3 day tour)

---

We woke up at 5.15am on Monday 9 July to begin our 3 day tour from Darwin to Alice Springs. Our first stop was for breakfast at the Adelaide River and then we drove for another couple of hours before reaching Katherine Gorge (part of the Nitmiluk National Park). A few of us went on a walking trail that gave great views of the gorge. However, a wrong turn meant that we added 5km to our walk and so we just made it back in time to have a quick swim in the river. After stopping in the small town of Katherine for beer, we drove to our campsite where we had dinner and sat around the campfire drinking. On Tuesday we woke up at 5.30am and we set off for Mataranka - a place we visited on the previous trip - where we spent an hour in the sparkling thermal pools. Another couple of hours down the road was the Daly Waters Pub and we had a pint here along with our lunch. After a few more hours on the bus, we reached Tennant Creek where, once again, we had dinner and sat by the campfire drinking. Another early start on Wednesday saw us depart for the final leg of the tour to Alice Springs. Our morning stop was at Devils Marbles - formations of rocks formed over millions of years. After playing around and climbing the rocks for an hour, we continued on to Barrow Creek Pub, home to a historic telegraph station. Further down the road, we stopped at Ti Tree for lunch and looked at original works of arts by Indigenous artists. More driving saw us crossing over the Tropic of Capricorn before arriving in Alice Springs at 6pm where we checked into the YHA. That night, the group went out for dinner and drinks and I got home at 1am. I woke up at 9am on Thursday and we spent a few hours walking around town. This included getting breakfast, clothes shopping, visiting ANZAC Hill and then getting lunch. After a couple of hours on the internet, we went to Pizza Hut for dinner and then returned to the hostel where we stayed up until midnight. On Friday, we woke up at 4.30am to catch our tour bus for our 6 day trip to Adelaide.

---