The big trip down - the second attempt

bed count: 150

Okay - maybe the last post was a bit of a cop out... But then I had been on the road for 18 days and it's so difficult to put your experiences into words sometimes. Especially when it's not just about the country you're travelling through, but the people you're travelling with too.

I think it must be hard for people who have never done a trip like this to understand the kind of friendships you make on the road and what they mean to you when you are thousands of miles away from home. Travelling can mean meeting such a diverse range of people (if you want to - though it's so easy to stay in your own little ex pat community if you want to). But sometimes you meet people who aren't just interesting or friendly or good to pass the time with, but who turn out to be proper friends that you can imagine reminiscing with when you're 80.

Anyhow - enough of the mushy stuff. I know you really want to know about the trip itself. Let me have another stab at explaining it all then:

Kakadu and Litchfield National Parks

I'm not really a city person. Cities are all good and interesting for a while, but if I spend too long in the urban sprawl I start to go a bit crazy and hanker for some wide open spaces. And this was the first time in Oz that I got to do the 'wide open spaces' thing - which seems a little bit remiss after 10 months in a country which is pretty damned empty for it's size.

I hadn't realised how much I was missing the country side / bush / outback (whatever you want to call it) until I hit the road from Darwin. And it really reminded me that, for all the individuality and charm of any city or town in the world, you have to get away from urban spaces to really get a feel for the county. To understand what it was like before McDonalds et al.

But anyhow - heading out from Darwin down to the Mary River we visited giant termite mounds. It's amazing to think that these little critters can build something so massive!

But of course, termites aren't the only wildlife native to Oz and in the afternoon we got up close and personal with a few not quite so docile Aussie specimens on the 'jumping croc' boat. I've already posted a pic on here of a croc jumping out of the water with it's jaws menacingly open and ready to snap. But no - I haven't turned into some expert wildlife photographer who tracks down her animals single-handed - I was, at the time, sat quite comfortably in a boat whilst someone dangled meat on a line over the edge. Still - it was close enough for me and I was quite glad to have a sturdy piece of metal between me and the many-toothed one...

Through most of the trip we camped in semi-permanent camps along the way. Basically huts made out of flynet and tarpaulin with a basic camp kitchen and bathrooms. I was excited about this from the start, which was a bit of a turn around for me since when I first arrived in Oz I thought that anyone opting to camp in a country full of snakes and spiders was bloody barmy. But it was perfect really - falling asleep to the sound of howling dingos.

One of the highlights of the Kakadu and Litchfield sections of the trip was definitely the hikes. Not the traipsing through incredibly hot countryside part of the hike you understand. The part of it where you suddenly happen upon a strategically placed waterfall with a massive plunge pool and get to strip off to your swimmers and cool off. And we managed to swim in some pretty cool spots. (Pardon the pun).

We also managed to see a fair bit of wildlife - wallabies with little joeys in their pouches, dingos, brumbies (wild horses), a frill-necked lizard, birds of prey, wild pigs and more.

The rock art at Ubirr was pretty damned amazing too. You can clearly see the shapes of animals such as kangaroos and it's incredible that it has lasted so long. Our guide, Rick, took the time to tell us a lot about Aboriginal culture including the fact that there are lots of layers to the stories in the rock art and in aboriginal culture you have to earn the right to learn the next level of the story. Since the vast majority of white people have so little understanding of Aboriginal culture they are only told the lowest level of stories meant for children. As a result some of the stories might sound a little like out fairy tales to us, like stories used to teach morals and appropriate behaviour. But that's just because we haven't earned the right to learn the more complex levels of the story yet.

Darwin to Alice Springs

So, after a fantastic first three days we were brought back down to reality with a bump in Darwin when only 2 of the 8 washing machines in the hostel were working and there was a queue of us waiting to wash out dusty hiking gear ready for an early morning start the next day. But it all got done in the end and I actually got quite good at early morning starts with the earliest start being 4.45am, but us averaging about 5.45 / 6am... (And you thought I was on holiday!).

Unfortunately, the 2nd leg of the trip wasn't as good as the first with a hot, cramped bus and a less than professional guide. Still - we did get to sleep out under the stars in swags (like big canvas sleeping bags with a built-in mattress) and watch shooting stars and listen to more dingos howling.

I was really disappointed not to be able to go kayaking at Katherine Gorge as I had heard it was fantastic. But it was the end of 'the wet' and the river currents were far too strong so we took a river cruise instead. We also managed to pop into an outback pub at Daly Waters, where the tradition is to leave something behind, so I stapled a Jura postcard to the wall. Be sure to look out for it if you're ever there.

I guess these trips have up sides and down sides and I would have to say that one of the downsides of visiting an outback pub with 24 other people is that you don't really get the sense of isolation you would get if it was just a couple of you road tripping. But then, It's a hell of a long drive through an awful lot of nothingness, so I was pretty glad not to have to drive it myself.

The Devil's Marbles were an interesting diversion on the way down, as was the nearby UFO exhibit. Is it a coincidence that the place which has the highest number of recorded UFO sightings in Oz also has the largest collection of beers in the Northern Territory???

All in all though the 3 days down to Alice were a bit torturous at times and I am just glad I had Irene, Aiofe, Wendela and Tristan there to keep me as sane as possible...

Alice Springs

By day seven of the epic trip we were glad to have a few days in one place and a chance to do our washing. I think I had expected Alice to be smaller than it was. Maybe a couple of wooden pubs along a dirt track, but then I tend to know very little about places I haven't yet visited and Alice proved this point yet again. It's not the biggest place in the world, but it seemed like a big city after 6 days in the outback.

We didn't do much in Alice. Had a wander. Bought some Aboriginal art. Tried to find somewhere that sold a hand-held fan, but all the shops were in winter mode and were stocking fan heaters... Crazy people!

To be fair, it was cooler at night than we had experienced for a while, which was a welcome relief. It was as hot during the day as it had been up north, if not hotter, but without the humidity, which made it much more bearable.

The five of us also cooked a big meal one night in Alice, which coincided the second anniversary of being on the road for me. I couldn't think of a better way to have spent it. Except maybe doing what we did after the meal and a little too much wine (playing balloon volleyball in dorm and having trolley races with the luggage trolleys from underneath our beds.)