Thursday, May 31. 2012KatherineWe had a lovely Birthday dinner at the Big Fig – mango dakari’s and barramundi for dinner. The restaurant got its name from the large old fig tree in the garden.
It would seem we have now entered croc country. 
We saw the Ghan freight train depart for Darwin one afternoon – it had 53 carriages. 
While staying at Katherine Gorge we went on a boat and saw two of the thirteen gorges. That night while staying in the National Park we had a camp fire and saw wallabies and a blue winged kookaburra. There was a good view at the lookout above the gorge.
On leaving Katherine we drove to Edith Falls for lunch then arrived at Hayes Creek for the night – pretty spot with galahs and horses over the fence. After a long drive $4 “handles” of Black Douglas and coke were pretty good from the bar. 
Hayes Creek: Wednesday, May 30. 2012Mataranka & Cutta Cutta CavesThe heat has started! We arrived in Mataranka today 160km north of Daly Waters. I wasn’t quite prepared for summer weather 33 degrees this afternoon. A bit of a shock after 0-4 degree nights at Uluru and Alice Springs. Never thought I would rather the cold. We went for a swim in the Mataranka Thermal Springs (34 degrees) the water was perfect and we stayed for a while. Blue and clear and very popular. Bitter Springs is another thermal spring up the road that is more natural with less concrete edging which is there to stop erosion. The next morning at 9am we went for another swim at Mataranka – we beat the crowds this time as there was only three people there plus a snake to who was looking for frogs for breakfast. Alicia exited the water quick smart while some silly British lads (who didn’t know if it was poisonous or not) followed its progress rather closely. Lucky for them it was a green tree snake. On the way to Katherine we dropped into Cutta Cutta Caves and joined the guided tour. Alicia was really brave as this place is known to have deadly snakes and other snakes that live in the caves and feed on bats. We were not disappointed and saw a second snake for the day.
We have come across quite a few road trains – good fun passing on the highway. The van is like a sail and gets pushed off the road at the front then sucked back on at the end.  Wednesday, May 30. 2012Heading NorthAfter driving 450km on Monday we ended up staying at Wycliffe Well a strange caravan park near the Devils Marbles which states it is the”UFO capital of Australia”. Despite the unique nature of this UFO themed caravan park it was a friendly and nice place to stay. They had chickens, emus, galahs, donkey, major mitchell cockatoos, corellas and mosquitos! Some of the birds must have been injured at some point and were in a large cage – the galah asked for a scratch, very cute.
Tennant Creek and Elliot were not very attractive when we drove through and we got as far as Daly Waters to stay the night after 530km drive. Wallabies and piglets were over the fence and a free beer and wine for guests. We dropped into Daly Waters Historical Pub which was 7km down the road the next morning – when checking in the night before we thought that is where we were, tricky places with similar names. Sunday, May 27. 2012Back in Alice Springs – East Macdonnell RangesWell the last week has been great but I have seen enough red rock for the moment – it is kind of like when you have seen too many churches in Europe, you get desensitised. Today we spent the afternoon driving along the East Macdonnell Ranges – not as touristy as the West. Some stops along the way were Emily and Jessie Gap, Corroboree Rock and Trephina Gorge.
Saturday, May 26. 2012Kings CanyonOn the way back to Alice Springs we dropped into Kings Canyon in Watarrka National Park. After a steep climb to start we walked along the rim of the canyon. This walk has been the best so far and worth the 306km detour which luckily is now bitumen. The domes are called the Lost City and are along the top of the canyon.
After the 3.5 hour walk in the morning we drove back to Alice Springs – big day out!  |
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