After the long haul drive from Katherine, with a few stopovers in between we arrived in Alice Springs, happily greeting the mildly cooler weather (33-35 instead of 38-40!).

Alice itself is situated right in front of where the West MacDonnell Ranges meet the East.  Alive with history & culture we spent our time visiting the weekend markets, the cultural art centre & old aerodrome.

When you think of Uluru you think Yeah, the gigantic rock in the centre of Oz near Alice Springs.  What you do not think of is the definition of near in that sentence.  It is around 430 k’s away.  In my Tasmanian terms that’s more than half a lap of the state!!  I guess the fact there isn’t much in between is why it is referred to as close by.

So we drove, drove, drove.  Got sore numb bums & drove some more.  See below The Devil’s Marbles, found along the road to Alice Springs, as well as Mount Conner, it’s the first big thing you can see popping out of the flat horizon on your way to Uluru.

And then, finally, Uluru comes into view.  Rising 348 metres from the desert floor, 863 metres above sea level, with a circumference of 9.4 kilometres.  Composed of a type of a course grained sandstone called arkose, it is Australia’s second biggest & arguably most impressive rock.  Demanding respect, it took our breath away.

The outback is a special place, alive with dreamtime stories & space.  It’s peaceful in the desert.  And simple.  We sat in silence for hours at our camp over looking Uluru, the only noise the distant wind sweeping off the flat land.  Watching the sun set over Kata Tjuta (The Olgars), snapping photos & brewing a roast in the camp oven.

It’s been a swag life since leaving The Clam behind in Darwin.  We have to admit it has had its significant upsides, sleeping under the stars is hard to beat.  It’s a grubby life in the swag, especially out here in the red bull dust.  But if you can get over being a little dirty all the time & appreciate where you are, it is such a wonderful way to get back to truly experiencing the land & all it has to offer.  No better place than outback Australia to learn how to take photos of the night’s sky!

We walked the base of Uluru, as well as drove it – you kind of have to drive to get the whole rock in full view.  And what a view it is!

Kata Tjuta makes up the other half of the Uluru – Kata Tjuta National Park.  Otherwise known as The Olgas, it is a collection of towering sphere shaped rocks.

Besides sharing our experience of the area with LOT of tourists, we loved it out here.

The West MacDonnell ranges were quite the dandiest.  Providing oodles of gorges, swimming holes, a meteor crater, & breathtaking ridges that seemingly reached the horizon.  We spent a few days exploring the area.

TIP: If you hate flies, make sure you purchase one of those ridiculously stupid looking face-fly nets before coming to the centre of Oz.  Cos I can tell you right now they are friggin everywhere!!  And when you’re hot, sweaty & still have a full days worth of exploring to do there’s nothing more annoying than a million flies landing under your sunnies, on your eye balls, up your nose & in your gob!

Though many of the water holes had dried up there were still as few good ones to cool off in.  It’s just something we hadn’t envisaged to be in the outback, spectacular high gorges & large bodies of water.

Lucky for us the free camp near Uluru was outside the National Park and so Barney boy was allowed.  He was also permitted in the car & car parks throughout the majority of the West MacDonnell ranges.  In saying this it did hinder us a little, meaning we couldn’t do any of the longer hikes & limited where we could camp.  We would probably advise leaving your pooch in a kennel or with a dog sitter in Alice Springs.

Slowly we improved our night’s sky photography.  Still a long way to go, but having so much fun learning!

All together it was a major detour coming down here to visit Alice, Uluru – Kata Tjuta & The MacDonnell Ranges, but one that was absolutely worth it.  Truly, you can’t cut a lap of Oz & not see the red centre can you!!?

From here we head north again, hook a right hand turn & make way for the land of banana benders.

Thanks for reading, hope you have enjoyed & stay tuned for the next installment of Bear, Fred & Barney’s journey around AUS!

Xo

We entered Kakadu National Park via the Adelaide River, stopping in on the way to go on a crocodile-watching cruise.  A great experience, we imagined we’d have to be cruising down the river a while before spotting a croc.  Once again we were in for a pleasant surprise.  Greeting us as soon as we climbed aboard was a 5m long salt water crocodile, known by the locals as, The Dominator.

It seemed as though the resident crocs knew exactly what time it was once the cruise started – snack time!  They were coming out of the woodwork everywhere we looked.  The tour guide would hoax them in with a piece of buffalo meat, throw it around in the air on a stick for a bit, until the croc jumped up & snatched it.  A practice entirely for tourist satisfaction.  From what we understood from the guide apparently the crocs are not dependent on these snacks, & are well & truly capable of hunting for themselves.  The Northern Territory has a very healthy number of crocodiles.  Australia wide populations are estimated somewhere between 100’000 – 200’000!  A very good come-back after they were extensively hunted in the mid 1900’s.

Brutus is probably Adelaide River’s most famous croc.  He’s got his patch of the river on lock down, with every other croc turning away in fear as soon as he notices them in his territory.  He’s roughly 80 years old, has had his front legs ripped off during fights with other crocs & bull-sharks, & has no teeth left but still manages to rule the river!

 

Although it is the dry season, & many of the flowing waterfalls & holes were not in full swing, there was still more than enough to see & do in Kakadu.

You know when you’re watching David Attenborough or which ever other doco about outback Australia, and all you can hear in the background is the lovely sound of sweet chirping birdies..?  We always assumed they were edited in, ya know, for extra effect.  Turns out they’re not!  There are SO many birds up here, always chirping & singing.  They are beautiful!!  Picture below was looking out over some wetlands with hundreds of birds, just before sunset.

The aboriginal rock art throughout Kakadu blew us away.  There’s just something extra in the air when you are out in middle of no where, staring at 2000 year old art trying to contemplate how people lived in those days, how strong their culture was (& still is).  Personally, we love learning about the aboriginal dreamtime & their stories behind creation.

 

It has been around 37-39 degrees everyday & humid.  In other words, sweaty.  Sweaty sweaty sweaty!!  Hiking along fresh water creeks & riverbeds is always made extra rewarding when there’s a cool swimming hole at the end.

 

Pictures below are from Cahill’s Crossing, on the East Alligator River.  One of Australia’s most hazardous waterways, notorious for its saltwater crocodile infested waters.  We had the rods out & were on the barramundi hunt once again, making sure we kept all senses on high alert for any hungry salties.  There was a fresh bunch of flowers on the side of the road leading into this crossing, in memory of a fisherman taken by a croc only a few months earlier.  The threat is real!!  But so is the thrill of catching barra, as long as you play it smart & safe, & do not even think about getting any body part wet, she’ll be right.  (*Disclaimer* we are in no way claiming that we are not in fact idiots, the more likely truth is we most certainly are).

There were a few crocs close by, popping up every 15 minutes or so.  Maybe they were waiting for us to catch a barra, we hear they often snatch them from the fishermen/women’s line as they’re reeling them in!  At least we hope that was the case & that they weren’t waiting to snatch one of us!  Either way, our senseless ass’s survived & will live to fish another day.

Altogether we had a great time exploring Kakadu.  There are so many things to see & do, we could have easily stayed longer.  But The Red Centre is calling & just quietly I am so excited for some cooler nights, this constant humid heat is a bit much for my little Tasmanian soul!

 

On the way south we stopped off at Bitter Springs in Mataranka.  What an enchanted place that is!  Crystal clear, warm spring fed fern pools were so delicious in the early morning, see below.

 

If you’re after a feed on the way down to Tennant Creek (on the road to Alice), don’t miss the Daly Waters Historic Pub.  Give it a miss if you can’t handle exhausted underwear, hats, stickers, shirts & LITERALLY anything else you can think of that can be worn, hanging from every inch of the walls.  But if you love a good barra burger & some true quirky Aussie character, get amongst it!

So now we continue the long, long road south to Alice Springs & her surrounds.

We hope you are enjoying following our journey across this magical country so far.  Thanks for reading & stay tuned!!

Xo

After leaving Lake Argyle we said a sad good bye to WA, it’s been our home for the past 6 months! But a very happy hello to the great NT!!

Katherine was our first stop.  There’s a few nice national parks around the area to sight see.  Quite a number of hikes too but we skipped those for the heat was a bit much.  Happy enough to find the waterholes & cool off!  There was also a sneaky hot spring right in the middle of town, which was surprisingly lovely in the cooler mornings.

We left old Barn dog in a kennel here while we travelled further north toward Darwin.  Both Litchfield & Kakadu national parks are on the way up, & as there’s only one main road in & out of Darwin we thought it best he stay here.  We’ll collect him on the way back in a week.  The longest stay he has had away from us yet, & no it was not easy being away from my fur child that long.  I missed his sloppy kisses & sooky “Pat me!” whines dearly!  Even had to be that annoying mother who calls day care (the kennel) every second day to see how my boy’s doing… lol.

Douglas Springs were hot hot hot!!  Too hot in some sections to even swim.  Very pretty though.

 

Roughly 2-3 hours from Katherine, Litchfield National Park is a must see.  With a range of waterfalls, gorges, short hikes through rainforest & rock pools, we definitely had our days filled in!  Fairly touristy, we didn’t get the pleasure of swimming at the holes on our own, but still they are so beautiful & we were way too hot.  Sharing with a few other stoked humans didn’t matter.

It’s a fully bitumen road through the park, which was great for us taking it easy with The Clam (our caravan).  Or so we thought….  After only half a day of driving around exploring the park Fred had noticed the cracks in the chassis, which we had repaired (TWICE) in Broome, had reappeared. 😦

Our thoughts exactly = SHIT.  What’s worse was that along with the two ever-reappearing cracks on the left side of the chassis, now there was also a huge-donkey NEW crack almost all the way through the chassis on the right side.

Our thoughts exactly = F*#%.  Game over.  That night was certainly one of the harder nights sleep we have had.  So many thoughts, ideas & scenarios running through our heads.  After seeing the remainder of Litchfield (minus The Clam, she stayed parked on the side of the road), we had to figure out what to do next.  Do we call the insurance company now & wait all day for a tow truck…  Do we risk it & drive into Darwin ourselves…  We chose the later of the two & took it ourselves to a few places to see what their opinions were.  It was a tense drive into town – both of us praying to the higher powers for the van to stay in one piece.  Lucky for us it did.  After arriving in Darwin, we then rang the insurance company & oh goodie, we were back on the insurance waiting game journey.

While we were waiting for the professionals to come up with a quote to fix the van & get all the assessments done we decided to fill in our time seeing what Darwin has to offer.

I twisted Fred’s arm & got us booked on fishing tour.  Fred wasn’t so keen, figuring we could just take our own boat & have a dig ourselves.  But I figured why not try one day with a local pro who knows the area & can guarantee you’ll catch barra or you get your money back!  We spent nearly a full day out on the water off Dundee Beach on the elusive barramundi hunt.  Unfortunately there was no Mick in sight, but barra were a plenty!!  We were reeling them in almost non-stop!!  Goes without saying Fred nudged me not too long after catching his first decent barra, big grin on his face, “yeah, this was definitely worth it! Good idea babe”.  Lol, win for me!

We also saw a few resident crocs roaming around, such cool animals!

The Mindil Beach markets are a must do.  Live music, good food, trinkets & a magnificent sunset will have us any day!

A day going back in time at the war museum was very humbling, & interesting.  Must respect to the old diggers!

We also managed to catch our old Tassie friend JC & his girl Shida for a good old catch up in between sipping on a coupla cold ones!  Thanking you Shida for the ridiculously tastey spread you put on!!

And the botanical gardens proved itself a nice place to waste time if that’s what you need to do around Darwin!

The natural aquatic playground Berry Springs was another breathtaking place.  With a few different pools & a little river linking them all together, it was a great place to literally drown our sorrows regarding The Clam.

 

I could go on & on about how much of a shitty situation it has been with our caravan.  It is what it is.  And yes it sucks.  We put so many hours last year into The Clam, getting her ready for this trip.  So many personal touches.  It has so much character – yes she’s old & she’s been around the block once or twice before, but still it’s hard to let go & accept her ultimate fate – that she won’t be leaving Darwin.  And we will. 😦  BUT as sad as it is, it is just a challenge that we are more than capable of overcoming.

 With the insurance company somehow coming to their current conclusion that they would cover the cost to fix one half of the damage, & not the other, we’re left in a bit of a pickle.  Like, WTF use is it getting half of the caravan fixed..?  It didn’t help that the repairers only quoted for a half-arsed fix either.  It basically needs a whole new underside & that doesn’t come cheap, so their alternate idea is to try & patch up the damage, again.  Seeing as the last 2 patch up repairs have failed within a fortnight we don’t really like this idea very much.  We DO NOT want to find ourselves in this situation yet again on this trip.

So, if we were going to get it fixed we would want it to be a legit job & we would need all the help possible from the insurance company.  (A full on legitimate repair would cost as much as we paid for the van!).  As well as time, we would need more time.  It is something we are running sweet out of with the wet season creeping slowly upon us (It actually rained yesterday!).  We don’t really want to be here for another 2-3 weeks waiting for the repair.

The stupidest thing of all was that for the whole week we were waiting for their assessment to come through everyone within the insurance company we spoke to virtually told us it would be written off.  That the damage was too extensive to warrant fixing.  Basically, un-roadworthy & not worth repair.  So we had braced ourselves for this, & were expecting to be paid out for it.  Mmm yeah, dream on.  Not the case thus far.  We are learning insurance companies don’t like to pay you, & if they can find a reason not to, by crickey they will!

So, where are we at?  Well, we aren’t really sure.  We came to the tough decision to leave The Clam behind, parked in our friend JC’s paddock.  We didn’t want to be sitting, waiting & getting down any longer.  Sooo for now, we have hired a trailer, piled everything from the caravan into it, & are sleeping in our double swag.  On the road again: camping, exploring & continuing to have a good time.  With a few tears along the way we are making it work so we still get to travel & see this great country.  Just with a little less wriggle room.

Fred’s parents have gone far & beyond regular parental duty & so kindly offered to meet us near Mount Isa with their camper trailer (they live in northern Queensland).  And so this could be a very real possibility for us, swap them our hire trailer for their lovely, shiny, made for the off-road pop up camper!  Mega shout out to you Wendy & Glenn, we are beyond grateful for the offer!!

For now though, we wait to hear the insurance companies latest pitch & in the mean time are continuing slowly along the road.  Taking each day as it comes.

Kakadu National Park, we’ll be seeing you.

Thanks for reading, hope you have enjoyed.

Xo

Our final video clip of Western Australia.  See the link below & have a peep!

A little sad to be saying goodbye to this huge, wondrous state.  It has been an adventure that’s for sure!  But non the less, very excited to be moving into Australia’s Northern Territory.

Once the clam was fixed we were finally back on the road, heading far away from the coast – East bound.  Yaaaay!! 🙂  I say finally, though in reality one week is rather a reasonable time frame to have a caravan towed, fixed & serviced (especially in Broome, where there is an endless stream of busted & banged up caravans & trailers rolling in from The Gibb, & where parts take ages to arrive).  We counted ourselves lucky.  I guess it’s just when you had planned to be else where, exploring new places & moving forward – being stuck in a stalemate did drive us a little crazy.  We loved Broome, but I can’t say that we weren’t smiling ear to ear, stoked to be leading the gypsy life once more.

After being strongly advised by the welders / trailer repairers at the shop; “Do not do the Gibb River Road, it just won’t make it”.  We ummed and ahhed for a day or two, stewing on the thought… Eventually we swallowed our pride & made most likely the smarter decision to not take the dusty corrugated 600 kilometer long Gibb, & instead take the beautifully smooth bitumen Great Northern Highway.  (Through the remainder of The Kimberely on route to the NT border).  Anyway, there is still heaps to do & see along this road, & like I said in our last post if there’s any off-roading to be done, The Clam will stay behind.

So we hit the road again, making way for Tunnel Creek.  Boab trees infest the landscape here.  They are so big & full of mystery.  The really old ones seriously look like they’ve come straight out of a creepy cartoon.  Brumbies & roaming cattle also seem to be permanent fixtures of this landscape.

 

One of our stops was at the man made gorge below.  Perfect spot for some fun & a cool off!

 

If you’re ever near by, don’t miss Tunnel Creek!  The aboriginal peoples linked history with it was really interesting to read, as it is everywhere around here.  There is so much history.  It was a brutal & unfair time when the European settlers made it to The Kimberely.  Tunnel Creek was a place the local indigenous used in the late 1800’s to hide from the war between their people & the European settlers.  The aboriginals here were not giving their land up without a fight, & when they were injured or needing a place to lay low, this is where they came.  The creek is inside a cave.  The entrance is very small & hidden from view.  Only they knew how to get into the cave, making it as safe a place as any when you’re not wanting to get shot or taken away as a slave in chains!!

A breathtaking place, the cave surrounding the creek is HUGE.  Inhabited by bucket loads of bats, fish & fresh water crocodiles there is plenty to keep on the look out for.  A torch is a must.  The majority of the cave is pitch black.  I would be lying if I said I wasn’t a bit scared, having to wade through the creek (the crocodile infested creek!) in total darkness.  It was mentally challenging at best!  But the rewards of actually seeing some small fresh water crocs up close in the flesh – literally took our breaths away.  They are so sneaky. So statue like. And REALLY cool.

Dog Owners Tip: Tunnel Creek is it’s own National Park. Buuut it is only an hour or so drive from the main drag & before you enter the park it is very easy to toilet your pooch & have him stretch his legs. We left Barney in the car (you’re not meant to, signs say not to, but what can I say, we are rebels!). We parked in the shade, made sure he had bulk water & a treat & he was fine. He loves it in the car anyway. And his spot in the canopy is completely out of sight & with airflow so it doesn’t get too hot. We took just over an hour to explore the cave. (This is what we do with Barney a lot of the time when exploring small national parks for under 2 hrs).

 

Fitzroy Crossing was a lovely place to pass through.  The Fitzroy River itself proving very photogenic & a nice spot to stretch our legs from all the driving!  A great place to stop & just take it all in.  We spotted so many fresh water crocs on the riverbed.

 

Our next big stop was at The Bungle Bungles, inside of Purnululu National Park.  We stayed at the station just outside the N/P & did a day trip in, walking around marvelling at the unique beauty of the rock formations.  See below how the formations share a striking resemblance to beehives!

The caravan park workers were so kind, letting us leave Barney boy all set up at the caravan in the shade for the day.  They even came along & walked him while we were gone.  Stoked!!  If you don’t have a dog we would highly recommend staying inside the N/P, at the heart of the Bungle Bungles.  There are too many walks to do in one day, & the road there is 53 k’s of shittness that you definitely only want to do once in & once out.

At El Questro Station we were treated with a campsite right on the Pentecost River.  Perfect location for a lazy afternoon float around with a beer, a must do in this heat – 37 degrees every day will get ya!

El Questro is known for it’s numerous amazing gorges.  There are so many to explore, you could easily spend a whole week here.  Us being a bit more pushed for time did the old pick & choose which ones to discover.  El Questro Gorge proved a challenging walk, but was absolutely worth it with the astonishing Mickey’s Pool greeting us at the end.

Emma’s Gorge was probably our favouite (I know you shouldn’t have favourites, everywhere is amazing & special in it’s own right).  But the swimming pool at the top of this hike was (as my mother would say) AB FAB!  Vivid red cliffs reaching for the sky tower over a large dark blue swimming hole, with a skinny stream of water falling from the top down past the contrasting green ferns.  We loved it.  If you are ever at El Questro, don’t miss this gorge!!

 

One of the biggest lakes in Australia, the man made, Lake Argyle was our next big stop.  Fred was itching to get the tinny in & explore the close by Ord River.  He had Barra on the brain! (See our pictures from the Ord River below).

Unfortunately we couldn’t hook any of the elusive Barra, only the slimy Catfish.  The scenery here & just being out on the water more than made up for that though.  Lake Argyle itself is enormous!  It has been yet another piece of Australian landscape to leave us feeling humbled, & so grateful to have such an amazing country at our fingertips.

 

Altogether The Kimberley is amazing.  I say amazing & beautiful a lot I know, but it is.  I’m not sure what I was expecting.  Prior to actually arriving here & seeing it, in my head I would think “northern Australia; it’s hot & it’s a desert”.  That picture couldn’t be much further from the truth (well yes it is bloody hot!!!!).  But The Kimberley offers a horizon filled with spectacular high hills & ridges, endless scattered trees & spinifex, wildlife everywhere you look, & so many beautiful gorges with complementing water holes.  A place where the majority of the region can’t even be reached by car, & a lot of the bits that can are along long, dusty, damaged roads.  Where sunsets will blow you away with the painted orange through purple sky.  Where aboriginal culture has not been lost, & where history is abundant.  It is a unique & colourful place, & basically, we loved it.

And so, after 6 months of being in Western Australia & 9 months after leaving our little island state, we are finally heading into the Northern Territory.  New territory for both Fred & I & we couldn’t be more excited.

Thanks for reading.

Until next time.  Xo