Kakadu National Park.

Well, we made it to Kakadu and have pulled up in our first stop, Gunlom falls. We pulled into another camp area without any swimming and decided it to be too hot and moved to a camp spot with another falls and pool. This time there are signs recommending not to swim in the bottom pool as there has been saltwater crocks caught there. Nuff said!



We went for a bush walk to the upper pools, apparently crocks can't climb waterfalls :-), another lovely spot. The views from the top are fantastic after quite a steep climb. Worth the effort though, below.



Below is a photo of the top pools.


We are staying in the camp ground at the base of the falls and it's quite busy. Lots of backpacker in their whizz bangs ( the type of vans with the side doors like the Britz, that slide then bang shut ) and a few caravans.

Below photo is the base of the falls at the camp grounds.



That's if for now, until next time..............

Edith Falls in Nitmiluk National Park.

We moved north of Katherine Gorge and went to Edith Falls, a huge 80 klm of traveling!! :-)

Edith falls, or Leliyn falls, is awesome. Its in the same national park as Katherine Gorge and much the same sort of landscape. We made the 5 klm loop trek to the upper pools and headed off for a swim and spent the afternoon there. Lovely spot and we enjoyed the arvo. We ended up spending 2 days in the camp ground there where you could hear the waterfall all night.



Off to Kakadu!!!

Katherine and the Gorge.

After doing a whole 165 Klm up to Katherine we pulled in to have a spell in a caravan park to charge batteries and fill water tanks. The last few days have been cloudy and we were parked in a shady spot in Elsey National Park, so the batteries could of done with a boost.

We stayed in a great caravan park called The Low Level park and relaxed for a couple of days. We purchase a satellite system for the van, so now we have all the digital channels of the city. Now I can keep up with the MotoGP, that's the sole reason I wanted it. Missed the bikes.

After our stay in Katherine we headed for Katherine Gorge and the walks out here, I'm writing this from the Gorge, it's amazing. Tracey and I did 12 Klm today and loved it. We saw some extraordinary scenery. Back at camp now drinking a well went beer or two!










We will head off either tomorrow or the next day, we've not made our minds up yet, and go to Edith Falls about 80 Klm up further north. Those falls are reportedly pretty good.

Still having a ball.

Until then..............

Mataranka and the Hot Springs.

We made our way up north to Mataranka from Daly Waters and stopped for a few days. We stayed out at Elsey National Park as it was cheap, we had a look at some hot springs and topped up the juice and groceries.

We ended up going to Bitter Springs to have a look as through the grape vine they were the best, we were not disappointed! It is some of the clearest water I have ever seen in a creek and it was 30 deg, beautiful!



We had a swim and tested the underwater capabilities of the digital camera. To say I was pensive when I dunked the thing was an understatement! In the end everything was all good and the camera survived. Here are some videos. Click on the links........

Underwater with Trace.

Underwater with the fishes.

As I mentioned before we had a good look around Mataranka and moved on, Katherine is our next stop.

Onward and Upward

After staying at the Pebbles for two days we are back on the road!

Our living room for a few days below, we loved it!!



With our next destination a free camp at Newcastle Waters we set out after a delicious brekkie of bacon, eggs and hash browns, ummmm.

We had to stop in Tennant Creek as Pete had a thong blow out at the Devils Marbles and had been walking around barefoot. Just a stop gap shitty pair of thongs (Rockstar brand) but cost $20.

We continued on to Renner Springs for a leg stretch and started talking to a guy who was sitting in the front of the stop making a leather belt. He was a truck driver who had a big end bearing go in his truck and had to sit and wait for almost a week to be picked up by the company.

When we were chatting the trucks carrying all the V8s started rolling in from the most recent round at Hidden Valley, wow they are flash trucks!



We got to the free camp (roadside) stop and pulled in and there would have been at least 40 to 50 vans jammed in. I have never seen anything like it. Apparently from hereon in we need to start leaving earlier and pull in early to get a park in these spots.

The below pic gives you an idea!!



We have travelled another massive 150kms today to Daly Waters and low and behold it is packed again! The weather is fantastic, we are out of the -3 mornings of the Alice and into 17 - 27 odd days. Bloody excellent!!

Luckily when you rock up and pay for your site here they take your order for dinner and lock you into what time you want it. The special is 1/2 barra and 1/2 beef. Coopers Pale Ale schooner is $7.20 each! Oh well!

Pictures below are of the pub.







Anyway, on to Mataranka tomorrow and we will hopefully test out the hot springs :-)

On the road again..........

We left Alice Springs for the warmer climes of the North up the Stuart Highway. Our first stop was on a road side rest stop just past the Tropic Of Capricorn, about 200K from Alice, and we spent the night there.



In the morning we set out for The Devils Marbles again as we liked that camp spot on the way down. If you can remember, we had the site to our selves a few months ago, it was a different story this time as we entered the reserves camp area at 1 pm there were already dozens of vans in there. So we got ourselves a spot and proceeded to read in the warm sun and watch the rest of the hordes roll in and set up. You have to be quick to get a good spot in the popular places during traveling season!






During our stay we met a couple that are also full time on the road and hit it off straight away, comparing stories and swapping ideas and knowledge. We had a great night with a nice fire and a few beers. The next morning we headed to another camp spot about 100 K up the road just past Tennant Creek called The Pebbles or Kunjarra. It's a free camp spot and is just outside Tennant Creek so there is 3G coverage wich allows us to catch up on emails and of course this is where I am penning this entry for the Blog from. It's pretty cool here with next to no one around, besides our new friends from the marbles, and beautiful weather. it's good to be out of the bitter cold of The Alice and the more temperate climate as we head more north. We are about 650 K north of Alice at this site.



That's about it for now, will update in the next few days.

Finke Weekend all done.

What can I say? The Finke race weekend is awesome. If anyone was or is thinking of coming out here to see it, do it now!

Friday starts with the scrutineering of all the vehicles that enter the race, this includes all the driver/rider gear as well. It's a pretty big night out at the show grounds and all the teams put on a show and display their wares. It's a good opportunity to have a close look at the vehicles as some of the engineering on the buggies and trucks is incredible. We had an excellent night out there having a look around.

Saturday, and it's time for the prologue. At the start/finish line of the Finke race there is a 4.5k track that all the competitors race around to determine their start positions for Sunday morning. We picked a spot on the track and watched most of the day then headed for the track down to Finke. The day was freezing, I think it topped out at about 5 degrees or so with the wind blowing a gale.







We decided on a camp spot on the side of the track about 50k from the start. There weren't too many people around and as we found out later there were a bunch of young fellas just up the road. We set up camp and waited for the first of the vehicles. The nights were below zero as indicated by the ice on the car and swag!!







Sunday morning and the start of the action was signified by a couple of sweep bikes and a low flying helicopter checking the track. We waited for the first vehicle. We heard him coming from a a couple of Kay away as the sound of the cars engine pierced the still of the morning. the cars were first through then the bikes and quads. The spot we were in had them going by with a fair bit of speed and entering an s bend in the bush. The photo of the truck is the eventual winner.



















Monday morning, and the vehicles make the return trip from the Finke Community back to Alice Springs. We watched most of the cars in the morning and packed up early to go to the 40k mark and watch the bikes negotiate a big sand dune, basically jumping it!! There were heaps of people there as it is a favorite spot for the locals to come out and have a look.









Have a look at some of the videos I posted on YouTube. Click the links.
Don't forget to click the pictures to get the full size.

First on through.

Toyota buggy.

Bike past the camp.


All in all we had a fantastic weekend and will definitely come back to see it again. We are now packing to head north and up to Darwin into warmer weather and some fishing. :-)

We leave on Thursday and will take a week or so to get to Darwin so there is no rush. There is plenty to see on the way up there, neither of us has been to Darwin and look forward to having look around the city. Will update on the way up.

Location:Larapinta Dr,Araluen,Australia

About time for an update........eh?

We are still in Alice Springs and working. My last day is tomorrow and Tracey's last day is Friday. The Finke Desert Race is running on the weekend and we are going out along the track to spectate, should be good. There are heaps of trucks and bikes in the park and the town has a real buzz about it as the competitors roll in and people from all states arrive. The caravan park is booked out.

We have had a good look around the Alice and are looking forward to hitting the road again as we are a bit restless. Next destination is Darwin with a stopover at my uncle Ian's who lives about 40k south of Darwin. We will spend a couple of weeks in the city of Darwin having a good look around and then head west to the Kimberlies.

We will post an update about the Fink race after the weekend, cheers for now.