We set off after breakfast and headed back out onto the 1. The roads are windy on the way through Kurunda, we've got a full days driving today ... hopefully it's not all like this. Normanton here we come !!
Savannah Way ........ more like gravel track. So many colours ... red/orange of the road, green/black trees, blue sky and white clouds. We're lucky cos we're on a dual track, there's been parts when it's a single track and when a 50 metre Road Train comes your way you've gotta move !! These things don't stop for anything or anyone !
We're smelling the roadkill before seeing it now........ a new game for us ! We had a bit of rain which was nice but now it's scorchio. Just had our plastic cheese roll at Mount Surprise and filled Gracie up ready for the 398km to Normanton. Ipod on shuffle and listening to some classics .... it's truely an adventure !
We made it to Normanton just before 5pm. A full 9 hours driving. We were hungry and tired. We pitched the tent next to 3 bikers, who were just pitching theres and then 10 mins later another group of 2 couples pitched behind us. We put the kettle on for our tea .... Super Noodles ! and then went for a swim. Just done a few lengths then headed back for our well deserved Cookies. Met the local idiot while we were playing cards. I spent half the time trying to read his home made tattoos. he was very strange, needless to say we didn't stay too long then headed off to the tent.We've had breakfast and just checking Gracie before our 5 hours drive to Mount Isa. The road looks much like it did yesterday, long, straight and constantly changing from two lanes into single track. We pulled over to let another mother of a road train pass us. I (Ben) was driving when Claire spotted another kangaroo, the surprise this time was it wasn't road kill ! We turned around to try to get a photo, but it bounced off before we got a chance. It was a big one too, nice to see one alive for a change !
We stopped to fuel up at Cloncurry then drove the final hour or so to Mount Isa. We got there by 2 and it's hot! 37 degrees C hot ! We decided to cool off at the pool. Considering it was so hot, we're not sure how they got the pool so cold ! We didn't know whether to swim in it or skate across it ... it was freezing ! It honestly took us about 15 mins to eventually pluck up the courage to jump in.
We later went up to the Mount Isa lookout point. It showed a 360 degree view of the city.
Well we've never had that before .... bloody freezing through night. After it being so hot too!! We didn't get a full nights kip so we're glad we decided to stay an extra night. We thought it was lovely when first going to bed but it just kept getting colder ... so weird! That explains the cold swimming pool !
We took a walk into town and everywhere was closed .... even the supermarkets ! We bumped into the 3 bikers who we saw at Normanton. We'd played cat and mouse with them on the Savannah, seeing them at the Roadhouse. They're heading our way and Ben offered our services as 'Support Car!' They said yes, if we could take their tents and they wanted Barrimundi for there teas ! Ben's out now trying to catch one for them. They're having to stay another day as they all need tyres, this means we'll get ahead of them. Setting off on another long drive to Tennants Creek tomorrow so it'll be an early start. Hopefully we'll be prepared for the Baltic temperatures .... gloves/Scarves/Socks etc !
Well the tent wasn't too bad last night, we both still had a restless night sleep. We set the alarm so we could set off early. We were chatting to a bloke at Camp Kitchen last night and we've changed our route to save us some time and km's. We're not going to Tennants Creek now as it's not on our way. We're heading for Three Ways. We can't believe how much the landscape changes, it just goes on and on. It's a lot more hotter now as we're getting further to the centre. We passed the sign for us entering the Northern Territory, which was cool. Oh we've killed at least 2 birds today and about a million locusts !
We arrived at Three Ways at about 4.00pm. There's nothing here really, it's where the 1 meets the road North to South meets the road East to West. There are 3 ways to go up, down, or west hence the name. We've made the radical decision to not pitch the tent but to sleep in the back of Gracie tonight, we're at a roadhouse/truck stop ... we thought it would be easier! The drive was ok today, long and hot but we were chilled listening to a story off the Ipod. Hopefully Gracie shall prove herself to be a comfy bed and we'll feel refreshed ready for tomorrow ... fingers crossed !
We woke bright and early to see the sunrise in the distance. We slept really well although it did take us a while ... too excited !! ... No it was so hot and sweaty. We slept just as we would have in the tent. We haven't got a clue what time it is but we've packed the car, had breakfast and we're on the road again for the 649 kms to Katherine. We met a couple who were doing the $1 / day hire car. They've had 6 days to take a 4wd camper from Cairns to Darwin. We might have too look into that for NZ. We mentioned we were going there and they said they'd just left there. they'd gone travelling around there 15 years ago and just stayed ..... awesome !
We made it to Katherine, we're both feeling the long journey now. We think it's the heat more than anything. Did see a Roo jump out in front of us though, luckily we had loads of time to slow down. We were waving to everyone on the Highway ... it was the only exciting thing we could do because the roads were so long and straight ! Well we got here and found the campsite. Pitched the tent and then went for a cool off in the swimming pool. It's the hottest it's been yet and we're just sweating constantly .... Nice ! Not nice, it took us ages to get to sleep in the sauna ! In the tent you can hear the bushes and leaves rustling and all the animals outside. We decided to have a look out cos there was an awful racket! We were surrounded by Wallabies, even little baby ones too. Well that was it for me (Claire), I was Bill Oddie all night. Ben wasn't too impressed as I kept waking him up. Eventually we did get to sleep!
We did (we think) have a lie in today, although we still have no idea what time it is (bloody daylight savings!) ... so who knows ? We took a 15 minute drive up to Katherine Gorge. We were told by several people that the best way to see it is by boat or canoe, but we did neither and took one of the walking trails. As it was 50 degrees, this probably wasn't our brightest idea! We did see the Gorge but we didn't make it to a swimming hole as planned. We decided to go back as it was too hot and we didn't have enough water for much more walking. We crawled back to the car and decided to go and see Katherine. We started with the Thermal Pools, 32 degree water .... it was well weird!! We had a little swim, well deserved after our morning walking. We then had our sandwich and had a walk down Katherine. We decided just to go back and sort Gracie out for the morning. Kakadu here we come !!!!
After another unpleasantly sweaty night we hit the road to Kakadu. 40 mins out of Katherine we pulled off the road to see the Edith Falls. There's a 2.6km walk that takes you in a loop around the falls and swimming holes. I'm glad we decided to put trainers on instead of our thongs, walk ..... it was more like a climb ! We got to the top and took in the view, it was definitely worth the climb. To cool off we took a dip into the rock pools by the waterfall. The water was refreshing and not too cold. The rest of the walk took us about 40 mins. It was great, climbing in the rocks and taking it all in.
We made it through the gates of Kakadu National Park, the scenery changed yet again. Everything is so green, the trees all look false. We stopped off and got a map of all the park. We pitched our tent at Gagudju Lodge in Coolinda and then headed back out to Mardugal. We're hoping yo do the Gun-gardum walk 2km circular walk through woodlands and then hopefully make it back for the sunset at Yellow Water.
It was just so hot that we decided to stay by the campsite pool instead. After tea we walked down by the Billabong behind our campsite. The walk should have taken us to see the sunset, however it was VERY close to the waters edge and we were getting nervous with all the Croc signs there was. We didn't fancy walking back that way after seeing the sunset. We just sat a safe distance away looking to see if we could spot any crocs ... alas we didn't ! 
Good news the tent was cool last night so we slept like babies! We thought we'd start the day with a nice short walk to Mirrai Lookout. It was a killer ! A really steep 'short' walk. It was only 8am but already hot, then there is the flies to contend with, they're everywhere ! We decided to wear our fly nets for the next walk. But even so it was worth it ! The views across Kakadu were impressive, this place is huge!
A short 20 mins drive later and we stopped at Nourlangie. Nourlangie is the name of one of the big sacred rocks. We climbed up to a lookout on top of some rocks and boulders, the view was fantastic. This time we were prepared for the flies with our attractive fly nets ...... ha ha. Hines 1 - Flies 0 !!
Next is onto Ubirr with a quick rest stop at Jabiru on the way.
Wow ! Ubirr was better than expected ! There's loads of Aboriginal cave drawings, some as old as 5000 years ... it's just crazy to think they are there still on the rocks. We scaled up onto another mountain or rocks to look out over the flood plains. it was so green ! We've spent so long looking at red dust and rocks, seeing lush green land as far as the eye could see just seemed strange ! We stopped for lunch ... a plastic cheese slice sandwich in floppy bread ...... ummmmmmm mmmmmmmmm !! We're now heading to Darwin, our reward for making it there is carrot cake ..... we can't wait !!
Ooooohhhhhhhhhhhhh oohhhhhhhhhh carrot cake was delicious, we were focused on it all the way ! It was a hard slog in the heat but Ben got us to our next stop Darwin. We pitched our tent in Virginia about 30 kms from Darwin and then legged it to Woolies for our cake. We even treated ourselves to some chairs and a table (about time ... says Claire!). We sat outside the tent for ages, we did get bitten alive but it was nice with the candles.
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