Last day of the All Aussie Roadtrip Adventure

Enjoying sunset in the bush with a nice glass of red, listening to the sounds
of a didgeridoo being played by my camping neighbor and relishing in the
fresh feeling of having just had a nice swim. It doesn’t get much better than
this. I had a good drive up from Mataranka today, considering that I had no
set plan, as usual. I stopped in Katherine to refuel at about 9:30am when I
saw the sign to Katherine Gorge and I thought, well why not? I had forgotten
all about it actually, but since it was only 30km out of my way, I figured it
would be an ok side trip. I did about a 45-minute walk in the park to see the
gorge and stretch my legs a bit and then I was on my way. Not before re-
supplying the food and wine rations though.

While in Katherine I received a text message from my friend in Darwin who
said she wanted to drive down and meet me at Litchfield tonight so I said
great! I was excited to have some company. It tool me another 3 hours to
get to the park and for the most part it was an uneventful drive with me
singing Eddie Rabbit’s ‘Driving my Life Away’ over and over to myself.

Got into the park and went to the first carpark to meet Shaza as we agreed…
.it was the viewing area for the termite mounds so I checked them out while
waiting for my friend. Another hour later and getting almost dark and there
was still no sign of her, so I left a note and took off for the first campsite. I’m
here at the Buley Rock Pools campground paying $6 for a site. I was hot and
sweaty after a long day of driving so I changed and went down for a swim.
Ahhhh! I walked about 15 minutes downstream and found the perfect pool
away from the crowds. It was heavenly. I’m told there are no crocs here this
time of year but I didn’t stay in long, just in case.

Now I’m back at the van and the wine’s been cracked, but there is still no sign
of Shaz. I can’t help but feel how lucky I’ve been to see so much of Australia
on this little road trip of mine, and for almost no cost apart from food and
some petrol. It’s been really fun. Tomorrow it will be sad to turn in my last
van, for now. Signing off with the sounds of didg still going strong.

Late note: Found out the next day that Shaz didn’t quite understand the
meeting point and couldn’t find me so she drove back to Darwin that night…

Add comment June 26th, 2006

Banka Banka to Mataranka

I highly recommend ending a long day of driving with a nice relaxing soak in a thermal spring whenever possible. I’ve done just that today on my ride north to Darwin. I arrived here at the Mataranka Homestead Tourist Resort at about 2pm, and could have continued driving for another 2 hours, but why? I spent the afternoon exploring some lovely walking tracks, and then had a nice soak in the thermal pools, and that to me is much better than just getting a bit further down the track. There was really nothing to see along the road today, and all I can say to that is thank you Apple for iPods and iTrips. I am noticing a very slight change in the terrain as I leave the desert behind and head closer and closer to the tropics - the termite mounds are getting bigger, the trees are getting taller, and the landscape is slowly getting greener. I sense that I am now closer to the ocean than the red centre. It?s about another 500km to Darwin from here, but I am thinking of taking 2 days to do it because there is still another interesting spot to check out on the way.

Website note: Sorry to everyone who is trying to navigate around the site - I am very aware of the gremlins still lurking about - actually I am working now on re-doing to entire site, so please be patient for awhile longer and I will reward you all with a flash new and exciting fabulous homepage.

Add comment June 25th, 2006