Darwin to Devils Marbles

Darwin and down to the Centre

Darwin

Darwin is the capital of the Northern Territory and is the most northern City in Australia. We arrived into Darwin 1st September and stayed in another Seventh Day Adventist caravan park as we did in Broome. It had only 12 sites in a lovely grassy tree lined area. The only stipulation in staying there was that we didn't drink alcohol or smoke, so we had withdrawal symptoms after a week!! (joke). It was only 15 mins drive away from the CBD so it was very convenient.

SDA Caravan Park












  Nearby was a water park with waterslides and a huge swimming pool. Nigel enjoyed the enclosed twisting slides and it was all for free. Amazing.



Darwin is full of WWII history as it was heavily bombed by the Japanese in February 1942 with many lives lost. Quite a few ships were sunk or damaged in Darwin Harbour. Very similar to the Pearl Harbour attack. The City itself is attractive and has a laid back feeling as there doesn't seem to be the rush and bustle as there is in other major cities. Not very many high rise.




Gun from a sunken American warship

Government House Darwin

There are many attractions to go and see while in Darwin. Some of the attractions we went to were the Darwin Museum and Art Gallery where they had a room set aside for an exhibition for Cyclone Tracy which destroyed most of the city in 1974. It was very interesting and it included a small room where the sound of the actual cyclone was played. Following this we went nearby to the Mindil Beach Markets which are held every Thursday and Sunday evenings. It was full of colour and atmosphere ending with everyone going on to the beach to watch the sunset.




Darwin Sunset

Mindil Markets















Another great museum in Darwin is the Military Museum which also has a sight and sound display on the bombing of Darwin. It was most informative and we learnt a lot about what went on during the war in this area of Australia.

As Darwin doesn't have any beaches around the CBD and also because of the threat of crocodiles and stingers a newly developed waterfront precinct has been made to compensate. There is a great wave pool and an area of the sea sectioned off so people can swim without fear.







Swimming enclosure

Wave Pool












Beat that Crocodile Dundee

As Darwin has lovely warm evenings we spent one having dinner on the Stokes Hill Wharf. Nigel could remember having fish n chips here on his previous visit and enjoyed it so much he wanted to take Carol there to have the same experience. Unfortunately, the meal didn't match up to the lovely evening we had so it was a bit disappointing.






Kakadu

Leaving Darwin we drove through to Kakadu which is a national park full of Aboriginal culture plus tropical vegetation and wildlife. From the main highway south, Kakadu is a sidetrip of about 450km out to the furthest point of Ubir then back to the highway south again in the shape of a triangle. We timed it to arrive at Cahills Crossing Ubir at about 3pm. The reason for this is that the river at the crossing is tidal and high tide was about 3pm. Cahills Crossing is the border crossing between Kakadu and Arnhem land. At high tide the river floods the crossing and at that point fish swim across and crocodiles wait on the other side for a good feed. Well we did see the fish swimming across, but there were only two disinterested crocodiles who were obviously not hungry, so the fish lived to see another day.

Cahills Crossing Ubir

After dropping the caravan off at the campsite we went to see some Aboriginal rock art, then walked up to a lookout overlooking the wetlands and listened to a ranger give a talk on different facets of the area, the history, the flora and fauna. It was quite a beautiful setting as we watched the sunset with flocks of birds and the slight haziness of the smoke from burning off. In the evening back at the camp another ranger gave a talk together with photos on an outdoor screen of Aboriginal rock art and their interpretation which was quite interesting.

Rock Art

Lecture at the lookout Ubir

Another must do in Kakadu is the Yellow Waters Billabong cruise at Cooinda which is on the road back out to the main highway. We took the sunrise cruise so it was an early rise that day. The cruise took us up the river viewing much birdlife which were becoming active at that time of the morning. It was very serene in the early morning light. Quite a few crocodiles were also visible either lazing on the banks of the river or just lurking just below the surface. The vegetation was lush and green with beautiful water lilies out in flower. Following the cruise a hearty smorgaborg breakfast was provided at the hotel in Cooinda.





 

Yellow Waters Cruise at sunrise


Leaving Kakadu after 3 days we passed through Katherine once again, stopping off for a laze in the hot (warm) springs.

If anyone has read the book or seen the film "We of the Never Never" by Jeannie Gunn, Mataranka is the setting for this true story set in 1902/3, which recounts the story of Jeannie Gunn who travelled from Melbourne to live with her new husband on the remote Elsey Cattle station. The main attraction at Mataranka is the hot springs of which there are two. Bitter Springs and springs at the Mataranka Homestead. Both of these springs are crystal clear water. At Bitter Springs you can float down with the flow for a couple of hundred metres then get out and walk back to the beginning again or swim back against the current which is good to get the heart pumping. At the Mataranka Homestead there is the actual film set replica of the original Elsey station in the movie "We of the Never Never"




Bitter Springs

Jeannie and Aeneas Gunn

Elsey Station (replica)

Mataranka Springs



An overnight stopover at Daly Waters features the old historic Daly Waters pub. Also Daly Waters happens to be Australia's first international aerodrome as it was used as a stopoverfor the 1926 London to Sydney air race. Later the aerodrome was used as a refuelling stop by Qantas and as an airbase in WW2. The original hangar is still there which contains various memorabilia.

Inside Daly Waters Pub

Daly Waters Historic Pub

Daly Waters Aerodrome

We were now heading south to the centre, Alice Springs and Uluru (Ayers Rock). We passed through Tennant Creek and now commenced a huge side trip of hundreds of kilometres to the centre and back to Tennant Creek before heading East to Queensland.

On the way we stayed overnight at the "Devils Marbles" which is a popular stopover for travellers. These unusual rock formations have been shaped by wind and weather to form rounded shaped rocks which look as though they have been placed on top of each other. some of them look as though you could give them a push and they would topple over. Around the campsite it is not unusual to be visited by a resident dingo. During the night the howls of dingo's could be heard.











Further down the road we stopped briefly at Wycliffe Wells. This town has been made famous by the many UFO sightings and strange happenings that have taken place in this area over many years. More kilometres down the road and we came to the Aileron Roadhouse where there is an Aboriginal art gallery plus these enormous statues of an Aboriginal woman and her daughter spearing a goanna lizard. On the hill is another huge statue of an Aboriginal man.

Note size against Carol at base

Next stop Alice Springs.