Moving right along

When I was planning this trip and how long it might take and what we might be able to see, I think I had visions of us cruising around, taking our time and wondering what to do with ourselves. How could I be so naive? I suppose the fact that the planning stage lasted about two or three months could have something to do with it. We have friends that planned for three years. This country we are so fortunate to live in is massive and has heaps of cool things along the way.

Since Uluru, we have completed the Phil Burgess highlights tour of the West Macdonnell ranges. "Quick everyone , back in the vehicle , we have another four gorges to cover". Yes, it was a pretty busy day and we covered some miles but we seemed to manage to enjoy ourselves and the scenery was awesome. Finished the day with a wild ride into Palm Valley then back for a rare restaurant meal.

Standley Chasm

Ormiston Gorge

Glen Helen Gorge

Redbank Gorge

Palm Valley.  "We've had enough Dad, we're out of here."

We left Alice and headed North for some warmth. The nights were pretty cold in Alice and you can see by the attire on the highlights tour that the daytime temps were a bit on the low side. First overnight stop was the Devil's Marbles.

We then made it to the iconic Daly Waters Hotel which was packed with grey nomads both in the adjoining and very dusty caravan park and the pub at night for the Beef and Barra' barbie with accompanying entertainment of country music and bush stories. A funny place out in the middle of seemingly nowhere.

A shorter drive the next day brought us to Mataranka where we spent a couple of days lazing in the hot springs. One afternoon, the kids and I spent about four hours in the relaxing waters which were a perfect 32 degrees and crystal clear. We happened to be in the Northern Territory for Territory Day which was a return to a good old fashion cracker night. Pretty feral but noone seemed to lose a limb or an eye where we were.

Territory Day Cracker Night.

We are now in Katherine where we visited Edith Falls today which was one of our best swimming days yet. Tomorrow we plan to cruise the Katherine Gorge before heading further north into the Kakadu National Park. The only disturbing thing about that is that I cannot imagine finding a TV at Gunlom Falls to watch the Wallabies. Such is life.