Crocodiles Everywhere!

 After going to the morning market where I scored a couple of cool skirts (yes, my collection is GROWING STILL) we went out to Crocodylus, the local crocodile farm/park. We saw hundreds of these guys along with some alligators, and a series of exotic and local animals. It was fairly hot at 31C and humid, but we managed to stay hydrated and out of the sun as much as we could, and were able to get our photos taken with a baby saltwater crocodile. His snout was taped shut as the babies (who are two years old) will still BITE.

Now we're chillaxing at home, catching up, my Canadian friend and I. Tomorrow we're off to Mindl Market and the beach.

Katherine Gorge to Darwin

king brown snake - very deadly

another king brown snake - larger (can you see it?)

 We camped in Katherine Gorge last night at a beautiful campground, complete with running hot and cold water, and a gorgeous pool surrounded by palms. After a swim we hiked to the top of the gorge for sunset, which was amazing. On the hike down, we came across the many bats that had now left the trees in which they were "hanging" out, and were swarming the skies - amazing! Then we cooked up some supper, and sat around in the tropical warm air of the top end. The following morning we got up and drove for a bit then took a detour and a short hike to Robin Falls where we saw two king brown deadly snakes just a few feet away from our ankles...quick photos before moving on. We finally arrived in Darwin about 2:30pm and I dropped the boys off downtown to find their accommodation, and I headed out to find my friend R's house in Fannie Bay, which is a beautiful area of Darwin. We hung out, went for a drive, pizza and then the gorgeous sunset Darwin is so famous for before coming back to her place to catch up. Tomorrow the crocodile park!

my Rav waiting for us in the shade

sunset in Darwin tonight

pretty bird

Katherine Gorge

sunset at Katherine Gorge

rocks in the rock

thousands of bats

cute wallaby next to my tent

giant termite mound

and I mean giant

more wallabies at our campsite

sunrise over the moon...

Robin Falls

many roots

Road Trips and Backpackers

I left Alice this morning about 8am, right on schedule, and just a few minutes outside of town I came across a backpacker hitching a ride, and thinking about the LONG and not particularly interesting drive ahead of me to Darwin, I pulled over and picked up Francis. He was from Melbourne, just 19 and finished high school last year and hitching around the country to check it out. He was nice enough, we had a lot to chat about and the miles flew by. Before I knew it, we were in Ti Tree for a pit stop and ended up with two more backpackers stuffed into the Rav, this time it was Shep from the UK and Derek from the Netherlands, another two nice guys. The gas mileage went wayyyyy down with such a big load, but when I stopped to fill at Wyclef Well, Derek had the gas paid for before I got inside, which was real nice. We continued on for many more miles, and stopped at the Devil's Marbles, which were rather interesting and there were way more than I thought there was when I read about them in the tourist guide. It was a nice little hike around them, and a good stretch of the legs.
     From the Devil's Marbles we drove on to Tennant Creek for a top up of the gas, and then shortly after we dropped off Francis at Threeways, which is where the Stuart Highway meets the eastern highway to Queensland, which was where he was headed. Onward from there with Shep and Derek and we drove on to Elliot. It looked a little dodgy when we first stopped but asked around and the campground was the only one in town and no one was there. The campground is just behind the gas station and has a pool, showers, bathrooms, and firepits. I set up my tent and before long we had some cold beers going and storytelling began again. Just before dark we headed to the pub 100 metres down the road and got some local made pizza, which the boys wolfed down a large each...I didn't care for it much and only ate half a small pizza. Too much ham for my liking, and it's weird ham they have here. Back to the campground and invited some of the campground/shop/gas station workers who live onsite to come over to the site for some beers and chat, which was most entertaining. Now they've gone back to the pub, most of them, Shep has gone for a shower and here I sit in the dark with my wireless stick blogging and uploading photos.
     Tomorrow we head out for Katherine Gorge to camp and do a hike, and onward to Darwin on Friday. The two fellas still with me were most appreciative of the ride all the way to Darwin, and have told me so over and over that I must be their guardian angel. Poor buggers could't get a ride out of Alice yesterday so walked for about 17kms before getting a ride to Ti Tree where they had been since yesterday trying for a ride. They're quite entertaining, not grotty at all, and polite to boot. They've managed to sweet talk the Irish gal working at the campground into letting them sleep in an empty staff room tonight so they're happy, as they didn't have tents or mattresses. I'll be out in my tent with my foamie, as I've given up on the damn air mattresses...two uses and it left me flat on the second use. Crappy ass shit.

     The weather is definitely warmer this far north and the temps tonight are about 15C which is about 12C more than Alice at night.

Surviving Palm Valley

some of the Finke River trail we drove on

So this weekend I took two friends with me to Finke National Park and drove the 4WD track to Palm Valley. It was the first real 4WD track I had taken the Rav 4 on so sure to be interesting. We only managed to get bogged in sand twice. The first time was on the way in, we were driving a long sandy patch and the centre ridge was quite high and the Rav just couldn't clear it and got bogged down. So we dug out what we could and just as we were finishing up, someone came along and gave us a tow, thanks so much to Tim and Kay! The second bogging was on the ride home today and we managed to get it out ourselves, just a little bogged as I tried to drive ON the ridge instead of over it and the Rav slid off and bogged us. We got 'er out and were on our way. I did manage to scrape a rock with the left side and dented the door, as I was trying to manage the rough rocky track but oh well! I plan to USE the Rav, not baby it. We also managed to rip one of the plastic guards off the bottom, so I will have to get that put back on at Toyota this week before I head out again.
     Aside from the bogging, the rocky track was awesome. Most of the time we drove in first gear on rocky and second gear, and I didn't bang or bottom out on the rocks. They told me the larger vehicles often do as they have so much more bounce. Most of the track was either packed dirt, or rocky riverbed that was either small rocks or rock formations. The Rav did a great job and I'm glad I did buy what I did. The gas mileage was awesome, and with petrol prices so high here in Australia (no less than $1.70AUS/litre most of the time, and sometimes over $2.00/litre. We also managed to pack a whole lot of stuff in there which was great, and still didn't feel crowded. I'm quite happy with my rig.
     We parked the Rav and set up camp next to Palm Creek, which was just beautiful. After setting up and having a beer, we packed our backpacks for a hike in the valley where the Red Cabbage Palms were. They are quite rare palms and only found in a few places of the world, and this was one of them. The weather was of course beautiful, warm, and sunny with just enough breeze at times to keep the flies away. After the hike we headed back and lounged for the rest of the afternoon with some cold beers, and a view of the creek as all the other campers arrived and set up camp. Just before dark we got around to cooking our supper on the communal barbecues and then headed over to the communal fire pit to join the gang already there. I was the only Canadian, and there was one Dutch gal, and the rest were Australians (save for our friend Kate who lives in Australia but is originally from New Zealand). It was quite entertaining with stories, s'mores (no one had ever seen) and even a few drover poems. A drover is someone who drives cattle.
     The night was interesting as the birds came in and out - magpies, pink cockatoos, Australian ringneck parrots, and many more. There was a dingo at our campsite getting into snacks we left out, and later that night a few dingoes were around and got into a scrap at one point just by our tents, snarling and growling. One carried off Kate's Ugg slipper...we told her not to leave them out as they go for the leather and human smell...but she didn't listen. Kate was a virgin camper and bushwalker, so we broke her in, but she needs more time out before she learns it all I reckon. The stars were amazing and I took the fly off my tent so I could fall asleep under the stars. No big hairy spiders this time which was great. My air mattress crapped out though and I spent most of the night on the ground...I have tossed it and will use my foamy from now on. Air mattresses always seem to let me down...pardon the pun.
     We got up for a cooked breakfast and then packed our gear up to head back. We didn't want to stay too long or there would be no one coming behind us to give us a tow if we needed on. Home again by noon and then the chore of unpacking my rig...I have to organize it all again as I leave for Darwin on Wednesday for a road trip to visit a friend from Canada who just moved there this weekend with her kids. I'll be stopping over in Katherine Gorge along the way, which should be amazing. Remember you can click on any of the photos for a much fuller size to see the shot.
     Central Australia is just beautiful. I'm so glad I came.

more Finke River trail

and then we got bogged and needed to be towed out

digging for the tow bolt in the back

it was pretty deep sand to get bogged in

lotsa sand

Red Cabbage Palms of Palm Valley

beehive in the valley

looking back down on the valley from the ridge

fig tree

we camped next to Palm Creek

Palm Creek

our campsite

spider nest above our campsite

Australian Ringneck Parrot

Pink Cockatoo

hello!

sunrise near the campground