Heading Downunder!

Next up was a place called 'Head of Bight' and the promise of whale watching. I dived off the road and drove through a hole in the fence, as by that time in the day the main gate was locked. When I got down there (12k's off the highway), I got the attention of one of the staff and managed to wangle a discounted after hour’s cash price !

I was blown away when I got down to the viewing points. There in the bay, as the sun was dipping low off in the west, was a mother and calf whale! I was stoked ay?! It was just one of those special moments. Again, it was just me there... awesome.

The next morning I hid a wooden sword in a tree. To me, that seemed an obvious thing to do. Scary ay?! Basically, I was given a sword up in Broome. Someone up there had found it on the campsite and I agreed for some reason to take it. Having already seen a tree covered in plastic bottles and another with a guitar in it, I decided enough was enough and it was time to stick a sword up in one! So, if you are bored out of your mind, find these Co'ords (Google maps works): E131.31246, S31.36092, and it's just near there! Scary ay?!

Later that day I turned off the highway and went 32k's (dirt track) to Fowlers Bay. Good size jetty, loads of dunes! Eventually got to Ceduna where Matilda was inspected for Fruit Fly and anything else I was trying to smuggle across state lines... yes sir, it was like a god damn episode of boarder security!

Ended up racing the sun to Pildappa rock, 15k's north of Minnipa via another dirt track. That was pretty close, I almost mist the sun hitting the rock. Pildappa rock is basically a monster chunk of granite, which looks a bit like Wave Rock Vs Ayres Rock (Uluru), it's awesome. Another great thing about it is that no one really goes there because no one has really heard of it.

Stayed next to the rock that night and got up pretty early the next day for some pictures. Climbed up the thing and sat in a carved out hole watching the sun come up. Here's a picture:

That same day I drove back towards the sea and all the way down the coast, through Streaky Bay, Port Kenny, Elliston, Sheringa, Wangary. Stopped just northwest of Port Lincoln. I killed so many mossies that night it was stupid – lost count after about 30! Also saw a fair amount of lizards and snakes. Lizard shot:

Hit Port Lincoln and then ran up the other side of the peninsula. To be honest, pretty much every town/village (Tumby Bay, Arno Bay, Cowell) on the way from Port Lincoln to Port Augusta was pretty. Reached 40k's south of Port Augusta late that day.

My main mission the next day was to pass through Jamestown - enough said. I did that and saw some amazing rare cars lined up at a garage in another town along the way. Reached Port Pirie and the place was like a ghost town. Found out later that it was probably because the Bathurst car race was on - a seriously big event in the Aussie calendar!

'the Laide' (James’ slang for Adelaide) was next on the list.

After I drove through Redhill (S.A.), I got to Adelaide. It was a fair ol' shock when I got there. Hadn't been in a city as big as that for ages! After driving around like a lunatic for ages, I broke out of the city and skretched to a halt at the Norton Summit, up in the Adelaide hills (east of the city)! I then regrouped with a new plan.

After driving around like a lunatic again I eventually, after a short stop at Bonython Park, ended up at a free car park (sorted) and walked into the City. Had a good look round the botanical garden and saw a really old monster greenhouse thing. Found myself strutting along North Terrace looking around at all the sights, the uni's, massive shops and other huge buildings. Later, when walking back to the car, I spoke to a girl who I think thought I was stalking her. Turns out she'd gone from an African Village to America, then after 6 years they had enough and moved to Oz. Oki doki. Zigzagged out of 'the laide' and into the Barossa Valley. The day was done.

Yeah, all very cool, lovely and great. Drove past Jacob's Creek's HQ and got very vine-yarded-out. If I saw one more vine I was gonna go mad! Made my way to an awesome Holden-sponsored car museum at Birdwood. Spent a good few hours being a geek there. Headed down to Handorf and then through Littlehampton (S.A.). Crossed the river Murray then, that night I stopped just north of Kingston S.E. (S.E. stands for South East as far as I know, not Second Edition ).

Giant Lobster @ Kingston:

One of a few 'pink' lakes in S.A.:

Mt Gambier was up next. Walked around the massive 'Blue Lake', which is a big ol' extinct volcano filled with water. Awesome view looking down into the thing! Also drove around a few other lakes. Engelbrecht Cave was an interesting little place; 800 metres of underground caves, running under the Princes Highway and under about 6 houses. To really round off the 'cave day' I went over to the Umpherson Sinkhole.

A sinkhole is a cave that's roof has fallen in; I thought it sounded like a sewerage works actually. The guy way back when who owned the place decided to make a garden at the bottom of it, why not?

I jumped down the steps to the bottom and had a good look about the place. No one must be interested in this stuff as it was just me down there! Here's a picture:

The next day took in Portland, Port Fairy and Warrnambool. Port Fairy was probably the best looking one, lots of one off boutique shops etc. Drove over to Thunder Point at Warrnambool and had a walk about.

Then it was time for the Great Ocean Road...

My plan was to do the whole road in one day and to get pretty close to Melbourne. Which worked, but it was a crazy day!

Started off by visiting the Bay of Islands. Loads of massively eroded limestone rocks spread out in the bay - cool. Saw another snake shortly after that. The Grotto was a large archway eroded over time. London Bridge came up next, or what's left of it anyway. Back in 1990 part of it collapsed leaving two tourists stranded on the outer bit. They did survive .
Port Campbell was your archetypal holiday-place-by-the-sea - pretty and touristy. Loch Ard Gorge and Mutton Bird Island came up after, then the Twelve Apostles. Unfortunately I couldn't really wait to leave there. There were so many tourists and all the time I was there, there were 2 helicopters hovering above on tours. It was madness! The road wound it's way to Lavers Hill and twisted and turned it's way though and up the sides of a few very green valleys. Really good views out across the valleys from the top. The road then carried us (Matilda and I) down the hillsides and eventually we came to Apollo Bay.
To be honest, you really could spend quite a long time hanging about in Apollo Bay or in any of the towns along the coast. They are all laid back cool looking places. Had a coffee in Nautigals then got stuck back into it! The road was really amazing now, it would run all the way down to sea level, and then it would rise up high along the cliffs. The views were immense - large green valleys tumbling into the sea. I passed through Lorne, then stopped off at Bells Beach and looked out at the waves. It was another place where I could have quite happily looked at the sea all day long.
Had another crazily cold shower at Torquay, which was all very surfy and cool and then moved along past Geelong. Got to a servo and had a 'Cafe One Lot Style Steak Sandwich', which was not good... at all! Strolled off back to the van, which was off into the darkness in a rest area next to the servo and eventually... finally... went off to bed!

London Bridge:

12 Apostles:

Melbourne!!!

I drove straight through Melbourne with my mouth open. I hadn't seen a city this big for ages!! Passed over the West Gate Bridge, which is like our Queen Elizabeth II Bridge up at Dartford. Hung about in Frankston for a while then continued down to Mt Martha where Mum and Dad's mates, Kim and Steve, live.

This is where I have been for a few days now. It's been a nice change not to have to hunt for a shower and washing machine!

Planning on actually visiting Melbourne this next week and then the mission continues...

Hope you lot are all OK, take it easy and I'll get another update sorted at some point!

Cheers guys,

Jimbo!

Been a while guys, so here goes!

After Perth I swung northwards to Gingin to visit some German mates who were working at a servo. Bit of a strange few days as I think reality hit home that I was back out again, just me and the van!

I hung around up there for a few days, playing the guitar, planning the next bit of the trip etc, then it was time to swing round again and head south!

I'd pre-arranged to see some guys I'd met over in Longreach that day and ended up having Sunday lunch, a few beers and a film, which was pretty awesome! Slept that night in the van, in a garage - just the end of another 'different' day ay!?

Over the next day or so I worked my way south, down along the main highway and then along another road, which runs parallel to the sea next to Margaret (Cave Road). I had arranged to meet the daughter of the couple that I had just stayed with.

Cave road:

We met down in Augusta - the most southwesterly point in Oz. What followed was a cool day cruising back up Cave Road, stopping at a couple of wineries and doing some other bits of sight seeing here and there. Cave Road is awesome; it winds its way through monster impossibly-straight Karri trees. I could drive it all day long...

Anyway!

Next day I wound my way up north-east to Balingup (Magic Mushroom land), then down south-east to Pemberton where I decided to walk round a big ol' dam - all 3k's of it in the rain. This was definitely a low point !

Tree Top walk was next, just past a place called Walpole. That really was seriously well worth the drive . At it's highest point it soars 40 metres above the ground, into the Tingle Tree canopy, on a suspended metal walkway, which is designed to 'sway' in the breeze! I thought it was so good that I went round it twice (tight git, had to get my money's worth ay?!). Then I walked through the 'Ancient Empire' garden, which was at ground level. Just walked around staring open-mouthed at the trees.

The Tree Top Walk:

In a tree @ the garden:

Just before Denmark, Madfish Bay:

Denmark was the next up. Real pretty little place. Ocean Beach (original name ay?) was just down the road and I had the coldest shower I have ever had. No joke, my head was still hurting about 10-20 minutes after I got out of it!! Happy(ish) after my insanely cold shower I checked the map and aimed the van at a place called Torbay Bay. Well, the sea was really close down there and so were the mossies. After having a few drinks in the wagon later in the evening, I jumped out, well, kind of stumbled out of the side door and was greeted by a little fury animal... like a big rat. I reckon it was a tree Kangaroo or something like that (small, rat like, fury little bugger). Whatever it was, it took some of my finest British expletives to fend it off!

Reached Albany the next morning. Parked up, walked through the shopping mall, out onto the street, past a guy talking about 'finding Jesus'. Managed to find some refuge from the mayhem outside in a Guitar shop. Probably the highlight of the day was finding a free, hot shower. That might not sound like much, but believe me, it's like the average bloke striking gold! I managed to get myself way out of the city that night and breathed a sigh of relieve when it was just the bush and me once again! That night I heard the most amazing mix of creatures making the strangest sounds. One even sounded like a woman talked quietly in the bush somewhere, which was freaky as hell after a while. Seriously, they had a whole orchestra out there!

Me out of Albany:

Passed through Jerramungup. Stopped at Ravensthorpe but had no phone signal and I wanted to call Dad up so decided to push on to Esperance. All in all I had no signal between Albany and Esperance (480k's according to Google). On the way to Esperance I had to stop off, as she (Matilda) was getting a little warm. I found myself bleeding the radiator whilst a storm was starting to kick off, dust kicking up, sky turning black. Then it started to chuck it down. I seemed to enjoy it for some reason! I made Esperance had a chat with Dad then drove about and went another 40k's E of town and parked up for the night.

Cruised around Esperance in the morning and along the ocean road to Twilight Bay. Finished off behind the Shell servo, back in town, fiddling with the passion wagon ! Then walked the entire length of the jetty. Visited the Museum (yeah, another one!). Waved good-bye to Esperance and bolted north through Salmon Gums and stopped off just north for the night, not too far from the railway track.

Battled the van in the morning, fixing her up again. So, there I was with the flies trying to get up my nose and in my mouth; the ants (not friendly ones) trying to bite me, scrabbling about under the van. Was wondering to myself whether I would be in the newspapers in 50 years time: "Backpackers body finally found, pile of bones under rusted van".

Needless to say, I finished up, swore at the flies and carried on. Norseman was next on the map and to be honest the only thing I found worth really looking at was a mining slag heap!

From there I started the Nullarbor. On the first day I drove Australia's longest stretch of straight road, 90 miles long (146.6K's). It took me 1 hour 45 minutes to cross, 2 albums worth of music ish. Apart from going slightly up and down, it was dead straight. Mad.

End of the earth. Looking off the coast along the Nullarbor:

The day after that I found some amazing sand dunes 5k's south of Eucla via a dirt track (not far from the S.A. boarder). That was all really surreal as I bumped into another couple who I had met in Longreach (Queensland) about 6 months earlier. Then it was just me, these big almost-white sand dunes, brilliant blue sky and, in the distance, the sea. Just awesome. Here's a shot of it:

After that weird little adventure I waved goodbye to W.A. and said hello to S.A.!

The rest of my time in Broome was spent working for a party hire firm and manning a betting machine for half a day at the races (the most stressful job I’ve done – ever!). I also did a little bit of gardening too, played some cards and had a few fires on the beach. That’s just a little bit of what happened. A Dutch girl there (Sofie) spoke to me and I agreed I’d give her a lift to Perth.

Here’s a little bit about what happened on the way down. It took about a week and a half in total…

From Broome we headed out on the highway past my old camp site (a rest area 25k’s out of town). Just past that there was a bush fire in full swing. You know when your close when the birds are flying right out at you from the bush and you can see flames licking up round the trees. Needless to say, we didn’t go back to my old camp and sing songs round ‘the fire’ !

We reached the roadhouse which sits on the cross roads between the main highways and dropped off Anna and Sebastian who were going to hitch hike down to Perth via a friendly truckie. They have made it; I’m off to see them today!

Then it was a long drive down past Eighty Mile Beach – maybe it’s 80 miles long, what do you reckon ? That night we stopped just before Port Hedland, in the bush somewhere.

We had a look around Port Hedland the next morning then cut inland to Karajini National Park. Saw a few dust storm tornado things on the way down which was pretty cool especially when one was next to the van and running along just as fast as we were!

At Karajini we bumped into a few French dudes. I’d actually seen them in a car park up at Broome smearing their van with red dirt and drawing things on it like ‘Make Love Not War’. Anyway, the next day we did a couple of little walks together and saw a few waterfalls and gorges. Ended up having a swim in a water hole (no crocs ).

Here's the dudes:

Sofie and I were going to check out another camp site in the park but decided that we would skip it. So, we left the park and headed towards Tom Price (yes, that is a real town name!) where we bumped into the Frenchies again! We hooked up in a convoy and camped the night down a dirt track just north of Paraburdoo, next to a dried up river. On the other side of the river there were a few cows who looked pretty confused as to what we were up to.

I heard Sofie shout “Ahhhh!! It’s a spider!!”, so I went over to have a look and threw it over towards the river - happy days! After that I cooked dinner and then we just sat round the fire that the French guys had lit and talked about random stuff and listened to Bob Dylan and drunk some grog!

The next day was pretty crazy. Again, we hooked up in a convoy towards Cape Range National Park (near Exmouth), which is right out on the coast. It was about 650k’s so it was enough . After battling the last section through mobs of roo’s, we arrived at our camp site. Again, Sofie managed to attract a spider, which I had to get rid of again.

Turquoise Bay was our first stop the next day. Did a fair amount of snorkelling and ended up back at another camp site watching the sun set over the sea whilst being battered by the wind!

Next morning we went to Oyster Stacks for a quick look but we both looked at each other and said “Nah, too cold”. So that was that and we jumped back out onto the road and ran towards Exmouth killing another snake on the way! By the afternoon we had reached Coral Bay and I saw the best – you guessed it – Coral I’ve ever seen. The fish weren’t bad either! There were parrot fish (I think) and other pretty ones that I have never seen before. Also bumped into a ray of some kind and decided to walk back round the bay instead of swimming it! A friendly roo also decided to jump out of the bushes right next to us. He was pretty cool and got really close. We left Coral Bay and stopped off at a place just north of Carnarvon along the North-West Coastal Highway passing back across the Tropic of Capricorn were I took some more look-at-me-next-to-this-sign shots .

Roo @ Coral Bay:

Me-at-the-sign shot:

Carnarvon was a fairly small little town. Had a walk around the bay and phoned someone I had been given an address for. Sofie and I went over for drinks and the guys I met in Longreach (Queensland) that gave me the contact details were there too which was weird! They gave us some massive prawns that had been caught locally and told us of a good camp place just 45k’s south of town. So, that’s exactly what we did. We drove 45k’s south of town, 7k’s along a dirt track and ended up right next to the sea. I cooked up the prawns and we ate pretty well that night!

The next day we finished off just north of the turn off to Kalbarri National Park. Then we hit Kalbarri and thrashed it senseless for a day! It involved a fair amount of dirt track (again), a bit of walking and a lot of wow-check-that-out expressions! There was some seriously amazing stuff in there, monster gorges and river ways and seriously big views. Well worth the drive! We eventually popped out the other side and landed in Kalbarri town – well, more like a small village really ay?! The coast line round there was breathtaking, massive eroded layers of rock stepping down into the sea. The views were vast as usual!

Sandy track @ Kalbarri:

View along the Coast @ Kalbarri:

The general scenery was changing now and looked almost English-like in some parts. The fields were getting greener and there were more trees about. We passed a few fields coated in purple flowers which made a change from staring at northing but dusty-rocky nothingness!

Geraldton was a good little place. We managed to grab a shower for 2 bucks from a Backpackers place. That was awesome! Had a look about the place and ended up in a music shop chatting to a woman about guitars. It was strange being back in a good size town again. In the afternoon we carried on down the road by about 400k’s. By this point we were about 70k’s north of Perth.

Flew off towards Cottesloe where Sofie had booked a place to stay. We had a de-briefing in a café next to the beach and agreed we’d meet up in Perth. By early evening I managed to get in touch with some of Nick and Cristina's contacts near Perth. They said dinner was on and if I hurried I could grab some and no worries about staying over! I went over to the bottle shop and bought some booze then flew across the city to Rockingham (40k’s south of Perth ish). That night I actually slept in a real bed for the first time in about 4 or 5 months! I was pretty happy and that’s an understatement!

So, for the last week or so I’ve been living in luxury and have been visiting Perth and Freo (Fremantle). I love Freo, it’s the closest thing to Brighton that I’ve found so far! The guys I’ve been staying with Troy, Jodie and baby Kayd have been awesome!

Now though it’s time to pack up and move on again. I’m off north to visit some German mates, then south towards Margret River.

That’s about that… catch ya later!!

Here's a map of the route which hopefully will still work! Excuse the monster link!

http://maps.google.com.au/maps?f=d&saddr=Broome,+WA&daddr=Great+Northern+Hwy+to:Paraburdoo+Tom+Price+Rd+to:Paraburdoo+Tom+Price+Rd+to:Yardie+Creek+Rd+to:Coral+Bay+Rd+to:Babbage+Island+Rd+to:Ajana+Kalbarri+Rd+to:Wanneroo+Rd+to:Stirling+Hwy+to:Kwinana+Fwy+to:Canning+Hwy+to:Hurst+Rd+to:-32.298125,115.740752+to:Tampico+Ct&hl=en&geocode=%3BFXRfyf4djg0SBw%3BFdJ1pf4dDrgFBw%3BFVYmnv4dhAIEBw%3BFTkosv4dDqLLBg%3BFYLgnv4dEiTIBg%3BFUxyhP4d4i3GBg%3BFZBUWf4dcifOBg%3BFRzxIf4d3N7jBg%3BFUrDF_4d-mjmBg%3BFRZCGP4d_q7nBg%3BFfw0F_4d5urmBg%3BFbpVFf4dktrmBg%3B%3BFRsgE_4dDxjmBg&mra=dpe&mrcr=0&mrsp=13&sz=16&via=1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13&sll=-32.301716,115.737276&sspn=0.009177,0.019226&ie=UTF8&ll=-30.902225,116.762695&spn=4.769058,9.84375&z=7

Off I rolled again towards Kununurra. I decided that after over 1000K's of constant checking and nursing of the van, it was time to sort it once and for all! I grabbed some estimates on the prices of tools and parts and picked up an $18 bottle of 'Bar's Leaks' thinking; what the hell, I’d just give it a go. I topped up all my water containers (enough for me, a complete radiator flush and refill) and then headed 12K's west to a rest area.

Matilda then proceeded to have a full flush of her cooling system. This involved me scrabbling around in the engine bay and under her in the red dirt. Now, you really can't beat getting up close and personal with a nice hot engine around midday in northern W.A. Was is warm sir? Yes, it was bloody warm; it's like trying to work in an oven! All through this, I had to keep reminding myself that this was their wintertime... crazy!
So, I poured in the chemical gear, which after honey coloured syrup, turned into what looked like rabbit food pellets. I then poked them into the rad thinking; this is it, I’m going to die in the bush, they will find my rotten corpse, complete with gloved hand and finger, stuffed in the radiator!
Well, I followed the instructions (ish) and ran her up for 30 minutes. Then, whilst praying heavily, I looked into the rad and to my amazement it was OK! Looked underneath and, yep, OK too.

It was in this rest area that I met the English couple that I would later cross the Gibb River Road with. That night we had a fire together and for the next few days I hung around Kununurra, constantly checking the van. After a quick stop at Wyndham, where I saw the sea for the first time in about 3000K's or more, and a quick visit to 'the Grotto', a small gorge (where they claim the water is over 300 feet deep); we camped just 5K's north of the turn-off to the Gibb River Road.

Here's the prison Boad I visited:

Now, I would not have attempted this by myself. I would not have attempted around 850K's of creek and river crossings and endless dirt tracks without having the support vehicle that I had, with the recovery gear that was on hand if needed. However, next time I may choose a slightly more suitable vehicle as it was a fair challenge !
The first day included the biggest, and most challenging crossing: the Pentecost River. We're talking about a river that we estimated to be in excess of 100-150 meters wide. After we had discussed emergency plans, the best line to take, and who would get my guitar if I died making this epic crossing; it was party time!
So, as I rolled to the waters edge and stared across what seemed like an inland sea - hands sweaty, mouth dry, 1st selected - I knew there was no turning back. Mayhem then followed. As the front wheels touched the water, I would her up in 1st, then firmly pinned the loud pedal to the floor, whilst bouncing over the rocky loose surface beneath the water. Apparently I could be heard shouting and screaming from the halfway point. One other thing to mention; this was also croc country too ! To say I was happy when I reached the other side with van and myself intact would be an understatement.

Here's the crossing in progress

Over 6 days along the track we visited many different gorges: Barnett River, Galvans, Bell and Windjana Gorge.

Barnett River gorge was very beautiful. I had a swim then sat on a rock just looking around the place; clear water, small fishes, a little waterfall and a couple of palms chucked in for good measure.

Track to Barnett River:

We had a swim at Galvan's Gorge, which had a good size waterfull. Shortly after we found a couple; their clutch had burnt out. We ended up taking their camp trailer 40K's to the nearest roadhouse. They were lucky; they were in the middle of 2 roadhouses. It could have been a much longer trip otherwise. That night we camped with them just next to the Iminjti roadhouse.
The next day we headed onto Bell Gorge, which was a 60K detour through 2 unnamed - hard to cross in a van - creeks. Here I had a run in with a possible Whip Snake. I never saw it, but apparently it was unhappy and reared up ready to strike, then decided against it and headed off into the scrub… thank god.
Bell Gorge had an impressively big waterfall. I had a swim at the top part, which was my wash for the day! In fact, everyday we washed in creeks or waterholes. Once I took my axe just in case. Although, by the time you've seen a croc you've had it anyway.

Bell Gorge:

Soon after Bell Gorge, I had my second snake encounter, this time not as close range as before! I was driving along and noticed it coiled up at the side of the road. She was really beautiful, shimmering like a golden statue in the late afternoon sun. It was staring at me with it’s beady little eyes, poised ready to strike if I had been deranged enough to go over to it! I managed to get a picture of it:

That night we stayed at Napier Downs. In the morning we headed to Windjana; dropping my van off and their camp trailer at the crossroads.
Windjana is the site of a 360 million year old reef... nice. It's basically two very large black ridges running parallel to one another, with a river in between filled with fresh water crocs; the not-so-dangerous ones!
We had a walk through it and I took an up-close-and-personal shot of a croc sunning it's self on the bank. Here he is:

When we got back to the van and trailer, I noticed something wrong. The trailer's wheel bearing had blown out somewhere down the track. Steve, with myself as the passenger, then had to drive 125K's to Derby, find a mechanic to fix it, then drive back. I think we started around 2 and got back around 6ish. The next day we repeated the same route to Derby; the last leg of the Gibb River Road.
In Derby we had a look about; I headed to the jetty then looked around the town. Out of town I visited a prison Boab (one I mentioned earlier) and a little pool built in WW2.
I met up with the guys at a rest area along the Great Northern Highway enroot to Broome; somewhere near Bendunburra I think.
Then I came to Broome. I've met up with the English couple briefly a few times but have been mainly hanging around with a German crew.

I've been in Broome for over two weeks now, looking for work, swimming in the Indian Ocean, playing frisbee, learning German, and learning cookery from my mate who's a cheff! To be honest, I would be in Perth by now, but the weather down there is way worse than London, and I'm not having that! I’ve got a job next week taking bets at a horse race (ladies day !), which should be an interesting experience! I'll stay here and earn some money for one or two months, then the quest will continue!

There's worse places to be:

Me at 'the rest area':

There you have it...

Hope everyone is well,

James

Just before the border and after it for tens of miles around, there is nothing... I mean it!

You drive and drive and all there is either side of the highway is burnt grass. If you are lucky you may see a tree within a couple of miles and maybe a fence but that is it. The highway, which stretches endlessly in front of you, melts into a heat haze that appears to mark the edge of the earth. Sometimes you really do feel that you could be the last human on the planet. I can't put it into words, but take it from me; you have to see it yourself to believe it!
That night I was just getting ready to have a quiet little fire by myself, when a car rolls up with three Dutch chicks... sorted! What followed was a mixture of fire, beer, coffee, marshmellows, the guitar and another little substance that our Dutch friends are famous for !

I bumped into the Stuart Highway the next morning. To the South lies Alice and eventually Adelaide, to the North, Darwin. I dropped down to Tennent Creek, which was just as shady as the Lonely Planet had described. Here I bought myself a small axe and walked down the street holding it. Remember, this is Australia; humans are the least of your worries . I swung the van round at the south side of the street and shot northwards towards 'Banka Banka' station, 100 or so K's away.
That night I watched a slide show on the workings of the station. Just to put the land they work in perspective; all three stations when added together amount to the same landmass as Jamaica. That’s pretty big ay? I found a water leak on the love wagon the next morning that would continue to annoy me for more than 1000K's to come.

Anyway, Newcastle Waters was next. Here I checked out a few deserted buildings including the Junction Inn, which used to be where the cattle stock routes crossed. Daly Waters came next. I treated myself to the first meal out since I had left Brissy; which now seemed like a lifetime ago. There was an interesting little shack just over the road from the pub which had had a helicopter craned onto it just days before. Yep, i'm not kidding, a complete helicopter!

Here ya go:

That afternoon I went just down the road to an old WW2 aerodrome. That was awesome! Still smelt of engine oil from - I’d like to think - WW2. I got talking to a couple and after dinner and wine (bloody marvelous!); we took a walk along the airstrip as the sun was setting. When the sun had finally buried it's self into the horizon, we looked up and saw a few satellites. We had a fire and camped right next to the hanger. Where else can you do that? For free too!

Mataranka was my next stop. Here I went to Bitter Springs, just into the Elsey National Park. I met a young (made a change from all the oldies i've met !) couple that had driven up the Great Central Road. The Great Central Road runs diagonally from a place called Laverton (North of Kalgoorlie - W.A.) to the Olgas in the N.T. It's 'unsealed', which seems to be an Aussie universal term for anything less than a tarmac road. So it could be gravel, sand; include creek and river crossings, or a mixture of anything! Bitter Springs was a pretty rock pool with a few scattered palms and crystal clear water. It was croc free, at least I'm 99.9% sure it was . So, after swimming through pondweed and swarms of mossies - it was pretty, not perfect - I said goodbye to the couple and found myself camping just south of Katherine.

I visited Katherine gorge in the Nitmulik National Park, which seems to blend into the Kakadu National Park to the north according to my map. I clambered up to the lookout and looked along the gorge. It was, a fairly massive gorge; people in canoes seemed like ants on little tree leaves! I turned around and headed along the ridge, and then down to the car park. It was a good walk and the notice board I read after said that it would reach 40 °C that day on the track... lovely jubly! Katherine was the northernmost point I got to; from here it was all down hill!

Here’s a shot of the canoeists in the gorge:

Katherine was also the only other place, apart from Tennent Creek, where I had phone signal. Yep, no phone signal for hundreds of miles. So, when you’re trying to call for help, whilst being mauled by a rabid crocodile, or an ill-tempered hungry dingo, or physco possum, you may as well give up. No one will hear you scream and your phone won't work either... just forget it! Carry a knife and pray you don't meet any of Australia's finest!

On a more cheerful note, the trip from Katherine along the Victoria Highway was a long (no change there then!), but fairly interesting one. The scenery deadlock finally broke; the trees changed, the hills changed, there were more dead things on the road! I passed through Victoria River then Timber Creek, both tiny places. Later along the highway the Boab trees started cropping up. They are amazing trees, some older than Christ. As they grow they become hollow. I later visited a Boab that had been used as a jail! From memory, they are only found elsewhere in Madagascar.
The last place I visited in the N.T. was the Keep River National Park, which is just before the border to W.A. 18K's of dirt track with a little sand (all apparently OK for 2WD) made the trip a whole lot of fun! I met a grader who was thoughtfully clearing my rally track, then I arrived at the place where I was planning on starting my walk.
The scenery was literally breathtaking; made all the more powerful because I was the only one there. The contrasting colours of the layered rocks, with their many shades of red; burnt trees with strange flowers and fruit, many other strange palms and a piercing blue sky to top it off.

It was then time to dump everything that wouldn't pass the strict quarantine checks at the border, and to take the usual me-at-the-border shots . I was met by a dude with a clipboard and had to show him the contents of the van and coolbox. Still not sure whether he was making sure the van was suitable to pass, or whether I was!