We are doing a marathon run to the north from Alice Springs. It's about 1500 km's to Kakadu in the Northern Territory, my next goal destination. No dirt roads for this leg of the journey, just one long paved highway. I have allowed for around 500km per day (more or less depending on how we go), so that means at least 3 days of long and boring. Be prepared!
I didn't realize just how much of our country is burnt. It is either black and dead or it is still smoldering.. H O T
I understand that a lot of Australia is a controlled burn. Whatever they can burn now won't be so much of a threat emergency in the super duper hot summer (it is still Spring as I drive through).
But I couldn't help to wonder why so much of it is burnt. For hours and hours and kilometer after kilometer. From Alice Springs to Darwin, huge amounts are just burnt! How does the wildlife survive? What about all the cattle as we are continuously passing through unfenced cattle stations (unfenced so you do see the dead smelly cows a Roadtrain has plowed over) Death everywhere! And there aren't many (OR ANY) houses or towns to worry about fire emergency wise!
Through history, the Aboriginal people will burn areas as it promotes grasslands for hunting. Renews and refreshes the bushland. But is that what we are seeing? Australia in general has adopted the bushfire management plan from our original inhabitants.
This time I could tell what started the fire.. well sort of. A big road train caught fire. No idea by accident or brake sparks.. But all the area around it on both sides of the road was still burning, and nobody around.
It looks like the truck was carrying hay, and I'm hoping it wasn't for the suffering farmers in the drought.. Farm Army Rescue ??
Look! A curve!!
We came to Katherine and found a super place to camp. This private camp was so tropical compared to the hot burnt road. I sat in my little chair and just marveled at the green... and the amazing birds. I loved this camp!
We finally made it to Kakadu.. what a haul! Kakadu is a very large National Park. We made our way down to Jim Jim Falls to set up the next camp.
You can just see the heat..! This is day 3 of extreme heat for us and we are finding ways to try to keep cool. But I am hoping we acclimate to this at some stage..
We've decided to leave extra early before it gets too hot from here on in. 6:30-7:00 AM departure means Suzanne sets her alarm for 4:30 AM. She's worked out it takes her 2.5 hours to get all packed and ready for the day. I take less time but not a whole lot less ;-)
Good Morning Kakaduuuuuuu~~!!
From here I'm just looking for little tracks to explore. A lot of Kakadu is paved for the mass of tourists that come through, but we found a couple of great tracks!
We found our way to Cahills Crossing. Kind of a famous crossing that you really take a chance at survival as there are heaps of Crocodiles here. One mistake and you are croc food, in an instant. There are many here waiting for the chance. If you google it, you will see the media how they berate the backpackers for walking through the water. The road requires a permit and takes you in to Arnhemland. It is an area I would like to explore at some stage but it's not part of this trip.
See the croc's waiting for fresh backpackers to cross on the right?
We watched this truck go through.. and I can't help to imagine if we went through on the bike.. and it stalled.. how long before the crocodiles snatch us??
Luckily.. we are not going East anyway. Our goal is to head west to the Gibb River Road, so I don't have a good reason to cross this river. And we are told once the tide goes down, it wouldn't be a hard one to cross. We have a crocodile crossing coming up on the Gibb River Road ride, so not all is lost. I'm happy to move on.. Too many crocodiles here to be stupid enough to cross on a motorcycle!
These are Saltwater Crocodiles by the way. Apparently bigger and badder than the Freshwater Crocodiles.
Right here, we were watching and I was talking to Suzanne. Just then I looked down and there was a croc right there! Right at the line of that log! I yelled to Suzanne" Get back! Get back! Get back!" I said it 3 times and I know this because she has the sound recording. Neither of us got a photo though.. I paniced! I will never forget the size of that large head and his head tilted up looking right at us. I wonder if he was trying to decide if either me or Suzanne would be the better choice. That was the scariest thing. And that is their "thing" to quietly sneak up on their prey. We didn't hear the tiniest water ripple. We hear about people getting taken from croc's all the time on the news and they always say, "There are signs and warnings everywhere. Do not ignore the message" And we sort of did, and I feel bad about that. And gratefiul to still be here!
Moving on... we find a camp area right around the corner. Close enough I scan the area to see just how close we are to water that the crocodiles will come creeping around camp at night. Luckily, the information says we are in a safe area.. I can sleep. After setting up the tent early, we go for a walk to explore.
My new look! Wet bandana to cool me down.. fly net usually over my face to keep my sanity..
Next I head out to Ubirr. Suzanne doesn't want to go, but it's a very special place, so I had to go on my own. I had visited here a few years ago when I was up for work. I remember the Aboriginal ranger opening the gates for me in the morning and showing me the animal tracks and activity that passed through since they closed the gates the night before. The track puts you on top of a large rock and you can see the wetlands below. I remember so clearly the beautiful sounds of the large birds and watching them fly below me. So, I can't wait to see this again, but this time for sunset.
There is a different Ranger this time. (I was secretly hoping to see the one I met a few years ago who was born here). But she was great and explaining the Aboriginal Rock Art to some visitors, so I listened in. She explained how much the Cane Toad has destroyed local wildlife. They lay over 30,000 eggs, twice per year! That's a lot of toads!!!! And they are poisonous, killing so many that touch or eat them. If they can ever find a solution to eradicate the toads, Kakadu will be a whole different experience once the wildlife returns. The scientiests have been trying and trying as long as I have lived here in Australia (20- years) and it's still a big problem. As are the introduced rabbits, foxes, and so on.
AND, she explains they get 1.5 to 2.5 meters in the wet season. That is a LOT of rain!! Most of area of Kakadu that I am looking at from the rock ends up underwater every summer. Plus the temps go up to 50C (122F) would not be a nice visit in a few weeks time.
Aboriginal Rock Art
Now I won't have much to say.. just have a look at the views and the ancient rock art of Ubirr, Kakadu... so special, the photos don't express the real beauty in person.
Back to camp to eat dinner with Suzanne. The mosquitos were insane, I could hardly eat. I escape in to my tent as soon as it's dark to escape the crazy things... Early to bed, early to rise, makes us healthy happy and wise!
It's early, but it's already HOT...
Leaving Kakadu, we make one last stop to see the wetlands. I love birds.. and this is a magical spot. Again, I look at my own photos and they don't reflect the sheer beauty of being here.
DARWIN
No we have planned a city break for a couple of nights in Darwin. I used to come to Darwin for work, so I know what I want to see and do.
First job?? Try to get a bit of color on my very white skin!! (and laundry, haha) Good opportunity to wash EVERYTHING, while I am in a swimsuit.
Next up is the Mindle Beach Markets for an opportunity to get my favorite dinner local there, Paw Paw Salad. Little things make me happy! Markets are only open half a year as the wet season keeps them closed, so these are the final chances and we made it!
And the last treat is the Deck Chair Cinema. They just happened to be playing an Australian film, called Breathe. Made from a Tim Winton book and starring gorgeous Simon Baker. Worth a watch if you haven't seen it yet.
But to sit outside, in nice chairs, stars, moon, bats, and the odd possum in the tree. Grab a beer and relax.....
LITCHFIELD NATIONAL PARK
I have had SO many people tell me I must see Litchfield. I never got the chance when I came up for work, so now is the time.
After seeing termite mounds everywhere for days, there is a little stop here that explains them a bit. They come in all different shapes and colors, and how amazing to see these supersize mounds!
I had seen on the internet while in Darwin about a place that stood out to me , The Lost City. So down the Lost City track we go. I didn't expect a dirt track being a popular touristy spot. But no worries, we would love a break from the bitumen!
I'm trying to carry extra water and I have managed to drop the pack. Luckily Suzanne picked it up and I pulled over to re-attach. Goodness me, when Suzanne took off her helmet she was bright red from heat!! Take a break, drink water. Ugh.. the water in our Camelback is hot too, so it's not very refreshing.
Phew! Not much farther and we made our destination..
Entering the Lost City.... (I say that with an Echoing effect)
Do these look like elephants?? I think so... ;-)
Lunch time! I did my best to keep sweat from dripping on to my little lunch.. and was more than happy to get back on the bike so the breeze on my really sweaty shirt would help cool me down.
But! I fell straight out the gate! There was a curly hill just as you head out and although the photo doesn't show clearly, there was enough sand. I didn't gear down to go up hill, in sand, on a corner.. doh!
What?? Went down again!! ****!!!
I don't know why.. I had absolutely no issues riding in.. what's the problem!?
And THEN.. once we got Tony back up, I went to put the NOW BENT pannier back on and while re-attaching with a bit of force, I pushed the bike over again.. OMG!! Now I'm ticked off. We are overheating badly, it's so much harder to be doing picking up a 3rd time while we are red hot, out of breath and picking up a massively heavy bike.. in the S A N D.
Thank goodness that was the last little fall, and we made it out alive!! That was a wee bit tougher to get out of than I expected. Especially since it was so easy going in! The track was super fun.. but as the day moved on and got hotter, I was making bad decisions on gears, track etc. It was 39C today, and with a full riding suit and helmet on, I'd be curious what my body temperature was.
So glad we went in to see the Lost City. It was the highlight of Litchfield for me!
