31/7/02

Lazy'ish day. Didn't do anything much in the morning other than sort out all the tours for the rest of the week, they are super helpful @ this site so it was quite easy. Went into Port Douglas after lunch for a walk around. We got the bus in, it does a pickup from all the big resorts so we got to see quite a bit, it's very posh here, the golf courses look fantastic. There's only one street of shops in town, most of them are very expensive. The beach is really nice, white sand for miles and the sea is turquoise in colour.

29/7/02

Drove to Mount Surprise. We stopped @ the Cumberland chimney on the way, it's all that's left of the old gold mining town. The couple who run the petrol station and campsite have a large gem/mineral collection that is good on display in the shop.

27/7/02

Drove 500km to Normanton, didn't stop @ anything on the way as we didn't have time. M&T left @ 8am, M&D left @ 8:55, we left @ 9:45, we all arrived together.

25/7/02

Woke up to a flat tyre. One of the wheel nuts was cross threaded and wouldn't come off, gave it a good kicking and ended up snapping the wheel stud, doh! Still, there are 4 others. Drove to Mount Isa with just the 4 and it was OK, will try and get it fixed now we are in another state, clock has forward as well. Met up with M&T so we are now travelling as a big Aldridge clan + S. We can't get on the underground mine tour tomorrow, it's fully booked, so we are doing the coach trip above ground instead.

23/7/02

We've been away for 6 months today! We drove to Cape Crawford, stayed at the Heartbreak hotel. There's nothing here really (except a few million flies), it's in the arse end of nowhere. All the places for the next few days are just roadhouses as we work our way across to Cairns.

21/7/02

First stop was the termite mounds, they're huge, some 6m tall. There was 2 types, cathedral, which are the tallest, are round with spires and buttresses, hence the name I think but more like a gothic castle. The others are magnetic which are a bit like a radiator, originally people thought they were lined up north/south but they're really lined up with 1 face to the morning sun but slightly tilted into the wind. Next stop was Florence falls. We walked the Shady Creek walk through the forest to get there, only 40 mins and paved all the way. It has a large pool you can swim in, it was really warm, falls were good as well. Climbed a huge flight of stairs to get back up to carpark level, actually S and I did it twice as we needed the loo before we went swimming. Drove to Buley rockholes for some lunch. They're a series of small but deep water pools in the river that feeds the falls. Has a swim, it was very warm again. Last stop was Wangi falls, even bigger than the last. The walk around them was rubbish, not much of a view. The pool was really a lake, went swimming again. There are signs up saying we've caught all the crocs, we hope, which were a little worrying but it was OK really. Came back to the CP and went for roast dinner @ the local motel.

19/7/02

Got up early'ish and went into Darwin. Did the wharf walk by the harbour. Was a bit industrialised as this is where the docks are, it was OK, a good morning stroll. Ma and Pa left us to go to Fannie Bay, we went into town. Saw Spiderman , didn't think it was that good.

17/7/02

Went back into Darwin to do the Esplanade walk. Started @ Doctors Gully feeding the fish. They come in every high tide to be fed by the tourists, there were hundreds! Mainly diamond mullets, some catfish and milkfish which are huge, there was one small stingray and a bream somewhere in there as well. We walked back along the espie, good view of the harbour from a lookout, not much else though. Sat in an English pub for lunch, they seem to have inherited English service as well, it took ages to arrive and it was always someone else's fault. Walked up to the botanical gardens and had a quick stroll around, Dad fell asleep on a park bench, they went home after that while S and I played crazy golf.

15/7/02

Drove north east to Ubirr on the East Alligator river. Did a short walk along the bank and saw loads of crocs on the opposite beaches. Glad they were on the other side as some of them were enormous. The return loop of the walk takes you through a rain forest, which was nice, especially as it was getting on for midday and it kept the sun off. After lunch we did a walk in the other direction. No crocs but did see a snake in the river, couldn't identify it though. The walk took us through what the guide book called "stone outliers", it's a lot of sandstone that has been eroded into some very strange shapes. The beds are still horizontal which made the patterns better, it wasn't that good though! We drove up to Ubirr and had a look @ a lot of rock art. Most of it was just used as a blackboard for teaching stories so they have painted over and over the older stuff. Climbed up to the lookout and watched the sunset, the view was amazing.

13/7/02

Drove to Jabiru in Kakadu NP. Stopped at Edith Falls on the way to have a quick look. It was nice, if we had more time in Katherine we would have done one of the walks. 1st impression of Kakadu was the green, it's been greenish all the way up but a kind of dusty green. Now, where there's obviously more water, it's a much deeper green, more lush. CP is OK, pool is nice, very big.

11/7/02

Went to Katherine gorge to do a walk. After a look round the visitors centre we set off on the Windorf 4.5km walk. It wasn't that good really, the path was either a creek bed or had had loads of gravel dumped on it and it made it tiring to walk on. At the end of the trail the path spilt two ways. The 1st took you to Pat's lookout which gave you a fantastic view the 1st gorge from the top of the cliffs. The 2nd track was a climb down into a side ravine that lead to a waterhole. When we were nearly at the bottom mother decided to throw herself down the hill, she gashed her thumb quite badly on a rock, a deep cut the length of her thumbpad. Our emergency 1st aid kit, that we have brought with us from England, finally got some use and I patched her up a bit. We did carry onto the waterhole, Ma was being brave, she didn't cry and insisted on seeing it now we'd come this far. It wasn't really worth it in the end, the waterhole, which you are supposed to be able to swim in, looked like a couple of coach loads of people had had a bath in it. After lunch we quick marched back to the van, it was to hot to be going that fast really, 40 deg C on the trail, and Dad drove us to the A&E. S and I went off shopping as they were going to be a while, Ma now has a row of six stitches in her thumb.

9/7/02

Continued up the track to Daly Waters. Another stop off point but it has the oldest pub in the NT. We had a meal there in the evening as the campsite is next door, beef and barra barbie, was very nice, huge portions. Shame about the live entertainment, some old couple who had yet to work out that they couldn't sing were playing country and western songs badly to a kareoke CD, best part of it was when a couple of lads got up and sang a few songs, then a locals wife sang the "O lord wont you buy me a Mercedes Benz" Janice Joplyn number, they got more applause than the old couple did all night.

7/7/02

Up early for the free pancakes, couldn't get any where near the front of the queue it was that long so gave up. Still out early though, went to the Old Ghan railway museum to have a look round and go for a train ride. They have one huge steam loco in the shed and another couple of diesel ones. The train that pulled us was diesel, shame as I thought it would have been the steam train. Ride was fairly dull but coffee and scones were nice. The layout of the old 1st class sleeper cabins was virtually identical to what we had in Thailand, less plastic though. After that we headed off to the Desert Park. Lots of plants and birds in displays on different regions of the desert, the bird cages could have been a little bigger. The nocturnal world building was very good. Saw a Thorny Devil, some other lizards and snakes and a few endangered wallabies, they even had a Bilby and it was awake. Saw a birds of prey presentation, they showed us four types. A falcon which was tame, lots of black kites which were wild but had cottoned onto a free lunch, a buzzard and something else that we can't remember, it chased a lure and flew really fast over everyone's heads. Went back to the campsite and found someone on our plot, the campsite had cocked up the booking, again, so we ended up miles away.

5/7/02

Went, fully prepared, to do a long walk around Trephina Gorge, only problem was there wasn't a loop walk. There was a 12km walk but in one direction and we weren't up for a 24km hike. We settled for the three walks that were available to us. The 1st took us around the rim of the gorge, the 2nd was the walk back through it and the 3rd was a longer walk up and around the hill to the right. All were good but not as long as we expected, we'd finished in 2 hrs. Had some lunch and drove back to Alice. We walked up the hill behind the campsite before Ma and Pa arrived, excellent view of the town.

3/7/02

Walked into Alice Springs to have a look around the shops and find some digeridoos. Found one for N and one for me, they have both been shipped to the UK so wont see them until we get home. Mum and Dad hadn't arrived before we left the campsite but we bumped into them outside an Internet cafe opposite Todd Street Mall, they both look really well. We all went out for my birthday meal in the evening, we went to Overlanders Steakhouse. Dad and I had the Drovers Blowout, a set menu sort of like a mixed grill but with local meat, we had crocodile volouvants, kangaroo, camel and emu. Roo is about the best, camel was very tough. After the meal we all had to get up and play wobble board and sing Rolph Harris type songs with the bar room crooner, all with strange arm actions, very funny, very drunk by this time as well.

1/7/02

Drove out along the West MacDonnell ranges stopping at all the sights. First was John Flynn's grave, he's the guy that set-up the Royal Flying Doctors service so he is quite a hero round here. Then was Simpsons gap, the first of a series of gaps, chasms and gorges that rivers have cut through the mountain range. Stanley Chasm, our next stop, we had to get to for midday, it's the only time of day that the sun shines down into this narrow cut in the ranges. Without the sunlight the rocks are fairly boring but @ about 12:20, when the whole place is in the sun, they are bright red. Climbed quite a way up the gorge behind. Ellery Creek Big Hole is just that, a large, permanent waterhole. The road down to it is a bit of a bone shaker, OK if you drive @ 10kph though. We had lunch @ a roadside lookout cut on top of a hill, good view up the valley but the flies drive you mad. Next stop was Serpentine gorge, it has another bumpy road that leads to it although a bit longer. You have to walk 1.3km to get to the gorge and waterhole. It's OK, same as the others really. Last stop was the Ochre Pits where the abo's get their body paint. Camp for the night was Glen Helen Gorge Resort, a bit basic but OK. We couldn't be bothered with the 5 min walk to the gorge as we've seen enough for one day.

30/7/02

Drove to Undara where we did a guided tour of the volcanic lava tubes. The tour took four hours and we walked through four tubes, it was quite fascinating. From here we drove to Port Douglas which took about four hours. The change in the landscape was incredible. Once over the hills you were suddenly looking at green fields of sugar cane and the hills covered with tress. Went into Port Douglas with M&T and L&D for a Chinese which was lovely.

28/7/02

M&T drive us to Karumba which is right on the Gulf of Carpentaria at the mouth of the Norman river. Had lunch and walked along the beach collecting shells.

26/7/02

Had a little lie in this morning, got up about 10am. Took the van into town to get the stud fixed, found out we had to pay for it ourselves. Visited the Mount Isa mine by bus. We were driven around the surface where they mine lead, zinc, silver and copper.

24/7/02

Another day of driving, this time to Barkly homestead, once again in the middle of nowhere. Arrived at lunchtime so sat in the sun all afternoon.

22/7/02

Drove to Mataranka. Stopped in Katherine for petrol and arrived about 2 o'clock. Sat in the sun for a while then went for a swim in the thermal pool. Very nice and warm, 34 deg C.

20/7/02

Left Darwin and on the way to Batchelor visited the Territory Wildlife park. Nice park especially the nocturnal house. Arrived just before five.

18/07/02

Lazy day today. Did some laundry then sat in the sun. Aub had the van in for a service so met him in town later in the evening. Walked to Mindl beach market which was full of food and craft stalls and live entertainment. It was a good market, had to stop myself from buying too much.

16/7/02

Drove to Darwin. One short stop on the way where we saw a huge statue of a crocodile. Arrived by lunchtime so in the afternoon we all went into the city for a walk. It seems very nice.

14/7/02

Visited the Nourlangie rock where we did a circuit walk which took us first to the Anbangbang rockshelter. The shelter was filled with rock paintings. We drove to Yellow Water and visited the Warradjan aboriginal cultural centre. We then went for a walk along Yellow Water to Home billabong. Afterwards we did a two hour boat trip which was very enjoyable, we saw many birds and a few saltwater crocodiles which are quite large.

12/7/02

Hired a canoe today and paddled down the Katherine gorge. It was a really good day and very hot. We visited three of the gorges. On the way back we saw a crocodile just in the edge of the water.

10/7/02

Drove from Daly Waters to Katherine, nothing to see on the way so arrived by lunchtime. Did the laundry and sat in the sunshine. Went for a swim in the pool, it was a little chilly at first but once you were in it was OK.

8/7/02

Left the campsite at 9am but did not leave Alice until 10, shopping etc. Drove to Whycliffe Well today. Quick stop at the Tropic of Capricorn and Ti Tree on the way. Arrived a out 2pm. Visited the Devil's marbles which are giant round boulders balancing on top of each other. The rocks have been eroded by water to give them their shape. Some have spilt in two.

6/7/02

Went into town with L and D. Strolled around the shops and had lunch. Visited the old telegraph station, we had a guide show us around, it was very interesting. The line was built from Darwin to Adelaide and connected Australia to England.

4/7/02

Left Alice Springs again to visit the East MacDonnell ranges. On the way we stopped at Emily gap where we had to walk through the water to see the aboriginal paintings, the water was absolutely freezing. The next stop was Jessie gap, quite similar but dry. After that we went to Corroboree rock which is said was once used by aboriginal people as a storehouse for sacred objects. Arrived at Ross River Homestead at lunchtime, we would be spending the night here. Had an afternoon nap then walked up to the scenic lookout which was good. Lost the path on the way down so Aub made it up, had to climb down rocks!

2/7/02

Gave Aub his b'day present, a bookmark, he didn't know I was such a good artist! Walked the Orminston Pound walk which then leads to Orminston gorge. The land had recently been burnt but it was still very scenic, the walk took 3½ hours. Drove back to Alice Springs so Aub could get a signal on his mobile phone and get all his b'day messages. Cooked steak for dinner and had a few drinks.