Darwin to Alice Springs

K... these photos are not in a good order, but still give you an idea!
1. and 2. and 3. the Devils Marbles- very cool, huge boulders sit precariously on one another appearing to be ready to fall, but sitting solid. they go on for miles and miles.
4. mango wines- sparkling, sweet and a port.
5. Tropic of Capricorn
6. helicopter
7. Katherine Gorge
8 . sunset from the helicopter above Katherine Gorge
9. Katherine Hot Springs- a good old 30 degree "bath"!
10. Daly Waters Pub- the oldest in the Northern Territory
11. Charlie- Crocodile Dundee's Water Buffalo
12. Mataranka hot Springs- very warm splash!
13. me atop Katherine Gorge
14. walking through the boulders on the way down from Katherine's Gorge

All right.. the next adventure... Darwin to Alice Springs, the middle of the Outback.. the middle of no where!

Now to understand the distance we had to sit on the bus and see nothing for for hours is very hard to explain, but much worse than the journey from Smith to Edmonton.. We would drive for 2 hours and then have a snack. then drive for 3 hours and have lunch then drive for 3 hours and do a walk or something, then drive for 3 hours to our destination... we start each day about 5 AM and arrive at our destination by 6 PM or so.. and literally not much to see out the windows, but red dirt and the occasional tree! and we are still in a semi arid zone!

So out if Darwin and heading south towards Adelaide.. fun fun fun.. Our first stop was at Adelaide River (we had lunch here with the other trip as well!) and found Charlie! He was the ox/ water buffalo from Crocodile Dundee the one put to sleep with Dundee's hand.. he is dead now and they stuffed him and put him up on the bar in the pub, to have him immortalized for life! We headed off for a swim at Edith Falls and also had lunch there. A rambunctious group of army cadets were there and gave us a quick lesson in back yard cricket. We headed off to Katherine Gorge and hiked up the side of the cliffs for a great view, then a few of us went on a helicopter tour of the 13 gorges at sunset. It was pretty cool. And I loved being n the helicopter (my new calling?!?!) The ants here love me and want to travel with me..yup, they packed up and moved into my bag... hopefully they won't stay long.

The next day we are headed to Tennent Creek.. I just read a book about the disappearance of Peter Falconio that happened in this area so that is cool. We stopped for a hike and a swim to Mataranka hot Springs to start the day, stopped for lunch and a drink at the oldest Pub in the Northern territory, Daly Waters. It is also the first international airport in Australia! we spent a lot of time on the bus today.. btw- the bus is packed and very uncomfortable and the air conditioning is making me sick! We are sleeping in permanent campsites on this trip and tonight slept in a swag inside the tent. A swag is a canvas bag with a mattress built in. You put your sleeping bag inside and zip up the sides and flip over the top and you are covered from the cold and the elements.

The final day had us heading deep into the outback and to the neatest thing ever, to the Devils Marbles. These are huge pieces of circular rocks that have been pushed through millions of years ago with volcanic rocks and heating and cooling and pushing of the tectonic plates and the ice age and such. They are precariously balanced granite boulders. Some of them are even hollow! It is a spectacular site that goes on for miles. We stopped in the UFO capital of Australia, Wycliffe Well. Their store is cluttered with newspaper clippings of UFO sightings! We stopped in on a mango farm and tasted different mango wines and ice cream. the ice cream was delightful, but the wine not so good! Our final stop on the tour was at the Tropic of Capricorn... not sure what that means at this point in the world.. I need to find a map of the world..

We Are traveling on the Stuart Highway.. so names for the explorer who was the first to navigate Australia from the South to the North. It took John McDouall Stuart three attempts to get through having to deal with the Aboriginals, the weather, no water and lack of food. He finally made it through in 1863, and went a little nutty and died a few years later.. I think living or going through the Outback can drive anyone nutty!