Darwin to Alice
Day 4
The day started badly. I woke up at 6.30 and ran down to the bus, suddenly realising I was 1 hour late. The bus had left without me - because there was a mix up with the rooms at the hostel when we were checking in no one knew where I was staying. There were 2 Adventure Tours buses there ready to start the Kakadu trip and the drivers where laughing - telling me that flights to Alice where expensive. Luckily they did then help me out and got reception to call the office who contacted my driver. I was amazed when the driver agreed to come back for me. Fortunately the driver had been running late then he had taken some people to the Adventure Tours office to register so had not been that far out of Darwin.
When I got on the bus I was dissapointed to see that hardly anyone from the Kakadu trip was on my bus as it had been such a good group. Again luckily it worked out as our driver (Carl - who always seemed to be stoned) was training the other bus driver (Kiwi) so the two groups joined up. We were a big group which was not supposed to happen according to the brochure (small group adventure) but I was pleased to be with my friends.
I felt a bit rough for the rest of the day and as I got the last seat on the bus it was very uncomfortable with no head rest so I kept falling asleep on the person next to me.
After a breakfast stop we stoped for a swim at Edith Falls a fresh water pool and waterfall where we also had lunch.
We then went onto Katherine Gorge (Nitmiluk). It was a hot day and a lot of the group decided to go Kayaking up the river. I definately was not in the mood for that so took a boat cruise up two of the gorges. The gorges were not connected so we had some walking to do in between. The gorges were pretty impressive - we also saw so Aboriginal rock art and a fresh water crocodile.
It was still very hot when we pulled into camp - we were staying in fixed tents with bunks in. I couldn't sleep as it was but then a couple of French lads from the other bus started going on like five year olds looking for attention shouting and screaming at each other for a good couple of hours. The group got there revenge the next day as the French were really tired and hungover - the bus decided to do Karaoke and everytime one of them tried to get to sleep they would get nudged.
Day 5
I was feeling a lot better the next day even though I'd not had much sleep.
We continued our journey South down the Stuart Highway the story behind the road is pretty interesting and our driver had a funny way of telling it. Our first stop was the Mataranka's crystal clear thermal pools. Fortunately they weren't that hot and it was nice to have a swim. In the trees over the pool there was loads of big flying Foxes.
From Mataranka we stopped at the famous Outback pub at Daly Waters,the oldest in the Northern Territory. People from all over the World had left stuff in the pub and there was even a Sunderland shirt up on the wall.
We bumped into a couple from our Kakadu trip who had hired a car and were driving to Alice (Jeff and Sarah) - I would keep bumping into them for the next couple of trips.
Our next stop was Tennant Creek to buy booze before we headed to our overnight camp at Juno Horse Farm. A lot of people had beer stolen the night before so everyone was keeping an eye on what they bought - I reckon that stealing beer is a low crime especially when everyone is on a budget.
I slept much better after a few beers. We were sleeping under the stars in Swags which was much cooler and there were no annoying French children keeping us awake.
Day 6
Day 6 started with a swim at the Mary Ann Dam in the Honeymoon Ranges. This was funny as Kiwi, the driver of the other bus managed to get lost. We then went on to the Devils Marbles. The Devils Marbles are described as granite rocks of volcanic origin eroded over time into the form and formation they are today.
We got a bit lost climbing around and had to climb some rocks to find our way back to the bus.
We stopped for lunch at an Aboriginal art Gallery for a BBQ but it was red hot.
We arrived in Alice Springs and stayed at Melankas hostel - I'd heard some real horror stories about the place but fortunately my room was OK. We had a few beers and a group meal as not everyone was continuing on the same trip. There was a lizard show from the local reptile house then more games to win free alchol some of which were quite entertaining. I didn't stay up too late though as I didn't want to miss the bus again the next day!!
The day started badly. I woke up at 6.30 and ran down to the bus, suddenly realising I was 1 hour late. The bus had left without me - because there was a mix up with the rooms at the hostel when we were checking in no one knew where I was staying. There were 2 Adventure Tours buses there ready to start the Kakadu trip and the drivers where laughing - telling me that flights to Alice where expensive. Luckily they did then help me out and got reception to call the office who contacted my driver. I was amazed when the driver agreed to come back for me. Fortunately the driver had been running late then he had taken some people to the Adventure Tours office to register so had not been that far out of Darwin.
When I got on the bus I was dissapointed to see that hardly anyone from the Kakadu trip was on my bus as it had been such a good group. Again luckily it worked out as our driver (Carl - who always seemed to be stoned) was training the other bus driver (Kiwi) so the two groups joined up. We were a big group which was not supposed to happen according to the brochure (small group adventure) but I was pleased to be with my friends.
I felt a bit rough for the rest of the day and as I got the last seat on the bus it was very uncomfortable with no head rest so I kept falling asleep on the person next to me.
After a breakfast stop we stoped for a swim at Edith Falls a fresh water pool and waterfall where we also had lunch.
We then went onto Katherine Gorge (Nitmiluk). It was a hot day and a lot of the group decided to go Kayaking up the river. I definately was not in the mood for that so took a boat cruise up two of the gorges. The gorges were not connected so we had some walking to do in between. The gorges were pretty impressive - we also saw so Aboriginal rock art and a fresh water crocodile.
It was still very hot when we pulled into camp - we were staying in fixed tents with bunks in. I couldn't sleep as it was but then a couple of French lads from the other bus started going on like five year olds looking for attention shouting and screaming at each other for a good couple of hours. The group got there revenge the next day as the French were really tired and hungover - the bus decided to do Karaoke and everytime one of them tried to get to sleep they would get nudged.
Day 5
I was feeling a lot better the next day even though I'd not had much sleep.
We continued our journey South down the Stuart Highway the story behind the road is pretty interesting and our driver had a funny way of telling it. Our first stop was the Mataranka's crystal clear thermal pools. Fortunately they weren't that hot and it was nice to have a swim. In the trees over the pool there was loads of big flying Foxes.
From Mataranka we stopped at the famous Outback pub at Daly Waters,the oldest in the Northern Territory. People from all over the World had left stuff in the pub and there was even a Sunderland shirt up on the wall.
We bumped into a couple from our Kakadu trip who had hired a car and were driving to Alice (Jeff and Sarah) - I would keep bumping into them for the next couple of trips.
Our next stop was Tennant Creek to buy booze before we headed to our overnight camp at Juno Horse Farm. A lot of people had beer stolen the night before so everyone was keeping an eye on what they bought - I reckon that stealing beer is a low crime especially when everyone is on a budget.
I slept much better after a few beers. We were sleeping under the stars in Swags which was much cooler and there were no annoying French children keeping us awake.
Day 6
Day 6 started with a swim at the Mary Ann Dam in the Honeymoon Ranges. This was funny as Kiwi, the driver of the other bus managed to get lost. We then went on to the Devils Marbles. The Devils Marbles are described as granite rocks of volcanic origin eroded over time into the form and formation they are today.
We got a bit lost climbing around and had to climb some rocks to find our way back to the bus.
We stopped for lunch at an Aboriginal art Gallery for a BBQ but it was red hot.
We arrived in Alice Springs and stayed at Melankas hostel - I'd heard some real horror stories about the place but fortunately my room was OK. We had a few beers and a group meal as not everyone was continuing on the same trip. There was a lizard show from the local reptile house then more games to win free alchol some of which were quite entertaining. I didn't stay up too late though as I didn't want to miss the bus again the next day!!
posted by Phil at 7:48 AM
2 Comments:
Very interesting photos here. I linked here through a search.
http://sms100.blogspot.com/
No stuart highway story then? ;-)
Pics look good - love Jen xxxx
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