Adventures In Alice Springs And Uluru

We arrived in Alice Springs in the early evening and decided since we didn’t want to wrestle with our make-shift window at the back of the truck to get all of our camping gear out we decided to find a hostel for the night. I picked a place at random out of our guidebook and I was pretty nervous about it because I usually use websites with guest comments before picking a hostel but I think I chose well anyway. The owners of the hostel are super friendly and the place just has a good vibe.

Once we had checked in and settled into our room we headed out for dinner. Jesse was craving crocodile so we headed to a restaurant that allegedly sold crocodile steaks, unfortunately that was a piece of misinformation but I'm glad we ended up there. The restaurant was called Overlanders Steakhouse and if it hasn’t been featured on Man Vs. Food yet then it should be with their 2kg ‘t-rex’ steak. It was a pretty unique restaurant. The menus were printed daily and contained an interesting fact from this day in history and the following days weather forecast for several major cities around the country. The décor was rustic with a lot of farming tools mounted on the wall and music by John Williamson (Australia’s version of Stompin’ Tom) echoed through the dining room. Jesse had a pretty run-of-the-mill meal with sausages made of crocodile, emu, kangaroo, and camel. I on the other hand was very adventurous and had spaghetti bolognese.

The next day our first order of business was to try to get the car fixed. We headed into ARB and I was very excited to learn they actually had the part we needed in stock and only slightly disappointed when they told us we would have to wait until Saturday to get it in the shop. Since this meant we were going to have some time to kill we ended up having a lazy day. We did some window-shopping around town, grabbed a bite to eat, and then headed to the cinema to watch Captain Phillips. Most of the evening was spent relaxing at the hostel, something we desperately needed to do after the dramas over the past few days.

Since we are still on an adventure we decided not to let the wait to get the car fixed keep us stagnant so the following morning we made the trip to Uluru or Ayers Rock. Visiting this giant rock has been on my list of things to do since I arrived in Australia and since our original plan was to follow the coast around the country I didn’t think I was going to be able to tick that box so I was pretty stoked about this opportunity.

We spent four or five hours on the road before arriving at the site full of historical and cultural significance for aboriginals. There are many hikes around Uluru and another nearby rock formation known as ‘The Olgas’ but the park puts restrictions on hikes when the temperature is above 36 degrees and since it was a scorching 41 degrees when we arrived we had limited options. Surprisingly the 10.6km walk around the walk was still open but not recommended in the heat so we decided to drive around instead. The sunrises and sunsets at Uluru are supposed to be magical as they make the rock glow red so I was looking forward to the show when we perched ourselves atop a hill along with about a hundred other tourists. Unfortunately the sky was quite cloudy and we didn’t get the display we were hoping for but it was still a pretty magnificent image in its natural state.

The previous night we went through the hassle of untying and untaping everything at the back of the truck to fish out our camping gear so we could stay at a free campground down the highway from Uluru. We didn’t think to grab the hammer until after we had resecured everything so getting the tent pegs into the ground was a challenge but we managed to get the tent up without much hassle.

This morning we headed back to the rock to do one of the hikes. Jesse wanted to make it back to Alice Springs in time to check out a didgeridoo workshop so we opted for one of the shorter hikes. We made our way from the car park to the watering hole where a spirit is said to still live today, stopping along the way to read a few of the many legends of how the rock came to be. I think the walk would be better during the wet season when waterfalls are trickling over the edges of the monster rock but it was still incredible, we even saw some cave paintings from many, many years ago.

After our hike we climbed back in the car and made our way back to Alice Springs. We were a few minutes late for the didgeridoo workshop and probably still could have joined in but Jesse said he was too hungry to care so we grabbed some lunch before heading into town to pick up a few souvenirs.

We had originally planned on camping tonight but when we finished up in town it looked like a storm was going to blow into town and our tent has seen better days so I suggested we stay at a hostel instead. So far it hasn’t rained a single drop and no longer looks like it’s going to but there isn’t much I can do about that now. I'm just happy to have a comfy bed to sleep in for the night.

Tomorrow morning we are taking the truck in to get fixed (hopefully it will only take an hour or two) and then the plan is to make our way to South Australia. I’m hoping to make it to a town called Coober Pedy, a small town known for opal mining that also has underground campsites. You better believe we will be staying at one of those campsites just to try to mix things up a little and keep life interesting.

The Stressful Journey To Alice Springs

The original goal when we hit the road on Sunday was to make it to Katherine but we had some time to play with before the sun went down so we drove a little further and made our way to Mataranka. I was glad we pushed on because as we were setting up our tent we were greeted by kangaroos, wallabies, and even a couple of peacocks. One of the wallabies was clearly used to being fed by humans and lingered around our site for about half an hour before realizing we weren’t going to give him any food and finally wandering away.

This campsite was relatively peaceful aside from some cockatoos during daylight and some bats after dusk. We puttered around most of the evening and chatted for a while with an older couple from Western Australia who visit the Northern Territory several times a year.

In the morning we had a quick bite to eat and wandered down to the nearby thermal pool to take a dip. I was expecting the pools to stink of sulphur the way any of the hot springs I’ve been to in the past have but these ones didn’t smell too bad. Feeling refreshed we headed back to tear down the campsite and pack up the car. Jesse considered doing some fishing in a nearby river hoping to catch some barramundi but decided to give it a miss and we hit the road.

Our goal for the day was to make it to Tennant Creek about 580km away. We should have been able to make it there no problems. Well I guess I got a little too cocky because about 60km outside of town the shit hit the fan. We ran out of gas. I knew this was going to happen and we had two jerry cans full of gas on the roof so when the fuel light came on in Jesse’s car I suggested we pull over at the next rest stop and top up the tank. Jesse thought it would be a better idea to let the tank empty completely before stopping. This plan didn’t work out so well because the car wouldn’t start again even though it now had half a tank of gas. It was 37 degrees out, we were 60km away from town, and I desperately needed to use the bathroom.

 I was not a happy camper. It took at least half an hour to get the engine started and you would think that our problems would end there but they didn’t. Jesse lifted up the tailgate and accidently smashed the back window of the canopy. There was broken glass everywhere and nothing to keep all of our belongings from flying out of the back of the truck as we drove on. I also still desperately need to use the bathroom. It took what felt like forever and a day but was probably more like 45 minutes to clear out most of the gas, secure our stuff temporarily and move on.

The rest of the drive to Tennant Creek was a quiet one as was most of the night. We were both stressed, exhausted, and crank from the day we had and today didn’t start off much better. We tried to find a way to secure our belongings that would also allow us to access the back of the truck since that is where all of our camping gear is stored but didn’t have much luck. We spent about 4 hours trying to make something work and eventually ended up with a temporary windshield duct taped to the back of the truck with a tarp over that and then a bunch of rope running up and down as sort of a last ditch effort in case the other two barriers fail. Getting into the back of the truck will now require significant time and effort.

The good news is we did manage to make it to Alice Springs today but I am far too tired to write about those adventures now so I will leave them for another time.

Adventures In Darwin

We arrived in Darwin around 5:30 on Thursday evening and spent the next two to three hours trying to find a place to stay for the night. It turns out camping in a tent is pretty much impossible in Darwin. None of the caravan parks allow it and if you try to do it on the side of the road somewhere you get slapped with a hefty fine. We didn’t know this before arriving so we drove to several different caravan parks receiving several different rejections with accompanying dirty looks. If we had known what a hard time we were going to have finding a place to say in Darwin we would have camped in Katherine the previous night.

We ended up finding a reasonably priced hostel in the downtown area before discovering the second major downfall of Darwin: there is no parking. We were on a street with several hotels and hostels and there were less than 100 over night parking spots. We drove around for over an hour before finding a place to leave the car for the night but Jesse still had to get up and move it before 8am to avoid a fine.

I was pretty over the city before we even got a chance to explore. I wanted to leave the next day but not before our appointment at Crocosaurus Cove. Another item on my bucket list for this trip was to swim with a crocodile and I was going to make that happen in Darwin! We spent most of the morning checking out the fish and lizards. We also got to feed some baby crocs before it was finally our turn to climb into the cage of death (a large clear tube made of very thick plastic) and go for a swim with a vicious killer.

The cage of death experience only lasts 15 minutes but it felt much longer. Our crocodile Chopper was quite cooperative during our visit and spent most of the time right next to the cage and we were told we probably had the best experience out of the day. The also fed Chopper while we were in his tank and he lunged for us with his jaw open. I scream like a little girl as he slammed against our plastic cage then laughed nervously as he inched away. It was slightly terrifying but also exhilarating and I would do it again in a heartbeat.

We climbed out of the cage, showered, changed, and headed for the reptile house where we would look at our photographs with Chopper and were also given the opportunity to hold a baby crocodile named Fluffy. This experience to me was even scarier than swimming with a fully-grown crocodile. Jesse and I got some good pictures together and he got some great ones by himself but when it was my turn to hold the croc solo I freaked out a little. Jesse and I got some good shots together and he got some great ones by himself but when it was my turn to hold the baby I got a bit squeamish and my pictures didn’t turn out very well.

Once we had finished our crocodile adventure we decided to head out of town to find a place to stay for the night but not too far out of town, as Jesse wanted to check out some local markets in the morning. We made our way to Litchfield National Park where they gladly welcomed people in tents and I had the best sleep I have had since starting this adventure.

We woke up bright and early and made our way back into Darwin. The markets Jesse wanted to visit were thriving when we arrived. This market was quite a lot bigger than the one in Broome and also a lot busier. We forced our way through the bustling crowds and eventually came across a few good finds. Jesse bought some spices and a present for his mom and I picked up a summery dress to help avoid the heat.

We checked out the food vendors at the market but nothing really jumped out at us and Jesse really wanted to try crocodile so we made our way down to the wharf. He had a crocodile schnitzel and I had a chicken stir-fry. As most of you know I'm really not very adventurous with my food but I did try a piece of Jesse’s and it tasted like chicken only fishier.

We spent most of the afternoon wandering aimlessly around Darwin and did a bit of grocery shopping before heading back to the caravan park where we made use of the running water at the campsite and made some pasta instead of our go-to dinner of sausages. We also did some laundry but by the time I had the tent put away the following morning you never would have guessed that I owned any clean clothing.

The next morning we explored Litchfield National Park. I had originally wanted to visit Kakadu National Park but it was a long ways away and was fairly expensive to get into so we opted to explore Litchfield instead since we were already there and there was no entry fee. We saw magnetic termite mounds that were over five meters tall, some water falls, and a few swimming holes.

After a few hours of sightseeing we headed back to the caravan park where we grabbed a quick bite to eat before hitting the road once again. By this point we had decided to make a major change in our itinerary: we would no longer be driving all around Australia. Instead we would cut through the middle and head home so instead of heading East we started to head South. Slowly but surely we are on our way home.

From Broome To Katherine

Monday morning came quickly and after another terrible sleep due to the heat we were quite sluggish and it took us ages to pack up all of our gear. Normally this would bother me but since we had to wait for the post office to open anyway it wasn’t a big deal. By the time we had sorted things out at the post office it was nearly 10:30 when we finally hit the road. We had nearly 1900km to travel before making it to Darwin and wanted to make it there in three days so I set a lofty goal of making it to Kununurra (1,044km) on that first day. I knew this wasn’t going to happen since we left so late in the day but I decided I would be happy if we made it anywhere remotely close to there.

If memory serves it was a fairly uneventful day on the road. We drove for hours and hours without much happening. We drove past a turn off for Wolfe Creek; a place Jesse has wanted to visit for years but decided to give it a miss as he thought it would be two expensive.

We spent the night at a rest stop on the side of the road about 100km from the Wolfe Creek turn off (about 200km from our goal). Thankfully this time wasn’t nearly as scary as the last time we camped on the side of the road. There were several other people already camping when we arrived so I think that helped to calm my nerves. The constant mooing of a cow however had me pretty stressed out. I was convinced he was right behind us and was going to trip over our tent in the dark and squish us. The fact that every time I managed to fall asleep despite the sweltering heat the cow would moo and I would wake up certainly didn’t help matters.

When we got up in the morning Jesse decided he made a mistake and he needed to go back to see Wolfe Creek or he would regret missing the opportunity. We drove 60km towards our original destination to fuel up then back 100km to where the turn off was. Wolfe Creek is approximately 130km down a dirt road so it took forever and a day to get to.

Jesse has been talking about this place since before we left and I have read a little about it as well but it is not at all what I expected. It is a large crater believed by aboriginals to have been created by a giant rainbow serpent as he came out of the ground. It is also the location for a bizarre murder that has since been turned into a movie that is allegedly terrifying. I tried to block out the stories about the murder that Jesse had told me and tried to think only of the crater. I imagined a dry and desolate looking hole in the ground so I was surprised when we climbed to the top of a hill and looked down on a lush valley full of greenery. Jesse was slightly disappointed as well and by this point I felt like we had completely wasted the day. We could have been in the Northern Territory by now!

After an entire day on the road we made it to Kununurra, I couldn’t help but feel slightly disappointed as we pulled into a caravan park and set up for the night. My disappointment turned to anger when we found a man sleeping on the floor in the camp kitchen so we were unable to use it. I was even angrier the next morning when I saw him smoking and drinking, if you can afford those things then you can pay for a campsite!

The next morning we stopped by the Wild Mango café for some smoothies before hitting the road. We were only kilometres away from the state border. If we didn’t cross into the Northern Territory today I was going to cry. Luckily we made it through the day with no dilemmas and made it to Katherine a town that is not only in the Northern Territory but also only three hours from Darwin.

We had been camping since we left Exmouth a week ago and hadn’t been getting much sleep so we decided to spoil ourselves for the night and booked a private room at a hostel. It was so nice to have a bed to sleep in and the air conditioning was incredible. The fact that the Big Brother finale was on TV was just a bonus. Jesse and I had gotten quite addicted to the show during the time we spent being unemployed bums so it was nice to see how it turned out. We also had some yummy Eagle Boys pizza for dinner so Jenna was a happy panda when she went to sleep that night.

The next day I thought it would be fun to suggest a visit to a national park to Jesse; he loved the idea I just wish I had done more research first. I wanted to visit Katherine Gorges National Park and check out the sights. Little did I know that none of the park is accessible by road and you have to hike if you want to see anything. We talked to someone at the information centre before setting out and she told us that the temperature at the top of the escarpment would be ten degrees hotter than the car park. I almost burst into tears. It was already a million degrees outside. Now I think I know how the person manning the info desk is Kananaskis must have felt when my friend Jennie and I asked them if they rented bear saddles.

I’m pretty sure Jesse wanted to smack me and tell me to man up during our short hike because I was the biggest cry baby ever. We had to climb up a million stairs, it was a billion degrees, and flies were swarming me. I was ranting and raving like a lunatic and he just wanted to check out the views. It was a struggle but we finally made it to the lookout point at the first gorge. It was absolutely beautiful and totally worth the effort but I really just cant handle the heat.

On our way back down Jesse jumped into the safe zone of the crocodile infested river and then jumped right back out again just in case it wasn’t really as safe as the signs said. We headed to the car and headed back into town where we stocked up on groceries, preparing for our journey into the big smoke.

From Exmouth To Broome

Sorry for the delay in posting boys and girls. It’s hard to find free internet while camping. Oh how I miss the days of hostels with free internet and free breakfast in Europe and South-East Asia. I also miss air conditioning. Oh my goodness it is hot in Australia!

In my last post I ended by saying that Jesse and I were planning on hitting the road again the next day which I believe would have been a Wednesday but unfortunately shortly after updating the blog I started to feel like garbage and wasn’t able to help pack so things were postponed for a day. I hadn’t realized that Jesse thought it would be fun to unpack absolutely everything so loading the truck took forever and a day and we ended up hitting the road about 3 hours later than anticipated on Thursday morning.

On our way out of Exmouth we came across a large emu with her babies crossing the highway. Exmouth is known for having emus and the have been known to wander the streets of the town just like people. We were in town for almost a week and I was quite disappointed to be leaving town without seeing one. I was beyond excited about this sighting and I think I yelled so loud it caused Jesse to swerve.

Our original plan for the day was to make it to Port Hedland but not without a quick stop in Dampier first but since we left so late in the day things didn’t quite pan out that way. Jesse wanted to stop in Dampier to see the statue of Red Dog (a dog famous in Australia for wandering all over Australia and allegedly making his way to Japan in search of his master who died in a motorcycle accident) and possibly the hotel where the movie about him was filmed. When we arrived just before dusk we found that the town was completely full of detours due to construction and since it was almost dusk and we still didn’t have a place to stay for the night we decided to keep moving.

We ended up spending the night at a caravan park a few kilometres down the road in Karratha. This was our first experience sleeping in the tent in the heat and let me tell you it wasn’t pleasant. While we were driving earlier that day the temperature reached 45 degrees and while it cooled a little after the sun went down it was still in the high thirties and the tent was more of a sweat lodge than a place that any sane person would like to sleep. Both of us had a pretty restless night only getting a few hours of sleep and woke up drenched in sweat. We packed up the car, took a cold shower and by the time we had returned to the car we were already roasting again.

We started our day by backtracking slightly to Dampier and had a quick visit with Red Dog but decided to skip the hotel, we were on a mission and needed to hit the road. I had wanted to spend some time in Port Hedland because it is a known area for turtle nesting and it was the right time of year to try to get a sneak peak of the action but we were on a mission to make it to Broome before the post office closed so when we made it there a few hours later we only had time to refuel. We ended up arriving in Broome half an hour after the post office closed so we should have taken our time that day but we were determined and stubborn.

Our first night in Broome was fairly low key. We had been on the road all day and hadn’t slept much the night before so we set up our campsite, went into town for some fast food, and returned to the sweat lodge for the night.

The next day we decided to head into China Town where most of the town’s shopping is located. Our first task for the day was to buy a fan for our tent. Once we had crossed that off the list we browsed a local market held every Saturday that was full of food and handmade goods as well as tour information and a few other random stalls that didn’t really seem to fit. After our shopping needs had been met we returned to the caravan park and headed to the pool. The temperature was in the forties again so the dip was quite refreshing. After our swim we walked to the beach (full of jellyfish this time of year if you’re wondering why we didn’t swim there) and booked our camel tour for the next day.

We woke up bright and early the next morning since our new fan did little to ease the melting sensation caused by the sun shining directly on our tent and headed back into town. Our first stop for the day would be the Pearl Luggers where we learned about the history of the pearling industry in Broome. Apparently some of the best quality pearls in the world come from Broome and collecting them was once a very deadly job.

By the time we finished looking at the old boats and posters on display I was ready to liquefy but Jesse wanted to check out a local brewery so I prayed they had air conditioning as we made our way there. They had several large fans but no seating left and none of the meals on offer seemed particularly appealing to us so we decided to head back for a swim. We spent most of the afternoon either in the pool or lounging at our campsite until it was time to head down to the beach for our camel ride.

I had been waiting for this moment for ages. Riding a camel was the number one thing on my bucket list when I went to Marrakech last year but I couldn’t make it happen so I was pretty stoked for this opportunity in Broome. We signed in at the big yellow tent then had some free time to check out the camels before the tour started. I took this opportunity to sing ‘Alice The Camel’ to Jesse who had never heard the song and it would later come back to bite me, literally.

We were assigned to a camel named Bully. We had noticed him before the tour started and thought he had a funny personality and even though he wasn’t our first choice (that would have been Harley the old, wise looking camel right in front of Bully) we were happy with him. About two minutes into the ride the camel behind us decided to walk beside us rather than behind us, which wouldn’t have been, a problem except she was incredibly fascinated by me. She licked me, sneezed on me, even bit my shorts a few times. About 20 minutes into the tour I learned that this camel’s name was Alice. She must have been so thrilled that I had been singing a song about her (even though this Alice only had 2 humps not 10) that she wanted to show me some affection. At the end of the tour when our camel had to sit down Alice was all over me and I screamed loudly while everyone else laughed at me. I was already covered in camel snot but now I swear she was trying to eat me as well. All in all I think my camel ride was successful and worth the wait, and only slightly traumatizing.

We said our goodbyes to the camels and the tour guides and headed back up the beach towards the parking lot. We had now accomplished our list of things to do in Broome so we grabbed a bite to eat and headed to bed early because the next day we would be starting the long journey to Darwin.