Darwin to Alice Springs!
Trip Start
Nov 25, 2004
1
82
169
Trip End
Jan 26, 2005
Katherine Gorge,
Australia
Friday, May 13, 2005
As I said, Katherine Gorge was our first stop and we headed out on canoes - girls v boys - heading down to the end of the first part of the gorge! Needless to say, as per our previous canoe experiences, we ended up getting absolutely drenched BUT actually managed to stay in the canoes
at the Devils marbles
! The gorge itself is absolutely stunning and the colours in the rocks are out of this world - the further you get into the gorge as well, the more you realise how beautiful it is with the sun twinkling on the water! Awwww! We spent some quality time playing frisby, generally having a giggle and taking some highly amusing photos up on the rocks! Some of which will be featuring in Playboy (Sarah - how much will you pay me not to put the photo up????) Standing joke of the afternoon, was Ozzie Daves constant time-checks, was that 10 to 4???!!! Hee Hee! Had to be there really! We headed back to the jetty with more water in the canoe than in the gorge itself and headed onto our campsite for the night for a lively evening of drinking games, spoons and disgusting irish drink concoctions complete with floating fruit cake! NICE!The next morning we headed to the Mataranka thermal springs for a nice warm soak to ease out the hangovers complete with a bizarre Norwegian bloke eating pasta and beans at some early hour of the morning! We then headed to a true Outback pub in the middle of no-where called Daly Waters! Basically the pub is the centre of the world so you have to go there for petrol, shopping, hotel, food - it really was a non-stop shop! We were told to speak to this eccentric bloke who wore a wooden house on his head (???) because he ´really is the friendliest bloke in the world´
Bonkers Aussie guy with house on head
! Hmmmmm! Think he got out on the wrong side of the bed or he didn´t like my sparkling personality!!!! The pub was adorned with allsorts of paraphernalia from around the world including a Yorkshire flag..COME ON...and even some wise words from some happy travellers from Huddersfield! Proving my theory that Huddersfield really is the centre of the world! There were signed g-strings, y-fronts, you name it, it was stuck up on the wall! We enjoyed a couple of pints in glasses with windows - reminding me very much of Lindley Lib´s tap room drinkers and then got back on the road to head for Tennant Creek and the Juno Horse Farm - our campsite for the evening again in the middle of nowhere! It was a FAB evening with mucho frivolity around the campfire topped off with one of the highights of the tour - sleeping in SWAG´s underneath the stars! And are we talking stars - there were so many! And on a strategic bush wee in the middle of the night, I was rewarded with a shooting star! Paul´s yet to see one so denies they exist!!!!Our last day before reaching Alice was excellent as we got to see the Devil´s Marbles which are v cool! Basically huge rocks dotted around a really barren landscape making you wonder how the hell they got there! They also make for very funky photos and made me lose my squeaky clean image as a goody two-shoes as me, Sarah and Grandad went bezzing off to climb the rocks and basically missed the bus
Cheesey one of us 2, Awwwwww
! Hee Hee! Ozzie Dave had to come huffing and puffing back for us, got us on the bus and promptly started to talk to use through the mic on the bus - there were only 3 of us on it sat right behind the drivers seat! Highly amusing! Our rebellion continued as we climbed some of the rocks for some of my fave photos so far! Got a cool one of Team Smedders that I can´t wait to post up!We arrived in Alice late afternoon and checked into the Melanka Hostel sharing a room with our Best Friend! After a few beers, we headed to the bar to meet the rest of Team Kak and embark on our booziest evening so far complete with Paul (or should I say Jim) dancing on the tables, me winning the didgeridoo contest (yes it still sounded like a fart!) and Grandad celebrating his 50th birthday!!!! All in all, a bloody good night with some excellent photos - some that can be shown and some that can´t!! Hee Hee!
