Sara and I love to leave you wanting more, so here you go, part 2 of …

After a smooth ID-less flight, we arrived in Darwin.  Since they limit your carry on bag weight to 7kg (15lbs) we both had to check bags.  The bags were quick to get to the carousel, and Avis gave us the keys to our car and we were on our way.

The next few towns we were going to didn’t have much in the way of services, so on the way out of town we stopped at a grocery store to get supplies for a few days.  We got lunch at Subway and Sara was shocked they didn’t have vinegar as a topping.  I was sad there was no yellow mustard.

Our destination was Batchelor, NT – only about 100km away.  We were quickly out of Darwin and in a rural area.  Then we began to see the “Road Trains” on the 2 lane highway. These are as terrifying in person as they would seem to be.  Just a normal 18 wheeler with up to 3 EXTRA trailers.   Additionally, the speed limit once we got out of town was 130KPH (80.78 mph!).

We checked into the Rum Jungle Bungalows and got some advice from the owner regarding what our plan should be for the afternoon.  She suggested checking out the magnetic termite mounds and Florence Falls.  So off we went.

First stop, magnetic termite mounds.  These are very interesting because the termites align them with the magnetic field in order to minimize the amount of sun it receives every day.  Some mean scientists once altered the magnetic field around one and the termites duly built their mound in the “wrong” direction.  Jerks.

The other type of termite mound is made by the cathedral termite.  These mounds are all over the Northern Territories and come in all sorts of sizes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After investigating the mounds, we headed towards the Florence falls, with the promise of a refreshing croc-free dip. It did not disappoint, the hardest part was figuring out how to get in a rock pool without concussing ourselves.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We then headed back to the bungalow.  We had a few drinks and then headed out for the short walk to the local tavern.  We were told to bring a torch (flashlight) because cane toads and snakes are nocturnal.  Luckily we saw neither.  We did stop a bit to look up at the absurd number of stars we could see.  Amazing.  We could even see that “star dust” you only normally see in long exposure photos.

We woke up early (Happy Anniversary!) the next morning to beat the Darwin day-tripping “crowds” to some of the Litchfield attractions.  First, we went to Walker Creek, which is a creek with a series of 7 pools.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We saw <10 people on this hike.  3 were leaving their campground and 4 were still at their campground.   Sara was pretty excited that I only rolled my ankle 3 times and never bad enough to need to be carried.

Next we headed to Wangi falls, did a quick loop hike and took a dip in the croc-free* (*may include freshwater crocs) pool.  We had some burgers at the cafe there and headed off to the Tabletop Swamp.  It was swamp like.

It was nearing 2pm, which was our get out of town time.  In the outback, car insurance doesn’t cover single vehicle accidents at night, because that is when the ‘roos come out and jump into your car.  We had a 4 hour drive ahead of us, so we had to get a move on.  Luckily we had brought my iPod to musically entertain us (I have 7 Bon Jovi albums!).  Unfortunately, for some reason, the car stereo would only play albums in alphabetical order, which is shockingly maddening.

We arrived in Cooinda and had a few beers by the pool.  Then we sampled the local cuisine for dinner – me: Kangaroo, Sara: Barramundi.

We then retired to our room for the night.  How many lucky ladies get to sleep in a partitioned shipping container the night of their 12th anniversary?

That’s it for me, you’ve all been great, I’m outta here.

Jon and I are back in Melbourne after our first Aussie holiday to the “top end” of Australia. When we were getting ready to leave on our trip, we engaged in one of Jon’s favorite activities… speculating. Much like CNN, Jon does not need to know the facts before going into great detail on a topic. Here are a couple of things we were wondering about beforehand:

What would it be like to fly domestically in Australia?
When flying in the US, we got quite used to having our identity checked multiple times before boarding a plane and the usual shuffle to get ready to go through security – after waiting in line for ages of course. I am both happy and terrified to report that in Australia, NO ONE checked my identity on any leg of our trip. Jon handed over his license to check in for our flight home, but we are pretty sure it wasn’t compulsory. We could also leave our shoes on and went through a regular schmegular metal detector so no getting patted in awkward places by the TSA after something shows up on the full body scanner screen somehow. And the cherry on top? The whole process, curb to gate, took about 5 minutes.

What did people mean by crowded?
In reading about Kakadu and Litchfield National Parks, we couldn’t miss being warned that both parks are subject to be very crowded in the dry season and you almost have to rent a 4WD vehicle to avoid the crowds. Well… I am very pleased to report that is a whole lot of stuff and nonsense. The most crowded place we went had what I would guess to be less than 100 people and that was with the parking lot almost full, meaning it really couldn’t get much more crowded. The place we stayed at in Cooinda did have heaps of people staying there, mostly in campas, but I am not sure where they all went during the day because we never saw more than a few people on any given bushwalk.

We are slowly adjusting to getting back to reality after a week of having our most pressing decisions be about where to eat and when to start drinking so there is lots more to come about the trip. Eventually.