All too soon our quick taste of Kakadu was over and we turned southward toward home, although we wouldn’t be home for a couple of weeks yet.

Our next stop was the much anticipated (by me anyway) Bitter Springs where we were lucky enough to snag the last powered site, also within walking distance to the beautiful springs themselves.

When we arrived it was obvious that I wasn’t the only one looking forward to them! It was a popular spot to be but arriving fairly early the next day it was relatively quiet for a while anyway. Crystal clear warm water where the idea is you jump in one end and float gently down to the other stairs to climb out and then it is a short walk back to the entry point and you do it all again. We had come prepared with pool noodles and even Russell enjoyed it 😍

Our destination the next day was the infamous Daly Waters pub. This quirky collection of trash and treasure is a popular stop along the Stuart Highway and we had time to wander around the various ‘attractions’ before snagging a table for dinner and the very entertaining Steve Case who entertained us until well after dark.

The following day we discovered the fascinating Barrow Creek WW II free camp site.

During the Second World War Barrow Creek was used by the Australian Army as a staging camp for convoys of troops and supplies and there are still concrete slabs scattered about that formed the base of the structures that housed troops on their long march north. We found one in a very quiet spot and even had satellite reception to watch the footy in the afternoon.

Continuing south the next day, we finally saw ‘civilisation’ again when we reached Alice Springs and subsequently had a couple of nights to stock up on supplies, do some washing as well as catching up with my sister for dinner who randomly also happened to be in Alice.

The plan on leaving Alice Springs was to visit Tjoritja (the West MacDonnell Ranges) which we hadn’t gotten to on our previous visit to central Australia.

The weather forecast was looking grim and I was developing a sore throat on the morning we left so we detoured via the chemist for cold and flu meds just in case and headed off into what was to be the last of the sunshine for a couple of days.

We managed to cover Simpson’s Gap, Standley Chasm, and Ellery Creek Big Hole en route to our camp spot at Glen Helen Resort.

The next day I awoke to a raging sore throat, no voice (no doubt some people were happy 😉 ) and miserable rainy weather. I ended up spending the day in bed sleeping on and off (whilst Russell read to his heart’s content LOL.) The following day both the weather and I were a bit better and with the intention of maximising our time here we took off for the vertigo inducing (for Russell at least) Serpentine Gorge hike and the nearby Ochre Pits.

The Ochre Pits were very important for the local Aranda people. Ochre is the raw material for paintings and ceremonial body decoration and the colours on display were absolutely stunning.

“Weapons were painted with ochre to increase the success of hunting and to protect the wooden weapons from termites. Red ochre was mixed into an ointment to relieve decongestion, and white ochre used as a magical charm…”

Next on the agenda was stunning Ormiston Gorge. We did quite a long walk here (made longer by me insisting we go down a trail which ended up at an impassable river crossing and involved a bit of adventurous trail blazing) and the views and birdlife especially were amazing.

As we drove back toward Alice Springs I had the feeling we were part of an Albert Namatjira painting.

Albert (“Elea”) was raised in the nearby Hermannsburg Lutheran mission and his western style landscapes of this very region and subsequent popularity led to him becoming the first Northern Territory aboriginal person to be granted full citizernship in 1957. I remember a print of his hung in my Primary School and seeing this landscape evoked memories of a time when almost every waiting room in the country had Namatjira hanging on the wall.

In retrospect we were very fortunate to have stayed at Glen Helen Resort, not long afterwards it closed down, citing insufficient water and saying the closure is ‘temporary.’ I hope a long term solution can be found as it is a wonderful location for those of us that aren’t build for ‘off road travel.”

An uneventful few days travel bought us back to Port Augusta where we overnighted at Debbie’s house and stocked up on firewood amongst other things, in preparedness for meeting Zoe and Tannika at Fowler’s Bay where it was now whale season.

We were super excited to see the Southern Right Whales that call Fowler’s Bay home when calving from May through until October. Unfortunately, not this year though 😢

For reasons still unknown, the whale season this year has been markedly different to the ‘norm’ and far from the 20-30 whales that are commonly seen in the Bay at any given time, there have only been about half a dozen sightings of single whales for the whole season! We still went on the whale watching cruise though and saw some entertaining dolphins, Australian sea lions and the unique ‘swiss cheese’ looking coastline.

And that, my friends if you’re still with me, is all that I am going to share! We spent a few days fishing on the way home, nothing big enough to photograph 😉 and then began heading home, not looking forward to cleaning 4 months worth of dust (red and otherwise) out of the motorhome.

Until next time…. thanks for reading 😘

A couple of days later we were parked up in the Boab Caravan Park, having crossed the border and travelled the scenic Victoria Highway into Katherine.

Katherine provided our first opportunity for decent shopping for some time and also an opportunity for an approved Jayco repairer to have a look at our awning which had been dodgy since Broome and was only functional due to some ‘MacGyver’ type modifications.

We had also purchased tickets to the Katherine Outback Experience, just out of town and which turned out to be a very enjoyable evening.

“Owned by multiple Golden Guitar winner and horseman extraordinaire, Tom Curtain, Katherine Outback Experience celebrates the Northern Territory’s rich pastoral culture and history through real horse training and working dog demonstrations ….. “

We saw great examples of working dogs and horses, dogs on horses, goats on horses, dogs herding goats and horses herding cattle all accompanied by Tom’s original country music (from horseback most of the time) and humorous tales from his life. I highly recommend going if you are in the area particularly if you are a city slicker who would like to learn about this fascinating aspect of Australian culture.

The next morning we received bad news when the Jayco service centre confirmed that the control module in our awning was faulty but a replacement wouldn’t be available for at least two weeks 😢

We decided to soldier on with the MacGyer arrangement (which continued to work for the rest of the trip) and so saying our goodbyes to Steph and John we headed north along the Stuart Highway toward Darwin where we were going to catch up with some of Russell’s family.

We had heard lots of good things about the Adelaide River Inn and Resort along the way and as they don’t take reservations we were happy that we managed to secure one of the last two sites at about 2.30 pm.

The large pool provided welcome relief from the heat and after cooling down we settled in early for a good spot to enjoy some live entertainment and later, dinner. We were watched by ‘Charlie’ the water buffalo, famous for his starring role in Crocodile Dundee but now somewhat stuffed…

Adelaide River’s other ‘not to be missed’ spot is the Adelaide River War Cemetery.

During the Second World War, Adelaide River was the headquarters of a large base, and the war cemetery was created especially for the burial of servicemen who died in this part of Australia….. After the war, the Army Graves Service moved other graves into the site from isolated sites, temporary military burial grounds and various civil cemeteries in the area – these included: Bagot Hospital Cemetery; Berriman Hospital and War Cemeteries; Daly Waters Civil Cemetery; Darwin Public Cemetery; Gove War Cemetery; Hughes Cemetery, Darwin; Katharine Civil and War Cemeteries; Larrimah War Cemetery; Millingimbi War Cemetery; Mount Isa Cemetery, Queensland – just over the border, where No. 74 camp Hospital was set up; South Goulburn Island Mission Cemetery and Truscott War Cemetery.

It now contains 435 Commonwealth burials of the Second World War. We enjoyed the very informative video about the Japanese bombing of Darwin, (containing many first hand accounts,) and then spent some time wandering the immaculate grounds and reflecting on the horrors of war.

The next night we checked in to the Humpty Doo CMCA park in time for happy hour with an assortment of people from all over the country. As this was the closest we had been to ‘civilisation’ for a while we drove in to Casuarina Shopping Centre the next day for some essentials and a hair cut before spending a lovely evening with Russell’s son and his family.

Moving on from Humpty Doo we were excited to get to Kakadu National Park and the Yellow Water Campground where we had a two night booking. On the way though we visited the more northern section of the park including the infamous Cahill’s Crossing where you can view hordes of crocs (actually the collective noun is ‘bask’ but they aren’t basking in this situation) at the Alligator River. They gather in large numbers around this causeway to feed on mullet and barramundi as the tide pushes in and over the road that leads into Arnhem Land but we were not there at the right time of the year to witness large numbers, being satisfied with seeing a few from the safety of the viewing area.

This part of the park is also where to find the Ubirr rock art which is seen on a circular walk that also affords great views from a rocky lookout over the flood plains below.

Kakadu’s rock art represents one of the longest historical records of any group of people in the world and it was well worth the warm afternoon walk.

It was quite late by the time we arrived at the campground which is further south, in the central part of the park, but we were happy with our spacious site, less so with the mozzies 😉

Witnessing the sun breaking the horizon was just breathtaking and the photo opportunities only got better.

One third of Australia’s bird species can be see in Kakadu and the Yellow Water Wetlands contain at least 60 species of birds and a huge array of flora as well as the requisite crocs, water buffalo, wild horses, snakes, fish and frogs. We had an excellent guide for our morning cruise and the camera was working over time!

I’ll let the pictures tell the story….

And then the less frightening ones 😍

We loved this cruise so much that we immediately signed up for the sunset version which didn’t disappoint.

And that, my friends, was our take on Kakadu.

Despite the better known waterfalls and water holes not yet being open ( for funding or cultural reasons depending on who you spoke to) we were extremely happy that we had included Kakadu in our travels.