February 11^th, 2025

We crossed the Western Australia / Northern Territory state line without incident (even though there are fruit/veg restrictions, there is no checkpoint set up but you must be prepared if you are stopped randomly along the highway). We had decided not to go all the way to Katherine like Sandra & Thomas today – that was over 500 km / 300 mi which is a bit far for us especially with a time change – time goes forward 1.5 hours now. We noted that the speed limit also went up from 110 kmph to 130 kmph.

Fran found a road house over halfway and we were going to stop there. We did made a couple of stops along the Victoria Highway (all part of the Big Lap but it has different nicknames in different parts of the country). This part of the country is still very tree with lots and lots of trees and some wetlands. We saw a large pond with large white egrets in it who flew away as we drove by and then two large stork like birds on the side of the road (who also flew away as we neared them) and Fran googled them. They were brolgas – one of two types of cranes in Australia that stand 1m / 39” tall. It’s mostly grey with black tipped wings and a orange/red bad on its head. Here’s a photo we got online:

We are still seeing a few boab trees and the landscape is not so flat with a number of mesas.

We came upon on perentie today before our first pit stop at Saddle Creek – a nice rest area with bad toilets and a good view:

Then is a roadside pullout where Gregory’s Cairn is located:

We are sort of paralleling the Victoria River (the largest in the state) and at one point we saw an opportunity to go to “Policemen’s Lookout” right on the river’s edge where we saw this sign:

The road was dirt and rather potholed but nothing Matilda couldn’t handle:

and these views of the muddy river:

but no crocs.

Then it was the Durack Monument and the “bronco panel”: 

before reaching the Victoria River Roadhouse where we had burgers for lunch and got a campsite. Turns out there was NO cell reception here but good Wi-Fi in the roadhouse which barely reached the campground,  The waitress let us spend a couple of hours in the AC at a table online.

We had a quiet night with not much for dinner as those burgers were darn filling! So we just made a couple of PBH sandwiches. During the course of that operation, the glass stove top hinge broke on one end so that will have to be repaired – we don’t have a rivet gun so Doug hopes to use some short bolts and a piece of metal as a connector. Fingers crossed.

When we left Victoria River Roadhouse the next morning, we saw two red kangaroos, one of whom stopped to stare at us:

A little further down the road we spotted Braman cattle several times and then a roo with a young one bounced across the highway far enough ahead so as we didn’t have a chance to either hit them or snap a pic.

Then a while later we both saw something black in the tall grass on the side of the road and figured it might be a dog but it stepped out and then turned around and bolted – it was a wild pig!  Here’s a online shot we found:  

We have to say the road conditions and the cell coverage were far superior in Western Australia – here we go for miles without a signal and there are a number of sections of the road that are potholed or damaged.

This is the link to the gallery for the above part of the blog post.

We decided to hit the part of Nitmiluk National Park before heading to the campground in Katherine to meet Thomas and Sandra since it was still morning. This park is also known as Katherine Gorge. The Katherine River runs through here and there area three gorges you can take a boat trip on. With all the rain we’ve had, the river is quite brown and muddy looking and we had already decided to just go up to the lookout as we want to do a boat trip in a different national park further east but in the same state.

NOTE: The city of Katherine is on the Stuart Highway which runs between Darwin and Adelaide; we’d done the southern half of this highway to Alice Springs from Adelaide back in September just after purchasing Matilda. We heard from a couple of people that the section south of Katherine down to Alice Springs is not much so we are not sorry we are not doing it.

We had some trouble finding the right trail as following our map took us to closed paths and it turned out the left side of the loop was closed (but there’s no signage ahead of time advising you of this!). It was an uphill climb to the lookout with a couple of openings to see the river:

and lo and behold, when we arrived at the top, Sandra and Thomas were there when we arrived! We enjoyed the view, chatted a bit and then made plans for later. Today is Sandra’s birthday so they invited us to join them for dinner tonight in town. Also we wanted to visit the Katherine Hot Springs and the road to the campground they booked was closed (meant a big detour) but the campground closer to the hot springs was right by the cheap petrol station, so we booked in there and made plans to do the hot springs later. They went on ahead as we stopped to get parts to repair our stove top cover and then shop, and a bit later we got a message from them that the hot springs are closed. Doug worked on the parts for the stove top while we waited for the liquor store to open at 2pm.  

We still went to the different campground so as not to have to do the big detour. The Riverview Holiday Park was old but functional and had a nice pool and decent Wi-Fi. We went for a swim before the rain started and then Doug finished the repair job.  Sandra and Thomas joined us at our campground at 5 for happy hour which we did in the camp kitchen area before going for dinner.

We went for Indian food about 2 kliks away and had a nice meal with good company. Next steps plans were made and we went out separate ways.

We had a quiet night although it rained hard from 7pm till about 9pm and then continued for a while although much more softly. We have been taking care to get sites that are not under tall trees now.

Thursday morning after our usual morning routine, we headed off to the north section of the National Park to see Edith Falls. The sign at the car park showed that the Loop Trail was open but the swimming holes were not (there are fresh water crocs here during the dry season and with all the rain in the wet season, the saltwater crocs can enter as the swimming spots are overflowing) so off we went just to hike. It’s 2.6 km round trip and off we went. The way up had a lot of stone stairs and we reached a view point of a pair of water falls:

We had to squeeze through along the trail. 

Further on we could see some falls:

but there was a sign saying “bridge closed” but found a way around it which meant walking across a bridge that had about 3 inches of water flowing over it but it was not difficult and the next bridge was above water.

 We continued on to the main view point of Edith Falls which was fabulous:

For late summer (remember, summer in OZ is December thru February) we were amazed how many bright and healthy  the wild flowers were. Here are a few snaps:

From there it was back towards the parking area finishing the loop with another viewpoint across the pond:

There we met Thomas and Sandra coming from the other direction; they had turned around at the “closed bridge” sign and were trying to come this way. This section of the Nitmiluk NP was much better in our opinion. On the way out we stopped to take photos of some of the balanced rocks on the sides of the highway.

Today we saw one roo racing across the road and a couple of big flocks of blue eye cockatoos.

This is the link to photos of Katherina and Nitmiluk NP.

Our plan was to meet up in Batchelor at a campground to go visit Litchfield National Park tomorrow.

We began the drive north on the Stuart Highway, stopping in Pine Creek at a cafe for lunch (yummy sandwiches and a piece of mango cake to share), some fuel at Adelaide River and made it to Batchelor around 2:45. About 20 minutes later Sandra and Thomas arrived and took the spot beside us. But of course, this is the time when the rains decided to start.

At the Batchelor Holiday Park we had a nice spot with palm trees, there was a nice pool but no kitchen or Wi-Fi for $45 a night.

At 5:30pm and 7:30 am each day there is a bird feeding. There did not seem to be a dry place to have our “happy hour” so we had to skip it tonight. Neither of our campers is really big enough to accommodate four adults. It rained a good portion of the night and the next morning it was better.

We all meet up for the 7:30 am bird feeding and it was quite something. There was a sort of table along the fence where the blue eyed cockatoos and galahs gathered and were eating lots of seeds. 

Up in front there were two “bowls” of some sort of white mixture that flocks of red collard lorikeets where feeding from as well as a few blue faced honeyeaters.

We watched the feeding for about 15-20 minutes and then we packed up and began the drive into Litchfield National Park famous for its magnetic termite mounds and lots of waterfalls with swimming holes. Being as it’s “The Wet” right, waters are flowing high and many of the “holes” are closed but the water falls were very good. It was pretty foggy this morning as well but after about 15 minutes it began to clear, then fogged up again for a bit followed by the clouds lifting.

In case you didn’t see enough lorikeet photos, HERE  here for more!

The first stop in the park was taking the obligitory photo of the official park sign:

Next it was the Termite Mounds including the “cathedral mound”.  Due to all the high grass, they are hard to see in totality but there are LOTS of them.  

The magnetic termites or compass termites, is a species endemic to northern Australia and the common names derive from the fact that the wedge-shaped mound is aligned with its main axis running north and south.

A large mound may house up to a million individual termites. Each is the nest of a colony and houses a queen, king, reproductives, soldiers and workers. The outer surface of the mound is hard and durable whereas the material separating the chambers and galleries inside is more papery. The soldiers are 4-6 mm / 0.16-.24” long and their curved mandibles bear a single in-turned tooth. Many termites never leave the mound and as a result of this protected environment they have thin cuticles, colourless bodies, little sight and little ability to protect themselves.

The slab-like mounds are found in low-lying grassland areas that flood during the rainy season. The mounds are often widely scattered, but may be grouped together in a graveyard-like manner. The mounds built by this termite can be up to 4m / 13 ft’ tall, 2.5m / 8”2” wide and 1m / 3’3”deep. The nests are laterally flattened and are oriented so that they receive the warmth of the sun on their eastern and western sides in the morning and evening while exposing less surface to the sun at midday when the nest might overheat. The interior of the mound is kept at a relatively stable temperature and a high humidity. In the summer, when the land floods, the termites remain safely inside feeding on their stored food supplies. In the dry season, when the water drains away, the surrounding grass begin to deteriorate and the termites gather the drying grass and other plant material to store as hay in chambers in the mound. Feeding as it does on grass and other vegetation, these termites are of little economic importance.

After this stop, the waterfalls and swimming holes of the park began:

Florence Falls:

Buley Rockhole:

Tolmer Falls:

and the piece de resistance, saving the best for last was Wangi Falls:

At the boardwalk we saw this for trapping stray crocs:

All of the above stops were side roads off the main route and involved short walks to reach them or their viewpoints.

Here in the NT (this area is nicknamed the “Top End”), residents of the state do not pay park fees. The fees are purchased online but rarely is there a manned toll booth. The price is $10 per adult for most parks and that is a day pass; there are 2 week passes for $30 and an annual pass for $60. Even though they are “national parks”, each state has their own park system.

During our drive we saw 2 kangaroos and we think 3 wallabies.

We met Sandra and Thomas at a couple of the pullouts and we all met up in Berry Springs – the plan was to go to a very highly rated campground called “Tumbling Waters” that friends of theirs had recommended but we got there first and it was closed! As we find as typical in this country, there is rarely a sign ahead of the place to tell you that it’s closed; you have to drive right up to it and there is a handwritten sign when they could have placed one two turns ahead!

Oh well, we did have a back up plan and we camped at the Darwin River Tavern that has a campground behind the parking area with power and water, showers, toilets, Wi-Fi and free washers and dryers! All this plus a pool behind the bar with happy hour from 3-7! They charged us $40 a night which was a very reasonably price.

Fran took advantage of the free laundry and got a load going and after Sandra and Thomas arrived, she did the same. We went to the pool which was the first cold pool we’ve dipped into in weeks. It was most refreshing. The sky almost cleared up and it was the first day we’d had no rain! We had happy hour at the bar of course, and spent a quiet night although the rain began in the early hours and the ground around us was pretty soggy as the sites are all in a grassy field.

Click  here to see more photos of the national park area.

So today, we left a bit early as we wanted to see about getting a tire rotation and oil change for Matilda – yes it’s been 10,000 km since we left Adelaide before Christmas. We drove around the “mechanic” region we found on Google maps with no luck – all closed on Saturdays.

We went over to the big mall to get groceries to last till Tuesday,  and Fran saw a salon offering $40 pedicures and it there was time so while she did that Doug was going to walk over to the hardware store to pick up a few things we needed. Enroute he found a tire shop open and went back to get Matilda. Fran met him there after her pedi and it still wasn’t done – they close at noon but Matilda didn’t even go in until about 12:10. We were out of there by 1ish, stopped for lunch at Subway and met up with Sandra and Thomas at the Big 4 Hidden Valley Holiday Park outside Darwin.

At the tire place, the manager was a South African man whom we chatted with for a while. He told us “the Big Wet” came late this year – latest ever being February 7^th and normally it’s over by early March but it could last till April but there’s no way of knowing and it can depend on tropical storms/cyclones brewing from the Pacific to the nearby Timor Sea heading to the Indian Ocean. Cyclone Zelia (cat 4) made landfall in the north-west of Western Australia on Friday but quickly weakened as it crossed the coast east of Port Hedland. Destructive wind gusts of up to 290kmph occurred with up to 500 mm / 20” of rain falling in the worst-hit areas. So we were lucky to have dodged another one.

There are NO campgrounds right in the city and this one happens to be near the airport and the post office (we are awaiting new credit cards from the US and Fran had set up a “Parcel Collect” account with Australia post six months ago in case we needed anything sent from Pam and John – this is sort of like “general delivery” back home).

Big 4 is a chain of campgrounds around the country and Fran decided that we should get their membership to compliment our NRMA one as for $50 you get discounts for two years. Here we booked three nights for $99 and this is a very nice place; great pool, laundry, treed sites of a good size, camp kitchen, Wi-Fi and very lush with a rain forest feel (not hard up here where it’s so humid!). We did ask about storage parking while we are away, but they wanted $15 a day and it’s $11 at the airport so even with a ten percent discount, it’s more expensive AND we’d need taxis both ways.

BTW we are very surprised to find rain forests here in Australia not far from the Outback.

We got parked up in the site beside Sandra & Thomas and then went for a dip to chill a bit and get cooled off. This pool was cool but not as cold as the one yesterday. The sky tried to clear and it sprinkled a bit this afternoon but we had a dry happy hour before dinner. We made some plans for tomorrow and went to our “homes” for dinner. It rained overnight (don’t think it ever dries out here at this time of year!) but had stopped by morning.

So Sunday, we ventured out into the city of Darwin; Sandra and Thomas went in their vehicle and us in ours (neither of us has room for 4 adults while driving either!). We parked by the park along the water and went over to the Darwin Visitor’s Centre in case there was something we didn’t know about to see (like lots of cities, there isn’t too much) but found nothing new. We walked along Smith Street Pedestrian Street where we met up with Thomas and Sandra and then walked around the city a bit before making our way to the waterfront area via the “SkyWalk” which was not very impressive but functional.

Here there is large wave water park and a natural swimming area with a small beach, lots of shops, condos and restaurants. We stopped at an Irish pub one and had some okay lunch.

We then walked back to our vehicles a different want and drove over to the free botanical gardens with a small air conditioned museum about the gardens (this was most welcome!). They were not as impressive as other such gardens we’ve seen but we met this fellow in the parking lot:

Our last stop was the History Museum and Art Gallery of Northern Territory where we hoped to see some Aboriginal art and the exhibit on Cyclone Tracy. The museum is free but the art gallery part was closed. We did wander through all the other rooms.

There was a room dedicated to the fauna of the area over the millennia with giant creatures:

In 1974 Darwin was struck by the devastating Cyclone Tracy and there was an exhibit about this tragedy.  They even had a room you could stand in in the dark and listen to the sounds of the hurricane:

(This can be quite loud so check your volume!)

We returned to the campground and had a swim to cool off. The pool is quite nice here and although not bathtub warm like others, it was not as cool as the one at Darwin River Tavern.

We had our monthly KEGS meeting today so no happy hour. The meeting went well; our fellow German sponsors were there at the school and had good things to say about the progress being made. We look forward to seeing that next time we go – there’s still a lot to do, but it’s all moving forward. It rained overnight but had stopped by morning on Monday. Today we left the campground to go find an oil change – we weren’t’ super optimistic not having an appointment and after the second place (first one couldn’t fit Matilda in), we just made an appointment for after our return from Singapore. We went over to the mall, Fran got some new sandals and then we hit the Bunnings for some paint – we’d removed a cupboard door to get a colour match as we want to touch up some spots before selling the rig in a few months.

Upon returning to the campground, we realized we’d forgotten to stop at the Post Office so Fran first put a load of sheets and laundry in the washer at the campground and then walked over to see if our credit cards from the US had arrived and to confirm they would hold them longer than the specified 10 days on their website. They were not there (not surprised) and yes they hold things for 4 weeks. The lady took Fran’s info and we’ll call when they arrive.

Fran was quite wiped upon returning to the campground and it took a while to recover – not enough liquids this morning. Doug made some oatmeal for our brunch and that with an orange and a banana and lots of water, she was back to normal.

We did some packing, spent the afternoon by the pool, had our happy hour with Sandra and Thomas and off to bed we went. The weather was great all day today and no rain until happy hour but we were under cover at the BBQ pitch when it began and it stopped before we left. It also rained overnight.

To see more photos from our few days in Darwin, click here.

Tuesday morning, (flight day for our second visa run) after our usual routine, we moved Matilda forward to let the awning dry as the sun came out full force today, finished packing, finished some online things and after brunch said our “so longs” to Sandra and Thomas, and made our way to the airport parking after filling the tank. The saver parking lot was by no means full, got Matilda all sorted for long term parking. We called for the shuttle and it took us to the airport.

We couldn’t check in at the kiosk until 1pm (it was 12:40) and after that we dropped off our bags and headed through security. We are flying Singapore Airlines direct to Singapore today. We took off on time and we settled in for the 4.5 hour flight.