Katherine to Alice Springs

Did you all wonder what on earth I've been smoking? I blame it all on a sun-addled brain! I think I should tie the chin strap on my Tilly a little tighter.

In the last entry I declared that we are experiencing shorter daylight hours and said we have around 7 hours of daylight at this point. Pretty short days huh? What I should have said was that sunrise is around 7 a.m. and sunset around 7 p.m. There! Now I feel much better!!! Thought of it yesterday as we were driving to Alice Springs and said "What were you thinking woman???"

Here are the photo's that should have accompanied the last entry.

Photo's above: Buley Rockhole, Litchfield Park; Croc Menu Special - "Bob, the Grey Nomad "; Magnetic Termite Mound

We have been showing you termite mounds along the way. We read in Lonely Planet that there are 18 species of termite (those we know that eat houses are not called termites here but are known as white ants). A local told us there are 58 species and although we don't particularly wish to pass on misinformation, this fellow knew that the Derby tide, which rises 11 feet and is the highest in Australia...is second only to the highest tide levels.....in the Bay of Fundy in Canada...so we figure he must be pretty smart. The termites in the previous pics eat spinifex grass so when we saw the magnetic mounds, I figured they must eat magnets...right??? Makes sense doesn't it? Actually, they too eat spinifex grass but unlike the other mounds we saw in WA, these in the NT build theirs in a north/south direction to catch the heat of the east/west sun. Clever devils aren't they?

Photo above: Hangin' at the Nightcliff Market, Darwin

Feeding the crocs; My new handbag; Bob's new belt

Feeding the Batfish at Aquascene

Middle photo above: "Croc" Holiday Inn



Flight over Kakadu

Kakadu Park has 1600 plant species, 275 bird species, 75 reptile species, 25 frog species and an estimated 10,000 insect species (bring on the "OFF"!)

Feb 21: Leaving Kakadu we returned to the 43 acre park at Katherine (photo below) and found the pool crowded....there were 6 of us in the 20 m pool this time.

One of the couples is from Queensland and we had a great chat for a couple of hours as we floated about. Ed works in construction and spends much of his time in West Australia. He told us that the heat makes it very difficult to work and at times the temperature on the ground is 55C which makes the temperatures in the trenches they dig 75C. The workers can only spend a maximum of 1/2 hour in the trench and must drink water constantly. His firm has new rules that include wearing long-sleeved shirts, long pants and hats always. He also said that in Queensland the government is insisting that small children be covered up and wear sunglasses.

We met a young man at the campground in Darwin. He and his girlfriend are from Melbourne and are working their way around Australia. He's a mechanic and has experience working at mines so got a job at a mine near Broome. He said that when he showed up for work the first day, they gave him his toolbox; a bucket of water with his tools submerged in the water. He asked what the heck this was all about and was told that there is no way he'd be able to hold the tools due to the heat. Without the water his hands would be burned. He said the temperature down in the mine was 50+C. He managed to stick it out for 6 weeks then quit and moved on.

You know how our newscasters give us a warning when our UV levels reach a high of 8 or 9? Well check this out.....we've seen UV levels of 17 reported in the newspapers...mostly in Queensland. Shocking!


Feb 22: The drive from Katherine to Tennant Creek was another shock....very green with some rolling hills.

Around noon we left the highway to have lunch at a pub called "Daily Waters". We had read about this place in Lonely Planet and it is definitely a MUST SEE. It is a very old establishment with great food and lots of treasures. Many years ago, travellers began leaving pieces of themselves behind to be placed on the walls, along with the farm machinery and other bits the owners had hung on the walls.

Yes, what you see below is me standing under autographed bra's, men's underwear, personal id, police badges, photo's, etc, etc. As they say in our guide: "you'll find everything on the walls except wallpaper". Really, really cool place!

Photo's above: Daily Waters Pub

Photo's below: The outback on the way to Alice Springs; Devil's Marbles; Controlled Burn

Feb 23: Alice Springs is another surprise. We expected a desert town however everything is green and pretty. The creeks all seem to be dry however a good rain last week brought out all the vegetation. We'd say that we have been fortunate in our travels and are seeing most of the country at it's best even though it is considered "off season" in the "top end" (Darwin) and the middle (Alice Springs).

We stopped at a lovely gallery in an aborigine community and were shocked to hear "Allegria" (Cirque du Soleil) being played on the cd. The owner of the gallery told us that just last week, several members of the Soleil troupe came through the gallery, on their way to set up a performance somewhere in the country. The owner had never seen a performance but loved the music and bought the cd several years ago. Can you imagine the amazement of the troupe to walk into a gallery in the outback and hear music from their performance? The owner also taught us a bit about old methods of aboriginal painting compared with the gradual transition to more westernized methods. So much to learn!

We will be spening several days here then will move on to King's Canyon and Uluru (Ayer's Rock).

I suppose you've realized that whenever we see someone on our travels who reminds us of someone we know, we take a photo and put it up on the blog. The first we uploaded was a double for our friend Ray in Vancouver. The second reminded us of another friend, Warren (good guess Tina although we don't know "George"....and especially yours Steve. We loved the "half a redhead" but had deliberately edited the photo so the glimpse of reddish hair might give a hint that it was Warren's wife Linda beside him).

Here is the third in our series of "Who is it?" and watch out everyone.....YOU COULD BE NEXT!!!

Love always,

Sharon