Cairns to Darwin - the Savannah Way

Finally we leave Cairns behind again (after 3wks there all up we were ready to get out). Getting out wasn't so simple, we needed to get the camper trailer fixed, they could only do it the day we were due in Croydon (700km away) so we didn't get away until 11am - lucky we'd booked a cabin for the night so didn't need to set up in Croydon. This was our first time travelling at dusk (we got there about 7pm) and we could see why people get off the road early. We saw at least 200 kangaroos and wallabies along the sides of the road, a few played chicken with us but we managed not to hit any. For some reason I drove this part, it wasnt good for the nerves! The road was comparatively good though, one lane asphalt with dirt either side that you throw yourself into for oncoming traffic (and when there's a roadtrain you get the hell out of the way because they don't get out of your way). We took the historic Gulflander train from Croydon to Normanton.


The Gulflander, we paid for one ticket and rode half the trip each while the other took the vehicle. Fantastic to use different transportation, and even better to have some solo time driving. Although it took over 5 hours to do the 140km between Croydon and Normanton.

Kids loved it but Ash left his favourite soft toy behind which caused dramas. The train driver has promised to search for it and send it back...

This is a replica in Normanton of a famous croc that was shot by a female hunter in the 60's. It was a monster.

From Normanton we headed out to Karumba to stay a few days. Karumba's famed for excellent fishing and excellent sunsets. The sunsets were good. The fishing? 'You shoulda been here last week mate'. We hardly got out in the boat, it was windy again - which was good in a way because the temperature hit 40degrees while we were here.

We went to the barramundi farm in Karumba which was informative and entertaining. We got to feed the barramundi which freaked the kids out a bit. They held a herring just above the water and the barra were so fast we all got a fright. No-one lost a finger but.

There were heaps of jellyfish in the water at Karumba, and plenty of locusts which brought in heaps of birds.

The famous Karumba sunset (yes its a sun setting) viewed from the Sunset Tavern, nice view for a pub! After Karumba we spent a night in Burketown - one night was enough, but we did get to see 'old man croc' the local 18ft croc, on the riverbank.

From Burketown, onto Lawn Hill National Park. We freecamped a couple of nights on Gregory River. No crocs here so the kids spent most of the time in the water. We did find a dead file snake in the water though.

We saw a bower bird in the NP. This little guy is the interior designer of the bird world. He makes the coolest nest but then he also goes out collecting a certain colour (this guy liked white, hence the white shells around the outside but apparently they like green and silver too) which he adorns the nest with to attract a female mate.

We canoed the gorge here, 1 hour up river, 1 hour back down with a swim and some waterfalls in the middle. Saw lots of little fish in the water, alot of people see freshwater crocs but not us - think the kids too noisy.Ash fell asleep on the side of the canoe on the way back, that boy will sleep anywhere.

We had a crazy drive out of Lawn Hill NP, the track ran through farmland and we had to open and close about 10 gates. Sometimes it was hard to see the track we just had to hope we were still on it. Didn't see a single person all morning. Finally we were out and after a short fuel stop in Doomadgee we headed through Hells Gate and on finally into a new state (four months on the road and we've only done one state - we'll be doing 3-4 more in the next 3 months!) Its hard to explain this part of Australia - Mad Max probably sums it up the best. Hot, dry, dusty, huge rocks and escarpments, nobody on the road (most people take the less scenic asphalt highways), abandoned roadhouses etc. We spent a night in Borroloola, which back in the 70's was the wildest town in Australia - everyone owned a gun. It was still pretty rough, we put all our stuff away at night and had no problems.

We went into Limmen NP after that and freecamped at Butterfly Springs - the only place in the NP where we could swim.

We made a boat out of paperbark for the kids to play with, it survived about 5mins - pretty good going really.

There were two lots of lost cities near Butterfly Springs and we went to both. Huge rock formations with some very cool shapes. One rock had a big hole in the middle that we could back the patrol through and we had lunch inside the tube - the only shady spot there!

From here we shot through to Mataranka for the night. We stopped and had a look at the old prison in Roper Barr, very strange place, you could imagine the stuff that went on here. Someone had written all over the walls about Jesus and Angels vs Devils and Demons. We missed the main thermal pools at Mataranka (they were rank - the flying foxes had taken over residence as they do at this time of year, and they stink), but we went to Bitter Springs and floated from one end to the other on some borrowed 'noodles'. Big hit with the kids, we had to do it twice. Water temp was around 32degrees - so not particularly refreshing.

And now we're back in the big city (Darwin this time) gearing up for the next leg. Car service, new tyres, a new stand alone battery pack (now we have four - one for the patrol, one for the camper trailer and two to keep our beast of a fridge going in this heat), solar panel repaired, new UHF antenna (the other one didnt handle the corrugations on the road), a fan for the heat, new shoes for the kids, haircuts and some sightseeing. Its seriously hot here, temperature doesnt get as high as it did in Karumba - mid 30s but the humidity is through the roof. Give me a Wellington winter anyday!

We went to the Mindil Beach Sunset Markets. Lots of people, lots of stalls, lots of yummy food. Met a guy from Palmerston North (he admitted he was actually from Sanson in the end) who lives in Darwin now, he sold us a spray to stop the midge bites itching. It didnt work. Midges are real bad here, Ash and I are allergic and come up in welts - we look like we have chicken pox.

The kids had a go at cracking a bullwhip, Ruben almost got it and Ash just flung it around a bit. The crowd thought they were great though, the only little kids that had a go.

Tomorrow we're heading to Crab Claw Island (good fishing, we'll see) for a few days and then into National Park territory - Litchfield, Kakadu, Nitmulik and maybe Gregory before we head down through the centre.