Two Sams TravellingThis week we left Queensland and made our way into the Northern Territory. There were some big driving days, but we also saw some amazing things along the way.
Day one
Today was going to be a big driving day for us. We weren’t quite sure where we wanted to end up but we knew we wanted to get into the Northern Territory and to make some distance. We packed up and left Burketown early and made our way on The Savannah Way. The Queensland part of the road wasn’t too bad, with a bit of gravel but mostly it was a strip of bitumen or full bitumen road. We kept driving until we arrived at Hells Gate and had a quick walk around before heading to the roadhouse to get some diesel. At $2.80 a litre, this was up there with some of the most expensive diesel we have paid for and definitely the most expensive we have had in a while. The roadhouse was very nice and the staff were lovely so we had a chat and a quick walk around before continuing on our drive. Not far down the road we reached the NT border, so we stopped to take some photos and to air down the tires for the next part of the road. Now this is where the road started to decline rapidly! For the next 400km, we were driving on some very rough dirt roads and it is hard to believe that this road is the A1. The scenery along the way was very nice though and we had to do a couple of small river crossings along the way so that made it a bit more interesting. We stopped for some lunch at a roadside camp, then continued driving until we reached Borroloola where we got some more diesel and tried to help a couple who were having mechanical issues with their Troopy. At that time it was only 3:30pm CST, so we decided to keep driving and find ourselves a roadside stop to camp. We stopped at the first roadside camp we came across and settled in for the night. By then we had been driving for around eight hours and Sam was ready to stop. We had this roadside camp to ourselves and it was the first time we hadn’t camped near other people for a very long time. The flies were relentless, but the peace and quiet made up for it. We had some dinner then settled in for the evening.
Day two
We were up early again today, but we had the best sleep considering we were sleeping just off a highway. We decided to get up and get moving as we had a few hours of driving before we would reach our next destination. We kept driving along the Barkly Highway, and it was a fairly uneventful drive. The road wasn’t in the best condition either and a lot of the drive was a small strip of bitumen. We also saw a lot of road trains along the way and some were huge. After 250km, we made it to the Stuart Highway and had a quick stop before continuing our drive. We were stopping at Daly Waters Pub tonight and we made it there around 11:30. We checked in and got to our campsite, then went for a walk around Tim’s Junkyard. At just $3 per adult, you can have a look at Tim’s collection of old cars and other random items, including the exact police car used in the Wolf Creek movies. It was worth the money and there were some cool things in there to look at. When we went back outside we saw a guy managing to get the chickens back into their hutch (that also had a KFC sign on top of it) by clapping his hands. It was quite funny watching the chickens follow just with a clap and they were well trained. We went and checked out the resident croc Kevin, then decided to go and do the historical walk that left just outside the camping area. This was a bit of a mistake on our behalf as it was the middle of the day, it was over 30 degrees and we didn’t have our fly nets handy. After our walk, we had to had a rest and recover back at the camper for the rest of the afternoon. We were booked in for Daly Water’s famous Beef n Reef BBQ that night and were told to get there around 5pm so we could get a table. We had a couple of $4 middles for happy hour and got our dinner around 6:30. You could choose from just beef, just Barra or half and half and you had a serve yourself salad bar. There were heaps of different salads to choose from and all the food was delicious. The Barra tasted so fresh and was amazing and we were glad we ordered this. After dinner, we headed back to the camper for the rest of the evening.
Day three
This morning we woke up and it was freezing! The wind had picked up in the night and had changed the temperature completely. We were also up early due to the wind, so we jumped in the shower then went for another walk around the pub to take some more photos. After that we decided to get on the road as we were keen to get out of the cold and we made our way up the Stuart Highway to Mataranka. We had the choice of staying near Mataranka Springs or Bitter Springs, and we decided on Bitter Springs as it had better reviews. We drove into the camping ground and managed to get ourselves a powered site, as there was only a $5 price difference and we were looking to get some water as well. We were led to our site, and we got set up and did some washing. We had some lunch, then decided to go and check out Bitter Springs. We were walking distance from the campground so it saved us having to drive and find a park. When we arrived it was very busy, so we went for a quick dip before getting out to avoid the crowds. The water in both springs are at a constant temperature of 34 degrees and even in the heat it was still refreshing. We decided we would come back again in the morning to avoid the crowds so we went back to the camper for a bit, then hopped in the car and headed towards Mataranka. We got some diesel, then drove down to Mataranka Springs. We had to walk through the homestead to get to the springs, but it wasn’t too far until we were at the thermal pool. We decided to take our blow up inflatable pool toy this time and it was nice and comfortable sitting in the pool rather than having to swim. It was still busy here, but we found a spot and sat in the water and relaxed. It was so nice and warm and we stayed in for around 15 minutes before deciding to get out and head back to the camper. We checked out rainbow springs, then headed back to the campground for the rest of the evening. We had a chat with the family that night and did some trip planning as we had good internet for the first time in a number of days.
Day four
We were up early again as we wanted to head to Bitter Springs before heading off. It was a chilly walk to the springs and there were a few other people that had the same idea we had. It was still half as busy as it was the day before and it was so nice and peaceful. We bought the floatie with us again so we used that to float downstream and enjoyed the warm water. With the cooler temperature outside, there was steam coming off the water and it was very hard to get out and walk back. Luckily we had a nice warm shower to come back to and some coffee. We got ready to leave and continued to head North. We headed to Katherine where we stopped to get some groceries and some cash out, then continued up the road to Pine Creek. We got some diesel and stopped for lunch then headed towards Kakadu National Park. It is actually a bit of distance from Pine Creek to the start of Kakadu National Park and with it being the largest national park in Australia, we knew we had some kilometres to cover over the next few days. We had decided to head to one of the first campsites in the area so we headed there to dump the camper, then decided to head back up the road to the ranger station. This station was unmanned but there was a map at the front that gave us a bit more of an idea of where everything was and what walks we could in the area. We had a look at the map and planned out our next few days, then went to have a look at BukBukLuk Lookout. This was a short walk and provided us with some amazing views of the area. It was enough for us as the temperature was quite spicy by then. We decided to head back to the camper and tried to stay out of the sun for the rest of the day.
Day five
We were keen to get some bushwalking in today, but as it was getting to 35 degrees we had to get up early to beat the heat. We tried getting up at 6am, but it was still dark so we gave it some time as we really didn’t want to go walking in the dark. We drove down the road from the campground to the carpark for the Motor Car Creek Falls Track. We decided to do the Yurmikmik Lookout first and after a short rocky climb, we reached the top and got amazing views of the area. We stopped to take some photos, then walked back down and continued on the track. The walk to the falls was fairly uneventful but once we were near the falls we had to do some rock climbing to get there. As it is the dry season here, there was no water running from the falls and the water there looked a bit gross and uninviting for swimming. It was still nice to look at though but we passed on the swim and made our way back to the car after stopping for a quick look. We headed back to the camper and packed everything up, then continued to head North through the national park. On our way to our next campsite, we stopped at Maguk to have a look and go for a swim. The road to the carpark was very corrugated and we had a tourist stop in the middle of the road and pop their hazard lights on. We managed to stop in time but it made the road more uncomfortable than it needed to be. We arrived at the car park and made our way down the walking track to the falls and plunge pool. There was a bit of rock scrambling to get there but it was a relatively short walk and once we arrived the views were spectacular. The water was at a great temperature and the falls were flowing. It was getting quite warm by then so the swim was very much needed and the water was very refreshing. It was quite busy here, so we had a quick swim before getting out to make our way back to the car. The walk out wasn’t too bad but we could notice the change in temperature and could feel it getting warmer. We got back to the car and kept driving up the road until we arrived at Jim Jim Billabong campground. All the campgrounds at Kakadu National Park don’t have a booking system and you just have to rock up and hope you get a spot. We managed to find one here and set everything up before going for a quick walk along the billabong to see if we could spot any crocodiles. No crocodiles here, so we decided to go for a drive and head to Yellow Waters to see if we could spot any. We met some people on the walking track and they alerted us to a crocodile. We have been waiting to see one in the wild on our trip and we were pleased to be able to finally see one in the flesh. We went for a bit of a walk down the boardwalk a bit more and managed to spot another one in the water as well. We went for a bit more of a walk around but as it had hit the hottest part of the day, it was too hot to function so we headed back to the camper and did nothing as the heat was unbearable.
Day six
It was another morning of bushwalking for us, so we were up again early so we could beat the heat. We headed to Burrungkuy Anabangbang where we were going to do the Barrk Walk. We had a look at some of the drawings that were done by the traditional owners of the land and also walked up to Gunwarrdehwarrde lookout. It was really fascinating to read about the stories and meaning behind the different drawings and it is good to see they are still in such good condition after many, many years. The Barrk Walk is a 12km walk and the sign said it would take us around 6-8 hours. Thank goodness that it didn’t as it was very warm by the time we were finished. The walk started with a steep climb up some rocks where we got amazing views of the area and we could see how flat it was. The steep climb went for quite a while until we started reaching the top and made our descent back down the hill. This was just as tricky as walking up as you had to think about where you would place your feet and try and not slip or fall down. We made it back down all ok and then went for a fairly easy walk through the bush until we arrived at the Nanguluwur Art Site, where we stopped to have a look and read about some more art and also have a chat with some people who arrived at the same time as we did. This artwork was thousands of years old and was still quite vivid and told a story, it was so cool to see. After looking at the art site, we kept walking through the bush and we thought it would be a relatively flat and easy walk back to the car. We were thrown a curveball though towards the end and had to do another rock climb to reach the top. Just when we thought we were done, we had to do some more climbing! We did this all ok and continued to walk until we arrived back at the car. By the time we had arrived back there it was midday and it was hot. We sat in the air conditioned car and enjoyed a lot of food and water, then we headed down the road and checked out a billabong where we didn’t see any crocodiles unfortunately. We continued on and headed to Jabiru, the main township in Kakadu National Park. We went and had a quick look at Jabiru Lake and the hotel that is shaped like a crocodile. That was a funny sight as it is actually shaped like a crocodile, no joke! We then decided to go and check out the local pool as we very much needed a shower, and the kind man working there let us have a shower for free as we didn’t want to go for a swim (we had no energy). We then went to the IGA and got some more supplies, then made our way back to camp. It was very hot by then so we spent the rest of the afternoon avoiding the heat, then enjoyed some dinner outside in the cooler air. We had a walk to the billabong at sunset, then spent some more time outside as it was cooler, but the flies started getting to us so we made our way back inside.
Day seven
We had a slower start this morning as we weren’t looking to do any big bush walks, and we were looking to move camping sites. We had some breakfast, then packed up and started to head North. We arrived at Merl Campground and there were heaps of spots to choose from so we found one with shade and started setting up. This campsite was a bit more expensive than the other campsites we had been in but it had rubbish bins, flushing toilets and showers so we were happy to pay a bit extra. It also put us in a good position to explore some things we hadn’t seen yet and it was nice to have a change of scenery. After a shower, we went for a drive and had a look around Cahills Crossing. The viewing platform is currently being renovated and the road is closed to traffic, so we decided to head to the different boat ramps to have a look instead. We headed to the downstream boat ramp first, but this one had no water and no crocodiles so we headed to the upstream boat ramp (via the shop to grab an ice cream as it was very hot by then). We were the only ones at the upstream boat ramp and we spotted around 7 crocodiles in the water or sunbaking on the bank. We stood there for a while watching the crocodiles and they were really cool to watch. The sun got to us after a while so we headed back to the camper and did our usual thing of hiding out for the afternoon. It hit 37 degrees here and it was hot and sticky. The ranger came and collected our money for the camping and even he said it was hot. We had an early tea then headed to Nadab Lookout to watch the sunset. On our way to the lookout, we stopped at Ubirr rock art sites to have a look and there were so many interesting drawings and these were also well preserved and told very interesting stories. There were a fair few people watching the sunset but we managed to find a spot to sit and watch. There was a fire going on on the other side of the horizon so we were able to watch that as well at the same time. We saw a couple get engaged, and waited around until we got the Northern Territory sunset glow. It was magical watching the sunset and we probably would have stayed longer but the ranger advised he was closing the gates in 10 minutes, so we decided to make our way back down from the lookout and back to the car. The mosquitos were coming in thick and fast and it was still very hot outside, so we ventured back to the camper for the rest of the evening.
Weekly stats
Number of KMs – 1,748
Number of states – 2
Number of campsites – 6
Number of items lost – 0
Number of items broken – 1
