Northern Territory (Jun24-Aug7 2021)

Our first LONG trip and it was fabulous. Sincere thanks to Glenn and Enza for inviting us to share in this amazing trip.

THE ROUTE

Heading out our stops were Dalby Tourist Park, Blackall Caravan Park, Walkabout Creek Hotel, Barkly Homestead, Daly Waters Hotel, Katherine Holiday Park, Daly Waters Conservation Park (as Gunlom Falls was closed), Kakadu Cooinda Lodge, Litchfield and then the Darwin Hidden Valley Park.

WOW... Glenn's experience in doing 400-500km stints to get his into the NT was invaluable. Thanks mate!

The route back.

From Darwin we headed to Mataranka, back to Barkly, then to Adels Grove at Lawn Hill (would stay in the National Park next time), Cunnamulla, Dunblane Sheep Station, Chinchilla and then home.

24-25th June - Dalby Tourist Park

We really enjoyed Dalby. Got in the day before everyone else. Excellent caravan park. We took an ensuite site. Very helpful park managers. Pub right next door. Nice town with good shops.

26th June - Blackall Caravan Park

ABSOLUTELY PACKED which is NOT SURPRISING at this time of year with school holidays and EVERYONE on the road. That said the pub was great.

27th June - Walkabout Creek Hotel - McKinlay

AWESOME. Very basic but cold beer and great food.

28th June - Barkly Homestead

Again a great place to stopover.

29th June - Daly Waters Hotel

Absolutely packed. This is an iconic traveller destination. FULL OF CHARACTER!

You've GOT TO EXPERIENCE this place ONCE in your life!

30th June - 4th July - Katherine Holiday Park

Thank heavens we're travelling with Glenn and Enza. Another fabulous choice of somewhere to stay. Just out of town. Lots of space on the sites. Seamless check in. Definitely BOOK IN ADVANCE and would stay here again.

We rode our road bikes out of the park. Fabulous ride along the river, through town and out to the airbase. Ride early as it gets hot really quickly.

Well stocked supermarket in town. Very good information centre.

Highlights for us were:

the bike ride
Katherine Gorge Tour
Edith Falls (wow...wow...wow)
Helicopter flight with champagne landing
The caves

4th to 7th July - Daly Waters Conservation Park

I'm embarrassed as this was a really great "out of the way" place to stay. Very basic but we like that. Lots of space in the park. And has remote unpowered locations along the creek. Highlight for us was Butterfly Falls (wow...would love to return to hike further upstream) and the confluence of the Daly River. This is a magic place.

7th to 11th July - Kakadu Cooinda Lodge

Kakadu is on so many "bucket lists" and DID NOT DISAPPOINT. A lot of the sites were closed owing to water levels OR had not got croc clearance from the Rangers. But there were so many other sites.

We've got unfinished business in Kakadu and definitely on our list to return.

We would stay in Jabiru next time simply because it is closer to attractions we did not visit this time.

Highlights for us:

The Yellow Waters tour. Early morning is definitely best. Seen nothing like this ever.
The "First Nation" sites like Nourlangie and Ubir. Both so spiritual. Definitely want to return to Ubir.
Jim Jim Falls. Definitely want to return and camp out there for a few days and hike. The road was heavily corrugated and almost lost the lid on the 4wd. Learned a lot about correct tyre presses and driving on corrugated.
Our Kakadu flight which took in the wetlands, the escarpments and the rivers.

Coming to Kakadu DEFINITELY heightened our interest in learning more about "First Nation" culture, beliefs etc.

Also had a MILD FRIGHT!

Very tired from the drive to Jim Jim Falls and the emergency repair to the 4wd lid. Went to the service station, picked up a nozzle and started to fill the 4wd. Thankfully the brain kicked and released the nozzle after putting 2.5litres of Petrol into the 4wd. Grabbed the diesel nozzle and filled the 4wd.

Got back to the camp site. Mild state of panic. "T" instantly knew something was wrong given my face so told her immediately.

Rang RACQ and they got a mechanic to phone me back. told me 2.5litres into an 80litre tank was not an issue. BUT would get the Jabiru mechanic to call me. Which he did the next morning.

Drive off and if starts to PING. Stop. Phone mechanic.
Keep under 80kph.
Drive 50k stop and refill with diesel.
Repeat as needed.
After 4 refills with no issues then you are good to go.

Thankfully Glenn was with us. Offered to tow the van into Jabiru if any issues. Followed us in at 80k. Just took awesome care of us first timers. Sincere thanks!

And now when I go to fill up my brain goes:

Black car, black filler cap... take black DIESEL nozzle;
Also invested in pre-filter for Fuel;

Nourlangie

This is a very spiritual place, you can feel the presence. Art that is 60000+ years old. Incredible.

A couple of videos too.

Then one of the walks with a beautiful outlook towards the escarpment into Arnhem Land.

Cahills Crossing

A few crocs around. Too cold for the Barra so not much food around. Locals tell us during the Barra season there can be 20+ crocs waiting here.

Ubirr

Words do not adequately describe the beauty of Ubirr. This is a really special place owing to its history, the artwork and the views.

The videos enhance the story!

11th to 15th July - Litchfield National Park

Originally had the Safari Park booked. Drove into the site and found it closed owing to a death in the family. Mild state of panic so relocated to another park which proved to be awesome.

Litchfield is spectacular and definitely worth the visit.

15th to 20th July - Hidden Valley Park - Darwin (ensuite site)

Would definitely stay here again. Not far out of Darwin. Good sites. Ensuite awesome. Pool cold. Right on the bike track. Loved it. Really good managers and staff.

Highlights for us in Darwin:

the bike tracks go EVERYWHERE. No need for a car. Ride early as it gets HOT. Pharkin HOT. And pharkin HOT.
the Markets and watching the sun go down
the Harbour Cruise
the War Museum. Wow.
the Harbour precinct

We will revisit Darwin on our expedition "across the top end" on the way to Broome.

20th to 24th July - Mataranka

We would definitely stop over again in Mataranka and spend more time at the springs. The park where we stayed is a fabulous "rest" spot with a great restaurant. Lots of space on the van sites. Staff are sensational. There is a bakery in town that puts many to shame in Brisbane!

24th July - very long drive to get to Barkly

25th to 27th July Adels Grove - Lawn Hill

The gorge is outstanding. Would not stay at Adels Grove again but would definitely stay at the National Park.

WE GOT INUNDATED WITH BULL DUST. Invested in a Dometic Dust Reduction system which works really we when you have forward momentum. In BULL DUST you often need to stop owing to no visibility. The Dometic doesn't work. The van fills. We arrived at Lawn Hill and the fine bull dust was everywhere. NEVER heard T swear. But she's got swear words that would put an SAS Sergeant Major to shame! Then again T is IRISH and also a prior ICU nurse.

So back in Brisbane we've invested in a positive air pressure system that will test out on our February SA trip. Praying it works. CUSTOM OFF GRID SOLUTIONS fitted it and a number of videos shows that it does work.

27th to 28th July - somewhere out West

Headed out of Lawn Hill early as needed to do some urgent medical licencing work.

28th July to 2nd August - Dunblane Sheep Station (Barcaldine)

Wow, wow and double wow. Totally isolated alongside a billabong. Surrounded by sheep, emus, birds and open plains. No-one for miles. Star show at night was fabulous. Definitely on our list to return. Did a 20k+ gravel bike ride around the property.

THIS IS A MAGIC PLACE.