NT - Alice to Darwin

After my Red Centre Tour I had a one day break before my next tour began, which was good because I was still so exhausted from the first part. I used this day to unpack and repack my things, post some pictures, and thin out all the brochures and things I had grabbed for my scrapbook. My roommate, Norm, left so I switched beds to the one closest to the outlets just in time before my new roommates arrived. I don't remember their names, but they were British and absolutely hilarious. They had me and each other constantly laughing even into the early hours of the morning. Unfortunately because there was nowhere to eat other than a Subway, I had subway for lunch, dinner, and then again for lunch the next day since our tour didn't leave until 11am. It was nice to have two days where I didn't have to wake up before the sun, but I did miss the stars and all the time spent outside. It was so weird to hear the chaos that ensued in the morning, even though I didn't have to get up I was awake because my room was right next to the kitchen and above the lobby. It was so loud for about an hour while everyone was getting up, showering, making breakfast, and taking all their stuff to the lobby and waiting for their buses. Once all the tours left, the hostel was like a desert. Later that night as other tours returned it became loud and full of people everywhere again. I was one of those people getting up super early a few mornings ago and one of those people out being loud at dinner, but you don't realize it until you are removed from it.

The day the next portion of my tour started I repacked everything, gave my shoes a good scrub (the sand of the Red Centre had turned my white runners into a faint red falling apart shoe), then went to the local petrol station to get a few snacks for the long drive to Katherine Gorge (14.5 hours without stops). Once again there were only 3 of us waiting in the lobby. This time we were waiting for a large coach bus. A tiny blonde haired spunky tour guide named Kate came to greet us and take us to the bus. She told us that we were it. We clarified by asking her if everyone else was already on the bus (you couldn't see through the windows from the outside), if we were going to pick people up from different hostels in town, and/or if we were going to pick people up from other places along the way. She said no to every question and clarified that it was just the 3 of us and the 2 tour guides on a 46 seater coach bus for the full 14.5 hour drive to Katherine. The three of us were absolutely shocked. We each had 8 seats to ourselves, which at first felt a little extreme, but turned out to be quite nice. I had my stuff spread out over 2 seats and I got to stretch out at night on 4 seats. We also got to know our tour guides really well. So we started this massively long journey with just me, Li (a girl I came to be friends with for the rest of the trip, a guy whose name I don't remember, and our tour guides Kate and Cardin.

My shoes before the scrub (I had already given them a slight pre scrub while at our Kings Canyon campsite)

Yep, 5 people on this WHOLE bus

Our first stop shortly after beginning was the Tropic of Capricorn with a Latitude of 23-442028 and a Longitude of 133-833111. Kate and Cardin were joking about the fact that this was the highlight of the tour and how the temperature difference on one side was significantly different from the other so Cardin drove the bus across the "line" several times making jokes about the temperature change. 

At our first random stop I met a Wedgie (Wedgetail Eagle) named Bobo. He is in captivity because he was injured and now has a metal plate in his wing and it keeps him from flying. There was also a skeleton and a coffin in this random place. This was also when the population of Aboriginal people began to really pick up, which was honestly really cool. This is their land and it was cool to be the minority among the people who the land belongs to as a respectful visitor and appreciator. 

BoBo

Dressed skeleton and coffin in background

We also stopped at Wycliff Well - the UFO Capital of Australia... They have to have somewhere for us to stop and refuel the bus and get snacks and go to the toilet.

Our next stop was a real legit stop - Karlu Karlu (or Devil's Marbles). These was one cool sight!! The massive granite boulders were teetering on small points as though they were ready to topple at any second, but you could touch them, push them, sit on them and they wouldn't budge. Some of them had split and you could see how the inside hadn't gone through the oxidization process yet. We even got adventurous and decided to climb a few. And because our tour guide is awesome we also got to have dinner and then go back and see Karlu Karlu at sunset! We climbed on top of one of the big boulders and just sat there as the sun went down. This was one of those moments where I felt like I was living a dream and then realize that I am, MY dream. One of those moments where I have to remind myself that I am really doing these things and I am really in Australia. 

After Karlu Karlu we all got cozy in our seats and got ready for the overnight drive ahead. I had my sleeping bag, my kitty, my book, my music, and ice cream and I was on a bus driving through Australia... What more could you possibly want?! Our tour guide warned us to wear our seat belts even while we were sleeping because they often have to slam on breaks to avoid hitting kangaroos, wallabies, dingoes, and this time even water buffalo! In the morning I thought maybe I should have stayed awake for the overnight drive because they said they saw all sorts of wildlife while driving. The next morning I woke up well rested and ready until... I stepped off the bus... That temperature and climate change our tour guides were joking about earlier... It was all too real now... It was hot, but the worse part was the humidity. You were instantly sweaty and could barely breathe. It was so very uncomfortable. 

We had breakfast (even the milk was warm) and started our walk to a lookout over Katherine Gorge. Our walk started off with a bird's nest, flying foxes, and a wallaby. I have seen wallabies before (heck I've even fed them), but I have never seen flying foxes before so I was really excited. They make a crazy squawking noise and when there was as many of them as there were it is really loud. The walk wasn't too hard, except for the walking in sand part and the numerous stairs going up, but the view was beautiful. By the time we reached the top we were all hot and tired of the humidity (except I was tired of the humidity before we even started). The flies were pretty awful as well. All I wanted was COLD, GOOD water!!! The water out here is so awful compared to Melbourne water. The water out here is thick and leaves a gross after taste and is always warm. 

After our hike we finished the drive to Darwin and were dropped off a couple blocks from our hostels, not a big deal, unless you have luggage without wheels and have to carry it and are already sweating like crazy. Li and I got a room together and luckily it had AC, but as soon as you step out of the room (especially into the bathroom) you are just choked with the humidity. Showering here seems almost pointless because you'll sweat as soon as you turn the water off. I was immediately aware of the population of Aboriginal people here, because it is so different from Melbourne. There were lots and lots of Aboriginals. Li and I looked at our pictures, took a short nap, went to Coles to get breakfast and snacks for tomorrow, and then got ready to meet Cardin. Before dropping us off Cardin told us about some markets Darwin has and said we could meet him at 5 if we wanted to go with him. These markets are called the Mindil Beach Sunset Markets. It was quite the walk to get to them, but with good company it wasn't so bad. At the entrance to the markets was a guy playing 4 didgeridoos teamed with a guy playing the drums and they sounded so awesome. I'm kind of wishing now that I had bought their CD. Me, Li, and Cardin got our dinners from different food vendors and found a seat in the sand on the beach to watch the sun set while we ate. I have never seen the sunset over the water because in North Carolina the sun rises over the water. It was an absolutely beautiful sight. Afterwards we walked through the stalls and Li and Cardin purchased an item or two and then we walked back to our hostels. We thanked Cardin for being an awesome tour guide and wished him well for his one day off tomorrow before touring again and went our separate ways. 

I walked into the bathroom and was instantly hit by a wall of humidity and heat. I took a cold shower, which seemed entirely pointless because I started sweating as soon as the water was off. I pretty much threw my towel around me, grabbed my things, and got out of there as soon as possible. I left my hair wet to keep me cool while I unpacked and repacked all of my stuff. Li did the same and then we turned in for the night ready for another big day in the morning.  

**Jokes from Cardin: When at Uluru he asks, "How much does Uluru weigh?"... "1 Stone" When in the amphitheater of Kings Canyon he says, "We like to hold rock concerts here with our main attraction being the Rolling Stones".**
**Cardin also taught us about NT Time: Not Today, Not Tomorrow, Next Tuesday. NT is the abbreviation for Northern Territory. And he told us about the Aboriginals easy going take on things like counting - 1, 2, many. They can count higher of course, and do, but that is just how they tend to see things.**