After leaving Palmerston, we all breathed a sigh of relief when we passed our break down point at the Berry Springs turn-off. Our afternoon tea stop off was a the little town of Pine Creek. There was a lovely little park nearly the old railway museum, full of…mango trees! Much to our delight, they were free for picking. Whilst it was tempting to fill the fridge, we were very aware that in a couple of days, we would be passing through the WA checkpoint and required to surrender all fruit and vegies.

Continuing on into Katherine, we took Steve for a much anticipated dip in the Katherine Hot Springs. We had discovered that the recent rains had brought with them  a couple of mudslides surrounding the hot springs and were evidently enjoyed by many children earlier that day. Of course, all the boys (big boys included) enjoyed a slippery slide, though most of them came out with dirty clothes and sore bottoms! We then checked back into Knott’s Crossing Resort, where we had stayed just over a week earlier.

The following morning, Steve and Joe headed off bright and early to canoe Katherine Gorge. It was a wonderful achievement and simply a gorgeous place to canoe. They reported back on the wildlife, as well as spotting a croc- right next to their canoe! Mel and the kids spent the morning completing homework, doing a craft activity and enjoying ice creams from the shop.

After a quick pack up, we started to head south-west towards the WA border. It was such a stunning drive; vast grass lands scattered with towering red-rock cliffs. As we headed towards the Kimberleys, a lot of the mountains we were now seeing are made up of compacted sandstone. With temperatures tipping the 40’s, it was a lovely break to make a stop at Victoria River Downs Homestead. For us, it was just a pit stop, but would have been a lovely place to stay- the fresh green grass contrasting to the dry and dusty dirt track. The surrounding mountains were simply stunning. There is also the neighbouring Gregory National Park and Hot Springs which one could explore when staying there.

Arriving in the early evening at Timber Creek, we were disappointed to have missed the 5pm croc feed at the caravan park. However, the disappointment soon wavered when we ventured down to the river, and stepping onto the bridge that was but a few metres from the water, we watched 3 crocs swimming in the waters beneath. It was amazing to be so close to the wild beasts- yet not on any type of ‘tour’! Needless to say, the kids were put on strict guard during our stay there.

In the park, we also saw our first boab tree- an amazing tree unique to the Kimberley area. With its broad trunk and branches several metres up, it was almost a humorous sight! The children’s playground was great here and we all enjoyed a refreshing dip in the pool (a common event these days!).

The following morning, Zach and Josh opened up a breakfast cafe and did a fantastic job creating signs and producing a lovely range of items for the family. We also cleaned out all our fruits and vegies and enjoyed giving away what we could to travellers heading in the direction we had just been.

Arriving at the border crossing later that day, we had an early lunch to finish off the last of fruits and vegies. The family sure had no problems cleaning up 5 apples, 10 kiwifruit, 3 tomatoes, 2 cucumbers and 2 carrots. At the crossing, our rego was taken and our van, as well as car, was searched. Phew- passed! We were now into Western Australia!

Continuing along the Victoria Highway, we had no idea what treasure lay waiting…

Leaving Darwin, we needed to stop back into the Caravan repairer and get our breaks re-adjusted as they were not gripping correctly when driving. After spending 2 hours there, we were finally on the road again and heading for Litchfield National Park. We were tossing up whether to make a stop into Berry Springs first, when suddenly the car just turned off.

Pulling over on the Stuart Highway, Joe realised that the temperature gauge was showing that the car had overheated. Strange considering it had a service 3 days earlier. Opening the bonnet, we discovered coolant spewing out. A few people, including a mechanic pulled over to offer assistance. 2 families also pulled over and offered to drive Mel and the kids into Berry Springs. They also recommended a mechanic in Berry Springs. As Mel and the kids left with the 2 families, Joe and Steve worked on getting the car cooled down. We all met back up in Berry Springs as the mechanic took a look at the car, cleaning out the e only to break down 4km out from the mechanic. We dare not drive it again and so contacted our roadside assistance. They set about organising transport (car, van and six people) into Palmerston, the next major town. 

 After waiting another 2 hours in 38 degree weather (and eating all the watermelon!), we had a family stop and offer to tow Mel, kids and the van into the Palmerston van park that NRMA had booked for us. Our angels had all the set up needed for towing us, as we being able to fit Mel and the kids in. As they were getting set up to leave, another couple stopped and offered to tow the car, along with Joe and Steve, into the Pamerston mechanic. So we all head off in one big convoy, relieved to be getting out of the impending dark. Upon arriving at the ‘van park’, we soon discovered that NRMA had booked us into a BnB! The van was parked and set up in the driveway and Steve enjoyed his own room for the next 3 nights!

We are ever grateful for our road side angels and all the people that stopped and helped us. We even had another man drop off some cold drinks.

To try and cut a long and tiresome story short, Palmerston mechanics couldn’t do anything, so the car was sent into Darwin. After a few mechanics looked at, it was finally decided that the thermostat didn’t need changing as originally thought (would have taken a week!). There was a knock in the engine which had now developed and there was concern this would eventually blow up the engine. Calls were made to look into transporting the car back to Sydney to fix it as no one in Darwin was qualified to do the job. As this was quite costly and time-consuming, we decided to keep going on our planned route and hoped to at least make it to Broome, where our friend Steve could pick up his connecting flight.

As we had a hire car, we did make some use of our time in Palmerston. We still managed to spend an afternoon exploring Litchfield National Park. Our first stop was the Magnetic Termite Mounds. No- these aren’t some wonderful little creature that attracts everything metal. The term in fact refers to the termite which builds it’s mound to create a perfectly flat surface, facing east. The incredible architecture of these little creatures creates a perfect stable environment to ensure survival. In fact, we were quite amazed as we look upon these mounds- all in every direction looked like a field of tombstones.

Continuing on into Litchfield, we headed out to Wangi Falls. We stopped for a quick lunch at the nearby cafe (the only one in Litchfield) before heading into the falls area. The falls is only a short 200m walk from the carpark and was a gorgeous site in the 40 degree heat! We all jumped in the water and swam the short length out to both falls. There were quite a few crevices made by the left fall and we all took a leap of faith by jumping into the falls from the cliff faces. There were a number of visitors to the falls and we felt perfectly safe while we were there. Indeed, the surrounding picnic area, complete with BBQ’s, would have made a wonderful complete day spent at Wangi Falls.

However, the afternoon was getting on and so we left Wangi Falls, heading back towards the park entrance for a stop at Buley Rock Holes. This was a wonderful place of adventure as we all slid down the cascades and jumped (somewhat cautiously!) into the small water crevices. At one point, Steve even disappeared- until we discovered he had jumped into a tiny water hole that was actually taller than his 2m frame! The kids particularly enjoyed hunting down the miniature frogs that were jumping around the rock holes.

We hoped to visit Florence falls, also in the same area as Buley Rock Holes, but due to impending darkness, as well as a storm, we thought it best to leave and make the 100+km journey back to Palmerston. On the way back, we did stop at the town of Batchelor (our intended stay for Litchfield) and marvelled at the gorgeous mini-castle built at the towns entrance. We were also surprised at  how flooded the town was after the storm had past and wondered how wet it would really get once the wet season set in.

Whilst in Palmerston, we also visited the Palmerston markets, where we once again enjoyed some lovely food, as well as purchasing some delicious fresh produce. This market had a great atmosphere, with live music, though had a limited range of souvenirs. A trip to the famed Palmerston Tavern was quite interesting when Mel’s Spaghetti Carbonara topped with chicken came out as Spaghetti Bolognaise topped with chicken! Interesting mix! The trivia night kept us entertained, though!

We also managed another trip back into Leanyer recreation park, with the boys (much to their delight) introducing Steve to the waterslides!

Getting the all-clear to go ahead, we left for Katherine just after lunch on October 7^th.

After leaving Edith Falls, we headed towards Pine Creek for a diesel top off, and then started our trek into Kakadu National Park. Running a bit late after our day’s adventures, we decided to stop for the night at Mary River Roadhouse on the edge of Kakadu. 

 The following morning, we headed out early and began our trip into the park.  We were very excited because we spotted a group of about 10 wild horses. We were able to stop and take a couple of pics before they galloped off. They were so beautiful- Kaytlin and Jackie were particularly in awe of them! Our first stop was the visitors’ centre, where we had a look at some features of the park and things to look out for.

We then headed into Cooinda resort and checked in- what a beautiful place! We left the van and headed the couple of km to Yellow River for a quick look, followed by a stop in at the cultural centre- well worth a visit! Heading back to the van, Zach and Melinda stayed to complete some school work while Joe, Jackie, Josh and Kaytlin headed out for a cruise on the Yellow River. They had a wonderful time amongst the mangroves and spotted a number of crocs as well as wildlife including various birds and fish. They even saw a few more wild horses (known as brumbys) and a range of gorgeous water lilies. Early afternoon, we enjoyed a swim in the resort pool, followed by a delicious bbq dinner.

The following morning, Joe rose with the dawn and headed out to the resorts pontoon. His early efforts paid off and he caught his first barramundi! The kids were very excited watching him clean his catch and we all knew that we had some nice dinner to look forward too! We headed over to Yellow River again and joined a ranger guided tour along the boardwalk. As it was still quite early in the day, the wetlands were teaming with wildlife and we really enjoyed learning about the ecosystem of the area. We particularly liked watching an egret hunt for food and got up close to some frogs. The kids liked holding a tortoise shell and a croc skull.

We then packed up the van and headed up into Jabiru. After a brief look at the couple of shops there, we checked into Jabiru Lodge. We loved the set up of this park, with all spots arranged in a circle and the pool area, restaurant and bar located in the centre. Being a humid day, we headed down to the pool for a swim and some lunch. As the afternoon cooled, we drove up to Ubirr and joined a ranger guided tour in the ‘main gallery’. It was really interesting learning about the various rock art and absorb some aboriginal culture. We then headed up to the lookout with the ranger and took in the gorgeous mangroves plains. The bird life was amazing and we even spotted a couple of wallabies enjoying dinner. The sunset was just stunning and well worth the adventurous trip up the rocks. Upon returning to the park, we enjoyed Joe’s barra poolside- delicious!

The following morning we slept in a little before heading west to Mamukala. There are a couple of lovely walks here- we opted to take the small walk to the boarded lookout. What an absolutely gorgeous place! There were at least 500 birds in the swamp area- many different kinds and it was simply amazing to watch them interect with each other. The purple water lillies here were so lovely and the kids got involved in identifying birds they saw using displays on the wall.

We then continued west to the Adelaide River and joined The Original Jumping Crocodile boat cruise. As we cruised along, we were all surprised with how many crocs were in the water and how active they were. It was amazing to watch how they powerfully moved through the water. This was a particularly adventurous cruise because we had no plastic or metal walls up between us and the crocs, so when they jumped for their meat- it was literally right next to us! Incredible!  We all breathed a sigh of relief when we returned safely to the dock. This was a great cruise and a lovely coffee shop with kids play area to visit afterward. Jackie and Mel were also in awe of the aussie spirit displayed by the owners and staff after the area had been previously flooded quite a number of times. The photographs told an amazing story.

Heading through the town of Camooweal, we ventured to the Camooweal Waterhole on the Georgina River. This was a stunning free camping spot and we enjoyed the early evening watching the cows come down to the waterhole to drink. There were a couple of kites nesting across the river and they were periodically leaving their nest and looking for food. It was amazing watching them soar, as well as spotting the various other birds looking for their evening meal. The kids disappeared to invite other campers to a fire with toasted marshmellows. However, just as we were getting the campfire going, a massive gust of wind blew up and started to spread the embers into the nearby bushes. As it started to get worse, we had to quickly put the fire out as we were worried we would start a bigger fire! The wind continued most of the night so we really had to ‘buckle down the hatches’!

Heading across dry, grassy plains the following morning, we crossed over the Qld/NT border. There was quite a lot of road kill along the Barkley Highway and it was not uncommon for one of the kids to suddenly yell out ‘roadkill’!!!

At one point, Joe pulled the van over in the middle of nowhere. He had seen a snake on the road- so the kids jumped out of the car with Joe to check it out. The poor thing had been run over on its head. Once the coast was clear, they all proceeded to pick the heavy thing up and have a couple of photos. We later found out the the snake in question was actually a king brown- the second most deadliest snake in the world!

Arriving just after lunch at the Barkley Homestead, we all enjoyed a wander around the homestead, with a quick (but freezing!) dip in the pool. It was also great to catch up with some other campers, particularly a couple from Perth in their Retreat van. That night, we enjoyed a delicious home-cooked meal in the homestead and Joe enjoyed some homely normalities- watching NRL and playing pool.

Joining up with the Stuart highway the following day, we started to head south- right through the middle of this great land. We stopped at Tennant Creek for some lunch and were quite amazed that part of Red Rooster we were eating in had been made of termite mound bricks! The floor was even patterned with old local news paper! Despite all this, it was a very clean place with delicious fresh food.

Heading up to Battery Hill on Peko Rd., we had a bit of a look around (mine tour was closed that day) and then headed to the adjacent lookout. Before leaving Tennant creek, we stopped in at Lake Mary Ann for a look at this random lake in the middle of the dry plains.

We then headed the 90 or so km south to the Devils Marbles. When they first came into sight, we were truely amazed at the colour and size of them, as well as the way they were just sitting on top of one another! We all enjoyed a climb on the western marbles, before driving around the scattered bunch and heading into the National Park camping ground. After settling in, we climbed the marbles next to the campground for a gorgeous sunset. Just a stunning view of God’s handiwork!

The campground was lovely- being a National Park, it was only $7.70 for the family to stay in and had a good comfortable number of people camping there. We were quite surprised to see a dingo pup around the campsite during breaky the next day.