Mount Isa – Kakadu – Darwin
School holidays hit and I headed for the NT. I knew that the road ahead of me would be light on with attractions and rest stops, so I loaded the Spotify up with some classic tunes, long podcasts, and one insufferable audiobook (I will never recommend Search History to anyone. Avoid it at all costs).
The first night I stayed just north of Mount Isa, having a delayed departure because of all the passport drama (more on this later…), but the sunrise in the morning was spectacular. Everyone was out of their cars, staring up at the sky with coffees in hand and smiles on their faces. The whole time in Mount Isa, I don’t think I saw a single cloud, but here during the sunrise with a sprinkling of clouds across the sky, it made the sun even more wonderful. Then I poured extra condensed milk into my coffee and prepared for day one of many where I drive and drive and drive...
Sunrise from the WWII airfield free camp, north of Mount Isa.
There’s not much to talk about during these days – the roads between Tennant Creek and Daly Waters were really rough. At times there was no construction signs, and no indication that you need to slow down, until suddenly you’re facing a million pot holes all over the road. Oncoming cars were swerving onto the wrong side of the road, and slowing down from 130 to just 20km/h in about 200 metres. This significantly slowed down my trip but was a nice way to stay alert…
During these few days making my way north, a funny thing did happen. At times, the world is just a really small place! I found a place to camp at an old cattle station north of Tennant Creek – it was the only campsite for around 300km either way, and I was told that there was a pretty watering hole just 5kms from camp. It was a hot day (they’re all hot up here!) and since I’d been driving for so long I was really keen for a swim so I parked the car, put on my bathers, and hurried along the sandy track. On the path I only crossed one other person, so it felt pretty secluded, and when I arrived at the calm watering hole, there was no one else around. I jumped straight in and paddled around for a bit before laying down a towel and having a read on the rocks. A little while into the solitude, I could hear a family approaching. Not looking up from my book, I called out to them that, “If you need me to move any of my gear,” (because by now, it was strewn all around the banks of the water), “just give me a yell!”
And then the dad said, “…Wait…Layla?”
I looked up and couldn’t believe that my principal from school in Hobart – my boss – was at the same watering hole, 5kms from a random cattle station, in the middle of the Northern Territory with his family! It was such a bizarre moment and we were both completely dumbfounded. We ended up taking a photo (which he sent to the replacement principal at school and apparently ended up in our weekly briefing notes!), and having a chat, discussing our next plans. As it turned out, we were headed in the same direction and bumped into each other a couple more times along the road. It turns out that even if you go to the most remote places on Earth, it’s still possible to see people you know.
The magical watering hole where you could bump into anyone…
From here I drove past Daly Waters, which is quite a famous pub for travelling people but it was so busy that I decided to just get a burger and leave, moving on to Mataranka where the thermal pools were the perfect way to spend the day. I jumped in around 9am and stayed, wrinkly and relaxed, chatting to a few old guys until lunch time. One of them convinced me that I should camp near the thermal pools instead of driving further, and it didn’t take much to twist my arm! During another swim the next morning, I met a really nice girl from Luxembourg who was on her way to Darwin so we exchanged details and made plans to meet up, hopefully for Territory Day. These thermal pools in Mataranka were also really cool because (and I don’t know if anyone here will care about this, but I was obsessed) I found these little rocks that had been completely smoothed and turned into perfect little spheres. I have no idea how this works so if any sciency people read this, let me know if you have some insight! My assumption is that they’re getting constantly turned in the more rapid waters and eroding away, but they look so cool and there was literally thousands of them on the floor of the thermal pool.
After Mataranka, I drove to Katherine and got some school stuff organised for Term 3, and then made it into Kakadu National Park. At first, I had planned three nights in Kakadu and thought, because of the intense heat and the fact that I don’t have a 4WD, that maybe that would be too long, and I’d find myself growing a little bored of the monotony. How wrong I was! Three nights wasn’t enough in the end!
It’s so hot during the days that I would get up early and go for a hike, and do all my exploring before lunch time. Then, I would find a campsite, sit in the shade, and read my book or do some puzzles with a cold beer in hand until it was time for dinner. Having done a little research, I planned out some hikes that I was keen on, but whoever estimated the distance and duration must have been really far off, because I was often completing 2 hour walks in under 30 minutes… I swear I’m not a very good hiker – I think they were just assuming the walkers might be unfit, or attempting the walk during peak heat of the day. But because of this gross overestimation, I often had heaps of leftover time to do several hikes a day before it got too hot.
I also learned so much while in the park – about the seasons and burning, about rock art as a way to teach people. I learned that the actual art created in rock paintings didn’t always have a huge significance, it was the storytelling and process that often carried importance to First Nations people, which is why so much rock art is painted over the top of each other. There was also a story about one painting which was high up on the underside of a cave ceiling with no discernible way that people could have reached it; the locals say that a spirit created the painting by pulling the rock down, painting on it, and then replacing it in its original spot as a warning of its power. It was amazing to be in a place, learning about Dreaming including the Rainbow Serpent and Lightning Man, where the connection to country and culture is so strong.
Partly didn’t want to leave, partly keen to get to Darwin – I left on a hot Saturday morning with my friend, Alex’s, address in Google maps. When I arrived it was so nice to be together since I’d last seen her on a jetty twerking at me as my boat receded into the distance. We waited out the heat of the day and then walked to a nearby sailing club for a drink as the sun set.
Being in a house for the first time since…. Geeze, I don’t know… Cronulla? is a really weird feeling. It makes me feel so safe that I’m constantly tired and ready for rest. On my first night here I was out like a light and didn’t wake once.
On Sunday, Alex and I drove into Litchfield National Park for a day of lolling about in the watering holes. We visited Buley’s and walked onwards to Florence Falls which, at 9:00am was already packed with families. We jumped in the cool water and floated around for a bit before finding some secluded terraced plunge pools. Here, we took our books and lay down like happy little lizards until it was lunch time. Later in the day, we continued to Berry Springs where we took the pool noodles and floated downstream with long, overgrown branches gently grazing our heads.
The following day was Territory Day, a day to celebrate the NT becoming self governing. And what better way to celebrate than by letting anyone and everyone buy fireworks and set them off anywhere in the street? At 4pm I could already hear the popping and cracking from unseen places in the neighbourhood, and later in the evening Alex and I walked to Mindil Beach with her housemate, Lottie, and the girl I met at Mataranka Pools, Sophie. There was live music on the beach from a truly spectacular artist called Steph Strings – I couldn’t help but get up and dance! At the front of the stage there was a few other people dancing including an older woman who taught us how to do an emu dance by putting your hands behind your back and lightly stomping your feet.
The whole time, fireworks were bursting from everywhere you could look. Across the ocean, people were setting them off on their boats. A few hundred meters away on the beach was a designated fireworks zone with a constant stream of fiery colour. And along the horizon and through the trees, small bursts would erupt and light up the now dimming sky. It was unreal! Eventually we sat down and I bought a laksa and a smoothie for dinner (weird combo but they were both delicious) and we watched the official fireworks display.
Fireworks at Mindil Beach for Territory Day.
Now, only read this section if you’re okay with feeling some second-hand stress and anxiety: For the rest of the week, I’ve been trying to take it easy and actually relax but with some passport dramas, that’s proved to be difficult. On Tuesday I started to grow anxious because my priority passport that I had ordered to be sent to Alex’s house still hadn’t arrived… and we fly to Indonesia on Friday at 12:30am… The last news that I’d heard from the passport office was that it was printed and ready for delivery in… Dandenong. I called the passport office to see if I could get a more specific time frame for delivery and she told me that since it was posted in the STANDARD mail - not express - it could take between 4 and 6 days. Firstly, don’t even get me started on how a priority passport can be sent in standard mail. Secondly, don’t even get me started on why it was printed in Dandenong when there’s a perfectly good passport printing facility in Darwin, a 12 minute drive from Alex’s house. ANYWAY I was livid and anxious, so so so anxious at this stage, so I drove to the passport office with the hopes that they might have some compassion and be able to help. As it turned out - they could! I spoke to the woman there who was so helpful and kind and as soon as I explained the situation she said, “Oh don’t worry. I can fix that - we do it all the time! I’ll just destroy your original passport (so hardcore, I love it) and print you a new one. You can collect it on Thursday.” - Like, what?? How on earth was it that easy?
Anyway, passport issues got sorted because of the absolute legend at the passport office and now everything is booked for Indonesia. We went to trivia last night and came third (thanks to me knowing an unlikely amount about Paul Mezcal, and Alex having a freakish memory for AFL grand finals), and this evening we head to the airport for our long awaited adventure.
