Darwin to Broome, part 1

Hello everybody, just arrived in Broome last night and had my first shower in 5 days or so, lovely! Clean now, and white haha. Gone with all the tan. Well I left off last time in Darwin, where the first day was a nice relaxing one, with Ben and me driving to Howard Springs while poor Katie had to work. I snoozed off in the afternoon, but went with Katie to Mindill Markets in the evening where I went to a tarrot card and hand reader. Never done that before and it was all good news: lots of travel ahead for me in the future, and even a man and two kids hahahaha. Anyway it was great to go to the markets again and have a look around with Katie. The next day we went to Fog Dam which is near Kakadu NP and has loads of lovely birds and other wildlife around. AMAZING. We even saw a long necked turtle crossing the road. After that we went to Adelaide River to do a jumping croc cruise. The big ones were very scary, I've got a short movie of that as well. Great to see them though and we had some nice kites flying around as well. All in all a great day spent in Kakadu NP. We had a nice evening BBQing outside and the next morning Katie took me to Berry Springs, a lovely spot to swim and chill out. In the evening Toni came over for the barbie as well and it was great to see her again. Soooo nice to be back and see everybody. Unfortunately no time to catch up with others around, but I'll be back someday! A huge thanks for Katie and Ben for putting me up in their house, such a warm welcome and driving me everywhere! I will try and sent some stroopwafels over when I'm home :)

The next morning Toni drove me into Darwin very early and it was time to start the 9 day tour through the Kimberleys!!!! A big thanks to Toni for that as well, cause it meant she had a bad night as well, sorry for that. 8 nights sleeping in a swag under the stars. 9 days of driving, roadhouses, gorges and walks.... It was lovely! Although it is nice to be back in civilisation for 2 days and have a shower, phone reception and internet. We leave on Thursday morning to do the 10 day trip down to Perth, which is also a few nights swagging and bushwalks and then 3 nights around the Ningaloo Reef where I can hopefully dive with Manta Rays....

But first things first: the Darwin to Broome trip. Am trying to upload some pictures as well, but it's not working very well, so lets see how we get without the images. First few days consisted of a lot of driving to actually get to the Kimberleys (they don't start straight out of Darwin, but west of Kununurra). We had our first stop in town to get some drinks, go to the loo and get the mandatory safety briefing. Off we went and towards Edith Falls, the first in a long series to come :) Beautiful spot to have lunch and off towards Katherine to have a last supermarket stop. Into the outback we went and our first night was spent at Victoria River on a campsite. We had a lovely campfire and I saw my first kangaroos in Oz this time!

Ofcourse we had to get up at the break of dawn the next morning and straight towards Argyle Dam, which makes sure there is plenty of water for everybody who lives in the area and all the farms out there, all year round. It used to be pretty hard there in dry season, but thanks to the dam they have plenty of water for the cattle all year round. It's great to see the Ozzie bush again and all the red sand. Time for lunch at the dam and then off for a nice walk in Hidden Valley. I really hope I can put up some pictures, cause it will give you a sense of how beautiful it is down here. We ended up on time at the campsite near Kununurra (after stocking up on beer and sweets for it's the last stop with a decent supermarket until Derby on the last day), which had a pool! Ofcourse all of us went in, and quickly out again, cause the water was freezing hihi. Anyway a nice swim and there were lovely showers....

Finally off to one of the highlights you all probably know: the Bungle Bungles National Park. It was quite a drive, but we pushed up (even with a flat tire, we were still in time) and went to Echidna Chasm for a first look around the Bungles and a lovely little walk. Our first bush camp as well, although there were bushtoilets (toilet place on top of a hole in the ground, you don't have to flush), obviously without showers etc which makes up a lot of time in the morning: no need to tidy yourself up hihi. To make sure we could have two nights at El Questro Gorge to do a walk there which is officially not on the itinerary we got up at and went for a 3 hour walk along the Bungles where we went to the lookout and Cathedral Gorge. Our guide Sharpie was telling all sorts of stories about the place along the way: it's history, how it came about, the aboriginal significance, how to catch food in the wild etc. That's one of the great things when your on a tour like that: all the background info you get about the place and random things like 'Why the sky is Blue' talks. I know now, but it takes too long to explain right now, if you're interested I'll tell you the story once I'm back in the EU. We headed towards El Questro campsite where there were showers and a BAR, so ofcourse we all went there and sat outside for a few beers. Since all of us were pretty tired and had a late lunch, we skipped dinner and just had some dessert. That's life on the go. Campfires every night with wood you gather during the day, lots of bushtoilet stops along the road (you stop, find a tree and remember: every tree is a lavatory=lavatree ;)

Since we were at El Questro so soon during the trip we could have a long lie in till 7 (we all got up earlier, cause you get used to getting up at the break of dawn) and off towards our reward for the day: HOTSPRINGS. Relaxing and nice after all that travelling to have a lazy morning just enjoying hotsprings. After lunch we had a big walk planned, our treat of the whole trip: El Questro Gorge, a pretty tough walk clambering rocks for a few hours, with a lovely gorge and waterfall at the end. The water was really cold, so I decided to stay out and just take pictures and keep as dry as possible for the clambering back. We even had to wade through waist high water with our daypacks above our head etc. Real bushwalking! What a lovely day. As a reward we had chocolate cake after dinner as well. Yep, bushtucker can be good. I felt really tired, so off to bed early, as during most of the trip, and ready for another day full of adventures. More about that hopefully tomorrow, am done typing up now. Just a few pictures of what happened later during the trip:

me at the Pentacost lookout and one of the fresh water crocs we saw at Windjana Gorge.