Si's Year Out! (Plus Europe! Plus Morocco!): Darwin to Alice Springs Safari!!

The second part of my outback experience was the 1600km drive from Darwin to Alice Springs. Luckily there was lots to see on the way, and we had three days to make the trip....

The first stop was Katherine Gorge, where we climbed a hill to see the river wind its way dramatically through the rocky landscape. After that we jumped in the river to cool off. We were told we were swimming with freshwater crocodiles....after we got out! That night we made a big fire and ate BBQ food!

The second day we started off by visiting some thermal springs. As we were all lounging around in the warm water a snake slithered down from a tree and dipped its head into the water for a drink! Needless to say, the pools got very empty at that point! That afternoon we visited the outback pub of Daily Waters. This pub, in the middle of nowhere, had become a famous stop-off point for people exploring the outback. A strange tradition, travellers leave stuff to mark the fact that they have visited the place. Because of this the pub was full of junk, from t-shirts to flip flops to surfboards to car license plates...there was even a prosthetic leg!!! Pub pool rules dictated that if you lost without potting a ball you had to leave your underwear and you could play ten-pin bowling in the road outside!!

We spent that night camping on a horse farm. After dinner we built a huge fire and slept under a very starry sky in swags with our sleeping bags and the fire for warmth :)

The highlight for me was seeing the "Devil's Marbles" on the third day. In the middle of nowhere is an area of flat land covered in large, red, granite boulders. We were all amazed at how they could have got there and I had a good climb to the top of a big pile of spherical rocks. There was a lot of road between us and Alice springs so we braced ourselves for a big drive but our guide had a surprise for us....she suddenly pointed out a big green splat on the road and cryptically asked us what we thought it was. Five minutes later we arrived at Wycliffe Well - the town with the most UFO sightings in Australia! It was a strange place with alien pictures and statues...and people with very 'open' minds... Anyway we got on our way and that evening we crossed the tropic of Capricorn and headed to Alice Springs for dinner and some much needed sleep...the next two days would take us to Uluru!

P.S. I forgot to mention that we went to a few places relating to the Peter Falconio murder. Basically, the guy was a British tourist travelling in the outback with his Mrs. and was, his girlfriend claims, murdered by a bloke who flagged them down with a problem with his car. The body was never found and the case got a lot of media attention. Some people think he faked his death, some people think she was in on it.... anyway to read about it properly follow this link:

Falconio Murder

we went to the last petrol station he was seen alive where he supposedly filled up with only 20 liters, which wouldn't get you far in the outback. A common thing in the pubs in the outback is to leave money, which is pinned to a board and signed by the person who left it. When that person passes back through, they re-sign the money, to prove it is theirs, and therefore have money to buy some beer with incase they are short of cash! Anyway, there is a $5 note that Peter Falconio left just before he disappeared pinned to the board of a pub we went to....spooky huh!