Roadtrip Broome to Darwin: Hello NT (Nov 10 - Nov 13)

As we arrived in Katherine we wanted to go to Katherine Gorge (Nitmiluk National Park) but we were a bit too late to get as far along in the gorge as we wanted so we decided to just go to the look out instead and save the kayaking for the next day. So we went up to the look out which was very beautiful, had a look and some pictures, sweat some more, and then went back to the camp site and jumped into the pool (you've probably noticed a reoccurring theme of pools now).

Around our camp site there were wallabies everywhere, we thought they were so cute and innocent looking, so we disregarded the signs and started to feed them. We got some wicked pictures out of it and it was pretty fun and cute. But then later on...somebody....*cough Berry cough*...forgot to close the trunk and the wallabies went from being cute fuzzy animals to food thieves. They stole our bread, some noodles and ruined a few other things, that being said we still fed them some watermelon after dinner, and at that time there were heaps more because it was night so we had to do it.

The next day we set off kayaking in Katherine Gorge..holy moly, that was super cool. I've never kayaked through a gorge before, and if you haven't done it either you should probably find your nearest gorge and jump in your kayak. It was pretty amazing having these huge sheets of rock either side of you and little caves and things along the sides. The only down side was there was very little shade, and even with all the sunscreen I put on I still got burned on my shoulders, but not too bad. Berry didn't want a single kayak because she said she couldn't make it all the way through and after doing it, we went through 4 gorges and a portage, I realised she was right. Matt and I ended up taking turns with her in the two person kayak and basically giving her a nice leisurely tour of the gorges. No worries though, it turned out to be a really awesome day, even with birds attacking Matt's bag for the bread and Berry leaving the trunk open again and birds attacking our food once we got back.

We left Katherine and started heading towards our next stop, Litchfield National Park. That night we stopped at a camp ground/caravan park/truck stop called Emerald Springs that had a bar and restaurant, so we had our first big meals in a few days and a few beers. In the morning we made a quick swim stop at Douglas hot springs, which was a river with hot springs in it. It was very jungle-y looking, so I was a bit nervous to swim in the water in case of crocs, but there were locals already in the water so I assumed it was all good. Later that day we arrived in Litchfield, which is the perfect size to do the whole thing in a day, and it isn't too rushed. We saw the biggest termite mounds I've ever seen, a few waterfalls, some deep rock hole pools and a huge swamp (check the wiki for all the real names of the places). I cut my leg climbing up/falling off Florence Falls, but I managed to get myself to the top of the falls and have a jump... unfortunately Matt didn't have his waterproof camera at this time which was super disappointing but I've got the scar on my leg as a badge of honour. Litchfield was really beautiful, I can't really say too much more about it, it's something you'd have to see, but the scenery was great and all the people travelling around it were very friendly and helpful.

On the way out of Litchfield was an unsealed road which messed up Matt's car quite a bit. As we got out the speedo stopped working and the transmission was making a loud clunking noise, we all decided it was well worth it though because we liked the national park so much. We arrived in Darwin later that evening, around 7pm, and checked in to our hostel where I met a dude from Markham working at the reception.

That night Matt convinced me to go out and it turned out to be a hilarious night. First off I found out a bar there serves MOOSE HEAD, so I was obviously very pleased about that.. however I was not impressed with the price, $8 a bottle..smh. We met up with Matt's friend Julius and he told me he'd buy me two moose heads of I danced with this skeezy older lady..so obviously I did, and she proceeded to grind all over me and then go back to her husband... what would you do for a moose head? Later on that night I met another older lady and she was telling me how she just got out of an abusive relationship and then proceeded to show me nude photos of herself along with pictures of her children/granchildren on her iPhone..wtf?! so weird....a nice welcome to Darwin I guess..

The next day I woke up still a bit drunk, so I headed over to Coles with Matt and we had a few "free sample" Kebabs... basically just get the food from the hot food counter and walk around and eat it, works quite well. After this we spent the rest of the day in our room recovering and surfing the interwebs, before going to meet up with Matt's cousin at his awesome apartment that over looks the wharf. (Sidebar: Matt's cousin is some sort of officer in the Australian army, he is in command of 6 armoured vehicles that look totally badass, as well as a team of around 20 privates. So the army pays for his AWESOME apartment, and his army friends all live in the same building... nice life). That night Matt's cousin brought us to The Wharf which is kind of like Marche, I guess, there are lots of little food shops and you order and they buzz you to pick up your food. I had Chilli Crocodile from an asian food place, and it was delicious. This place was awesome by the way, not sure if I portrayed that properly, but I really liked it. Cool atmosphere and delicious food.

Peace & Love