Dienstag, 12 September 2017 10:58

From Alice Springs to Darwin and through some Nationalparks

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Our first stop after Uluru was King's Canyon. It is a massive canyon and we walked along the edge to have a stunning view. The next nationalpark on our way back to Alice Springs was West MacDonnell Nationalpark. There we took our time and had a look at both Redbank Gorge and Ormiston Gorge which we explored on foot. In the park there were also some Aboriginal Ochre Pits you could visit that is the source of the pigment used for rock paintings and ceremonies by the Aboriginies. Ellery Creek Big Hole was one of the best stops, you can see all through a canyon to the other side, a place that looks like paradise. During our time in the park we stayed on the campsite at Glen Helene Gorge for two nights and from there it was only a short walk to the beautiful Glen Helen Gorge and we even enjoyed some live music in the evening.

After passing through Alice Springs again and only staying for one night, we had the long Stuart Highway that seperated us from Darwin. We were listening to some audio books along the way as you just drive through desert for hundreds of kilometers. We stopped at the Devil's Marbles close to Tennant Creek, which are spherical red boulders that are just laying around in the middle of the desert. Their shape and their sheer existence are astonishing and you wonder how they even got stacked the way they are.

Almost 300km south of Darwin we turned into Kakadu Nationalpark. Even though it is a huge nationalpark, we only stopped at a couple of places (as we wanted to get back on the bike). The first one and really a beautiful spot was Maguk Waterfall. A nice short walk lead to the waterfall and its plunge pool. Our hosts in Alice Springs recommended us to climb up on the left side where you could reach some small rock pools that are even nicer than the plunge pool. We followed those pools all the way to the end and enjoyed the nice refreshing water. Afterwards we went to Jim Jim Billabong, the place itself was not that special, but we met a Danish couple that told us about the great river cruises on the Yellow River close by. Based on that, we decided to do the early morning cruise. In the evening we still had some time to go and went to Nourlangie Rock to watch the sunset over the park. Next morning, our cruise started at 6:45am and getting up early was more than worth it. We had a really cool cruise with a lot of different animals: birds, brumbies, a water buffalo, cattle, pigs and salt water crocodiles of course. With the early morning cruise there was a free breakfast buffet which we used to get a change to muesli every morning. Full and satisfied we drove through the nationalpark and only stopped in Ubirr to see another aboriginal place, nice rock art and a beautiful lookout.

Our next stopp was Darwin where we spend three days to get ready to get back on the bikes. We were pretty lucky and sold our car within just one day and now we are back on the road with our bicycles (Rachel & Frank by the way) :).

It's getting hot here (yeah) and 35 degrees are normal every day. We are hoping for some tail wind now.

Keep cycling!
Cheers,
Joni and Vroni

Read 2036 times Last modified on Dienstag, 12 September 2017 11:51

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