When we checked the engine of our campervan before leaving Kings Canyon, we noticed that there was a lot of water missing in the cooling system. Therefore we called the rental company (Travellers Auto Barn) and they told us to get it checked in Alice Springs. However, on our way there we could not go faster than 100km/h as the engine was running hot. It took us quite some time until we finally arrived at a company called Tony's Auto Wreckers. You can see a picture on the left – there were lots of wheels, engine parts, and old cars lying on the ground. It was the right place, however they told us to come again the next day as it was too late in the afternoon (3pm). Most of the shops in Australia close at 5pm and they didn't want to make an exception for us. We were a bit disappointed because we wanted to travel up north that day.
Early in the morning of the next day, we dropped our car for the repair work and went to downtown Alice Springs in between. We enjoyed a delicious breakfast including French toast with bacon and maple syrup. When strolling through the streets we met Caro and David again and they told us on which date there diving course was going to start. We then called Prodive Cairns to book the same course for Julia. She was happy, as she would know two people in her course already! After lunch we went back to Tony's just to find out that the car wasn't ready and we were just shouted at for being too early. As we couldn't change it, we sat down in the shade along a dirty road and read our books for an hour. Then, finally, the car was ready to go with a new cooler. We drove north to Devil's Marbles and stayed there for the night.
Hard to believe: We started the next morning with viewing the sunrise over Devils's Marbles at 6 o'clock in the morning – without an alarm clock! Then we headed north again up to Three Ways. We then turned east on Barkly Highway, where it was once not possible to fill up the gas for 260km. After some hours of driving through farmland, we finally left the Northern Territory and entered Queensland – also called the sunshine state. In the late afternoon we arrived in Mt. Isa, our destination for the day.
We started the day with a mining tour, since Mt. Isa is home to one of the biggest mines in Australia. The tour was really worth seeing: We had a very nice guide, a former mine worker, who showed us around in the underground (!) mine. We also had to dress like mine workers including orange overalls, gum boots, and a helmet with a flashlight. The tour took 3 hours and we were able to go 6 meter under the surface, go with a little train, and even drill a hole into the mountain. After the tour we wanted to go on to Normanton – however, we didn't get that far. A passing road train shot a stone on our windscreen. There was a big crack in the glass which grew bigger and bigger (20cm in less than 30 minutes). We finally decided to get it checked and returned to a roadhouse. They told us to put some nail polish onto the crack and keep on going, but we were not sure about that and returned to the previous bigger city. On the way there, our car hit a lizard, a bird, and the first snake we've seen in the wild so far is now dead – although we were only going 40km/h on the highway. In Cloncurry we were told to leave it like it is, as they are not able to repair it somewhere near. One mechanic told us, that there are two layers of glass and that the windshield cannot break. Reassured, we moved on to stay the night on a rest area and we were able to experience another spectacular sunset in the outback.
We started the next day very early because we had to make up for the previous delay. The destination was Undara, approximately a 700-800 kilometers drive. The route was not very spectacular: There were some tiny villages, but most of the time we saw just spinifex grass or cattle. We also got into a swarm of grasshoppers, which made it very hard to see. These 10 centimeter large insects were banging into the car like mad. In the late afternoon we arrived at Undara Volcanic National Park, where we enjoyed singing songs in the evening at the fire – including Australia's unofficial national anthem “Walzing Mathilda”.
Today we traveled from Alice Springs to Uluru (Ayers Rock), or actually to the Ayers Rock Resort called Yulara. However, we had a lot of time and therefore decided to search for some geocaches on our way there. We quickly found 5 (in other words, all!) geocaches which were situated near the road. Some of them were on the other side of the highway, but as there are just few cars around it was easy to pass. Compare that to crossing the highway in Austria! :-) We arrived just in time to enjoy a beautiful sunset at Uluru and to admire the changing red color of the rock. In our opinion it is much more impressive if you see it in real than on pictures, as you can see the structure and the holes in the rock. We spent the night at Yulara campground. This little tourist village is situated 15km from the rock and is so big that it even features a bus route. In the evening we looked for our Italian friends, which should have arrived at that day as well. Although this was the first time we knew where they would go, we could not find them.
The weather on the next morning was quite extraordinary: It was fleece-jacket cold and very foggy. We were a little disappointed, as we expected the weather in the desert to be sunny and warm. When we filled up the gas at the Yulara gas station, a guy told Julia how lucky we are. We would probably see Uluru in rain, which happens just about 4 times a year. We still couldn't believe it, rain in the desert? We started our trip trough the National Park at the cultural center to get a first impression. Then we went on to the Mala walk (on one side of Uluru) and joined a free guided tour given by a ranger. Again, we learned a lot about Aboriginal culture and the desert. For instance, some trees turn off branches if they do not have enough water. Given this knowledge, you can tell when the last rain was and how regular it occurs. Julia was also very impressed by maths for Aborigines: They just used the numbers 0, 1, 2, 3, and 'many'. The walk ended at a waterhole, which was empty. We finished visiting Uluru with a second short walk on the other side of the rock.
In the afternoon we drove to the second part of the National Park, called Kata Tjuta. This means 'many heads' if translated to English, and that's exactly how it looks like from the distance. We did a 8.6 km hike there, called the Valley of the Winds walk. The landscape was fascinating, especially a close up look at the rocks: Many little rock pieces in different colors stuck together to form the big ones. We had about 1km left when it really started to rain. As soon as we reached the car we went back to Uluru and hoped that it wouldn't stop before we reach it. It didn't – and we were able to see lots of waterfalls on the rock, and even the previously empty waterholes filled up quickly. It was an amazing picture and we were glad to see it, although we were completely wet all over. When it didn't stop raining in the evening, we decided to have dinner in a restaurant. I guess we don't have to mention that other people had that idea as well – it was crowded at every place with a roof in Yulara. While waiting for quite some time in front of a restaurant we met a nice couple from Germany, Caro and David. We shared a table with them and it turned out to be a funny and entertaining evening. When we returned to our camping site later that evening, we suddenly saw the Italians at a site just 20m away from ours. When we knocked at their window they were very surprised and happy to see us ('That's destiny!'), and they immediately invited us into their camper to have coffee, tea, and biscuits. We played cards and took a lot of pictures, as we forgot about that the previous time. Saying goodbye was sad this time, as they travel on south and we are going north again. However, we will keep them in our mind and maybe – if it is destiny – we'll meet again in Graz, Udine, or another part of the world!
In the morning of the next day, we filled up the gas again (it should always be pretty much full) and went on to Kings Canyon. We arrived early in Kings Creek Station, the place where we intended to stay for the night, and so we decided to wash our clothes before going on the walk. However, that was a bad decision: There was a power outage while we were using the washing machine and it didn't really like that. We had all the dirty, sandy water at the bottom and couldn't get it out. So we ended up washing most of our stuff by hand. Afterwards, quite late already, we started our hike at Kings Canyon (known as Australia's Grand Canyon). We did an amazing hike with lots of exhausting stone steps in the beginning. When we reached the top we had an excellent view of the entire area. We hiked on to Garden of Eden where it is possible to see a waterhole in between the rock walls of the canyon. The flies liked us a lot after walking for some time, Julia once counted at least 15 flies on Andis backpack. We saw a beautiful sunset as we arrived – just in time – at the carpark. Finally, we went back to Kings Creek Station very carefully as we didn't want to hurt a kangaroo! ;-)
Driving south from Kakadu National Park, our first destination was Katherine Gorge. Believe it or not, but we're early birds at the moment – meaning we get up everyday between 7 and 8 o'clock! On the way there we visited Edith Falls and went for a swim in the beautiful small lake. Afterwards we went on to Katherine Gorge, where we wanted to hire a canoe. However this was not possible as they would only offer them at specific times. Therefore we went for a 3 hour hike where we had a spectacular view over the gorge. We took notice of an Italian family at Edith falls and they also were our neighbors at the campground that night. Keep that in mind while you read on ;-)
The next day started with a visit to the School of the Air (world's largest classroom). They teach kids via radio in the entire Northern Territory and even some places abroad. We met the Italians there. We then went shopping – and met the Italians again. Afterwards we went on to Mataranka where we took a bath in the natural hot water pool (32 degrees). In the evening we stopped at the Daly Waters Pub. In was a funny, historic bar with bras hanging from the ceiling, friendly barkeepers, delicious BBQ – we even tasted the popular fish called Barramudi – and last but not least good live music. One guy even wore a hat with two chicken sitting on it. Oh and then, later that evening, the Italians turned up there as well.
The following day our destination was Devil's Marbles, which is about 600km south. We took a break in Tennant Creek and – as we were accidentally early that day – decided to go for a swim in the Mary Ann Dam lake. Can you figure out whom we met there? We finished the day by watching the sunset at Devil's Marbles and enjoyed the amazing red colors changing in the sun. The Aborigines consider that place to be the eggs of the Rainbow serpent. It really looked like that, because there are lots of big round rocks lying around. When it was dark, the Italians arrived (obviously!) and they invited us to coffee, tea, and biscuits – very nice people!
We traveled on to Alice Springs the day after. After a short visit to the town, mainly for filling up our food, water, and gas storage, we headed to the West McDonnell Ranges. Our first stop was Simpsons Gap, a beautiful gorge just 17km west of Alice Springs. We went on to Ellery Creek Big Hole and spent the night on a National Park campground. The water in this lovely little lake was icy and therefore very clear.
Early in the next morning we went back to Alice Springs and visited the Desert Park. There you have a good insight into the three main landscapes of the outback: desert rivers, red sands, and woodlands. We also saw what animals live in which area and learned quite a lot about Aboriginal survival in the desert. This includes for example what they eat, how they find water, and what tools they use. We also learned that they eat parts of a termite mould to stop diarrhoea. Aborigines really have a good understanding of the nature and we were really impressed by their knowledge. Afterwards we went on to Alice Springs downtown, which isn't really big, and bought some souvenirs. In the evening we wanted to go to the rodeo, however nobody could tell us where it is – not even a policeman! Still, all of them told us that it should be at that day.
Early in the morning we went on to the entrance of Kakadu National Park where we looked for a geocache. At the time when Andi found the cache another couple arrived and it turned out that they were geocachers as well. He was a retired detective from Darwin. We took a couple of pictures and he even published them on the geocaching homepage. Afterward we headed to a bird viewing walk which had been recommended by Sandra and Lee. We then went to Bowali Visitors Center which turned out to show a very nice exhibition. We learned a lot about Aborigines: For example that they set fires in order to “clean” the earth (so that something new can develop) and also to protect some trees by burning down the area besides them (so that the tree can't catch fire during a big bush fire). They even knew that radiation was bad for them and so they defined a forbidden area around a place where Uran can be found. Afterwards we went on to Ubirr where we stayed overnight at Merl campground. We hiked along the Ubirr round walk, enjoyed some ranger talks and admired Aboriginal art. One of those paintings was very interesting because Aborigines thought that it was painted by Mimi spirits. The reason is that it was so high on top of the rocks and hardly reachable for humans. Afterwards we went up to Ubirr rock where we had a marvelous view over the area and we were able to see a breathtaking sunset. Back at Merl campground we soon searched for shelter in our campervan because of thousands of mosquitos.
In the morning we did one of the best walks in Kakadu NP. We walked through many different landscapes: sand, sandstone, wetlands and rain forest. Afterwards we went on to Jabiru, the biggest town in Kakadu NP. We bought some food and filled up the fuel. We also tried to seek a geocache, however the whole area where the cache should be was burnt down and thus we weren't able to find it. Later on we visited Nourlangie rock (the Aboriginal name is Anbangbang) where also lots of ancient Aboriginal drawings could be seen. After finding our second cache in the park we headed to Cooinda where we booked the Yellow Water sunset tour. It was quite expensive however every part of it was worth seeing. Our guide explained many things, for example he told us about a firestarter bird. This bird is very clever because when there is a fire somewhere he grabs a burning wooden branch and throws it somewhere else in the grass. Lots of smaller animals live there and lose their shelter, so he can grab them easily afterwards. We watched many birds (some of them can't be seen very often) and we also spotted some crocodiles. Our guide was also very funny: In the beginning he told us to put on our swim vest in case of an emergency, then form a circle in the water with him in the middle – to save him from the crocodiles! We also enjoyed a beautiful sunset on the river. Afterwards we went to Mardugal Campground where we spent the night. By the way, Kakadu NP is the largest national park in Australia and the only one in the world where an entire river lies within!
We woke up early in the morning at Florence Falls. After a short breakfast we decided to go down to the falls to have a swim. It was very beautiful down there and we enjoyed the pool. Afterwards we went on to Buley Rockholes – an area where there are many tiny small waterfalls and little pools where you can have a swim. Later we enjoyed a walk up to Tolmer waterfalls, however it is only possible to see them from above because lots of flying foxes inhabit this area. Then we went on to Wangi Fall, where we met Lee and Sandra by chance. We didn't go for a swim there because some signs warned us that there are freshies (smaller crocodiles) in the water and sometimes even salties came up here. However we went for a tropical walk and enjoyed the scenic view. Afterwards we decided to go back to Buley Rockholes to swim because it was so lovely there and of course there were no freshies! :-) After having enjoyed the swim we went on to our next destination: Kakadu National Park. However we were a bit late and it is very dangerous to drive at night because of kangaroos jumping in front of the car. This can be seen by many dead kangaroos and wallabies along the road. Therefore we decided to stay the night at Bark Hut Inn campground. We got a powered site for just 20 dollars, which is very cheap.
Very tiredly we arrived at 5:15am in Darwin. Like real backpackers we fell asleep on the sofas at the airport. Afterwards we tried to catch the airport shuttle bus to Darwin downtown, however as there were no planes arriving at that time no shuttle buses were traveling. We then met a Japanese boy who had the same problem and we shared a taxi. After a short walk through the city we went to Travellers Auto Barn to pick up our home for the next two months. Some time later (the car wasn't ready and had to be cleaned) we drove to the Esplanade and parked there. We then visited Darwin downtown, including a street artist with a snake and lunch at the mall. We also saw the lagoon, the only saltwater swim area without crocodiles (salties) in Darwin. Afterwards we went on to the campground called Shady Creek and then bought a starter-package for our van, including food and 30 liters of water. After getting comfortable with our van, we went to Mindli beach market in the evening. We enjoyed the sunset and the little shops, As this market is a very popular meeting point for locals and tourists, we were hardly able to find a place to park.
We slept very well in our new campervan, however we realized that one curtain and some mosquito nets were missing. After putting on 50+ sunscreen (we're a little afraid of the Australian sun *gg*) we went back to Travellers Auto Barn to get it fixed. After searching for an Internet connection to send some reports to you, we went on to Litchfield National Park. However we arrived there quite late thus no free places were available anymore at Florence Falls campground. We asked a couple if it would be possible to share a spot. It turned out to be the best thing that could have happened: Lee is a musician from Tasmania and he played some songs for us in the evening, while sitting around a campfire with his wife Sandra and a German couple.
The day started with a tour to Undara Volcanic Nationalpark. It was very interesting to see the lava stones and tunnels. We even walked into one tunnel where we had to take off our shoes and walk through the water on the boardwalk. Afterwards we went on to Atherton Tablelands, where we enjoyed the beautiful highlands – the look like Austrian farmland just with palm trees.
The next day we continued to explore the tablelands and stopped at the Curtain Fig Tree which really looks like a curtain made of roots hanging from a big tree. It was created when a seed managed to grow on a tree, the new tree then developed aerial roots which encircled and eventually strangled the host tree. Later on the host tree fell down. Afterwards we spotted some platypus (Schnabeltier) on a riverside. We even saw two snakes and two freshwater turtles. We then left the tablelands and moved on to Mossman Gorge in the Daintree Nationalpark where we took a swim in the croc-free river. In the afternoon we took the ferry to Cape Tribulation. From a lookout we had a first spectacular view over the sea. After seeing a cassowary, an endangered species, we stopped at a nice campground, just a few metres away from the sea. 
We started the next day with a walk along the picturesque sea shore. We were not allowed to swim there due to the saltwater crocodiles. We also spotted part of the Great Barrier Reef for the first time. We enjoyed the palm trees, nearly white sand and clear water during some hours at the beach. In the sand we also saw small holes surrounded by perfectly formed balls out of sand which turned out to be created by little cancers. Just before it got dark we travelled south again and stayed in Ellis Beach for the night. Again we fell asleep while listening to the ocean.
In the morning we enjoyed the beautiful beach next to us and then headed to Kuranda. This small lovely town is situated just 14 km north of Cairns and consists mainly of markets. When we returned to our car after shopping and lunch we noticed that we left the lights on (no beeping due to old car). Thanks to two nice ladies at the tourist office who called the local service station we were able to jump start the engine.
Happily, we moved on to Cairns and checked out downtown. We confirmed the diving course for the next day and had dinner at the famous Cairns nightmarkets. We also visited the beautiful lagoon which is a pool filled with saltwater and free for the public.
