AUSTRALIA – NORTH

AUSTRALIA – NORTHERN TERRITORY – SOUTH (Alice Springs, Tennant Creek)

Speed limits in the Northern Territory are a welcome 130 km/hr, with speed reductions to 110, 100, 80 and occasionally 60 around towns. I was told there are no speed cameras in the whole area and indeed have not seen one (despite warnings around Alice Springs). The police are invisible and the traffic is minimal.
Big vehicles. 1. Road trains are common – three semis or 4 tankers/cement haulers – and can be 55 m long. 2. Oversized loads. I have seen three mammoth things on the road, always preceded by a police car in front and back telling you to pull off the road. One was an enormous excavator with treads taking up 3/4s of the road. The other two were odd docking structures that consumed the entire width of the road. If following them, one must go at a slow speed until they pull over.

Day 13, Sun Oct 1 (continued)
Google Maps then had the longest single direction I could remember, 528 miles to then turn let at Three Ways – right was north to Darwin, and left was south to Alice Springs and Uluru.
Tennant Creek was 28 km, I got gas and continued to the first signed rest area, 84 km south.
Also here was a group of 15 students from Montreal, on their way to Darvin to compete in LightSpeed, a several thousand-kilometer race to Adelaide using solar-powered vehicles. The race was to start in 3 weeks allowing for a lot of practice. The car has efficient solar panels and 20 kg of batteries that can increase the top speed from 72 to 120 km/hour. Batteries are impounded at the end of each 8 am to 5 pm race day so they can’t be charged. They stop at exactly 5 and camp there. There were 3 drivers and ballast was added to make the weight the same for each car. They had little hope of winning as teams from Europe (esp the Netherlands) and Japan had huge teams and better vehicles.
ON Rest area 112 km from Three Way. There was no data connection, but instead a lot of the tiniest ants that loved biting my feet. I applied a lot of DEET and that held them at bay while I ate both dinner and breakfast.
Mileage: 1,042 km

Day 14 Mon Oct 2
I left at 6:17 for Alice Springs and Uluru in the dark and half an hour before sunrise. It was nice in the cool morning.
Devil’s Marbles. A large boulder field with eroded big, brown rocks
Wycliffe Well (UFO Capital), In the NM Bizzarium series, the sign says Wycliffe Well Holiday Park. U.F.O. Capital of Australia. Now closed for 10 years, the park is a ruin. A sad blue “flying saucer in the field, Welcome Maliens, Femaliens, Kidaliens sign, an Elvis and a Hulk statue, little green men and flying saucer murals on the electrical boxes, a landing pad, the ruined trailers of the park and the Galaxy Auditorium Restaurant. Even the gas station is covered with murals but is closed.
Wycliffe Wells was a vegetable-growing area established in 1937.

Ryan Well. Ned Ryan built many wells along the Stuart route in the 1860s. This is the original well with camels providing the power to lift the buckets of water.
Tropic of Capricorn. 23 km north of Alice Springs, there is a small monument here. The small black flies here were horrendous.
Highest Point. At 729.2 m above sea level, there is a brick monument at the highes point between Darwin and Adelaide. It is just north of Alice Springs.

ALICE SPRINGS (pop 25,912) is the second-largest town in the Northern Territory. The name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William Whitfield Mills after Alice, Lady Todd wife of the telegraph pioneer Sir Charles Todd. Known colloquially as ‘The Alice’ or simply ‘Alice’, the town is situated roughly in Australia’s geographic centre. It is nearly equidistant from Adelaide and Darwin.
The area is also known locally as Mparntwe to its original inhabitants, the Arrernte, who have lived in the Central Australian desert in and around what is now Alice Springs for tens of thousands of years.
The town straddles the usually dry Todd River on the northern side of the MacDonnell Ranges. The surrounding region is known as Central Australia, or the Red Centre, an arid environment consisting of several deserts. Temperatures in Alice Springs can vary, with an average maximum in summer of 35.6 °C (96.1 °F) and an average minimum in winter of 5.1 °C (41.2 °F).
History. Arrernte country is rich with mountain ranges, waterholes and gorges, which create a variety of natural habitats.
European settlement. In 1861–62, John McDouall Stuart led an expedition through Central Australia to the west of what later became Alice Springs, thereby establishing a route from the south of the continent to the north. A settlement named after Stuart was necessitated ten years later with the construction of a repeater station on the Australian Overland Telegraph Line (OTL), which linked Adelaide to Darwin and Great Britain. The OTL was completed in 1872. It traced Stuart’s route and opened up the interior for permanent settlement. The Alice Springs Telegraph Station was sited near what was thought to be a permanent waterhole in the normally dry Todd River,
It was not until alluvial gold was discovered at Arltunga, 100 kilometres (62 mi) east of the present Alice Springs, in 1887 that any significant European settlement occurred. The town’s first substantial building was the Stuart Town Gaol in Parson’s Street; this was built in 1909, when the town had a European population of fewer than 20 people. Many of the gaol’s first prisoners were first-contact Aboriginal men incarcerated for killing cattle.
The first aircraft, piloted by Francis Stewart Briggs, landed in 1921. Central Australia’s first hospital, Adelaide House, was built in 1926 when the European population of the town was about 40. It was not until 1929, when the train line to Alice was built, that the town’s European population began to grow. Aboriginal Centralians outnumbered European Centralians until the mid-1930s.
The original mode of British-Australian transportation in the outback was camel trains, operated by immigrants from Pathan tribes in the North-West Frontier of then-British India (present-day Pakistan). Many cameleers moved to Alice Springs in 1929 when the railway finally reached the town and transported goods from the rail head to stations and settlements to the north. A gold rush in Tennant Creek in 1932 kept the wheels of the Alice Springs economy turning until the outbreak of World War II.
Alice Springs was connected to Darwin by rail on 4 February 2004, when the first passenger train arrived in Darwin from Adelaide.
World War II. Prior to the war, Alice Springs was an isolated settlement of fewer than 500 people. During the war, however, the town was an extremely active staging base, known as No. 9 Australian Staging Camp, and a depot base for the long four-day trip to Darwin. When Darwin was threatened by Japanese forces, the sea routes—the Northern Territory capital’s primary means of transportation and resupply—were cut off. With the evacuation of Darwin, Alice Springs became the wartime civilian capital of the Northern Territory.
The number of personnel passing through totalled close to 200,000. Once the war ended, the military camps and the evacuees departed, and Alice Springs’ population declined rapidly.
The war years also left behind many structures – the Totem Theatre, Seven Mile Aerodrome, Alice Springs’ water supply, and improving the rail head. The war-related operations left behind thousands of pieces of excess military equipment.
After World War II. During the 1960s, Alice Springs became an important defence location with the development of the US/Australian Pine Gap joint defence satellite monitoring base, home to about 700 workers from both countries.
By far the major industry in recent times is tourism.
Almost in the exact centre of the continent, Alice Springs is some 1,200 kilometres (750 mi) from the nearest ocean and 1,500 kilometres (930 mi) from the nearest major cities, Darwin and Adelaide. Alice Springs is at the midpoint of the Adelaide–Darwin Railway.
Modern town. The modern town of Alice Springs has both European and Aboriginal influences. The town’s focal point, the Todd Mall, hosts a number of Aboriginal art galleries and community events. Alice Springs’ desert lifestyle has inspired several unique events, such as the Camel Cup, the Henley-on-Todd Regatta, Beanie Festival and the Tatts Finke Desert Race.
Alice Springs has many historic buildings, including the Overland Telegraph Station, the Old Courthouse and Residency and the Hartley Street School. Adelaide House, a beautiful stone building in the middle of the Mall, Central Australia’s first hospital was built in 1926. Today it is a museum.
Today, the town is an important tourist hub and service centre for the surrounding area. It is a well-appointed town for its size, with several large hotels, a world-class convention centre, and a good range of visitor attractions, restaurants, and other services.
Geography. The region around Alice Springs is part of the Central Ranges xeric scrub area of dry scrubby grassland and includes the MacDonnell Ranges, which run east and west of the town and contain a number of hiking trails and swimming holes, such as Ormiston Gorge, Ormiston Gorge Creek, Red Bank Gorge and Glen Helen Gorge. The 223-kilometre-long (139 mi) Larapinta Trail follows the West MacDonnell Ranges and is considered among the world’s great walking experiences.
The Simpson Desert, southeast of Alice Springs, is one of Australia’s great wilderness areas, containing giant, red sand dunes and rock formations, such as Chambers Pillar and Rainbow Valley.
Climate – subtropical hot desert climate with very hot, fairly moist summers and short, very dry, mild winters. Central Australia, also called the Red Centre, is an arid environment consisting of several different deserts. The annual average rainfall is 285.9 millimetres (11.3 in), which would make it a semi-arid climate, except that its high evapotranspiration, or its aridity, makes it a desert climate.
Demography. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 21.2% of the population. As Alice Springs is the regional hub of Central Australia, it attracts Aboriginal people from all over that region and well beyond. Many Aboriginal people visit regularly to use the town’s services. Aboriginal residents usually live in the suburbs, on special purpose leases (or town camps), or further out at Amoonguna to the south and on the small family outstation communities on Aboriginal lands in surrounding areas.
Americans. Since the early 1970s, the majority of the American population in Alice Springs has been associated with proximity to Pine Gap, a joint Australian-US satellite tracking station, located 19 kilometres (12 mi) southwest of Alice Springs, that employs about 700 Americans and Australians. Currently, 2,000 residents of the Alice Springs district hold American citizenship. Many of these, joined by some Australians, celebrate major American public holidays, including the 4th of July and Thanksgiving. Americans in Alice Springs are also known to participate in a variety of associations and sporting teams, including baseball, basketball and soccer competitions.
Foreign tourists usually pass through on their way to Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, whilst Australian tourists usually come through as a part of an event such as the Masters Games and the Finke Desert Race.
Crime. Property crime and violent crime, including domestic violence, often linked to alcohol and drug abuse, has been a significant social issue in Alice Springs in the 21st century, with most of the victims being residents of the town. Many approaches and programs have been tried over the years, with varying levels of success. Crime in Alice Springs has risen dramatically since 2022 and has been noted to do so around the time that the Northern Territory government lifted alcohol bans for many communities. The bans were reintroduced in 2023.

Alice Springs Reptile Centre. Besides the usual snakes (many venomous which Australia is famous for), there is a saltwater crocodile and some amazing lizards – Perentle goannas, frilled-necked lizards and thorny Devils. $22, 18 reduced. 
Bojangles Saloon and Restaurant. In the NM Bizzarium series, this Western-style bar has cowboy hats, chaps, bull horns, a skeleton riding a ruined motorcycle, seats made of saddles and beer kets, horseshoes, a model train on a track, old radios, a sewing machine, washstand, barrels old bottles and photos – a quirky assortment of stuff.
Olive Pink Botanic Garden. Not a normal botanical garden, it has many indigenous plants and trees in a natural environment – wattles, mallae, ancient landscapes {a series of posters showing rocky desert, gorges, riverine, woodlands, mulga (acacia, 1/2 of all plants), salt lakes and spinifex grasslands (1/3 of all plants)}. medicine bush waterholes. Free.
After going to Ayers Rock, I returned through Alice Springs and saw:
Old Ghan Museum. Railway Museums. Construction of what was then known as the Port Augusta to Government Gums Railway began in 1878. The 1,070 mm (3 ft 6 in) line reached Hawker in June 1880, Beltana in July 1881, Marree in January 1884 and Oodnadatta in January 1891. Work on the extension to Alice Springs began in 1926, and was completed in 1929. Until then, the final leg of the train journey was still made by camel.
Although there were plans from the beginning to extend the line to Darwin, by the time the extension to Alice Springs had been completed, The Ghan was losing money and the plans for further extension to Darwin were suspended indefinitely. The original Ghan line followed the same track as the overland telegraph, which is believed to be the route taken by John McDouall Stuart during his 1862 crossing of Australia.
The Ghan service was notorious for delays caused by washouts of the track. – floods in 1930, 1967 and 1974 and sand drifts in the 1950s. A flatcar immediately behind the locomotive carried spare sleepers and railway tools, so passengers and crew could repair the line. The very uncertain service via this route was tolerated because steam locomotives needed large quantities of water, and Stuart’s route to Alice Springs was the only one that had sufficient available water.
Initially operated fortnightly, in the 1930s, it was increased to weekly. From 1956 until 1975, it operated twice weekly, before reverting to a weekly service. During World War II, the service had to be greatly expanded, putting great pressure on the limited water supplies. As a result, de-mineralization towers, some of which survive to this day, were built along the track so that bore water could be used. When a new line to Alice Springs was built in the 1970s, the use of diesel locomotives meant that there was far less need for water, thus allowing the line to take the much drier route from Tarcoola to Alice Springs. The last narrow gauge service departed Alice Springs on 26 November 1980.
The museum has an original steam locomotive and all sorts or railway paraphernalia. $25, $20 reduced, not really worth the high price, but combined with a transportation museum.
Central Australian Aviation Museum. At the site of the original Alice Springs airport in one of the early hangars. In 1939, Conellan Airlines with 2 planes, a flying doctor and a mail service contract started the first air service in Central Australia. See a collection of planes, hardware, photographs and the history of the Konisbarra and her crew who perished after making a forced landing in the desert. They were on a search for Kingsford Smith who disappeared in the first leg of an around-the-world flight. $15
Araluen Cultural Precinct. A theatre, craft centre, and art gallery, the gallery was full of aboriginal art by 35 artists from all over Central Australia. The art is of many varieties but most of the pictures are pointillism with many lovely abstract designs, full of color. One of the better parts was several collages. $8, 6 reduced.
Adelaide House Museum (Australian Inland Mission Hostel) is on the Todd Mall and was the first purpose-built hospital to a design by the Reverend John Flynn and was completed in 1926. It now operates as a museum managed by Heritage Alice Springs Incorporated.
Adelaide House was the first hospital in Alice Springs and it was brought about through the hard work and advocacy of the Reverend John Flynn. The Reverend John Flynn (Flynn) travelled regularly to Alice Springs, and other far-flung places and, as a part of his role as superintendent of the Australian Inland Mission (AIM) where he started in 1912, he was determined to improve the lives of people in Central Australia. Before Adelaide House was built there was no doctor in the region and people had to rely on their own experience and basic supplies in case of general illness. In cases of emergency, a doctor would be called into the Central Telegraph Office in Adelaide and their advice would be transmitted via telegram. This, of course, leads to many preventable deaths. Flynn prioritized the building of a hospital over that of a church.
Construction started in 1920 when local stonemason Jack Williams (who had built the Stuart Town Gaol), who was 70 years old was given the contract. Opened on 24 June 1926, Adelaide House was the 9th in a network of 14 medical facilities established by the AIM. In February 1934 the government decided they would no longer allow Aboriginal people to use Adelaide House and a galvanized iron hut was built on the east bank of the Todd River; this became known as the “blacks’ hospital”.
A new, much bigger hospital was officially opened in 1939 and, from 1938 Adelaide House stopped working as a hospital but remained in use by the AIM as accommodation for children from remote areas whose parents were in hospital and as pre and post-birth care for women and their children. The hostel continued to operate until 1961.
Adelaide House now operates as a local history museum, run by volunteers, and it has a focus on health in Central Australia. $10. Note hours T, W, T 10-1 pm.

Gas in Alice Springs was $2.17/l. From Alice Springs, it was 200 km to Eridunda along the Stuart Highway. Gas in Eridunda was $2.95, iced coffee $8.95 ($6 in most gas stations). Turn west at Eridunda to go 247 km on the Lasseter Highway to the park boundary and 264 km to Uluru.

ULURU-KATA TJUTA NATIONAL PARK WHS
Formerly called Uluru (Ayers Rock – Mount Olga) National Park, features spectacular geological formations that dominate the vast red sandy plain of central Australia. Uluru, an immense monolith, and Kata Tjuta, the rock domes located west of Uluru, form part of the traditional belief system of one of the oldest human societies in the world. The traditional owners of Uluru-Kata Tjuta are the Anangu Aboriginal people.

The sandstone monolith of Uluru and the conglomerate domes of Kata Tjuta, rise abruptly, to over 300 metres in height, above the relatively flat surrounding sandplains and woodland. Their changing colours provide dramatic views for visitors, shifting from different tones of red, violet and orange as sunlight, shade and rain wash across their flanks.
Far from coastal cities, the rich red tones of Uluru and Kata Tjuta epitomise the isolation, starkness and beauty of Australia’s desert environment. When coupled with the profound spiritual importance of many parts of Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, the natural qualities convey a powerful sense of the very long evolution of the Australian continent.
Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park has been home to the Anangu people for tens of thousands of years and contains significant physical evidence of one of the oldest continuous cultures in the world. Anangu is the term that Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara Aboriginal people, from the Western Desert region of Australia, use to refer to themselves. Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara are the two principal dialects.
Traditional Anangu law, the Tjukurpa, is the foundation of the Anangu living cultural landscape. The Tjukurpa is an outstanding example of traditional law and spirituality and reflects the relationships between people, plants, animals and the physical features of the land. It is expressed in verbal narratives, lengthy Inma (ceremony and associated rituals and song lines), art, the landscape itself, traditional hunting, gathering and other practices of great antiquity that have created an intimate relationship between people and their environment.
The huge monolith of Uluru and multiple rock domes of Kata Tjuta (32 kilometres to the west of Uluru) have outstanding scenic grandeur, contrasting with each other and the surrounding flat sand plains. The monolithic nature of Uluru is emphasised by sheer, steep sides rising abruptly from the surrounding plain, with little or no vegetation to obscure the silhouette.
The inselbergs (steep-sided isolated hills rising abruptly from the earth) of Uluru and Kata Tjuta are outstanding examples of tectonic, geochemical and geomorphic processes. Uluru and Kata Tjuta reflect the age, and relatively stable nature, of the Australian continent. The sides of Uluru are marked by a number of unusual features which can be ascribed to differing processes of erosion resulting in the sheeting of rock parallel to the existing surface. During rain periods, the runoff from Uluru cascades down the fissures forming waterfalls, some up to 100 metres high. Caves at the base of Uluru are formed by a widespread arid zone process of granular disintegration known as cavernous weathering.
Climbing Uluru has not been allowed since October 2019.

Uluru (from Wikipedia) is a large sandstone formation in the centre of Australia. Uluru is sacred to the Pitjantjatjara, the Aboriginal people of the area, known as the Aṉangu. The area around the formation is home to an abundance of springs, waterholes, rock caves and ancient paintings. Uluru is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Uluru and Kata Tjuta, also known as the Olgas, are the two major features of the Uluṟu-Kata Tjuṯa National Park.
The sandstone formation stands 348 m (1,142 ft) high, rising 863 m (2,831 ft) above sea level with most of its bulk lying underground, and has a total perimeter of 9.4 km (5.8 mi). Uluru is notable for appearing to change colour at different times of the day and year, most notably when it glows red at dawn and sunset. The reddish colour in the rock derives from iron oxide in the sandstone.
Kata Tjuta, also called Mount Olga or the Olgas, lies 25 km (16 mi) west of Uluru. Special viewing areas with road access and parking have been constructed to give tourists the best views of both sites at dawn and dusk.

Since the park was listed as a World Heritage Site, annual visitor numbers rose to over 400,000 visitors by 2000.
Climbing. The local Aṉangu do not climb Uluru because of its great spiritual significance. They have in the past requested that visitors do not climb the rock, partly due to the path crossing a sacred traditional Dreamtime track, and also due to a sense of responsibility for the safety of visitors. Until October 2019, the visitors’ guide said “The climb is not prohibited, but we prefer that, as a guest on Aṉangu land, you will choose to respect our law and culture by not climbing”. A chain handhold, added to the rock in 1964 and extended in 1976, made the hour-long climb easier, but it remained a steep, 800 m (0.5 mi) hike to the top, where it can be quite windy. Climbing Uluru was generally closed to the public when high winds were present at the top. As of July 2018, 37 deaths related to recreational climbing have been recorded.
During heavy rain, waterfalls cascade down the sides of Uluru, a rare phenomenon that only 1% of all tourists get to see.
Uluru is an inselberg, meaning “island mountain”. An inselberg is a prominent isolated residual knob or hill that rises abruptly from and is surrounded by extensive and relatively flat erosion lowlands in a hot, dry region. Uluru is also often referred to as a monolith, although this is an ambiguous term that is generally avoided by geologists. The remarkable feature of Uluru is its homogeneity and lack of jointing and parting at bedding surfaces, leading to the lack of development of scree slopes and soil. These characteristics led to its survival, while the surrounding rocks were eroded.
Composition. Uluru is dominantly composed of coarse-grained arkose (a type of sandstone characterised by an abundance of feldspar) and some conglomerate. Average composition is 50% feldspar, 25–35% quartz and up to 25% rock fragments; most feldspar is K-feldspar with only minor plagioclase as subrounded grains and highly altered inclusions within K-feldspar. The grains are typically 2–4 mm (0.079–0.157 in) in diameter, and are angular to subangular; the finer sandstone is well sorted, with sorting decreasing with increasing grain size. The rock fragments include subrounded basalt, invariably replaced to various degrees by chlorite and epidote. The minerals present suggest derivation from a predominantly granite source, similar to the Musgrave Block exposed to the south. When relatively fresh, the rock has a grey colour, but weathering of iron-bearing minerals by the process of oxidation gives the outer surface layer of the rock a red-brown rusty colour. Features related to deposition of the sediment include cross-bedding and ripples, analysis of which indicated deposition from broad shallow energy fluvial channels and sheet flooding, typical of alluvial fans.
Age and origin. The Mutitjulu Arkose is about the same age as the conglomerate at Kata Tjuta, and has a similar origin, despite the different rock type, but younger than the rocks exposed to the east at Mount Conner, and unrelated to them. The strata at Uluru are nearly vertical, dipping to the southwest at 85°, and have an exposed thickness of at least 2,400 m (7,900 ft). The strata dip below the surrounding plain and no doubt extends well beyond Uluru in the subsurface, but the extent is not known. The rock was originally sand, deposited as part of an extensive alluvial fan that extended out from the ancestors of the Musgrave, Mann and Petermann Ranges to the south and west, but separate from a nearby fan that deposited the sand, pebbles and cobbles that now make up Kata Tjuta.
The similar mineral composition of the Mutitjulu Arkose and the granite ranges to the south is now explained. The ancestors of the ranges to the south were once much larger than the eroded remnants we see today. They were thrust up during a mountain building episode referred to as the Petermann Orogeny that took place in late Neoproterozoic to early Cambrian times (550–530 Ma), and thus the Mutitjulu Arkose is believed to have been deposited at about the same time.

After entering the park, pass the aboriginal-owned Yulara or Ayers Rock Resort, the main accommodation near the park (campgrounds and hotel). At the Park Entry Station, pay $38 for a one-three day pass/person.
There is no camping within the boundaries of the park. It is open from 5 am to 8 pm and everyone must be out by then. Pass the road to Kata Tjuta, 50 km to the west and on the way to the Western Australia border.
Arrive at the Sunset Viewing area. The entire lot was almost full of cars with everyone out waiting for sunset despite there being heavy cloud cover. I set up my table and had dinner. The sun peaked through the clouds for about 2 minutes giving a nice glow to Uluru.
The viewing area soon emptied as everyone departed to be out of the park by 8.
ON Ayers Rock Resort campground. Had a much-needed shower in the nice shower/bathroom.
Mileage: 936 km

Day 15 Tue Oct 3
I left the campground at 6:15 to get to the other side of Ayers Rock to the Sunrise Viewing area (Talinguru Nyakunytjakij). There were clouds on the horizon and the best light took a while to come. There were hundreds of people who had gotten up to see it. Walk a few hundred metres to viewing platforms that are above most of the trees. I then had breakfast and went to the Cultural Centre 13 km into the park. You can join the Ranger-guided Mala Walk at 8:00 a.m. lasting 1.5-2 hours.
Liru Walk. 2 km each way. Connects the Cultural Center to the base of Uluru.
Uluru Base Walk. 10.6 km loop. Because of the heat, it is advised to be finished by 11 a.m.

I then started the 447 km drive back to Alice Springs where I saw the few sights I had missed on my way through one day previously (go to Alice Springs).
ON Ti-Tree truck stop. I had dinner in the Ti-Tree restaurant.
Mileage: 692 km

Day 16 Wed Oct 4
I had a long talk with Lois Aylen about Leon, our common best friend who is dying of lung cancer.
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AUSTRALIA – NORTHERN TERRITORY – NORTH (Darwin, Katherine, Kakadu)

I then continued north to Three Way and then all the way to Katherine in Northern Territory North – 650 km. On the way pass many WWII remnants – an airfield, aerodrome, staging grounds. Before Daly Waters, I got behind this enormous building taking up the entire width of the highway. It was slow going for about 40 km. He pulled over just before Daly Waters.
Daly Waters. When I was in Uluru, an Australian mentioned about stopping at this historic town known for its crazy bar. The bar and walls are covered with thousands of business cards and hats, bras and T-shirts hanging all over the place. I wanted to eat here but food was not served till 6 so I continued on to Katherine.

Mataranka Thermal Pools.  100 km before Katherine, this hot spring is in Elsey NP. Walk about 250 m to the lovely free pool. It is 7 km off the highway.

KATHERINE (pop 6,300)
Katherine Hot Springs. This is very unusual, a natural spring of water that moves through several pools and narrow areas. After parking, walk across the playground towards the metal bar fence, and descend the stairs down to the “stream”. The water is not warm but is very refreshing and a popular place with locals. Free

I ate at the Katherine Golf Course.
ON Katherine Visitors Centre Parking lot. An Aboriginal guy woke me up at 02:30 wanting me to drive him somewhere in Katherine!!
Mileage: 947 km

Day 17 Thur Oct 5
I was up very early and drove in the dark to get to the NP, 150 km to the park boundary. 

KAKADU NATIONAL PARK WHS
This unique archaeological and ethnological reserve has been inhabited continuously for more than 40,000 years. The cave paintings, rock carvings and archaeological sites record the skills and way of life of the region’s inhabitants, from the hunter-gatherers of prehistoric times to the Aboriginal people still living there. It is a unique example of a complex of ecosystems, including tidal flats, floodplains, lowlands and plateaux, and provides a habitat for a wide range of rare or endemic species of plants and animals.

DARWIN
Gas on the way into Darwin was $2.07 and in town was $1.79, the cheapest in Australia. I had filled up on the outskirts.
Crocodylus Park & Zoo. Saltwater crocs, American alligators, freshwater crocs, crocodile breeding pens, lions, baboons, ponies, meerkats, primates, dingoes, birds (emus, cassowaries, ostriches, other birds). $44, 35 reduced. I didn’t go here because of the excessive price.
Australian Aviation Heritage Centre. At the airport, see videos on the 1919 Great Air Race from England to Australia and the Bombing of Darwin. Many planes, models and other aeroplane memorabilia. $16, 12 reduced.
Go to the military museum just to drive along East Point Road with many big impressive homes and to see East Point, a lovely spot. 
Darwin Military Museum. All about the Defence of Darwin in WWII with a lot of artillery, uniforms, history, medals, memorial wall of 2000 people.
The Bombing of Darwin on 19 February 1942 was the largest single attack ever mounted by a foreign power on Australia. 242 Japanese aircraft, in two separate raids, attacked the town, ships in Darwin Harbour and the town’s two airfields in an attempt to prevent the Allies from using them as bases to contest the invasion of Timor and Java during WWII Timor and Java during World War II. Darwin was lightly defended relative to the size of the attack, and the Japanese inflicted heavy losses upon Allied forces at little cost to themselves. The urban areas of Darwin also suffered some damage from the raids and there were a number of civilian casualties. More than half of Darwin’s civilian population left the area permanently, before or immediately after the attack.
The two Japanese air raids were the first, and largest, of more than 100 air raids against Australia during 1942–1943. The event happened just four days after the Fall of Singapore when a combined Commonwealth force surrendered to the Japanese, the largest surrender in British history.
One of the heaviest attacks took place on 16 June 1942 when a Japanese force set fire to the oil fuel tanks around the harbour and inflicted severe damage to the vacant banks, stores and railway yards. The Allied navies largely abandoned the naval base at Darwin after the initial 19 February attack, dispersing most of their forces to Brisbane, Fremantle, and other, smaller, seaports. Conversely, Allied air commanders launched a build-up in the Darwin area, building more airfields and deploying many squadrons.$20, 15 reduced.
Fanny Bay Gaol and Labour Prison. Operational from 1883 to 1979, this is a nearly intact small one-story stone building, the infirmary. There are the remains of the floor and columns and several side buildings with some exhibits. Free Note hours Wed-Sun 10-2.
Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory. Art of the recent Telstra Natsura competition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait artists – many nice pieces. Natural history museum (70 kinds of termites in Australia), photographic wall, Cyclone Tracey of 1974 that destroyed a lot of Darwin, Sweetwater (a 5.3 m long saltwater crocodile). Free
St Mary’s Cathedral. The catholic cathedral of Darwin. It has a large arch entrance with stained glass. The interior is open with rounded arches separating the naves.
Burnett House. House and Biographical Museums. Designed by Beni Burnett to deal with the hot tropical climate before air conditioning and reticulated water, this had large verandahs and great ventilation. It was built in 1939 as a living space for public employees. The bottom was reinforced concrete and had the dining/living rooms and the upper was wood framed with the bedrooms and verandahs. Many families lived in it until 1988 when it was restored and became the Office of the National Trust until 2000. Free
George Brown Darwin Botanic Gardens. It dates from 1869 and was destroyed twice (during WWII and with Cyclone Tracey). Has many parts – cycads, mangroves, coastal, African, and Madagascar (there was a Perrier baobab – Adansonia perriere), shade, and rainforest. Lovely wood benches, some sculptures, and many palms. Free
WWII Oil Storage Tunnels. When the Japanese destroyed the wharf oil tanks in 1942, eight tunnels were built into this hillside. Walk down Tunnel 6 and enter the huge Tunnel 5, see the pump room, digger sculpture of bomb remnants, and art gallery, and learn the history of the backbreaking labour needed to construct them. $9.50 8.50 reduced.

I ate in Darwin and started the drive back to Katherine.
ON Adelaide
Mileage. 771 km

Day 18 Fri Oct 6
I drove through Katherine doing some research on Western Australia over a coffee. Then started the long drive towards Kununurra located at the eastern extremity of the Kimberley approximately 45 kilometres from the border with the Northern Territory.

Go to Western Australia – Kimberley etc.