I'VE BEEN EVERYWHERE MAN - NORTHERN TERRITORY

I love the Northern Territory and often find myself daydreaming about the outback! There is something that is so captivating almost romantic about the vibrant red dust, intense blue sky, brilliant green shrubbery  golden grasses and the beautiful light that hot sun radiates....Ahhh to be there now....In the heat with beautiful watering holes to cool down in, often at the base of a waterfall. A few people have asked me if you can swim in the NT, as the general consensus is that the waterways are infested with big man eating salt water crocodiles. And this is the case in a lot of the NT but if your smart, read the signs and watch out for where the locals swim, you should be alright (but please read the signs and be smart about where you swim)

Cos "I've been everywhere, man,

I've been everywhere, man.

'Cross the deserts bare, man;

I've breathed the mountain air, man.

Of travel I've had my share, man.

I've been ev'rywhere.

When we went to the Northern Territory we drove across from Cairns, I was stumped as to why people were driving south to Townsville and then cutting across when the number 1 (the national highway) was just there. We soon found out...The road went from 2 lane to 1 lane. Then from bitchumen to dirt from dirt to bumpy from bumpy to sand, from being a road house we could fill up at in the middle of nowhere to no road house and just making it to the next petrol station, to sand to water crossing from water crossing (without a 4x4) to more water crossing  and from having 2 flat tires and only one spare... This was pretty scary at the time as traffic was no existent and we could have been stuck out here for days seven week before someone found us. But no it is my favorite part! All the picture are from that leg of the journey, except for the bottom 2 of the river which is the roper river (very close by to this track).

This is primarily Litchfield NP with the center photo and the photo directly under the crocodile safety sign being Katherine hot springs and The photo with the 4 floating heads being berry springs with some friends we met in Queensland.

This photo is also primarily Litchfield NP (can you tell it was a favorite?)  Apart from the picture in the top row of the river is at Katherine George (there is two one is further down on the right), The picture of the bubbles and the one above it is at Kathrine hot springs. And the center picture is taken at the hotel we stayed at in Darwin. At this stage the Kombi was breaking down daily (not made for the tough heat up north especially being air cooled) So we used our RACV membership and that includes free accommodation and car hire for a week. It was bliss as it was intense heat and humidity to finally have air conditioning  And I love doonas so I had cranked it up to 16 degrees and I was freezing. Hubby said if i was cold I should maybe turn it off, but I was happy being cold and curled up in a doona - not very hippy i no but it was nice to be cold for the first and last time in that year!

This is all Kakadu. We were lucky enough that we met up with some fellow travelers we met in Queensland who were working in the resort. They took us on a cruise as they had a work party on the cruise boat. There is lots of aboriginal rock art in the park, but beware the waterways are full of crocs!

The top left corner is Litchfield at bluey's waterhole and I think there is a picture of a beach, and the photo in the center is at roper river. the rest of the pictures are Kakadu.

The bottom photos and the center photo is at berry springs. The picture of the Kombi is at Copperfield dam, above that is a pic of us at one of Darwin's beaches above that is of Paul jumping in at berry springs, sunrise, remnants of a bush fire, then Copperfield dam, roper river and Litchfield NP