Western Australia: Crocs, Bushtucker and Snapped Trailer Axles

JULY 30 2001 from Brads email

G'day all!

The next installment of my trip around AUS has been awesome! I thought it would probably be the least exciting, after the coast of Western Australia but guess again...

I've been traveling between Broome (NW WAus) and Darwin (capital of the Northern Territory).

Highlights:

NEW TRAVEL PARTNER
We picked up a German backpacker in Broome named Heike (Hi-ka) that has fit in so well with us that she is now an item with Jeff our fellow traveler! We are learning all about Germany now as well and having a ball.

BROOME
We spent 1 week here. The longest stay we had had anywhere. It's a tropical paradise with turquoise waters, beautiful weather and the cruisiest lifestyle.
The tides up here are massive. There is a 7m difference between low and high tide. At low tide the mudflats of the ocean are exposed creating a ripple effect that looks like a staircase to the moon when it is a full moon! Hence the name and a reason for the town to go off while we were there. We splashed out and spent some $ on a caravan park so we didn't have to put the tent up and down every night and just indulged and all the things we take for granted in the city. Showers, cafes, the cinema (outdoor cinema!) nightclubs, etc. We spent a lot of time at Cable Beach; the tourist show card for Broome. A 22km beach that is just beautiful.... and sometimes not. Not beautiful I say, because it seems we ran into another nude beach! Some people were looking damn good and others... lets just say ...you get the idea! So when in Rome... yep beer and nudity once again for us campers! I recommend nude bodysurfing as well!

GIBB RIVER ROAD
This is a 614 km heavily corrugated road that transports cattle from Derby (N of Broome) to Kunnunurra (NE). This road is full of beautiful gorges, waterfalls, swimming holes under waterfalls and just amazing scenery. We met the natives as well. Not the Aboriginals, CROCODILES! We got within 2m of of first croc that we saw (freshwater croc: which although don't bite unless provoked, can still kill if you're looking like marinated meat), and preceded to snap photos of him like he was a Hollywood movie star or something! Needless to say, every night camping in this part to Darwin near a waterhole, creek or floodplain has had us all watching each others backs for crocs! You can see their orange glary eyes with your torch across the water at night. Really eerie...

The Death of our TRAILER
The Gibb River Road is the roughest road I have ever traveled on. How rough? Want proof? We lost our trailer that we carried a lot of our stuff in. Picture traveling along this dirt road and seeing the trailer tyre bouncing past the right side of the car faster than you are going because it snapped of the axle! We cut our losses (25 year old trailer) and packed everything on the 4wd roof and rolled the trailer on the side of the road!

The meal of the century
Towards the end of this road of death we stopped in at a resort called Emma Gorge, where we soaked up the good life and ate the best meal we'd had in ages! The most we'd ever spent on one meal as well! $27.50. I ate Barramundi, Spanish Mackeral, Scotch fillet, Tandoori Chicken and kangaroo, pasta all on one plate. then went back for seconds! Not to mention the 3 desserts I had...

KAKADU AND LITCHFIELD NATIONAL PARKS
2 amazing NP's in the NT that drastically changed into tropical landscapes with the biggest termite mounds we've ever seen! Up to three metres tall! Plenty of waterfalls, gorges and swimming to be had, but at some places once again, you watch your back for the reptilious predators below...

DARWIN
Now we are in Darwin and living up the highlife after more than 2 months of bush camping. We checked straight into a hotel, have sent half of my stuff to Sydney and are lapping up the life of showers, TV, toasters, microwaves and newspapers. Things that now seem so foreign! Where's our campfire gone? Here for a few days enjoying the sights and sounds before flying to Brisbane for a few days before Sydney, meeting up with some people from a Contiki tour 2 years ago!

NEW ANIMALS: King brown snake and Black snake (both dead fortunately), dingoes casing our campsite one night, crocs and a possum.

digerI DO: Yep I'm half Aboriginal now, or more so I can't wash the stains out of my feet and body! I learnt how to search, cut and make my own didgeridoo! (an Aboriginal musical instrument made from a skinny hollow tree trunk) Cant play it, but I've always wanted one. As well as musical instruments, we've also learnt a lot about bush tucker (wild food) that we've been happily consuming along the way. Green-ant lime juice has been the weirdest to date.

TIME IS IRREVELANT: My watch is busted and I don't need it. It feels great to not care about time!

SUPERTRAVEL: We've now clocked up 16,000km's of 4WD!

Adios amigos! Hasta pronto. We now fly to Brisbane to end the trip!

Bradanurra Rasamawagga (my new tribal name)