Apologies, this is a very looooooong blog entry.........

Sunday 17 Jan - Flew out of Perth at 8.15am and arrived in Darwin at 2pm. Well I've really pushed the boat out this time and have tried another type of accommodation - Banyon View Lodge (BVL) a Backpackers place (it had to be done at some point) ! My room had two bunks beds and I was told that I was sharing with another lady, who hadn't as yet checked in. I didn't have mull over for too long as to which bunk I would sleep in - top or bottom? Of course I choose the bottom one, at my age and with a dodgy knee I wasn't going to attempt the top one, but used it as storage space instead !

I was well impressed with my backpacker accommodation as each bunk was kitted out with two crisp white sheets and a soft white towel, which I wasn't expecting, so that was a bonus. As it was the other lady never showed up and I ended up having the room to myself - shame it wasn't en-suite (had to walk down the corridor for bathroom facilities). I've got a few more Backpacker places to lodge at before I reach my luxury hotel in Fiji and hope that they are just as clean and tidy as BVL.

Due to the fact that it was the wet season in the Northern Territory, it was no surprise that Darwin was a deserted town. However, for a couple of hours the sun was shining and I managed to see some astonishing views of Darwin Harbour, but apart from this, there was nothing else to see or do. I walked around for a couple of hours, then had something to eat and headed back to BVL (just got in before a mega downpour !). When first arrived in Darwin, I was told by the taxi guy that Darwin was not a safe place be out alone at night time. So I was feeling a bit scared when I was making my way back and I saw a couple of Aborigines hanging around the street corner. They were shouting /calling out at me, but I kept my head down and quickened my steps back to the hostel - just to keep your minds at rest, I don't normally venture out on my own in the dark, that was my one and only time !

My Northern Territory programme was a 6 day trip. The first part was from Darwin to Alice Springs (3 days, 1500kms), followed by another 3 day tour from Alice Springs covering Uluru (Ayres Rock) and Kings Canyon, then back to Alice Springs. The itinerary for the 6 days was as follows:-

Day 1 (Monday 18 Jan) - Darwin to Katherine Gorge. I was picked up first by Ruth (our guide for three days) from outside BVL at 5.30am. I know now that waiting outside on my own (especially at that time of the day) was not a good idea and I was probably lucky that I had not been spotted by anyone. The reason I've mentioned this is that on my last day in Alice Springs a young couple from Switzerland were waiting outside the hostel at 5.45 for their pickup and for no reason at all, an Aborigine guy wacked the Swiss lad in the face with a hockey stick (which actually broke in half) and took their bags. So if anyone is thinking of going to the Northern Territory, please take note of this and don't walk out alone !

Ruth then picked up Christopher (from Brittany, France, no not literally from France, but from his accommodation) and Tanya and Victoria (two German girls who are working as au-pairs in Australia) and we set off for Katherine Gorge (Aborigine name Nitmiluk), which is part of the Nitmiluk National Park.

The main roads in Australia are called Highways and run from one major city to another. The highway between Darwin & Alice Springs & Adelaide is called Stuarts Highway. This was named after John McDouall Stuart, who founded the Northern Territory (just thought I'd drop in a bit of history for you). All the highways are basically a long stretch of road (as far as the eye can see), with occasional gentle left or right bends. A lot of the time, we were the only ones on the road - nothing like the dreaded M25 !

We arrived at the town of Katherine at midday and after lunch walked up to see the Gorge. Due to the high level of rainfall experienced at this time of the year, we were not able to canoe or swim in the Gorge as the risk of salt water crocodiles was high, so we just enjoyed the views from the top of the gorge - the only thing that spoilt this was the hundreds of flies buzzing around our faces & bodies (uck - had to buy a hat with a netting to keep them off my face, I look cool in it honest) !

By the way, you know when I said in my Thailand trekking blog, that I would never camp again...............one should never say "never", as we stayed in permanent campsite here in Katherine Gorge and at three other sites. On a positive note, we didn't have to put the tents up and each tent had two proper beds with mattresses, so on the whole not a bad experience !

Day 2 (Tuesday 19 Jan) - Katherine Gorge to Tennant Creek. Most of the day was spent in the minibus travelling to Tennant Creek as we needed to cover about 700kms that day. On route we stopped at Elsey National Park and had the opportunity to swim (I just dangled my feet) in the sparkling thermal pool (Mataranka Thermal Pool), which was surrounded by a lush tropical forest.
We then stopped at Daly Waters Outback hotel for lunch, which was one of the first hotels to be built in the outback. We finally arrived at the permanent campsite at Juno Horse Farm at 6pm and helped prepare dinner.

Day 3 (Wed 20 Jan) - Tennant Creek to Alice Springs. We had about 500kms to cover today. After leaving Tennant Creek, we stopped at Karlu Karlu (Devils Marbles)...... I couldn't get over the spectacular formation of the huge granite boulders that were spread across the valley. Absolutely beautiful !

Next we stopped at Barrow Creek Pub (home to the historic Telegraph Station) for lunch. The walls inside the pub were covered by hundreds of memorabilia left behind by people from all over the world. The owner very proudly showed us all the things he had collected from the UK (money - signed by the person leaving it behind, business cards, expired credit cards, flags, etc.). The place looked like a tip, but he knew exactly where to find all the stuff for each country.

We arrived in Alice Springs at 3pm and checked into our accommodation (Haven Backpackers).On this occasion I ended up sharing a dorm with Victoria, Tanya and 5 other female travellers (4 bunks). As we were the last ones to arrive, all the bottom bunks had been taken, and little ole' me had to climb to a top bunk that night ! Guess I could have asked one of the others to swap, but hey it was only for one night, so I did my best to climb up in a ladylike manner (...and no there are no pictures of this activity on the blog) !!!!

Alice Springs is one of the most famous towns in the Outback and is surrounded by MacDonnell Ranges. Even though it was very hot in the Northern Territory (about 49 degrees in the middle of the afternoon), I loved my time there, especially after dark when you could see millions of stars and that is no exaggeration. I wish I had taken the opportunity to sleep outside in a swag (Aussie bedroll), like some of the others (the flies and moths put me off from doing so). I also love the Aboriginal artwork and have invested in a painting drawn by one of the locals !

Day 4 (Thursday 21 Jan) - Alice Springs to Kata Tjuta and Ulura. We were picked up from outside the Haven at 6.10 by Hannah, our guide for the next three days. As there were 24 of us on this part of the tour, we did not have the luxury of spreading out as on the earlier part of this trip.

On route to Uluru (Ayres Rock), we stopped at an Outback Camel Farm, where some of the group took the opportunity to have a camel ride. We also made a stop to stretch our legs at Curtin Springs, which is a cattle farm, the size of Belgium !

After lunch (BBQ), we headed for Kata Tjuta, also known as The Olgas, which are a massive pile of weathered rock domes and estimated to be about 500 million years old. We walked through the Valley of the Winds which is an established trail of the Kata Tjuta at around 3pm. In hindsight, perhaps we should have done this a bit later on in the day, as the temperature was hitting 48 degrees and most of us were a bit dehydrated, even though we'd been drinking plenty of water !

We then headed towards Uluru, which is one of the great natural wonders of the world and a spiritual ground of the Aborigines, to watch the sunset. We were taught one Aborigine word by Hannah - Napuji Napuji, this means, what's yours is mine and what's mine is yours -mmmm, nice one, I'll have to try this out when I get back !

Day 5 (Friday 22 Jan) - Ulura to Kings Canyon. We had to be up at 4am, so that we had enough time to have breakfast, tidy up and pack our bags into the trailer before heading off to see a glorious sunrise over Uluru. We then had the option of climbing the 348 metre high sandstone monolith or take a 2½ hours walk around the base of the rock. I opted to walk around the base with three others. The view from the different angles of the rock changed dramatically and we were bowled over by its beauty. We were told not to take photos in a few places as these were sacred grounds, which are still used by the Aborigines for ceremonies today.

Day 6 (Saturday 23 Jan) - Kings Canyon to Alice Springs. This morning we headed for Kings Canyon, which is in the Watarrka National Park on route to Alice Springs. We stopped for a 6km hike through the canyon and wow, what a scenic walk it was. The first 20 minutes of the walk was very difficult as we had to make our way up a steep hill, but after that the gradient of the hills became easier to manage......... wow, the magnificent beauty of the canyon left me breathless. The red rock face of the canyon and the beautiful lake hidden between the canyon walls was awesome.

After returning to Alice Springs, I checked into Toddys Backpackers and went out for a meal with the rest of the group. Had an early night as we'd been getting up between 4 and 5 am every day and decided to have a bit of a lie in the next morning.

Sunday 24 Jan - well didn't manage a lie in as this was the day the Swiss couple were attacked outside the hostel. The screams of the girl woke up most of the residence and we all came out to see what was happening. After that I couldn't sleep, so packed and got ready to fly to Sydney !

I've got loads of pictues to download and will do so as soon as I can. Bye for now