Kakadu to Broome

We have travelled over 10,000 km in total now and we are in Broome. It was a long stretch from Katherine (NT) to here taking 3 days and averaging about 500- 600 km a day. Not much to see in between.

In kakadu, we enjoyed an hour scenic flight over the whole region including parts of Arnhem Land. So many winding muddy rivers with crocs and rock cliffs all around. We tried our hand at some more Barra fishing, fishing right on the border of kakadu and Arnhem at the East Alligator River (also full of crocs). It had been in the papers earlier that a big barra jumped right out of the water and landed in the lap of the river tour operator in an attempt to get away from one of the crocs. There were a few other people fishing there also and most locals said it was the right tide but a lot of us had no luck.

After a few days in Kakadu, we left to head down to Katherine, stopping for two nights before it at Edith Falls, a part of Katherine Gorge NP. Definately one of the nicest places we have been so far with a series of waterfalls that drop into giant freshwater plunge pools. It was good to be able to swim again but it really is hard to get those salties out of mind when there are freshies in the water. We walked up to the top of the falls in the arvo (the only time the temp would drop below 40) and had to ourselves more waterfalls, little spa pools (from the water flowing) and the gorgeous sunset over the hills.

One of the downsides of being in the Top end is finding it really hard to refreshingly cool off in the water ways and tourist park pools as the weather just warms them up so much.

After Edith we travelled to Katherine, did the whole gorge tour but again even at 9 in the morning it was 43 degrees. It was here we were looking forward to that coastal breeze again.

Heading to Broome we stopped at Kununurra for two nights (the start of the Kimberly region), travelled to Wydnham (a town in the gulf, with not much else) and on to Hall's Creek. The car had been sluggish for the last few days and we thought it was because of the heat and the km. In Hall's creek, a place you DON'T want to be stuck in, the car wouldn't start after we had fuelled up. We waited for a bit, but again no luck. It was getting later in the evening and noone was willing to help us out. Luckily, the NRMA guy was around the corner and after a new battery we were outa there. The amount of people coming in and out of the fuel station that were drunk and abusive was unreal. These outback towns have been a real eye opener for how a lot of the Indigenous really live.

Finishing up, Broome is quite nice. The colours of the red dirt running into the white sand leading in to the aqua blue ocean makes for a great picture. Will do some more fishing tonight . Luke's gone into town to buy a gaff as last night's fishing proved there are some big fish.

Until the next blog, keep well.

Loz xo