Katherine

Having slept for close to ten hours to deal with the previous day's hangover I woke up feeling like a new woman, sadly one wasn't available so I had breakfast instead. I jumped in the car after the delightful Aline had served me my meal and started my trip to Katherine, a mere 247 kilometres away. I mean you can do that in about an hour here. Suffice it to say I was doing a little over the speed limit (130 kph) and as I slowed to enter Katherine I was greeted by the Northern Territory Police. They wear khaki uniforms here which are somewhat reminiscent of the army and the four officers that searched my car had two shotguns and two assault rifles at the ready. It seemed a little over the top for a traffic infringement. It was a little surreal seeing a quasi military force patrolling in Australia. I mean its not like the Chaser boys were here trying to get in to APEC.

Kakadu

My faith in humanity has been restored, despite some more annoying setbacks and some plain dumb people the charm of this place is really starting to get me in. Let me deal with the negatives first. I called in at one of the visitor info centres here for some day trip advice. Much of what they told me was good except they sent me to two places that were actually closed. Not closed for the day or a few hours but had permanent signs up saying this part of the park is closed. When you drive to these places, which are often not just round the corner only to have to turn around and backtrack, it is more than a bit annoying and quite unprofessional. The second setback is my reading glasses that were sent to me in Tasmania  I think are now at the bottom of the Yellow River. Oh well I know I have my snorkel and flippers with me but unless I go and get them with a tungsten reinforced crocodile cage they can stay where they are. 

Heading to Kakadu

I was really looking forward to this part of the trip, stunning country, remote Australian locations, lots of crocodiles. Having got here I am a bit more ambivalent. I woke up this morning with the start of a head cold courtesy of the dodgy air conditioning at the Darwin Medina. It was really trying hard but the attention to detail was severely lacking. I dined in the restaurant the first night I was there, I ordered a coffee at 7.45pm but they had cleaned the machine. I was awoken at 7.00am this morning by the housekeeping staff enquiring as to when I would be checking out. When I checked the bill they had ripped me off $ 17.00 for parking. I liked Darwin but the care factor is "here's two dollars, when a phone call costs that much give me call".

Darwin

There is a lot to like about Darwin, it has a great vibe. Having said that I don't think I would live here by choice. It's young, brash and outwardly self confident but underneath it all it checks itself in the mirror before it goes out and wants to know if it's bum looks big in this. It's the kind of town (not city) that someone young could feel at home in. It would be a nice place to grow up with and I have no doubt that in twenty years time it will be like Perth. Where I'm staying is a case in point, the waterfront redevelopment looks great but it hasn't found it feet yet. There are vacant premises, building works still underway, but nowhere near enough people to support all the restaurants and other businesses already here. 

Kununurra to Darwin

I arrived in Darwin at about 5.00pm (can you believe it I am in a part of the world where I can legally go really fast and I kept getting stuck behind caravaners, road trains and worst of all I had a cop sit on my back side for about 50 k's). Entering the Northern Territory was pretty uneventful. WA has a quarantine station coming the other way however NT just has a sign (or a series of signs really). The first one welcomes you, the second one tells you that maximum speed in the state is 110kph (unless otherwise signposted), then 50 metres up the road is a signpost saying that the speed in 130kph. I set the cruise control to the aforementioned number and watched the world fly by. I had been in the territory for less than a minute and I was already liking it.

Lake Argyle and The Ord River

I had a very minor mechanical mishap that needed my somewhat immediate attention, so that was how I started my last day in Kununurra. I had a slow leak in  the front passenger side tyre. I had checked all the guff you should do regularly to your car in Broome. Oil and water were good but one recalcitrant tyre needed more air than was acceptable. I thought maybe I had been lazy and not checked it properly before so I re inflated it and headed off to Kununurra. I mean what could go wrong over those 1044 kilometres? It looked fine when I arrived so I thought I would check it again the next day. Well I kind of forgot. I drove to Wyndham and back, just another 200 kilometres, and noticed that it was quite flat when I got back so I topped it up again. It was too late to do anything about it Friday night so I thought I would fix it on Saturday morning (yeah right). 

Kununurra

I am still very much in the "zone" from my time in Broome and it's hard not compare. Gorgeous coastal wonderland versus inland mining town, I'm sorry but the coast wins hands down. They just have it together whereas here in Kununurra they are still trying. Don't get me wrong this place is not without it's charms. It's just the bench mark has been set so extraordinarily high that there is nowhere that I know of that comes close except for maybe the Whitsunday Islands in Queensland.

Leaving Broome

It was with some sadness that I leave Broome. There were still things left that I wanted to see and do and the weather and the ambience are just to die for. I can see why people go here on holidays and never come home. The staff at the Mercure in Broome have been excellent and the General Manager Jeff was the ultimate in hands on. He was doing laundry when I met him and it was not until the next night that I found out he was the boss. I splashed about in their pool every night, it was a great way to freshen yourself up for the evening. I totally forgot to get a pic of it but I will be sad to leave that behind as well. I mean who wants to swim in croc infested waters. One wrong move could really spoil your afternoon. 

Horizontal Falls

Huge day today in sunny Western Australia. I leapt (well more correctly lurched) out of bed at the unchristian hour of 5.00am to prepare myself for a 5.40am pickup from the hotel. I am so in the zone at the moment that I broke one of my cardinal rules today and got on a single engine plane not once, but twice. I didn't need a scotch nor did my heart race even increase slightly. For those of you who know my love of flying, in particular small planes, you will no doubt be somewhat bemused that I ventured forth in such a craft.

Broome Time

Well I lobbed in to Broome about 11.15am yesterday. I was faced with a number of quite pleasant problems. Where to have lunch, where can I buy some sunscreen, should I get a broad rimmed hat? I am staying at the Mecure which is short walk from Chinatown, the tourist hub of Broome. It has a pool and a pub attached and it looks out over Roebuck Bay, all very diverting. The weather forecast for the 4 days I will be here are exactly the same. Top of 32 degrees, overnight low of 11 degrees with full sunshine and not a cloud in the sky. Broome time is a reference to the town's ambience. It is pretty chilled, relaxed, laid back (I think you get the picture). If you just let everything wash over you its a nice space to be in. I found that zone in Exmouth and I'm doing my level best to stay there......  yeah it's Broome time.