Road Kill-kangaroo, buffalo, crocodile, camel

so...we had to get up at 4:45 a.m. I didn't even know that hour of the day existed. Ugh...especially after the wild night we had last night.

We all slept on the bus for the first few hours until we stopped for breakfast at a roadside pub. I just had some hot tea to wake up. Saw charlie the buffalo..he was  used in the Crocodile dundee movies....I must rewatch as I don't recall charlie.

Kangaroo, buffalo, Camel and Crocodile meat...oh my

Our first stop was Katherine. Small village town...and lots and lots of aborgines. They remind me of our hispanic population...how they have a bad repuation. The aborginies, like the native americans and eskimos in USA have had a hard time dealing with society...like USA, Australia took over their lands and rights and it's been a real battle. So...many of them hang out in teh streets and drink all day long. It was a bit scary walking around Katherine. Most of the group went to the supermarket and a few other "western"stores while I meandered around the town. Being a long time "chamber member, I always like to get the feel of a town. Katherine is small (pop of 5,000) but one of the 5 largest towns in the NT (Northern Territory). What I found interesting about aborigines in Australia is that most don't wear shoes....guess they are used to roughing it int he wild.

Went to Katherine Gorge...beautiful...but we didnt' realize that if we did the hike over the kayaking, we would only see 1 of the gorges. So..most of us hiked and that was that. Those who kayaked (even though Aussies called it canoeing) at least saw 2 gorges (out of 13). A few others paid big bucks to take a helicopter ride over the gorge...so at least I saw the photos of the kayakers and the flyers. Oh yeah...Scott from New York is on my tour. It's always unusual to have a fellow American on these trips.

After the gorge, we checked into our campsite. I'm sharing a tent with Claudia, Nick and Val (all Germans). Spreche sie Deutsch? Ja...das ist sehr gut! We had a yummy dinner. Like my Africa trip, we all chip in and help prepare dinner as well as do dishes. I really don't mind this. We always teased Lincoln as he always conveniently (for one month) disappeared during food prep and clean up. Afterwards, we built a huge bonfire and drank beer and wine and played games around the campfire, "" I can see the moon and the stars." It was a great game. took me a while to figure it out...and then I had to help others learn it...by using some foregin languages (German, Polish, French, italian, Spanish, etc)...i guess it does pay to konw a few workds in other languages. I had a long talk wiht Peter from Canada (Quebec). We chatted and chatted and chatted. Don't worry..nothing here...he's just 20 years old...but a little cutie.

that night..we slept in swags (sleeping bags inside of outer protective covers..not sure how else to describe a swag). this is what you sleep in in the outback. They are warm...but man, it was chilly willy that night...the coldest yet. Starting to get a cold...I wonder why.

The next day, up at 5:30 a.m. to get a quick breakfast and then pack up campsite and leave at 6:30 a.m. Absolutely freezing to get out of swag. First stop was Elroy NP. They had a hot springs...yeah, I have a cold..but heck, I'm doing everything. One of the first to jump in (with swimsuit, of course). Everyone else followed. So warm...but when we got out..oh my gosh...absolutley freezing. We were too lazy to walk back to bathroom to change clothes...so just changed themon the sidewalk...guess we gave a free show to others. Also saw the Elroy Homestead...famous from teh "We of the never, never"book series. I've never heard of it..but will have to check it out.

From there, we headed back on the highway. Lots of kilometers to get under us. Stopped at the Daly Waters Pub. this place is in the middle of nowhere...literally...but a huge tourist attraction. What a place...bras, flags, panties, currency, etc hanging everywhere in the bar. You sign your name on the wall, a bra, a flag or something. Lots of photos, some beer, acting like we were in teh band and posing on the stage, etc. We grilled hamburgers and had the best time at the pub. By the way, the beer I like in australia is called TED (Tooheys Extra Dry). No...KK and Patti o..not that sorry Ted that we all know.

Another long afternoon on the bus...but this is where Dee is great. We played quiz games, danced (in the aisles), sang songs, etc. Dee gave us special markers so we could decorate the window to our seat. It was great.

Stopped at Tropic of Capricorn to pose for photographs. This is the 3rd time I have posed by this landmark. From there, we went to Tennant Creek where we would camp for the night. It was an old horse station and what a neat place. had a yummy dinner and then took a nice hot shower. For the most part, I've had showers every day...just tend t take them at night since it's way too early and cold to do it in the morning. Another campfire, more song singing, roasting marshmallows and lots of chatting. More swagging tonight...and cold, cold, cold.What do I expect when camping in the middle of winter.

On our last day of this tour, we left at 6:00 a.m. First sotpped at Devils Marbles...very large rocks in the middle of the landscape...kind of reminded me of Stonehedge in England...quite random. Huge boulders though..and we had m ore fun climbing on top of them and posing for photographs. We took so many photos and had more fun...wedging ourselves betweeen cracks of the rocks and smiling.

From there, we went to Barrow Creek Pub. I know..it seems like all we do is go to pubs..but it's really not as bad as it sounds. Visited an old Telegraph Station..interest5ing to learn how the outback received their communictation...and not all that long ago to be truthful. We stoopped at Ti Tree to eat lunch...had another barbie (grilled out). I'm getting used to these salads and barbies.

We arrived in Alice Springs at 5;00 p.m. Our group was split up in hostels. I stayed in hellhole...not a nice hostel at all. Anyways, showered, clean clothes, did my laundry and then met the rest of our group at Bojangles. No..not the chicken place...but a country/western pub/saloon. Oh my gosh...the night was right interesting. I ate the outback sampler....crocodile, buffalo, camel and kangaroo. The croc was horrible (like a sausage and no it did not taste like chicken), the buffalo, kangaroo and camel were cooked like steak and they were delicious. I really liked the kangaroo and camel.  After dinner, Dee came to dinner with us...she lives in Alice Springs so she knows lots of folks...we stayed out partying till 3:00 a.m. Lots of TED and dancing. Met a jackaroo that night (aussie cowboy), Ben, alttough we called him marbles...long story, was interesting. By the end of the night, he tried to work his magic with all of the women in our group. I think he ended up with Anka  (Germany). He had the audicity to tell me...I would be interested in you...but you are about 10 years too old for me..What..ok...so he was only 23...and I never told him how old I was. anyways...we stayed at Bojangles until it closed down and then we headed to the Malanka Bar and stayed till 3. Some didn't get home till 5...so I did pretty good. It was a wild, wild night..to say the least. By now, I've traveled with some of these folks for a week so I felt like I really knew them.

Oh..while eating dinner, one of my tour mates said, ""theres a guy outside who is trying to get your attention." I turned around and low and behold, there was Taca (my little Japanses boyfriend from my Tassie tour). He was going from Adelaide to Darwin and I was going from Darwin to Adelaide..and our paths crossed. We hugged and had a great chat and made plans to get together the next night.

So..had 2 days to spend in alice Springs which was great. alice is a great town with a population of 25,000 and has everything. It was nice to sleep till 11:00 a.m. Spent the bulk of the day sightseeing. Went to Royal Flying Doctor School. Very interesting..started many years ago and still goiung strong today. Due to the outback being so extreme, very difficult to get medical service..so the doctors fly to the communities. I really enjoyed this tour. Went to cultural center to learn about the aborigines. Meet up with Ann, Anka,, Lincoln, Sonia, Hegle and Gerladien and we all walked up to Anzac Hill...good overview of the area. From there, we headed back to town to buy tickets for a didigereedoo performance. Went to supermarket to buy items so we coould all cook dinner together and eat togehter at the YHA (Youth Hostel) where the rest of them were staying. The didig performance was awesome. We got the backpacker rate...$15 (instead of $30) if we agreed to sit on the floor. Who cares. It was so good. BAck to YHA after didig performance to play games and have lots of fun togehter. Met up with Taca at the YHA. We had a good chat. The first thing he showed  me was the 10 cent coin that I gave him in Tas (remember the one that I rollled off of my boob while playing a game). I asked him if he liked the Taz tour..and he said the best part was meeting me. Oh ....how sweet. I gave him a kiss on the cheek and h ugged him and we took photos of us together. the rest of m y crew was trying to figure out what was going on. When I got back to my hellhole hostel, I had a new roomate. She had, had her wallet stolen (as well as her room key) so lots of drama there. I felt bad for her...being from Spain, not speaking English very well. Not sure what every transpired. Hostel said I could switch rooms since no way to secure our rom with key being gone...but I chose to not move...too much work and who wants to change rooms at 1:00 a.m.

The next day, I had another sleep in. Meandereed around town...visited the Kmart (very simil8iar to ours unlike the Targets which are not like ours). The two big supermarkets are Coles and Woolworths (unlike our Woolies which is more like a 5 and dime store). Met up with Ann and Anka and we went to the School of the Air. like doctor school, very interesting. 83 children over 1,000 kilomoeters and beyond don't h ave access to school so they do it via internet, radio and satellite tv. I couldn't help but think of Debbie Rose..she would love this tour. We actually got to look at some of the lesson plans. children go from age 5 to age 13 (grade 7). After that, they hve to be homeschooled, take a correspondence course or most come to Alice Springs and attend boarding schools.

After our tour, we all went our separate ways so we could run errands. I downloaded m y photos onto CD's. I have 4 CD's now...about 2,000 photographs.  Back to my hostel to pack my backpack (always packing and unpacking...ugh). Back to town to do some shopping. bought some R.M. Williams (big name in outback gear) boots. That will be one my favorite Aussie souvenir. Now..have to carry them around wiht me for a while though. Our group met at Woolie's to buy dinner so we could cook again. Anka and I took a camel ride at sunset. It was neat. It reminded me of my camel ride in Egypt wiht Patti O several years ago. Interesting, the camel ride goes down the river...but the river is dry. Apparently, it only has water a few weeks out of the year. Strange. Back to YHA to eat dinner. This crowd is good cooks...espeically the Irish girls (Sonia, Geraldine and Ann..all nurses who came to Aussie to work as nurses for a few months and then are traveling around). Ran into Peter at YHA...he had just got back from a 2 day tour and we made plans to meet in Adelaide on a winery tour ina few days. Back to my  hostel at 10 p.m. so I could get to bed early since we have to leave early in the morning. Spanisgh roommate is gone...had room to myself which was good to spread out my stuff and get organized.

So...this concludes my next tour. It was great...lots of kilometers to travel..but Dee made it fun.

Stay tuned for my next adventure for 6 days from Alice Springs to Adelaide.

Adventure on,

Julie