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Day 67 – Quiet days

With one of our hosts gone and Celia working like the most impressive worker bee, not much was going on in the house. Before disappearing for the rest of the day to work though, Celia managed to convince me to join in one more time for a walk through the mangrove to the beach. Nina was supremely captivated by her newest book that she passed on the opportunity.

CC-BY-SA 3.0 by Peter Ellis

CC-BY-SA 3.0 by Peter Ellis

The beach was again teaming with life, but to my astonishment, a whole different set of critters showed up this time around. Maybe it was about the different point in the tidal cycle or the progressing buildup towards the wet. Whatever it was, I thoroughly enjoyed watching thousands of soldier crabs give the beach these flecks of bluish purple. I even dared to join the others in exploring barefoot, after covering me head to tow with mud flung up from my jandals the last time around.

To get everything ready for the post office in the afternoon, I spend the afternoon copying. We took about 2500 photos in Australia, coming to roughly 64 GB of data (I want to keep the RAWs

Cooling down every once in a while

Cooling down every once in a while

for later use). There was no internet connection fast enough in sight to upload this in any way quick enough to our Amazon Cloud storage, so I chose a different tactic for the backup this time. We carry a 1TB hard drive as the primary storage, and usually whatever gets uploaded into the cloud then gets deleted from our active 64 GB SD card. With uploading out of the question, we chose to use cheap USB flash drives and mail the backup to Germany for uploading there.

Beyond the flash drives and some post cards, we needed to send another box home. Since Nina’s Companero suit is finally complete, her old pants needed to go. Some paperwork and even the much treasured Coleman Sleeping bag fitted in as well. The price would be the same, so I was quite happy that we were able to keep the sleeping bag – it for me symbolized a much needed turning point for the better on our trip and I feared that we had to just give it away.

Day 65 – Stats 102, Australia edition

Country data #2: Australia

Full screen version of the map

  • 7012 km traveled (6789 km of GPS tracked)
  • 26 travel days, 48 days total
  • $21.53 Average cost per night (6x AirBnB / room, 21x camping, 21x invitation)
  • 375.84l of standard fuel for $ $676.03 (5.36 l / 100km)
  • ~$45.72 for food every day, eating out 1/3 meals
  • ~$7.500 in total, excluding shipping, flights and stolen paniers

All $ values are converted to NZD.

Day 64 – MAGNT

Not all here is idle procrastination and tropical weather today. For the first time in more than 25 days, we woke up to a properly overcast sky instead of the usual sunshine and puffy clouds.

No idea, should read more ...

No idea, should read more …

We cut our good morning skype call with our good German friend Sven short when Tig offered us a ride into town. Since we have been pretty laid back about exploring the city so far, I hopped on to the opportunity to get to town and check out the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory. It turned out that I may have under consulted Nina on that decision – and most of that field trip was quite a drag for her, probably suffering a little from the after effect of the vaccination the other day.

The museum was nice, but nothing to get too excited about. The collection of aboriginal art was quite cool, but we were not in the right mood to engage with it properly I guess. In the end, we most enjoyed the exhibition about cyclone Tracy. This cyclone hitting the city on Christmas day 1974 led to the second almost total destruction of the City within 25 years (Japanese bombing raids in WWII marking the first one).

After a bus ride home, we spend the afternoon catching up on some youtube channels we really enjoy and got  ready to cook another dinner for our generous hosts. I am glad to report that the amount of cheese in Jamie Oliver’s Italian pasta dish was universally well received, as was the strawberry-and-ice-cream dessert that Nina added to the mix.

Day 62 – Deckchairs

We had a very quiet start today, with the party last night and all. With fist week wrapping up, we are finally getting towards the latter end of our current to do list, so the bouts of downtime in between are getting longer now.

Finishing touches

Finishing touches

A while back we talked about the foods Nina and I are good at making. I already got to dish up my green bean salad, so today it was Nina’s turn. We spend some time in the kitchen to whip up Nina’s renown mole hill cake.

The afternoon was very low key, with Tig and Celia’s  on their first ride out together on their postie bikes. Tig thought this to be a grand occasion to test out their blue tooth intercoms as well. That in turn led to some bemusing sights in the living room.

We got served a nice dinner again compliments of Celia and had the cake served up and devoured just in time before we had to head out for the event of the night. The cake was received with much appraise (would you have expected anything else from Nina?).

The aforementioned event was to head out to town and see the documentary Iris in the deck chair cinema. During the dry, there is an outdoor movie theater set up on the waterfront in downtown Darwin. As if that was not chilled out enough, most of the seating is comprised of laid back deck chairs.

Day 60 – Ticking boxes

Although the bike was gone, we could not wholly pop our legs up and relax quite yet. Nina (smartly) wanted some other things wrapped up before the weekend. But not after the most important task of the day, of course: prepare good food!

Earlier this week I promised the house a nice German green bean salad. The ingredients were in the fridge since yesterday, so I felt like getting the prep done before anything else today. The longer it can rest, the better!

Nina used the time to organize us some flights to Dili in East Timor. The cheapest ones are for the 12th. Since the bike is due to arrive on the 15th (I believe it when I see it), that gives us ample time to get our bearings before hand.

After that was out of the way, we could kindly borrow Celia and Tig’s car to get to town. The staff at the Indonesian Consulate was super nice and friendly and we got everything lined up in no time. Normally one requires return tickets for the visa, but our carnet and a written guarantee to leave the country again (plus show of sufficient funds) got us over that bump without issue.

On the way back we picked up a paper map of East Timor. A blue mood crept over us when we looked at our remaining funds back in the embassy, so we were not up for any sightseeing today (stay tuned on that, the correct term should be “suspiciously low funds”).

Before calling it a day, we followed Celia’s recommendation and had a brief excursion down to the beach through the mangrove that starts right next to the house. It was pretty cool to see the abundance of life in the salty muddy wetland. With every step we took, birds crabs and mud skippers hurried away from underfoot, until we broke out of the grove and onto the tidal beach propper.

The salad was a hit (*sigh of relief*) – Tig had to leave early for the night shift, but the rest of us current inhabitants made the best of it and emptied the odd bottle in his stead.

Day 59 – Bye bye Rocinante

Workshop impressions, all packed and ready to go.

Workshop impressions, all packed and ready to go.

All the maintenance on the bike had been done so packing was the only thing that was left to do. We bought a lot of expensive gear in Australia for which we are trying to get a GST refund. However, this means that we will need to show the gear at the airport and cannot ship it with the bike. In the end, three bags were strapped to the bike while the panniers and our clothes stayed with us.

Flo set out to get the carnet stamped and drop the bike off at the shipping agency. It didn’t take long until Tig and I could pick him up. On the way back, we stopped at a motorcycle shop and I got to buy new summer gloves. Using the leather gloves for winter only makes a very limited amount of sense in this weather so I am really happy with the purchase.

It's been a while since we have seen "so many" people gather ... ahh, NZ

It’s been a while since we have seen “so many” people gather … ahh, NZ

It was Flo’s first afternoon off since we arrived in Darwin. We, quite lazily, had a look at the public transport system for the first time as we wanted to go to the Mindil Beach Sunset Market in the evening. In the end, we hitched a ride with Liz and Borha instead, though.

The market is as cool as advertised, with us just arriving in time for the picture perfect red sun plunging into the sea beyond the namesake Mindil Beach. And what do you know, just after sunset we ran into Frederike and Lars again, who we’d almost expected to be on their way home already.

So we decided to browse the market together. Everyone found something they’d enjoy sooner or later. Nina got the recommended Borneo fusion veggie combo and a chocolate mud cake muffin, I got my croco sandwich and Frederike got an necklace souvenir that she was very happy with.

Like Christmas market at home

Like Christmas market at home

After two hours or so, we headed ‘downtown’ to get a beer for the guys. Having a beer together in Darwin had been discussed previously and now was the perfect time to make it happen.

I, unfortunately, was very tired but had fun anyway. Coke got be back on my feet for a while though. It was a fun evening with a bit of interruption of the adjacent 18th birthday party. 🙂 Flo and I then took a taxi home as the buses stopped running before 11pm at night. Frederike and Lars had one more day in Darwin left before flying home. Maybe, just maybe, we might see them again on the road somewhere. Maybe even in NZ.

This post is a combined effort of Flo and me. I apologize for the confusing jumps in the use of ‘I’. You are all smart people and will figure it out. 🙂

Day 55 – It’s over 9000!

Exactly 10.000km!

Exactly 10.000km!

… 10.000 km actually. Still in Kakadu, 5 km before the Mamukala bird watching area, we have completed the first 10.000.000 meter of this trip, in the 2nd country along our way. Not bad, eh?

Over all, this was a pretty sweet day for us. We got up at quarter past six and had everything ready even before the bakery opened at 8am to get breakfast. As a bonus, I got a smile out of the lady at the petrol station for mentioning our next destination: She was from East Timor and was genuinely excited that we decided to go and visit her home country.

Posing with the bike

Posing with the bike

First destination for the day was Ubirr and surroundings. A nice curvy road led us to the border between Kakadu national park and Arnhem Land. Border is meant quite literally, since travel past the border store into Arnhem Land is restricted and requires a permit from the traditional owners. Geographically, the border is marked by the Arnhem Land limestone escarpment and the East Alligator River.

The road follows the escarpment for a bit, offering a great change of scenery from the monotonous savannah so far. It turns out, exploring the Kakadu National Park via the Kakadu and Arnhem Highways is a sure way to be bored out of your scull. There are great things to see a couple of km off on side tracks, but so far most of it was locked away from us behind corrugated sandy 4wd tracks.

This changed today: We started with a short walk from the Border Store along the river, croc spotting and through the nice cool Manngarree Monsoon Forest. Saltwater Crocodiles were shy, but we saw hundreds of cute flying foxes hanging from the trees. The walk was made even more pleasant by Frederike and Lars, who joined us once more.

Flo looking at the super green flood plain

Flo looking at the super green flood plain

Next stop was Ubirr itself, which we hit in time for the 11 am guided rock art tour. The style of the ranger turned out to be not quite our cup of tea, but we ducked ahead and got the highlight of the park (for us) almost to ourselves as a reward. Climbing some 250m up the Nardab Lookout on top of a limestone cliff, we got a mind boggling 360° view of everything that makes the Kakadu: Savannah, bush fires, river lands and billabongs, rocky cliffs, monsoon forest and the perfectly flat and pool table green expanse of a flood plain right at our feet. Jackpot!

Despite the lunch pack being ready on the bike, we could not resist the authentic Thai cuisine offered at the Border Store. Lunch packs can be dinner, right?

Goose posing

Goose posing

We cut the next bit of croc-watching short to head off to our final destination in Kakadu: The above mentioned Mamukala wetlands. This wetland is cut off from the South Alligator River during the dry season and holds a good bit of water that can only escape via evaporation. Now, during Gurrung (mid-August to September) thousands of birds, mainly geese, flock to this wetland to fatten up. It was in deed quite spectacular, the noise, the diving geese and seemingly endless supply of waterlilies.

So that is it than. On our way to Darwin, we gave in to the weakness once more and cut the gravel trip to the Shady Camp short by staying in the pool-providing Stuart Wilderness Lodge. It is going to be the last night of camping for a good wile. Beyond Darwin, where lovely Celia and Tig have offered us shelter, we also got a place to sort ourselves out in Dili, thanks to my former colleague Joseph.

Day 53 – Tornadoes and cathedrals

Yes, they are that big now

Yes, they are that big now

Ok, hands down, I think we are at peak termite mound now. I have mentioned before that the mounds have been constantly rising in height coming north. They are now up to 3m high fortresses. I am not sure if these actually are the famed cathedral termites building those, but the title sure would fit.

The day started earlier smooth as can be for us. We got everything packed by 9am and were ready to go explore the swimming holes of the area. Although early, by the time we reached the upper pool and waterfall, it was sure warm enough for the first swim. Splashing around in the first pool, we meet Frederike and Lars again and got talking some more. We were good around the same time and hiked the 1 km back down together. The lower pool was crowded enough to evoke images of public swimming pools during the summer break back home, so all of us skipped the second swim and headed straight for the car park.

We parted with them exchanging the remaining route, which is pretty similar for both of us. Maybe we would meet again?

Ok, was that 35°C or 36°C in the shade again?

Ok, was that 35°C or 36°C in the shade again?

Off into Kakadu National Park we went, after a brief but nice lunch stop in Pine Creek. The savannah around us is very different and now at the end of the dry scorched brown like parchment, if not blackened and scarred by bushfires. The thermometer rose to 36°C in the shade and there was very little wind going.

Except for Nina’s pants, which are waiting for us in Darwin, we are in full summer gear now. One base layer and summer suit. The Compañero is holding up well, I’d say, at least as good as can be expected. The last escalation layer left is soaking our base layers in water before starting.

The Kakadu Highway is the first nice curvy road since we left the Flinders, but other than that there are not many roadside attractions. Brown grass, some trees, termites and … oh, and the occasional mini tornado. No kidding here: maybe every half an hour we see a wind hose / mini tornado blowing up leaves and dust in a nice little whirlwind.

The campgrounds are either out of reach behind heavily corrugated roads or hellish dustbowls. When we saw Frederike and Lars just coming out of campground #3, we gave in to the lure of a pool and facilities and joined them on their way to Cooinda Resort and Campground. The $36 we had to fork off to the toll troll bought us a nice cool afternoon in one of the two pools with even nicer company.

The killer at the end: We even got invited to dinner – thanks heaps to our benevolent Kiel’ensians.

Day 51 – The tropics

We got on the road in very good time, around 9am. Which was well and good, since we had 560km to go *sigh*.

Heaps of memorabilia

Heaps of memorabilia

I wish I could report anything of the trip, but really, there was very little besides refuelling and brief breaks. That is probably the main reason why two otherwise unremarkable pubs have become somewhat iconic roadside attractions. We had an ice cream at Renner Springs and a couple of cokes at the more prominent Daly Waters Pub. Filled with all sorts of memorabilia left by travellers coming through, it has sort of developed into a go-to place. As I said, in the end, what else would you do?

So we had plenty of time to talk, muse and most of all listen to audio books along the way. The landscape changed rather abruptly at Newcastle Waters. Temperatures go up again, humidity increases and all around trees and shrubs have replaced the arid plains of the centre. A more subtle change is the constant rise in height of the termite mounds, of which some are now taller than we are.

Why?! 30 Minutes without shade ...

Why?! 30 Minutes without shade …

One last annoyance was a red lollypop on a construction site about an hour before our destination. We were the first to be stopped, so for the next 25 minutes we had front row seats to observe how roads are re-sealed. Thank you incompetent stick lady for no info at all and not waving past the only vehicle without AC to come through in 3 hrs …

But the light shines bright at the end of the tunnel. And it came in the form of the Bitter Springs, a ‘thermal spa’ stream in the bush. We arrived just in time for one quick swim before sunset. The perfect way to end a sweaty long day in the saddle. We swam along in the stream for a couple 100m. The water is actually ground water, leaking from an aquifer. Where the water flows, it is perfectly clear and has a lovely 34°C.