Australia 2011 - Days 11 and 12: Northern Stuart Hwy., Litchfield National Park, and Darwin

Sept. 26th

We slept in a little (by our standards, which was probably 7 or 8), and hit the road northward again, bidding adieu to the lovely outback town of Alice Springs. Our first stop along this stretch of the Stuart Hwy was the Tropic of Capricorn marker. I’d already seen the one in Western Australia, but I thought it would be good to get another photo op here as well. We also stopped at a few historic telegraph stations along the way. None of these are manned, yet they remain generally unvandalized and well kept. The US could take note. We stopped for gas several times, including once at a station considered to be the Roswell of Australia. Apparently people staying there have UFO sightings almost every night of the year. Had we known about it, we would have tried to spend a night there, but it wasn’t in the cards.

About 70 miles up the road from there was Devils Marbles, one of Australia’s most noted geological oddities. Consisting of many huge boulders, many of which seem precariously placed, it is a rock climbers playground. It’s also the source of another number of indigenous stories, one of which involved the existence of little “people” who live there and try to steal children to this very day, along with first-hand accounts from witnesses. Creepy!! You almost have to wonder if it has anything to do with all those UFO sightings down the road…

We had a fun time climbing on the boulders and seeing the sights. As always, I wish we’d have had more time, but we had to continue up the road. Starving for our one meal of the day, we were happy to reach Tennant Creek and hoped to find something good. Our pickings were slim, and many old restaurants were out of business. Even in the towns, you’re not likely to run across a McDonalds or anything similar. We did happen to find a pizza joint that was situated in the bus terminal. It was unclear where the counter was, and the owner was rather rude to us for not being psychic about such things, but we were too hungry to argue or go elsewhere. We ordered the seafood pizza which, upon receipt, was hideous. Imagine a slimy pile of tentacles and disembodied mollusk bits. It was ok, though bland. We were just glad to get some nourishment and head up the road again.

As we booked it north, it eventually started to get dark. I found a gas station on our atlas that looked promising, but upon reaching it, it was no longer, so we decided we should probably call it a night before we ran out of gas. We were also getting unnerved by the sudden increase in wildlife. During daylight hours, we spotted a dingo, which was exciting, but now we were dealing with wallabies and wallaroos that would appear out of nowhere with a death wish. We also saw a number of odd rocklike things that appeared to be alive in the middle of the road. Though we never got a good look, we think they were probably cane toads, one of Australia’s most destructive invasive species. These huge toads from central and South America compete with native animals their size, eat small marsupials, and poison anything that tries to eat them. And they breed unceasingly. I still would have liked to have seen one up close.

You could see the flora was changing – trees were getting bigger and humidity was increasing as we headed north. We found a nice pull off just south of Katherine and enjoyed our first relatively warm night in the car. It was nice not to spend the dark hours shivering uncontrollably.

Sept. 27th

We woke up around 7am to a steamy and humid vehicle. After throwing ourselves together, we continued northward, stopping for a tour of a cave along the way. Situated at a state park, this cave tour offered a pleasant respite from the heat above. Led by an indigenous guide, he showed us the marvels of the cave (which, honestly, all seem to blend together at this point). We did see a dead bat and a dead snake, both inside the cave, so that was exciting.

From there, we got gas in the rough outback town of Katherine and we also saw a mine overlook and a railway museum from afar. Then we hauled butt out to Litchfield National Park, the second most visited national park in the Darwin region. More of a playground for locals, Litchfield is popular for its many freshwater pools and swimming holes. It gets unbearably hot in Australia’s top end that the residents need some relief, and these swimming areas are perfect for that. Interestingly, most of Litchfield’s pools are also home to freshwater crocodiles, or freshies. Not nearly as aggressive or big as salties, locals gladly swim with these large reptiles. Sadly, we didn’t spy any, but I would have loved to have seen one. I’m not sure that I would have braved swimming with them, but that really didn’t deter most people.

We were more in the market for wildlife and scenery than swimming, however, so we took this opportunity to take a number of hikes including one spectacular one along the top of a waterfall. On this hike, we glimpsed a wild Nephila spider, or golden orb weaver. This was really exciting for me because we used to have them in our lab. The females are enormous, and can spin webs up to three feet in diameter. The one we saw was old and missing several legs, but it was exciting nonetheless. We also saw some emerald green ants going about their lives. Just fascinating! We also saw an array of birds including our first black cockatoos. We weren’t sure that’s actually what we were observing, so we spent a good deal of time trying to get a good view of one. Turns out, we were right!!

One of the biggest draws for us at Litchfield, however, was the enormous termite mounds. Two main species of termite call Litchfield home. The cathedral termites form mounds up to 30 feet tall, and quite large around in order to insulate the colony against the extreme heat. The magnetic termites also have mounds reaching 30 feet, but their mounds are rather narrow and oriented in a north/south direction to minimize the amount of surface area receiving direct sunlight throughout the day. They both tend to form mounds in floodplains, so the height can be attributed to a need to stay above the waterline once the floods settle in. Feeding on grasses and dead plant material, the floodplains are the ideal habitat for these termites. In some areas, hundreds of mounds can be witnessed at once, forming a veritable termite metropolis. It really is a fascinating thing to see.

The other neat thing about Litchfield is that, despite being a land of water, it’s also a land of fire. We arrived in the top end at the buildup to the wet season. Most of the land was as dry as it was going to get, and the humidity was on the rise. During this time, land managers conduct controlled burns, many of which we drove past on our route. Interestingly, indigenous peoples have been using a similar technique called fire stick farming for centuries. They noticed that, when an area is burned, new plant and animal life will converge on an area, providing more food choices. The ideas were noted and a fire management plan was set into effect.

Once we’d had our fill of Litchfield, we headed up to Darwin. The most affordable place we could find was an ensuite room at the YWCA. Accomdations were minimal, but we were glad to have a bathroom such as it was. We found a roach, which was unpleasant, and the curtains left little to the imagination, but we made do. Then we wandered around town in search of a place that served crocodile. It was next to impossible despite claims that this was the place to find it. We wandered around downtown, such as it was, scoping out the night life. The one hotel that the British camel riders recommended and that we’d considered but ultimately turned down because it was in too congested an area, seemed to have been experiencing an incident of some sort as it had fire trucks outside and people evacuating. There really wasn’t too much to see that couldn’t be seen in other cities. It wasn’t very large, and I’d have liked to have seen more, but neither of us is a fan of driving around large towns, so we toured on foot. It was getting pretty late, and since we couldn’t find a place that served croc, we opted for the Indian restaurant suggested by the British ladies. We were pleasantly surprised by the food, which heavily featured beet root (at least Nathan’s did). They also served island drinks, so I was in my glory. Once done, we hit the sidewalks again in search of croc, to no avail. We wound up getting post cards and just calling it a night.