Traveling period : 28th Dec 2006 to 8th Jan 2007
Flight details : Tiger Airways from SG to Darwin & Darwin back to SG
Car details : Rented a 1.8 Toyota Corolla from Hertz for 11 days
Total distance travelled : 5400 km
Where did we go : Darwin -> Katherine -> Tenant Creek -> Alice Spring -> Ayers Rock -> Alice Spring - Tenant Creek -> Katherine -> Darwin
27th Dec (Day 1) - Flight to Darwin
We went to Terminal 3 (Budget terminal) to board the plane, departing at 8pm. The plane was really crampy & packed with aussie returning home. There are also some china people who brought their rice cooker to board the plane & wearing winter jacket?!!??!? oh mine... can't believe that cause it is HOT summer in Aus now & yet the china people were wearing winter clothes. Well, since it is a budget flight so there is no food nor drink and no seating arrangement as well. Nevertheless, this is the first time that both of us are travelling on the same flight. Our past 2 trips is either Debbie flew over to join Airrence there or Airrence flew over to meet Debbie there.
28th Dec(Day 2) - Darwin -> Katherine
We arrived at Darwin and it was 2am in the morning. We proceed to Avis counter but realised that there is a limit to the mileage, ie - 100 km per day. Thus, we decided to void our reservation and waited until 5am, Hertz was opened & we took up the car rental package as it offers us 500km per day. We did some calculation on the total journey & 11 days of car rental should be sufficient for us. Thus, we paid & drove off the car immediately. Along the way out from airport, we lost our direction & ended up in the CBD area & wasted 30km. :-p
Our first destination is Katherine which is 300 km from Darwin. Along the journey, we are very sleepy as we did not get to sleep much on the plane. Thus, we struggled our way there & thank god, we reach Katherine by 3pm. We quickly checked in to Katherine Motel(cost A$90 per night) & wash up before we continue with our adventure to Katherine Gorge & Katherine hot spring for a dip!
Katherine hot spring
This was not part of our planned itinery. Our motel owners recommended us to go for this hot spring. It was crystal clear and warm, good for a dip! Oh ya, forgotton to mention that the sunset @ Katherine was nice! Dinner that night was at Red Rooster.
29th Dec(Day 3) - Katherine -> Tennant Creek
We woke up early morning and start on our long journey(estimated 500km) to Tennant Creek. Along the way, we stop-by a town call Matarankan where there are Bitter spring & Thermal Pool. Oh a heroic act that we have done was before we left Katherine, our petrol indicator was flashing red! However, we managed to ta-han until we reach Mataranka which is about 100 km away then we found a petrol kiosk. :-p *Cold sweat*
At Mataranka, we saw quite a number of aboriginals sitting on the grass like a mini gathering. They even offered to help us to picture with the giant Termite Mounds. Along the journey to Tennant Creek, you will not missed the red termite mounds all over the highway forest.
We visited the Bitter spring but didn't take a dip coz it was greeny & looks like yucky. However, thermal pool was really clean & warm. While walking into the thermal pool, we have to walk past thousands of fruit bats. They are rather harmless but sicko cause they shit on Debbie head!!! Poor Debbie. :-(
Along our way to Tennant Creek, we stop by a petrol kiosk at Dunmara & had mixed grill cost A$24.80. The portion was huge for 2 of us to share. Before 7pm, we reached Tennant Creek and checked in to motel call Safari Lodge(cost A$85). We also drove up to Anzac Hill to see the sunset. For dinner, we bought a huge pizza that cost only A$15 to share. It was yummy!!
30th Dec(Day 4) - Tennant Creek -> Alice Spring
Another long journey(estimated 500km) to Alice spring which took us whole day to drive there. Along the way, we stop-by to take pictures at Devil marbles. We checked in to Desert Rose Inn for a night(A$65) and they have kitchen facilities thus we cooked our dinner that night.
2nd Jan(Day 7) - Alice Spring -> Tennant Creek
Well, time to head back to Tennant Creek. Along the journey, we happen to pop by a mango/grape farm at Ti Tree. The mango farmers was hospitable and offered us mango to try and mango wine as well. It was sweet & we wanted to buy some but worried that we cannot bring back the mangoes thus we only bought the wine for A$20. That night, we decided to find a new place to stay & thank god for his blessings of a very comfortable, clean & big service apartment call Desert Sand Motel(cost A$85). We did our laundry there coz it was an apartment that comes with washing machine & inbuilt cooking facilities. ;-)
We woke up early to go for the yellow river cruise - something that you can't missed if you are in Kakadu. It cost us A$43 per pax but worth it! We saw many wild life like birds and crocodile. Beautiful!! On our way back to Darwin, we also pop by a mango & dragon fruit farm. The farmer was very friendly & offered us to try the dragon fruit. Before we left, he gave us 1 box of dragon fruits - about 18 pieces!! Wow... we really felt very blessed! That night, we stayed at Capricornia motel (A$66) and they provide cooking facilities.
Flight details : Tiger Airways from SG to Darwin & Darwin back to SG
Car details : Rented a 1.8 Toyota Corolla from Hertz for 11 days
Total distance travelled : 5400 km
Where did we go : Darwin -> Katherine -> Tenant Creek -> Alice Spring -> Ayers Rock -> Alice Spring - Tenant Creek -> Katherine -> Darwin
27th Dec (Day 1) - Flight to Darwin
We went to Terminal 3 (Budget terminal) to board the plane, departing at 8pm. The plane was really crampy & packed with aussie returning home. There are also some china people who brought their rice cooker to board the plane & wearing winter jacket?!!??!? oh mine... can't believe that cause it is HOT summer in Aus now & yet the china people were wearing winter clothes. Well, since it is a budget flight so there is no food nor drink and no seating arrangement as well. Nevertheless, this is the first time that both of us are travelling on the same flight. Our past 2 trips is either Debbie flew over to join Airrence there or Airrence flew over to meet Debbie there.
28th Dec(Day 2) - Darwin -> Katherine
We arrived at Darwin and it was 2am in the morning. We proceed to Avis counter but realised that there is a limit to the mileage, ie - 100 km per day. Thus, we decided to void our reservation and waited until 5am, Hertz was opened & we took up the car rental package as it offers us 500km per day. We did some calculation on the total journey & 11 days of car rental should be sufficient for us. Thus, we paid & drove off the car immediately. Along the way out from airport, we lost our direction & ended up in the CBD area & wasted 30km. :-p
Our first destination is Katherine which is 300 km from Darwin. Along the journey, we are very sleepy as we did not get to sleep much on the plane. Thus, we struggled our way there & thank god, we reach Katherine by 3pm. We quickly checked in to Katherine Motel(cost A$90 per night) & wash up before we continue with our adventure to Katherine Gorge & Katherine hot spring for a dip!
Katherine Gorge
We drove to Katherine Gorge(known by the aboriginal name Nitmiluk) & took the cruise ride. This cruise takes about 2 hour(cost A$43.50 per pax) & bring you around the gorge. It was amazing sight and winding 12 km with walls more than 70m high. The 13 wonderful gorges of Nitmiluk National Park began 23 million years ago as torrents of water pouring along tiny cracks in the earth. We can also see aborigines rock paintings which represent the spiritual 'dreaming' of the Jawoyn people, the traditional owners of the land.
Katherine hot spring
This was not part of our planned itinery. Our motel owners recommended us to go for this hot spring. It was crystal clear and warm, good for a dip! Oh ya, forgotton to mention that the sunset @ Katherine was nice! Dinner that night was at Red Rooster.
29th Dec(Day 3) - Katherine -> Tennant Creek
We woke up early morning and start on our long journey(estimated 500km) to Tennant Creek. Along the way, we stop-by a town call Matarankan where there are Bitter spring & Thermal Pool. Oh a heroic act that we have done was before we left Katherine, our petrol indicator was flashing red! However, we managed to ta-han until we reach Mataranka which is about 100 km away then we found a petrol kiosk. :-p *Cold sweat*
At Mataranka, we saw quite a number of aboriginals sitting on the grass like a mini gathering. They even offered to help us to picture with the giant Termite Mounds. Along the journey to Tennant Creek, you will not missed the red termite mounds all over the highway forest.
We visited the Bitter spring but didn't take a dip coz it was greeny & looks like yucky. However, thermal pool was really clean & warm. While walking into the thermal pool, we have to walk past thousands of fruit bats. They are rather harmless but sicko cause they shit on Debbie head!!! Poor Debbie. :-(
Along our way to Tennant Creek, we stop by a petrol kiosk at Dunmara & had mixed grill cost A$24.80. The portion was huge for 2 of us to share. Before 7pm, we reached Tennant Creek and checked in to motel call Safari Lodge(cost A$85). We also drove up to Anzac Hill to see the sunset. For dinner, we bought a huge pizza that cost only A$15 to share. It was yummy!!
30th Dec(Day 4) - Tennant Creek -> Alice Spring
Another long journey(estimated 500km) to Alice spring which took us whole day to drive there. Along the way, we stop-by to take pictures at Devil marbles. We checked in to Desert Rose Inn for a night(A$65) and they have kitchen facilities thus we cooked our dinner that night.
31st Dec(Day 5) - Alice Spring -> Ayers Rock
Another long journey to Ayers Rock which is our DESTINATION of our trip. We have travelled about 2000+km by the time we reach Uluru(also known as Ayers Rock). Along the way into Ayers Rock, we checked in to CurtinSprings Wayside Inn(A$110), not cheap coz it was new year eve & it is much more costly to stay inside Ayers Rock. Anyway, it is a small cabin with ensuite facilities. So what's the highlight for that day? We saw a HUGE & BIG rock call Uluru. It changes color according to the daylight and there lotsa aboriginal stories about Uluru - a sacred site. So no one was supposed to bring any rocks there home!! We reach Uluru at sunset time & it was a grand & amazing view! Oh ya, visitors need to pay to enter Uluru - A$25 per pax
As it is new year eve, we also celebrated countdown with the Aussies who were staying at Curtin. No fireworks nor firecrackers as we are in a desert land so it was simple countdown with fake fireworks... :-p
As it is new year eve, we also celebrated countdown with the Aussies who were staying at Curtin. No fireworks nor firecrackers as we are in a desert land so it was simple countdown with fake fireworks... :-p
1st Jan(Day 6) - Ayers Rock -> Alice Spring
We started the day early and went to King Canyon(brother of Grand Canyon). As the weather was 45deg celsius, we did not attempt to go for the trail walk. We just hang around the base and took some pictures before heading back to Alice Spring. Along our journey back to Alice spring, we saw car accident. Ambulance & police car was there and the car tyre was punctured and bad crash onto the side of the road. We found out later that a lady driver died from the accident. Her husband was tired after the long drive,thus she offered to take over and only travelled at 100km per hour. It was very unfortunate that the tyre punctured and she lost control of the car and died minutes after the crash. May she rest in peace.
Before reaching Alice Spring, we drove to West MacDonell and visited
Simson gap. We saw wallaby there!! That night, we went back to stay in Desert Rose Inn and we are blessed with lotsa yummy food from fellow motellers who cooked a lot and shared their food with us! They prepared potato salad & grilled sausages and it was the best dinner that we had so far! :-)
We started the day early and went to King Canyon(brother of Grand Canyon). As the weather was 45deg celsius, we did not attempt to go for the trail walk. We just hang around the base and took some pictures before heading back to Alice Spring. Along our journey back to Alice spring, we saw car accident. Ambulance & police car was there and the car tyre was punctured and bad crash onto the side of the road. We found out later that a lady driver died from the accident. Her husband was tired after the long drive,thus she offered to take over and only travelled at 100km per hour. It was very unfortunate that the tyre punctured and she lost control of the car and died minutes after the crash. May she rest in peace.
Before reaching Alice Spring, we drove to West MacDonell and visited
Simson gap. We saw wallaby there!! That night, we went back to stay in Desert Rose Inn and we are blessed with lotsa yummy food from fellow motellers who cooked a lot and shared their food with us! They prepared potato salad & grilled sausages and it was the best dinner that we had so far! :-)
2nd Jan(Day 7) - Alice Spring -> Tennant Creek
Well, time to head back to Tennant Creek. Along the journey, we happen to pop by a mango/grape farm at Ti Tree. The mango farmers was hospitable and offered us mango to try and mango wine as well. It was sweet & we wanted to buy some but worried that we cannot bring back the mangoes thus we only bought the wine for A$20. That night, we decided to find a new place to stay & thank god for his blessings of a very comfortable, clean & big service apartment call Desert Sand Motel(cost A$85). We did our laundry there coz it was an apartment that comes with washing machine & inbuilt cooking facilities. ;-)
3rd Jan(Day 8) - Tennant Creek -> Katherine
While on the journey to Katherine, we stop by the mining centre and Mary Ann dam as well. Once again, we run out of petrol but God is good, we managed to reach Katherine to get some petrol! Well, we sort of running out of cash & we decided to stay in Palm Court hostel(A$49). It was quite run down but has cooking facilities.
4th Jan(Day 9) - Katherine -> Kakadu
We visited Edith Fall but we didn't swim coz no one swim!!! :-p It was a long journey head all the way into Kakadu national park. A place that you can't missed if you are in Darwin. Kakadu is a cultural landscape. It was shaped by the spiritual ancestors of Aboriginal people during the Creation Time. These ancestors or 'first people' journeyed across the country creating landforms, plants, animals and Bininj/Mungguy* (Aboriginal people). The name 'Kakadu' comes from an Aboriginal floodplain language called Gagudju which was one of the languages spoken in the north of the park at the beginning of the twentieth century. We also spent a night at Lakeview Park Kakadu(A$90).
5th Jan(Day 10) - Kakadu
We woke up early to go for the yellow river cruise - something that you can't missed if you are in Kakadu. It cost us A$43 per pax but worth it! We saw many wild life like birds and crocodile. Beautiful!! On our way back to Darwin, we also pop by a mango & dragon fruit farm. The farmer was very friendly & offered us to try the dragon fruit. Before we left, he gave us 1 box of dragon fruits - about 18 pieces!! Wow... we really felt very blessed! That night, we stayed at Capricornia motel (A$66) and they provide cooking facilities.
6th Jan(Day 11) - Darwin
This is the day that Debbie finally can go around shopping at the various markets & villages & shopping centre. However, the type of clothes are not her kind, thus didn't buy any clothes at all. :-( We went to Parap Village & Coolalinga and visited Litchfield. The waterfall at Litchfield was amazingly beautiful! We swam at Florence falls & people were bbqing on the water! Ha... ;-)
7th Jan(Day 12) - Darwin -> Singapore
That morning, we went to Nightcliff market, Rapid Creek market(similar to our Tekka market) & Casuarina SQ(biggest shopping mall in Darwin). Darwin markets are stalls that sells mainly food, drinks & some clothes that they imported from Asia country. Thus, nothing much to buy there. But whats interesting was the sellers are philippino, vietnamese & malaysians. The most common food there was laksa & the aussie love them! Before we head to the airport, we went to do last minute shopping at the local souvenir stall & then we proceed to Darwin yatch club to catch sunset but too late to get a nice view. Afterwhich, we went to Sky City - Casino for the dinner buffet. It cost A$25 per pax and you can find food like lamb, beef, seafood, etc... value for $$. At about 11pm, we make our way to the airport and waited till 2am then we board the plane back to Singapore! Bye!
Some useful website to share if you decided to visit Northern Territory :
http://asia.holidaysnt.com/tmp_article_details.asp?action=article&ID=42383
http://www.travelnt.com/en/
http://www.bestofaustralia.com.sg/darwin.html
Some useful website to share if you decided to visit Northern Territory :
http://asia.holidaysnt.com/tmp_article_details.asp?action=article&ID=42383
http://www.travelnt.com/en/
http://www.bestofaustralia.com.sg/darwin.html
