Day 1 - Flew from Melbourne to Perth and transferred to a small flight to Broome. I was post-nights, and exhausted. The day was mainly a blur of tiredness and nausea. Lovely. Arrived in Broome to be greeted by tropical weather (yeah!!) the wonderful proprietor of our B&B - Shane of The Courthouse B&B. He drove us around town (really only 2 streets), and showed us our room and we crashed.
Day 2 - Tour of Broome. A very small town with a history as a Pearling capital.
Voluntary Japanese and not-so-voluntary Aboriginal divers gave life and limb to bring some of the most amazing pearls in the south pacific to the surface before aquaculture started. We got our first sight of the beautiful frangipani tree, which is my favorite tree in the whole world, at least for now. The town now is very touristy. Lots of pearl shops. Also some good and not-so-good aboriginal art stores. I think we went into most of them before the heat got the best of us and we went back to our paradise of a B&B to relax in the afternoon. We caught a bus out to Cable beach for the evening to watch the sun go down over the Indian Ocean, and had a crazy expensive supper of real British fish and chips before heading back to bed.
Day 3 -
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Early day as we got on our tour that took us from Broome to Darwin (about 1500km away). Paul was less than impressed with the tour for the first few days: getting up most days at 5:30; traveling with other people; going wherever the tour took us; all that hiking; having to let someone else drive ;-) ...he was pretty determined that he was going to hate it. Of course, by about the 3rd day he realized that he liked the people and the places we were seeing, and was glad that neither of us had to drive the crazy 4WD tracks that we were going down (we crossed some pretty big rivers!), and we both agreed that the tour was very worthwhile. Our tour guide's name was Duncan, and he was very cool. Knowledgeable, nice, hearty, a good camper, and a great cook! We did all the cooking, but it was his recipes. He told great stories at almost every point we visited, and knew all about not just history, but geography and the flora and fauna. 
On that first day we stopped at a couple of roadhouses, which we were to discover are a staple when driving across the Outback and there are no Irving Big Stops around. We went down part of the Gibbs River Road, a dirt road that used to be used for driving cattle across country. We saw the Prison Boab tree, a huge Boab tree that the settlers used to use to chain up the Aboriginals they had taken into slavery on their way to either the pearling industry or the cattle stations.
We had lunch at Windjana gorge and heard the story of Jandamara, an Aboriginal man with many skills who originally worked for white men tracking and killing rival Aboriginal groups, and then turned
completely and started trying to free his people. Of course, the settlers weren't so happy and hunted him for years, killing his entire family and all of his friends to get to him. He eventually let them kill him, when all of his loved ones were gone. Windjana Gorge was pretty. Most interesting were the fresh water crocodiles. 
Next stop was Tunnel Creek, where we walked through knee-deep water inside caves to get out to the river. I thought it was a cool walk. Unfortunately we didn't see bats in the caves. More impressive, though, was the level to which the water can get in the dry season - there was grass in the trees at about 8-10m high from when the river flows at its peak. We spent that night making dinner around a campfire, and headed to bed soon after dark...a night spent marveling at the stars, since the group's resident snorer made sleep difficult.
Day 4 - A LOT of driving. We started with walking around Geikie Gorge, a huge gorge! Not so much wildlife, and lots of walking along sand.
The rest of the day was spent driving to Purnululu NP, with stops in a couple of small towns for lunch and pee-breaks.
The 2 hour drive from paved road into the NP goes through a cattle station, and was crazy bumpy, though we did get an amazing sunset that reflected beautiful light off of the red rocks.
Day 5 - Exploring Purnululu NP, aka "The Bungle Bungles". First was a walk around Mini Palms Gorge, a nice cool walk to start the morning.
Next walk was through Eichidna Chasm, with a very cool suspended rock, that looked a bit precarious. From here we hiked up to the lookout of the Osmand Ranges.
After lunch in the hot midday sun back at our campsite we headed to the south of the park to see the highlight - the Domes.
The crazy structures are striped because different layers of sediment had different levels of porous clay. In some of them, cyanobacteria make their homes and turn the layer black. Where the clay wasn't porous, they don't live and the rock stays red. We walked through some of the domes to Cathedral Gorge, which was beautiful and had nice echos. 
Although none of the places in the park were packed with tourists, there were other walkers, and in the gorge I met up with one of the nurses from the Children's hospital. Crazy small world. 
We ended the day with a trip out to a peak for a gorgeous sunset that reflected off of the Osmand range, turning bright red.
Day 6 - We left Purnululu (or course, that took a good part of the morning), and headed back onto the Gibb River road (at the other end of it) towards El Questro cattle station. This station is apparently famous, though it is hard to find it in
the guidebooks. It has a campground, for the lowly people like us, and there are more permanent places to stay - the safari tents cost $650/night. One can only imagine what the lodge costs. It is a million acres, and caters to the rich and famous, complete with spa, and $100 tours to see the sunsets. We definitely did the cheaper version, but certainly saw the best of the area. First stop after lunch was Emma Gorge, one of the highlights of the trip for me. After a walk through arid palm trees, and then scrambling over the large rocks of a dry river bed, we came to this tropical oasis. There was a huge waterfall into the gorge, and a beautiful swimming hole. The water was absolutely freezing, as in Atlantic ocean freezing, but so refreshing after 4 mornings with no shower. Lying on your back you could look up to the fresh water dripping on you from the foliage hanging above. It was marvelous. After the swim and subsequent scramble to get back out of the gorge, we set up camp and then our tour guide (Duncan - good guy who makes tour guiding a bit of a life, and knows a hell of a lot about everywhere we went, and who went out of his way to take us to the good sunset spots, which was not included in the tour description) took us to his favorite spot in the entire world to watch the sun set.
After our beautiful sunset it was back to the camp site for supper and showers. Hallelujah! It was getting kinda smelly. 
Day 7 - Our earliest day.
We got up at 4:30 so that we could pack up quickly and go to Zebedee hot springs. It was worth it. The springs were a series of small pools, with little waterfalls between. You could even find your own secluded little pool and lie there. The water temperature was like a hot bath. Amazing to lie in, hard to get out of. We then had breakfast of bacon and eggs in the parking lot (which was still buried in the bush) and headed out of El Questro, away from the Gibb River road, and on the main highway toward Darwin.
First stop was Kununura, where we saw the Ord River dam project, and ate lunch near lake Argyle.
Knowing that the lake is only huge because of a dam did detract, somewhat, from how pretty the area is. The rest of the day was a lot of driving toward our camp site for the night. 
We stopped at a war memorial in the middle of nowhere and heard the story of the ANZAC soldiers who patrolled for Japanese invaders during WWII, and stopped at a bridge to see the corellas (noisy white parrots), and saw some interesting villages during the roadhouse stops 
(how can people live out here??? Everything is sooooo expensive!), and then camped at another site that had showers! Day 8 - Last day of the tour. We were up bright and early to the sound of the corellas, and had our last breakfast around the campfire.
and headed down the road for a few hours to Katherine. First stop was the Katherine Hot Springs (yawn...not even worth it after Zebedee springs), and then we continued on to Edith Falls, part of Nitmuluk national park. The walk to the falls was short, albeit all uphill, and the view was spectacular.
The water was wonderful and not too cold. Made for nice swimming.
We had our last meal as a group and got back on the road. Before getting to Darwin, we had a nice stop at a little town called Adelaide river, where we got to see a somewhat morbid stuffed Charlie the Bison from the Crocodile Dundee movie. More nice frangipanis, though, and an ice cream under the shade of beautiful flowering trees. 
Then it was back on the road for the drive to Darwin. Paul and I stayed at a hotel that wasn't worth mentioning, and had yummy Thai food for supper and then had a great sleep off of the ground.
Day 9 - We spent this day doing laundry, and journal writing, and picking up groceries for the next part of the trip, and getting our rental car, and walking the Mitchell street strip of Darwin. This highlight of the day was didjeridoo lessons. We walked into a store that we thought would be another art store, and were greeted by a very cool, very enthusiastic Aboriginal man who tries to teach everyone who comes into the shop how to play. Most go along with it for 5-10 minutes. Paul and I tried for over an hour. I think that we played every didj in the store. Paul was a natural!
Of course, neither of us have the circular breathing bit down...that will come. So, after much humming and hawing, we got ourselves a didjeridoo and an antique carved boomerang. We watched one of the most beautiful sunsets over the Darwin harbour and after wandering the town a little bit had a Turkish supper. Something a bit different, though their hummus wasn't nearly as good as the real stuff.
Day 10 - We drove out of Darwin and along the Kakadu road and stopped at Jumping Crocodiles.
All of the rivers and estuaries around the Top End potentially have crocodiles in them, so the only way you can go on water is in a boat. We decided to do it the organized tour way, though this was a bit of a spur-of-the-moment decision. The pre-booked tour was full, so for all of us slacks who just showed up they put out an extra boat. What fortune! The pre-booked tour was in this huge river boat with about 50 people. Ours was in a much smaller pontoon boat with about 12 people, and a very cool guide who has made friends with a crocodile named Stumpy. They feed the crocodiles, but only once a day, and only small amounts, and only meat that they would eat anyway (unlike in the farms where they feed them chickens, which they don't otherwise eat). 
Crocodiles will come a long way out of the water for some food. More impressive was that they respond to their names, and that one of them (Stumpy), knows to come alongside the boat of this particular guide for a scratch (with a pole, not a hand, obviously). The river we were on was beautiful, and we had some pretty good looks at the big birds - Kites and White Breasted Eagles. 
We drove onto Kakadu, and checked into our lodge for the next 3 nights. We were not impressed. Our Trip Advisor Review reflects that...it was expensive (everything in the top end is expensive, but this was even more so) and the quality was less than you would find in the average motel in a backwoods. But, there aren't that many options, and location, location, location. So, once we got over our extreme anger and annoyance, we headed out to look at the local attraction - a Billabong called Yellow water. It is certainly aptly named. As the sun sets, you get the most beautiful colours.
We ate supper that night at the only option - the restaurant associated with the lodge. It was cafeteria-style serving, and we didn't even find a table, but had to eat at bar stools, and the cost of 2 hamburgers was $44. That was the cheapest menu option. Ouch. The next two nights we had Mr Noodles in our room. Sad.
Day 11 - We drove into the town of Jabiru (named for a type of stork-like white bird found in the vicinity) to have breakfast and meet up with our day tour to Arnhemland. This is a huge part of the Northern Territory that is controlled by the Aboriginals and is only accessible by 4WD, and with a permit. Hence, we decided to skip the hassle and let someone else figure out the logistics.
The tour was led by a tall country-boy named Dan, who was clearly a favorite of the locals, especially the children who seemed to like to hang off of him and climb on him like a tree. He was a big man. We went into the town of Gunbalanya, where they have an arts center, and picked up a local guide. Then we spent much of the rest of the day clamoring around a large rock formation, which I think is called Injalak Hill, looking at and learning about Aboriginal rock art. They paint for the process, more for the result, and a lot of their paintings involve either dreams, morals, or ancestral stories. I particularly liked the paintings that involved Mimi spirits.
Lunch was on the rock, with an amazing view of the surrounds of Arnhemland and the town off in the distance.
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The tour guide was a neat guy, Joey, who did all the climbing barefoot, and knew an awful lot about rock art. He is an artist himself, and we had watched him do a rainbow serpent painting back in the town. He was able to tell us a bit about ceremonies, and rearing of children, and culture in general.
After coming down the hill, we headed to a billabong, down a very sketchy "road", for tea. Paul and I and one of the other tourists ended up stranded on the side of a road for a little while, as the tour guide helped some of the locals get back to the village when their vehicle broke down, and we volunteered to give up our seats for them. All in all, the tour was pretty relaxed, which was nice. In Jabiru, we did some grocery shopping (for above-mentioned Mr Noodles) and then headed back for the night.
Day 12 - We spent this day touring ourselves around Kakadu. First stop was the Nourlangie rocks, site of more rock art, great views, and some short interesting walks. Next we headed to the visitor's center for lunch and to wait out the afternoon heat for a little while with an IcyPole (the Aussie version of a popsicle).
Then we headed to Ubirr, one of the highlights of Kakadu. Around the site are birds, and lots of the pandanus palm tree, which seemed ubiquitous in the Northern Territory.
There were some really good examples of rock art, much of it over 5000 years old. The highlight of this site, though, was climbing to the top to see the sunset.
We had some amazing sunsets on this trip, and Ubirr was no exception.
Day 13 - First morning stop was the cultural center, to learn about Aboriginal culture, tool making and use, relationships with the environment, and life since western invasion. It was a really good museum, actually, and should be one of the first stops for anyone going to the Northern Territory. Then, we headed out of Kakadu, passing a lot of purposely burned bush in various stages of regrowth, and back towards Katherine. Although we had gone around Katherine on the tour, we had missed the gorge, so this was the destination. On the way, we stopped in Pine
Creek, a funny little town with crazy pink parrots, for lunch. In Katherine we hit the very nice and useful tourist bureau, booked out boat tour for the next day, and headed out to the Cutta Cutta caves. These caves are about 30km outside Katherine. We walked through the bush and karst landscape for about 15 minutes before coming upon the tour guide, and a well hidden little set of steps down into the caves. They are millions of years old, and have great stalactites and stalagmites. Unfortunately, the camera couldn't really capture the sparkliness of the rock formations. 
Although the caves go back for about 750m, we only walked the first 300. Apparently after about 450m the oxygen gets pretty sparse. We were disappointed not to see any bats, but did see lots of snake skins, and a few massive moths.
Our accomodation for the night was about $200 cheaper than where we stayed in Kakadu, and was actually nicer (just a Best Western). Figures.
Day 14 - We were up early to get to Nitmuluk national park, where we saw their
version of an interpretation center (good info on the formation of the gorge, and the local flora and fauna), and then got on our boat tour. It was a large group (about 40), but the views were spectacular. We had to walk a bit and switch boats between the first and second gorges, and it was the second gorge that was the most amazing. Absolutely beautiful and very long. These gorges were much bigger than the ones we had seen in the Kimberleys...huge enough to have a big river running through, while the ones in the Kimberleys were just big enough to walk through. 
We saw some cool swallows and their funnel-shaped nests, and I love the yellow flowers that grow on trees everywhere in this country.
After the boat ride, we had a short lunch of peanut butter and jam (this was our lunch every day, which was far cheaper and more convenient than the local restaurants) and hit the road again to drive to Litchfield National Park. The ride was nothing worth writing about. We stayed in the town of Bachelor, just outside outside the park, at a place called Rum Jungle Bungalows. For $120 per night, for a little bungalow, we were happy. It was quite tropical, and I loved the place, though the proprietoress was less than pleasant. So unfortunate. Supper that night was at the Butterfly inn and cafe, next door. It is a tiny little place with lots of teak furniture, and they have a butterfly farm out back. Though it was understated, they had the best food in the Northern Territory. Absolutely amazing. If you ever go here, try to stay at this place!
Day 15 - This was our day of exploring Litchfield. We started with the 60km drive into the park, which led first to Wangi falls. It was busy, since the kids were on school holidays, but still beautiful.
Though the falls were really gorgeous, the best part of this section of the park was the monsoon rainforest. We did a short walk through mainly palm-covered forest, and got to see a preying mantis and massive spiders. The smell was wonderful...damp foliage. 
Next stop was a place called Tolmer falls. The walk to the falls was spectacular. The vast expanses reminded me of parts of Africa.
The falls would have been more impressive if we could have seen them well, which I suspect is easier in the wet season, when these very tall falls (must be about 200m) are flowing at full capacity. As it was, we were in the dry season, and the falls weren't much more than a trickle, and so were a bit hard to see looking across at them from high up. But the walk made it worth it. Next we went to the Buley rock pools, a popular spot for waders and swimmers. These were a series of small (3 feet or so) waterfalls going into small (2-5m diameter) rock pools.
They were refreshing looking, but we decided to do the 1.5km walk through the bush to Florence falls. The walk was hot, and Paul was cranky by the end of it, but the falls were worth it! They were beautiful and the swim at the end was very refreshing. 
On the way out of the park we stopped at the magnetic termite mounds. All along our trip, from Broome to the Northern Territory, we had been seeing termite mounds. They come in all shapes and sizes, and colours too, depending on the colour of the soil. The magnetic mounds are so-called because the are narrow, and face in a perfect north-south direction. This is done to best modulate the temperature for the termites. Nearby were also some mighty cathedral mounds, huge termite mounds over 4m high.We spent the rest of the afternoon in Bachelor having lunch (PB&J of course) in the park, and then relaxing at our little bungalow. I found a nice little hammock, and watched the birds and butterflies. Dinner was back to the Butterfly cafe.
Day 16 - Last day. We drove back to Darwin, and spent the morning exploring the waterfront and the impossibly huge houses (there is some serious money in Darwin).
Then we had lunch (the last of the PB&J) amongst the ibises and spent the early afternoon wandering around the Botanical Gardens and their particularly nice rainforest section. 
Then it was off to the airport to return our car and await return to a normal schedule.
