We started our day with a great Australian omelet breakfast at Daly Waters, but it was the merest snack compared to what Scotty ate. Scotty is a ringer (pronouced ringa - an Australian ranch hand) who was staying at Daly Waters on his way back to the ranch he works at - a 12,000 square kilometer spread with 18,000 head of cattle. At roundup they use horses, motorbikes, trucks and helicopters! Scotty had a real Australia ringa breakfast, numerous eggs, a steak, 3 long sausages, potatoes, multiple pieces of toast etc. He also had the best bush hat I have ever seen. Another Aussie, my new found friend Paul was having another type of Aussie breakfast, as shown in the photo below, at 7am!
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| Scotty, our Aussie ringa, hving his Aussie ringa breakfast |
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| Paul having his Aussie breakfast, at 7am! |
We stopped at Mataranka in the Elsie National Park, a tropical oasis of lush Palms and hot springs, then had lunch at Katherine, a decent sized modern looking town, with lots of aboriginals just sitting around, but a great coffee shop. An oasis of civilization staffed by the pregnant Roxanne, and speaking of so-called civilization, I have yet to see a Starbucks since leaving Sydney, although there are lots of coffee shops serving long blacks, short blacks, flat whites etc - and those are the types of coffees, not the people. Viva Australia.
From Katherine to Darwin was another 350 kilometers of more emptiness, dry, hot, arid grasslands. The land is dotted by termite mounds, some of them 8 feet tall - quite amazing to see. We ventured off the road on a 4wd track, and its not a place to be stranded - real hot, real dry, real desolate. There are a lot of dead wallabies (small kangaroos) lying by the road - they wander on the highway, get dazed by headlights, and pow. It’s the Outback.
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| An 8 foot termite mound |
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| Watch out for the roos! |
We have just arrived in Darwin, named after Charles, the botanist on the Beagle. It is a beautiful seaside town on the Timor Sea (Beagle Bay) which was totally rebuilt after it was flattened by Cyclone Tracy on Christmas day 1974. Wes and I went for a steamy run, I can’t imagine what it is like in summer.
Bill, in summer it's bloody hot. Have you found the right beer for breakfast yet? It is an essential component for maintaining correct electrolyte levels in warm weather. Did you know that those termite hills have built in air conditioning? Maybe one of the liars up there knows about it.
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