Somewhat spur of the moment took the week off work, threw the tent, swag, sleeping bag, esky, torch, hatchet, inverter, tp, and a few clothes in the car and headed south out of Darwin.
Background:
- The Northern Territory is twice the size of Texas, but with a total population of less than 250,000. Capital is Darwin. About an hour out of Darwin you lose any kind of cell/mobile/internet connection, except for the occasional hotspot as you pass through an occasional town or roadhouse. So it's easy to get away from everyone/everything for a few days.
- Roads: we don't have freeways or multi-lane roads in the outback, just a painted line down the middle, dividing traffic in each direction. Except on 'all-weather' roads where there's just a single strip of bitumen which both directions share.
- Speeds: Open road speed limit is 130kph (80mph), however with our distances, depending on road conditions, you usually sit on 150kph. Further into the outback there are no speed limits.
- Road deaths: 41 in NT to date in 2015 (pop 233,000). We have a lot of single vehicle accidents due to fatigue.
- Road Trains: semis hauling 4 trailers, sitting on 110kph. They take approx. 2km to overtake.
Trip:
Day 1 - 848Km (526m) - 9 hours - Darwin to Heartbreak Hotel, Cape Crawford, via:
- Noonamah - stopped at the tavern and filled the esky with a case of beer (case = 24 bottles) and ice
- Sit on 150kph (100mph) for 2.5 hours and refuel at Katherine. Speed limit is 130kph, though a bit further south there is no speed limit.
- Stop for a beer at the Mataranka Hotel
- 2.5 hours later roll into Daly Waters Pub for a stop and a beer. Iconic outback pub with campground. There's no town, just the pub and a few houses and cabins.
- Lot of dirt roads in the NT, which become impassible during the wet. So for some of the 'main' routes, they are made "all-weather" by laying a single strip of bitumen down the middle. Traffic in both directions share that strip, and when you are in a head-on situation, etiquette and size determines who hits the dirt, and you're both sitting on 100kph+ which makes it interesting. Also makes passing a pita. Stuck behind a road train.
- Made it to Heartbreak Hotel as it was getting dark, which is good, as you don't want to drive at night out here due to the roos leaping out at car lights, and cattle, wild camels and buffs wandering onto the road.
- Plan was to take a chopper ride out to the Lost City, but the handful of peeps in the bar were there for a farewell to the chopper pilot who was leaving in the morning. They had already sent the chopper back, as the wet was approaching.
- Had a few beers in the bar, and a steak, the size of a doorstop and about as palatable. Put up the tent in the hotel campground for the night.
Day 2 - 681Km (423m) - 9 hours - Heartbreak Hotel to Barkly Homestead, via:
- Breakfast at Heartbreak was good, to make up for the previous night's dinner
- Waited for an hour after sunrise to head out, to give time for some roadtrains to go through and squash the night's roadkill
- Had a look at Borroloola, then headed out the King Ash Bay, a fishing camp, which pretty much shuts down during the wet as you can't get to it. A lot of 'residents' apparently just squat there and throw up some kind of shack, and then leave with the wet.
- Back through Borroloola and Heartbreak Hotel, then down to Barkly Homestead. "All-weather" single strip paved road with massive potholes. Hit one of those and your day is toast. Great food and took a room for the night.
Day 3 - 578Km (359m) - 5 hours - Barkly Homestead to Daly Waters:
- Easy half day's drive. Waited usual hour for the roadkill to be flattened, then stopped at roadhouses 3-Way, Renner, Dunmarra, and arrived at Daly Waters for lunch, and a lazy afternoon. Nearest decent phone reception was at HiWay Inn, staffed by Irish backpackers, so hung with them, while going online and commiserating with them as they recovered from their hangovers and tried to piece together the previous night's events.
Set up the swag for the night in Daly Water's campground:
Day 3 - 613Km (318m) - 6.5 hours - Daly Waters to Darwin.
If anyone has read this far, cheers, and apologies for the length! :)
-
