Hi Guys!

CLOUD 9 TOUR - PART 2 - ALICE SPRINGS TO DARWIN.

Sunday, by 6am Arnie (female) our tour guide had rounded up the group and we headed off out of Alice. As we headed north our first stop was the Tropic of Capricorn. Arnie assured us we'd notice the change in weather as we left the semi-arid conditions behind us (and we did - it got bloody humid). As we headed up the Stuart Highway we made a few stops, one of which was Barrow Creek Telegraph Station. This is an original repeater station that was built with the overland telepgraph line in the late 1880's. We also stopped in the very strange town of Wycliffe Wells, known by the locals as "Australia's UFO Landing Site". The whole place is decortated with UFO pictures, newspaper articles and anything else UFO related - freakin wierd. After having lunch here, we drove on to a formation known as the Devil's Marbles.

The Devil's Marbles is a formation of approx 5,000 round rocks stacked up. They were formed over millions of years as the earth erroded away around granite balls, that had formed beneath the earth's surface. The errosion occurred at a rate of 1metre per million years, so they are pretty old!! We stood between the 2 rocks that are known as the Devil's b******s.

We then drove through Tennant Creek, an old mining town, and 10 mins up the road to Mary Ann Dam. The dam was created for the townspeople to swim, so that's exactly what we did.  From here it was to Banka Banka, for our overnight camp at a cattle station.

The next day we had a lie-in until 6am. Our first stop for the day was 10km up the road, where we climbed up a rocky hill for 360degree views of nothing!! Here you got a true feeling of being in the middle of nowhere. We made pitt stops at Renne Springs, Elliott, Newcastle Waters, and Dunmarra, before eventually arriving at our lunch stop - Daly Waters. Here we also had a pint at "The Oldest Pub in Australia". It is not actually the oldest pub in Australia, as it only got its licour licence in 1930, but was one of very, very few pubs to stay open throughout WWII, and therefore is the longest serving, and most famous pub in Australia.

We moved on to Mataranka, to Elsey National Park, where we spent time relaxing in the 27degree waters of the Thermal Springs. We had a quick stop in Katherine, and then drove the final 15km to our camp for the night. Again it was 4 share tents, so again we shared with Sam and Ash. Big mistake, as all 3 lads fell asleep and locked Emma out of the tent at 12:30am.

Up at 5:30am, the next morning, we set of to Nitmiluk National Park. We took a 1.5hr hike to the top of the gorge, for some fantastic views, before descending on the other side to a rock hole for a swim. Here we swam in snake infested waters; Lee and a few of the lads decided to jump off the rocks into the pool. From here we had a short walk to catch a water taxi that took us through the gorge back to the visitor centre.

We got back on the bus, and drove to Edith falls for a BBQ lunch. After our food had gone down we went for a swim in the lake at the base of Edith Falls. Those carzy enough (including Lee) swam across to the falls, but we later discovered signs saying to beware of saltwater crocs.

After drying off we moved on to Adelaide River. We stopped at The Adelaide River Inn, and went to see 'Charlie', the water buffalo from Crocodile Dundee. Sadly he died a few years ago, so now stands stuffed on the bar of the Inn. We jumped back on the bus for the final 85km of our 1,600km trip to Darwin.

We were dropped off at The Cavenagh, our hostel for the night - luxury. After freshening up we went down to the bar for dinner and drinks with the gang.

Love Emma and Lee

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