Well, I wrote the last blog in Katherine and guess where we are now? Yes, back in Katherine but we've seen and done so much in the Top End, as it's called, in between!

Winnie, who arrived in Katherine on a tow truck with a shredded tyre, was duly supplied with new tyres and we set off for Darwin. The last cyclone a few months ago had wrecked the trees in the caravan park and there was very little shade left but, apart from the few piles of fallen trees around town, you would never have known there was a cyclone. The sea was a constant turquoise blue and looked so inviting until you read the "Crocs live here!" signs. However, we loved Darwin. I suppose it has been rebuilt so many times after cyclones that it has a really modern feel to it. The waterfront has been developed to include a very welcome wave lagoon and artificial beach, along with lovely restaurants and bars. We don't tend to eat out much but we did treat ourselves to lunch at the Oyster Bar - 12 lovely fresh oysters washed down with a glass of Chardonnay, what could be better?! There was lots to do in Darwin and we did our best to fit in as much as possible. The other main highlights were the Mindil Beach Market with its amazing laksa noodle soup, electronic didgeridoo playing and sunset over the beach, and the Northern Territories Parliament Building. Given the wrong time by the Tourist Info Centre we arrived at the Parliament for the free guided tour just as it was finishing but, no problem, we were escorted through the airport style security and told to wander around at our leisure. Imagine that happening in England!!

However, there is a very serious side to Darwin that we were quite shocked to discover. It has a lot of WWII history and there is evidence of its involvement everywhere, from airstrips to gun emplacements to underground oil storage tunnels. Everyone has heard about the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbour but what we didn't realise was that the same Japanese squadron then bombed a very unsuspecting and unready Darwin a few weeks later. They dropped twice as many bombs as on Pearl Harbour, sunk far more ships and killed far more people but it wasn't widely reported as the Australian Government didn't want to lower the morale in the rest of Australia! There was an excellent virtual reality exhibit, where you donned a mask and headset, and 360 degree action took place around you. At one point I was flying with the Japanese gunner, looking down on Darwin Harbour, seeing all the boats exploding in flames as we swooped around dropping the bombs. I actually had to tap my feet on the floor to prove to myself that I wasn't actually flying.

We also visited the Territory Wildlife Park where we had our first encounter with a croc. The park is famed for showcasing indigenous wildlife in authentic habitats, which it did really well we thought. Then we met Graham, the old saltie, who had consigned himself to a life of solitary captivity by first moving into the wrong upstream area, which resulted in his capture, and then by eating two of his 'mates'! He was SO still that Bob even asked if he was real - not a blink or flicker, it was quite eerie and then he moved, so, so slowly and not making a ripple on the surface. Scary! "Be Crocwise" is a favourite saying up here but you really do have to be. The crocodiles are a strong drawcard for the thousands of tourists that visit the Top End each year and there are numerous zoos, exhibitions and excursions that showcase them. Although protected in the wild they are also farmed for their meat and skins in an industry worth millions of dollars each year. You may remember we swam in Lake Argyle (WA) where there are freshwater crocs, timid animals with a short tapered snout that only usually bite when forced to defend themselves. The saltwater crocs are a different kettle of fish altogether. Despite their name they are also found in freshwater - in fact, they can be found in any waterway, waterbody or low-lying area right across northern Australia. They can grow to 6m in length, have a rounded snout and will attack cattle and horses as well as unwary people!! So you have to assume that any water may contain dangerous crocs as many billabongs, lakes and pools that are isolated in the dry season become connected to other systems during the wet season flooding, allowing the crocs to move over a wide area. If it doesn't say "Open for swimming" then you don't! And even then, you are basically relying on the rangers' croc management programs further upstream to have captured and removed those crocs. But more of the crocs later!

There was a downside to the lovely Darwin though as we were soon to discover. You are in a tropical region and it is very hot, every day was between 31 and 35 degrees, and humid, despite this being Australia's winter! Being the dry season the humidity was lower during the day but it crept up in the evenings. Even though we are somewhat acclimatized to the temperature we did struggle with the humidity. We were advised by a local to make up Staminade (the Aussie version of Gatorade) as water alone wasn't enough to replace the electrolytes lost by the body. Immediately I had more energy and was noticeably less tired. The other downside was the mozzies. Why, oh why, do they bite me and not Bob?! I have tried so many different insect repellents (including home made ones!) that it has cost us a small fortune. The trick we have now discovered is to use the one that the locals are selling, not the big brands sold everywhere in supermarkets. At one point I was almost in tears as I was bitten relentlessly for days in a row. Not only did I itch terribly, and my arms and legs look horrible with red lumps everywhere, but I am terribly aware of the horrible diseases that they carry. You only need the wrong one to bite you and it can ruin your life, so it got me down for a while. However, we seem to have hit on a winner for the moment though, 'Kakadu Blue', and I have been bite free for 4 days now, whohooooooooo!

We then went into Litchfield National Park. The journey here was quite testing. We have got used to seeing plumes of smoke as they back-burn the vegetation and are now quite used to driving close to fires without panicking, as we now understand the process and why they are doing it. Apparently, after the wet season, all the grasses are growing tall and, if left, will be a very dangerous fuel load when the lightning strikes set off bushfires at the end of the dry season when everything is tinder dry. By doing controlled burns now, while there is still moisture in the grasses, they can 'safely' create burnt areas that act as natural firebreaks for the big bushfires later in the year. They do it in a mosaic pattern so wildlife has the chance to move from one area to the next and survive. The undergrowth regenerates very quickly, providing new shoots for the 'roos and wallabies, and the trees are resilient and withstand the fire, so it's a win win situation. However, on the way to Litchfield we encountered several areas where there was a burn on both sides of the road, right at the road's edge. Smoke was right across the road and visibility was poor. You could also feel the heat inside the cab. We were quite glad to get through - fire is so unpredictable!

Litchfield is the park of rockholes, waterfalls and splash pools. It was good for us as it was quite compact and all the roads were sealed so we could get to everything easily. We spent two days here exploring but our favourite place by far was Wangi Falls. Two large waterfalls crashed down the gorge walls into a large pool at the bottom. Steps led into the clear, cold water and you could swim, or laze on a noodle, and gaze up at these amazing waterfalls. Magical!

While we were in Litchfield the Northern Territories celebrated Territory Day, or as it's known locally Cracker Day. This is because the 1st July is the one and only day in the year when it is legal to sell, buy and set off fireworks! It is a really big thing and the pop-up firework stores were advertising way before. On the day itself we listened to the news and were aghast to hear that people had been saving all year and were buying hundreds, and even thousands, of dollars worth of fireworks. I have to say it was like going back 10-15 years in England. There were very few organised displays and most people were buying these huge, industrial sized blocks to let off at home. There were a few let off at our caravan site but we could also hear the deep bangs from further afield. The next morning we listened to Darwin Radio announce that 24 people were seriously hurt with countless more injured. The NT fire service had answered 416 calls, triple last year's number, and at 8:30pm that evening more than 60 uncontrolled fires were burning, just in Darwin. Add to that the injured and frightened cats, dogs and horses and irate owners and you can imagine the heated debate on the radio. Seems as if they will have to follow England, ban the sale of the bigger fireworks to the general public, and provide more organised displays if they want to be safer. However, somehow I think the Territorians think of this as their right, they look forward to it all year so who knows?!

The next big dilemma was to Kaka'do' or Kaka'don't'?! Kakadu is the largest National Park, a 450km loop road back to the main highway. Some people have suggested it has got too commercialised, they charge $40/person entry fee, but that does include talks by rangers, slideshows and guided walks etc if you want to do them. We decided to do it as Kakadu is completely different to Litchfield. Its claim to fame is the Aboriginal Rock Art (weird as here they used the word Aboriginal and not indigenous?!) and the wetlands. We knew we'd done the right thing when, at our first stop, we spotted a huge croc (our first saltie in the wild) sidling into a patch of lotus flowers, stalking an egret. Luckily the egret realised and carnage was avoided! There were quite a few places we couldn't get to with Winnie but we loved Nourlangie, an impressive rocky landscape with a self-guided walk through an Aboriginal rock shelter with views of the thousand years old rock art. Some were really clear, but the deterioration caused by the weather and the fact that the artists routinely painted over top of other paintings, left some quite indistinct but there were interpretative signs, and rangers, to explain it all. I guess in time these pictures will cease to exist! The view from the lookout at the top was also worth the climb. Ubirr was a highlight of another sort. Again we enjoyed the walk past rock art sites and marvelled at the geography but we were totally underwhelmed by the Ubirr Sunset Experience that "everyone must do"! We climbed, literally, a huge rock and sat looking out over the savannah and wetlands, even spotting a feral pig, and waited as the sun went down. We also listened to a talk by the ranger about the savannah below us. What could possibly be wrong with that you ask? The fact that we were sharing the rock with busloads and busloads and busloads of other people! There were hundreds of young backpackers crawling everywhere, pushing in front of us to take their perfect selfie - it was the Great Ocean Road all over again! The highlight of Kakadu was the Yellow Water wetland cruise. Reuben, our Aboriginal guide, didn't stop talking for 1.5 hours, he was so full of knowledge and information that he wanted to pass on. We saw croc after croc after croc, but the scary thing was the number that we missed. They were so well camouflaged when on the banks that you could have trodden on one before realising. We also learnt a lot about the Aboriginal way of life and couldn't help thinking how far removed that was from those indigenous people we had seen sitting on the streets and begging in the towns we had driven through.

So back to Katherine (you have no choice!) via Katherine Gorge, or rather gorge number 1 of 13 spread along the Katherine River. You can do boat cruises through the first few gorges, or kayak in gorges 1 and 2, but Bob and I chose to do the Baruwei Loop Walk, a 4.8km walk graded 3 Moderate, yeah right! OMG, I should have realised, being in a gorge, that to get to a lookout involved a climb but I hadn't envisaged a near vertical climb up the cliff face of 120m. It started as steps and ended up as a hands on rock climb with the odd handrail thrown in. I stopped at least twice, legs shaking, looking down at the boats in the gorge below and said I couldn't do it. But I ended up reaching the top, on all fours almost, and then I saw the lookout - how I actually got onto it I don't know as the drop was right down to the water, but the view was amazing. How do they even build these things??!! The walk along the top of the escarpment was long and hot, but water was available at a tank halfway along, and the descent was a lot easier even though I slipped on the loose gravel and Bob had to save me from grazed knees! But what a sense of achievement I had when we got back to Winnie and looked up at the gorge face - I had climbed up that, wow!

So, we are now leaving the Top End and heading down the middle to Alice Springs and then onto Uluru. We're going to take our time about it and stop at all the interesting bits so it will take us about 4 days to reach Alice. We are digging out all our winter clothes too as the temp there will be about 25 during the day but drops to anything between -2 and 2 degrees at night. A bit different from the 22 degrees at night now! See you there!