We left Adels Grove near Lawn Hill NP before the heat of the day took hold with one destination in mind... Hells Gate. We didn't know what was at Hells Gate, but it was the only possible stop on our route towards the Northern Territory about 300 km down the road.

An early wrong turn found us surrounded by a herd of Brahman cows and a dozen aboriginal cowboys on horseback. They pointed us back towards an innocuous gate on the side of the paddock that was apparently National Highway No. 1. We opened (and closed) the gate and headed on our way. There was a hand written sign with an arrow towards KFC, so we were sure civilisation wasn't too far away. We passed over dry creeks and rivers with evidence of surging flood waters lodged high in the tree branches, past herds of lazing cows waiting for their next hay delivery, rusted out trucks, through multiple farm gates, and past a sign that said 'No Thru Road, Local Traffic Only.' This led us straight into Bowthorn Cattle Station, and for the next 70km we wound our way along single track farm roads, and through gate after gate until we came to a sign that said Kingfisher Camp. Closed Until Further Notice...... ahhh KFC. Luckily, this was previously the Savannah Way, and it did loop back to the main highway, so on our way to Hells Gate we went.

Hells Gate turned out to be a lovely roadhouse smack bang in the middle of nowhere, attended by a pair of French backpackers doing their 'time'. A patch of grass near an ammenities block was home for the night. Hells Gate actually got its name from the two large rock formations either side of the road south of the road house, which marked the border of 'No Mans Land'. One hundred years ago, the police would protect travellers to these parts up until this point, but no further until you reached the Stuart Highway well on the other side of the Northern Territory border.

Day two of dirt and we were No. 1 camper out of the road house, with the main objective to have as many people behind us as possible in case we broke down, got a flat, or any other number of catastrophes that we had imagined.

We hit the Northern Territory border and the dust changed. We could no longer see out the back of the car, as the plumes of red dust whirled and pumped into the sky behind us and just hung in the air with no intension of settling back to earth. A few kangaroos were also very lucky to be still with us after nearly grazing their chins on our bull bar. After a long and bumpy drive, we all let out a collective sigh of relief as the smooth sealed road emerged under our tires, and we glided into the town of Booroloola.

We saw the sights of Booroloola in under 15 minutes with a visit to the local boat ramp and the water tank to have a look over the surrounding country side, and found another patch of grass to call home at the local caravan park. Our surprise was when we opened up the camper, our crisp white bed sheets had a thick layer of red dirt all over them, along with every other internal and external surface of the camper. A long hard clean got the obvious dirt out, but we will be finding it in unknown nooks and crannies for months.

As we hit the Northern Territory we also noted that the flies had changed too. They were no longer annoying buzzing little b*****s that a good 'shoo' could dispatch. These guys stuck. They would find the crevice at the inside of your eye lid and hold on until you physically flick them away, or you squash them in the process. I accidentally gave myself a black eye with an over zealous close range 'shoo' trying to remove one of the blighters!

The theme for the next week was long.... long.... boring.... driving days, seeing nothing or near nothing for 100's of kilometres interspaced with miraculous gems of nature. Our first sidetrack was the Caranbirini conservation reserve about 50 kilometres southwest of Booroloola for a morning run. We found a gorgeous wetland swamp teaming with life, followed by a short but enthralling jog through ancient eroded spires of sandstone, following a maze of shoulder width corridors between the 10 storey spires like being lost in the walled medinas of Morocco.

After another few hundred kilometres of nothing other than a few cars and road trains, we arrived at the Daly Waters Hotel along with every other grey nomad, travelling family, and back packer in a Wicked Camper travelling in the NT. We queued up, filed in, swam at the pool, had a few happy hour beverages, ordered the Beef and Barra BBQ, and settled in to listen to the authentic local live country music. These guys have a licence to print money with this set up, and other than being a slightly fabricated experience we all had an absolute blast, meeting a lovely young family (Bri, Lachy, Harry, Evy, and Fletcher), and Theo dancing til the last song.

We filed our way out just as we had filed in, and made our way to Mataranka to take advantage of the hot springs. They were not actually volcanic hot springs, just beautifully clear, fresh and earth warmed aquifers located very close to the ground such that they seep out and flow like rivers through the forest. And no sulphur smell either, which was a bonus!

A few relaxing days with multiple floats allowed us to understand the grey nomads at a deeper level. They are in their 70's, but are undergoing an intense re-teenaging process, with their funky board shorts and carrying noodles, they have no rules and answer to noone.

Theo had a few intense play days as his favourite friends were located just over the road, so late nights and some serious protests were had when we suggested dinner or bedtime!

We headed further north bypassing Katherine to go straight to Edith Falls. Arriving at a reasonable time of 1pm we found a campsite with no vacancy, so we decided to have a dip in the impressive plunge pool before driving 20 km back to the highway to locate a free camp. Nothing special other than a gravel patch with views of the highway and railway, but it did offer a pretty impressive sunset followed by a glorious starry night sky.

We packed up and arrived back at the Edith Falls campsite by 9am and were only third in line for a camp spot so all locked in! To spend the time while we waited for our spot, Bern did a 5k loop to the Upper Falls and I did similar followed by coffee at the National Park cafe.

Our spot was great with just enough room for the van, but a huge private grass area with some shade for the kids to play on. We threw the kids in the carriers and hiked up to the Upper Pools for a swim. The heat of the afternoon had started to peak, so a cool swim under the beautiful waterfall was more than warranted. We too dragged our noddles up the hill to assist with the floating process.

We had bypassed Katherine on the way up, so thought it only fair to head back for a visit, and we attended their annual country show. Wood chopping, sawing competitions, working dogs, equestrian, show bags, face painting, rides, show food and to top it off, the RODEO! For the experience it was great.... but oh...my.... what a mix of humanity. Oily takeaway food, plastic junk prizes, and seriously dangerous and expensive rides. We did manage to accidentally swindle our way into the Landmark Corporate tent, but we forgot our tight jeans, boots, big decorative belt buckles and akubra so didn't feel brave enough to take advantage of the free beers!

Another relaxing day back at Edith Falls was had after we both completed a 10 k trail run loop up to Sweetwater Pool. It has felt like a long time coming, it only took us 6 months, but we were finally on our way to Darwin, to meet up with some surprise visitors, Grandma and Grandpa Wood!