Aside from Kakadu we visited a few other things on our brief run through
the Northern Territory. These included Litchfield National Park and
a bit of time in Darwin. Darwin is unusual because it was almost entirely
destroyed in a cyclone and was rebuilt all nice and shiny with government
and insurance money.
On the other hand, the heat in Darwin is oppressive. Many in Oz go there
for a time but few stick it out for several years.
As we drove the roads, the highway signs always beckoned with lines like
"Alice Springs: 1450 km" -- the lonely highway into the truly deep outback,
or never-never as they sometimes call it. That's for another trip.
The NT has a lot more aboriginals. Not so much because they loved to live
there but because fewer of them were wiped out in the north. It's also
reportedly a lot more conservative. I didn't spend enough time to judge.
 | (1280 x 960 - 271K) |
We loved this sign in front of the termite mounds
| |
|
 | (1280 x 960 - 324K) |
Another great sign before the mounds
| |
 | (1280 x 960 - 107K) |
Part of Darwin's night market. Some interesting food but otherwise it's a bad sign they call it Darwin's most famous tourist attraction. We were in Darwin just a few hours (awake) but happened to come at just the right time for this
|
 | (1280 x 853 - 201K) |
Many cars in the NT have a "snorkel" air intake, for going through flooded areas
| |
 | (1280 x 853 - 131K) |
Close up on a snorkel. This car looks like it actually did go into the bush a lot. Most other units looked like the snorkels were for show.
|
 | (683 x 1024 - 147K) |
Typical roadside sign lets you know how high the floodwaters are. If it's 2m, I would advise against crossing, even with a snorkel.
| |
 | (1280 x 853 - 185K) |
Wangi falls in Litchfield National Park. See also the panorama
|
 | (1280 x 853 - 202K) |
Detail on the field of magnetic termite mounds
| |
 | (1280 x 853 - 148K) |
Magnetic termite mound in Litchfield
|
 | (1280 x 853 - 192K) |
More fields of magnetic termite mounds
| |
 | (683 x 1024 - 176K) |
Ordinary termite mound next to the magnetic ones
|
 | (1280 x 853 - 151K) |
A Road Train, which has up to three trailers towed by one truck. It's how a lot of stuff moves in the outback. They don't go into the cities
| |