It was the morning of May
23rd and I was
leaving Broome on a drive up to Darwin. This trip would span about
2000 kilometres and take me from Western Australia to the Northern
Territory. I woke early and began packing my bags and removing
everything that I had brought with me from Hus’ van. I mailed a
few postcards I had written up and settled financial accounts with
Hus and the girls.
I was to meet Camila and
Mela at Woolworths for 10am, so Hus drove me to the store. It was to
be our final drive together so we tossed on our theme song and rocked
out to Robyn one last time.
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| My New Ride! |
I met the girls in the
parking lot, scanning the surrounding vehicles for our rental car.
They walked me over to what would be our ride, a green Holden Cruze
CDX. This five seater car would be perfect for our trip, having
enough space to seat us three and hold all of our luggage. The only
drawback was the lack of a four wheel drive. This would mean that we
would have to skip the Bungle-Bungles, a 4WD-only national park that
featured cool geological structures. C’est la vie, there are worse
things in life to miss!
Hus and I then bid each
other a final goodbye. We figured it might be the last time we would
see each other in Australia and left open invitations to visit in our
respective countries. It had been a good trip up the West Coast and I
thoroughly enjoyed traveling with him.
And
that was that. One chapter of my travels had just finished and
another chapter was about to begin. The two girls and I spent a few
hours filling our car with supplies and left Broome at 2pm, driving a
few hours before finding a rest stop to camp in. That first night
was spent playing rummy and getting to know one another. We did not
have a propane stove with us so our dinner consisted of bread, lunch
meat and cheese! This was also the first time that I would be
sleeping in my own tent, as there was no room in the car like there
had been in the van. This would mark the beginning of a tent trend
in my travels.
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| Geikie! |
The next day we drove past
Fitzroy Crossing and stopped at Geikie Gorge National Park. This
small park had a short river walk and was our first chance to see a
crocodile! We had entered croc territory so naturally we were all
very excited to find one. But not a single croc did we find. We
spent over an hour on the walk and didn’t see any of them. O well,
we would have plenty of more opportunities, so we drove on past
Hall’s Creek, stopping at another camp ground. We bonded that
night over a few beers, two episodes of Modern Family and some
cereal!
We made it to Katherine
the next day, stopping at their information centre in order to figure
out which national park to visit before making it to Darwin. There
are two famous national parks in the Top End, Litchfield and Kakadu.
After talking to the information guide, we decided Lithchfield would
make more sense for us time-wise. Kakadu was much bigger, needing at
least four days and a 4WD to experience it.
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| Awww yeah! |
After refuelling and
resupplying, we left Katherine and hit the road up to Darwin. We
found a camping ground (full of Aussies and their camper vans) and
decided to pitch our tents there. We had decided to make this night
our party night, so we had purchased more beer in Katherine and some
red solo cups and ping pong balls. Yep, we were going to play beer
pong! We had a great picnic table for the game and we started it up.
Mela had played before and considered herself a pro, while Camila
had never played this drinking game. Being Canadian, I obviously had
some experience in the game of beer pong. However, this night I
failed. I was awful, I rarely sunk a ball. It was a terrible night
to be a Canadian. Camila, however, did great! She surprised us all by
winning most of the rounds.
It was during one of these
rounds that we were approached by an aboriginal, absolutely drunk out
of his mind. His name was Allan and he was adamant that he wanted to
be our friend and join in with us. It was not difficult to see the
longing looks he gave the bottle of rum that sat on our table and the
looks he was giving Mela, even extending his hands to touch her hair.
This was getting uncomfortable so I decided to try to lead him away
from our table and back over to his friends on the other side of the
camping ground. It was actually a difficult task, as Allan tried to
sit down and stay at our table, but with the help of an older
Australian traveler, I managed to convince him to return to his
friends. Crisis averted!
I returned to the table
and we switched games over to California Kings! We enjoyed the rest
of the night and capped it with some Modern family.
And then it was on to
Litchfield National Park! I had a good feeling about this next stop
and was excited to reach it. Our first visit was the termite mounds.
Giant, magnetic termite mounds. Australia is rich with termites and
we had seen smaller mounds all up the west coast and on the drive to
Darwin, but these ones were different. Reaching up to five metres
tall, these mounds housed millions of termites, and displayed
magnetic characteristics. They were also aligned in a north-south
direction in order to shield one another from the harsh rays of the
sun at midday. An impressive feat.
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| Termite Mounds! |
Next, we made our way to
Florence Falls. This was to be the start of my weekend adrenal rush.
Florence was a beautiful waterfall, standing at twenty-five metres
tall, and featuring a dual shower of cascading water into a large
pool. Unfortunately, we had to share Florence Falls with other
swimmers. About thirty others in fact. It was the weekend and it
seemed like everyone had driven down from Darwin to experience
Litchfield NP. Families, students, teenagers, and tourists had
flocked to Florence and coloured the water with their bathers. Mela,
Camila and I swam around the pool, enjoying the cascading water of
the falls upon our heads. I saw a few people jumping from cliffs
around the falls and I immediately wanted in. I climbed a little
ways up the falls and dove into the water. Such a great feeling. I
then followed some of the crowd up a cliff wall, hanging onto a tree
that had squeezed itself into the rock, and flipped off the ledge
there.
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| Florence! |
There was a taller ledge
on the right side of the pool and I had seen a few people jump off
that so I made my way up and found a girl sitting up there, afraid to
jump. And to be honest, she had good reason to be afraid. There
were rocks visible in the water that would definitely inflict some
damage on a jumper. So I climbed further up and to the right. I saw
a spot in the water that seemed to be a decent place to land, and
began to psych myself up for the jump. Before jumping, I paused and
enjoyed the view from the top. Beautiful. Absolutely beautiful.
And then with a final look down, I jumped from the ledge. As I fell,
nearing the water with every passing millisecond, I saw a mrock that
was way too close to where I would land. I entered the water, my
eyes focussed on the large rock that was only a metre away. I was
lucky I had missed it. Way too close for comfort. However, this did
not strike the fear of God into me, and I surfaced, excited and
looking for my next jump. I found it by looking up at Florence Falls
herself. I had seen a few people jumping from the twenty-five metre
height, so why not me.
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| Oh hi! |
I climbed up the falls,
taking care to place my feet and hands in solid grooves and using the
occasional tree root to pull myself up. I made the top in good time
and took a look around. Just like the previous ledge, the top of the
falls offered a spectacular view. As I looked down, I noticed I
had the attention of the other swimmers in the pool. I knew then
that I couldn’t disappoint. I spent a few minutes judging the
water below, deciding the best place to land. This was the tallest
height I had ever jumped from so I needed extra psyching to let go
and jump. I switched my position on the ledge, threw my arms back
three times, paused, and dove. As I descended, I flipped my body in
a somersault and landed in the water feet first. I plunged deep,
dragged down by the momentum of my jump. I remember looking up at
the day light through the water and reaching for the surface. I
broke through the water and took a gasp of air, my face breaking into
a smile. I had just flipped from Florence Falls and I loved it!
Fortunately, I had gotten Camila to film my jump so I have a record
of all of this which I have shared on my Facebook.
We left the adrenalin rush
of Florence and spent the evening at the Buley Rockhole. This was a
nice calming way to end the day, relaxing in the rock pools. At the
camping grounds we met our neighbours and shared their fire. They
were from South Africa and we enjoyed conversing with them about
their country, their travel experiences, politics, science and the
universe. It was an interesting evening.
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| Tolmer Falls! |
We begin the next day with
a trip to Tolmer Falls. This waterfall was much taller than Florence
and the pool below was closed to visitors due to its sensitive
ecosystem. The three of us took the walk around the falls, leaving
the recommended path near the end and making our way into the river.
Mela and I continued through the rock outcrops and the water on
towards the cliff. We discovered an arch that extended over the
river at a height of about ten metres, and I immediately wanted to
make my way onto the middle of it. I slid across the rock and hung
my legs over the edge of the arch. It felt cool to be sitting there,
enjoying the surrounding view. The adrenalin rush had begun.
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| Wangi Falls! |
Next up was Wangi
(pronounced Wong-guy) Falls, a spectacular dual stream waterfall with
a swimming pool. Unfortunately, a crocodile had been spotted in the
water, and the pool was now closed to visitors. We walked the trail
up to the top of the falls and enjoyed the view our effort had given
us. As we walked back down, I stepped off the path to get a picture
of the falls from a different angle. I was in my swimming trunks and
felt my leg snap a spider’s web. I froze and looked down. There,
sitting on the left leg of my trunks was a golden orb spider. I
freaked, yelled a little and sent the spider flying with a swipe of
my hand. I did not want to get bit! I later found out that the
golden orb will leave you with a nasty bite, but it is not that
dangerous. Phew!!
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| Das Golden Orb! |
Camila began to feel the
heat of the day so she stayed at Wangi Falls while Mela and I drove
on and explored Greenant Creek and Tjaetaba Falls. We then moved
onto the Cascades, walking up to Curtain Falls. As we sat in the
pool, Mela removed two beers from her bag, Toohey’s Extra Dry. It
was a great way to experience the falls.
On our way back to the
car, we began collecting firewood for the night. After storing it
all away in the trunk, we reached for the car doors. They were
locked so I looked to Mela to open them. She stared back, and then
the realization dawned on me. The keys were in the trunk. The same
trunk that we had stored all the firewood and subsequently closed
just seconds ago. This was not good. We had no spare key, we were
about thirty kilometres from Camila back at Wangi Falls, and darkness
was soon approaching. I knew exactly what I needed to do. Springing
into action I alerted two other travelers in the parking lot and they
offered to drive me to a place to make a phone call. I knew the
ranger’s station was not too far away and would have both internet
and phone service, which is what I needed to secure our safety. Mela
would stay with the car while I went with the tourists, a couple from
France. Upon reaching the ranger, I explained the situation to him
and he let me use his office. It takes me three phone numbers, but I
finally reach someone who can help us. They arrange for a guy to
drive down from the nearest town, however he would arrive later that
night probably around 9 or 10pm. I say probably as they had only
succeeded in getting his answering machine. So, I had no idea if he
would truly be coming to help us tonight.
I left my information with
the ranger, who was incredibly helpful. He was actually a former
geologist so we talked a little about rocks and the industry.
The French couple drove me
back to Mela and I thanked them for their help. I decided the best
thing to do was for myself to remain with the car for the night and
for Mela and Camila to go back to the campsite where our tents were.
I waved down the last remaining tourists at the Cascades and got them
to take Mela and pick up Camila along the way, dropping them off at
the camp. I learned that the tourists, a New Zealander named Dean and
his girlfriend, would be driving back in my direction on their way to
their camp. So I convinced him to bring back my tent, so I could
camp out in the parking lot if it came to that.
I waved as they drove off,
leaving me in the dark. Alone. This was the first time I had been
truly alone in a long time. And I mean isolated. There was probably
not another human around for fifteen kilometres. It felt weird. I
began pacing back and forth, waiting for Dean to return. The
surrounding forest was filled with the sound of night. Crickets
chirped and lizards crushed leaves beneath their feet. I began
attributing louder sounds to snakes and crocodiles, pacing faster and
faster. And then I stopped. I looked up at the sky, and yelled into
the night. It was not a yell of anger or fear. It was simply a yell
to establish my presence in the darkness.
It felt great.
Over the next thirty
minutes I would continue to yell at the sky. I protested the
injustices of the world and of my life. I decried the shortcomings
of humanity, our mistakes and my own. It was just me and the
universe, and I was showering as much abuse as I could upon it.
It was all very
therapeutic.
Dean returned with a flash
of his headlights, my tent in tow. As he helped me put it together,
he shared a few stories of his own. It seemed like Dean was quite
the character and had been through his own fair share of crazy
events. Once I was all ready for the night, Dean bid me farewell and
good luck. I watched his car lights disappear around the corner and
begrudgingly let the darkness take me again. I knew I would be
seeing perhaps two more car lights tonight. The rangers would drive
by the Cascades to do their nightly check and the second pair of
lights would hopefully belong to the guy who was going to unlock the
car.
I decided to hop in my
tent, zipping it shut. As I sat there, I heard more and more ominous
sounds coming from the bushes. And then I heard the dingo’s.
Their howls penetrated the night, sending shivers down my spine. A
lone dingo was no problem but if I was stuck in the middle of a
feeding frenzy of several of them, well I would be in some trouble.
I remained in my tent for an unknown period of time (my phone was
dead) until I heard a vehicle approaching. I stepped out of my tent
in anticipation. I knew it had to be the rangers and I was right.
They pulled up to my tent and asked me if I intended to wait it out
in the parking lot. As I began to reply, a second pair of lights
came around the corner. This had to be the guy! But, in fact it was
Dean! He had returned as he and his girlfriend were concerned when
they heard the dingo’s. He offered to take me back to his camp
ground where I could tent until the morning or until the guy came to
unlock the car. Unsure of what the night had in store, I agreed.
The rangers took note of where Dean was staying and said they would
alert me if they heard anything.
I traveled back with Dean
to his camp where his girlfriend had just prepared spaghetti for a
late dinner. I joined in, appreciative of their generosity. Sitting
around their fire, Dean and I shared a few swigs of scotch and traded
stories. It was a great way to spend an hour, and I was happy with
my decision to join them. And then we spotted the car lights. This
car seemed like it was searching for someone, so I ran over to them
and it turned out to be the rangers! The guy had arrived and was
waiting to unlock the car. Oh happy days!!
I drove back with them and
met the guy who would save the night. He was quite pleasant for
being out in Litchfield National Park at night and quickly made
progress, pushing back a corner of the driver’s door to allow room
for a coat hanger. After a few failed attempts, he succeeded in
unlocking the door. Unfortunately, our vehicle did not have a button
to unlock the trunk. So he went through the back seat, pulling it
forward and reaching into the dark trunk. He exited the car less
than a minute later, keys in hand. A wave of relief surged over me
and I thanked him profusely for his help.
I pushed the keys in and
turned. Ignition! I slowly drove into the night, aware of the
dangers darkness tends to hide. I returned to Dean’s camp,
retrieved my tent and thanked him for all his help and generosity.
My night may have gone very differently if not for him.
It took me half an hour to
return to my camp, driving slow and sending vibrations of deadmau5
into the night air. It had been an exhilarating day and cruising
along was a nice way to cap it.
I arrived back at camp at
ten thirty and alerted the two girls of the success. We would be
driving to Darwin tomorrow and I wanted one final swim at Florence
Falls so I convinced Mela to wake early with me. I set up my tent
and fell asleep, glad to finally rest my head.
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| Florence in the Morning! |
The next morning, Mela and
I drove to Florence Falls and made our way to the pool. I realized
that we were the first people to visit this morning and stressed the
importance of keeping an eye out for crocodiles. This freaked out
Mela a bit, but we both wade into the water. It felt great to be
there without the throngs of tourists and I climbed up the rock wall
to have one final jump.
After having my fill of
Florence, we quickly drove back to get Camila. She had been worried
yesterday when there was no sign of Mela or myself for hours. But
she was glad everything had turned out ok and we began our drive to
Darwin. There was only one problem. We needed to be in Darwin at
9:45am to return the car and not incur a penalty. It was now 8:20am.
This was going to be tough.
As soon as I exited the
park, I began speeding. Most of the ride was spent driving at
160km/h with the occasional stretch of 180km/h. It was not safe, and
yes there were some close calls. Perhaps too close. But we reached
Darwin with ten minutes to spare!
On our way to Darwin, Mela
had called to book us a hostel, and we were told that there were
plenty of rooms left and that we did not need to make a booking.
However, this was not the case upon our arrival. The hostel we had
called was full. So we went to the next hostel. Full. How about
the next hostel? Fully booked as well. We raced down the street, a
feeling of anxiety creeping over me. We made it to the YHA and asked
if there was space. And by a stroke of luck we were rewarded with a
room!
We breathed a collective
sigh of relief. It had been one hell of a weekend, a continual
adrenalin rush that never seemed to end, but finally we could rest.
We were now in Darwin!
Australia Adventure: Phase II!
Australia Adventure: Phase III!
Australia Adventure: West Coast Story Pt 1
Australia Adventure: West Coast Story Pt 2
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