Itinerary summary:
Day 1
Darwin - Litchfield National Park - Katherine
Day 2
Katherine - Elsey National Park - Daly Waters - Kunjarra - Tennant Creek
Day 3
Tennant Creek - Devils Marble - Alice Springs
Day 4
Alice Springs - Kings Canyon - Yulara
Day 5
Uluru - Olgas - Yulara
Day 6
Yulara - Alice Springs - Darwin
Day 7
Darwin - Singapore
The trip that took me almost a year to research and wait for is finally here! I finally made it to Central Australia, thus completing my Australian journey covering all states. *beams*
We arrived in Darwin early in the morning. After we collected our rented car for the week, we drove off for breakfast and did a quick stock up at Woolies before we hit the road for the next couple of days.
The first leg of the journey was towards Katherine, where we will lodge for a night. The initial intention was to check-in before heading out to the national park. However, as Litchfield National Park is located in between Darwin and Katherine, we thought it would be far better to stop at the national park before heading back to rest in case we couldn't drive back in time before the closing hours.
And we did just that! From Darwin to the outer entrance of the national park, it took us about 90 minutes drive. The initial plan was to get to a few scenic spots along the way. However, some of these routes are meant for 4WD and since we only hired a standard car, we decided to abide by the rental rules and stayed on the route meant for standard cards.
From Batchelor, we drove along the way and that was basically the starting point of the many termite mounds that can be found along the route to the Red Earth.
While in Asia, termites are despised and annihilated immediately if seen, it appears that termite mounds can be a popular tourist attraction to the people Down Under. These photos were taken at the Magnetic Termite Mounds. If you made it during one of the guided tour hours, you may be able to catch a guide explaining the rich properties of these mounds and its usage among the aborigines.
Upclose view of an inactive mound. These mounds actually have medicinal properties if you dare to consume them. We were told by the guide that one can tell if the termite mound is still active by observing its colour. If the mound is in brown-orange colour, it is likely to be active while the ones that pale in comparison or whitish in colour are likely to be inactive.
From the termite mounds area, we drove a further 6km to head to Florence Falls and took a short hike. It was an awesome sight of double waterfalls on a hot afternoon. From the carpark towards the falls, it took us approximately 25 minutes. Florence Falls has spiritual significance to the aborigines.
We also passed by streams of really clean water. Ah, the beauty of nature unpolluted. Don't worry about missing the turn to the falls because there will be quite a lot of people taking a swim and having a picnic by the waterfall.
As with many national parks in Australia, there will be sights of beautiful barks and plants making a sheer canopy to cover you from the heat.
After spending some time at the falls, we hiked back to the carpark on a different route and this time it was really similar to baking under the hot sun! We were walking in the heat of the afternoon but thankfully the walk was no longer than 3.2 km.
Since Katherine is about another 3 hours away or so, we decided to make a quick detour for lunch at a bistro in Batchelor. From then on, we drove all the way to Katherine and lodged for the night at Palm Court Budget Motel.
The second leg would be a much longer drive so we rested early for the day to gear up for the next day.
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