Around Alice Springs-Part3

we are going to drive back to Alice Spring , stay the night there and tomorrow move forward toward Adelaide.

The next thing we see is a memorial of a person who had an accident when he was driving his Motor Bike on the road. Actually i have seen some others as well during the trip. since this memorial is on a hill we can have a look at the are around.

 

going further to the Alice spring, there is this amazing view that worth  to stop and spend some minutes to enjoy it.

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To Elsey National Park

waking up at 7:45  in the morning and getting out of the tent,  I can see there are some Kangaroos around us looking for their breakfast .we can get close to them slowly, but there is a moment they realize our presence and run as fast as they can.

 

The camping ground is close to Katherine Gorge, therefore we decides to have a look around the gorge. Like many other things we have seen in the outback so far, this river also has routes in the Aboriginal people stories.According to the story, Nabilil ( NAH-bill-il), the dragon-like creation being from the Jawoyn ‘dream time’, had traveled from Wadeye(Port Keates) many kilometers to the west and decided to rest  at the entrance to the river. His journey up the river and subsequent death created the flowing water  we can see today.IMG_3576.JPGafter the short walk to see the river, we drive further and reach the address we got in the morning by phone from the car rental agency to change our  broken tire. then we can continue our way again with one extra new tire.our way is oh highway No. 1 , or Stuart highway to the south toward Elsey National Park.

we pass some historical memorials , related to the second world war .

Stirling mill , dated 1942 :

 

 

Old Sheep Dip on Mataranka station , dated 1913:

 

The next is Mataranka Aboriginal Army Camp. where Aboriginal people had to serve for a war that was not really their war.The Camp was established by late 1943 composed of 350 Aboriginal workers who were supporting the war effort by working for the Army. Army Aboriginal camps were also set up at Adelaide River, Manbulloo and Larrimah and as far south as Alice Springs. [For the source click hereIMG_3601.JPGand finally is the 45 Australian camp hospital, mainly operated by women. unfortunately  the description in my picture is not readable but if you are interested to know about that you can always look at the article Woman at war by clicking here .IMG_20171024_170110045 (1).jpgpassing all these WWII memories ,we have a chance to take a stroll along a Botanic Walk beside the Roper River. actually I have no idea about the vegetation and different trees on the walk.Botanic.JPG

driving further on the Stuart highway, we arrive on the Never Never Museum. I did not know anything about the novel ” We of the Never Never ” ,and the film which was made based on the novel.  I think in case I heard about that before, I could read the book or at least watch the film , but I will do it when I go back to Germany. If you have watched the movie , it can be interesting for you to know that the movie was produced in this location, actually the building was made to produce the film.

 

Beside the Never Never Museum, there is Mataranka Thermal pool where you can jump in warm water.  It may not be refreshing to be in warm water when the temperature outside is around 33 degree but it can be pleasant. Let’s try it .

we move toward the springs, passing high palm  and other kinds of trees. I hear many birds are crying or shouting and I am wondering what kinds of birds can they be. Just a look upward and see hundreds of bats hanging from the trees or flying on the sky, what I have never seen before, a Bat Garden, or as Alan told me Flying Foxes.

 

It is more interesting when you see the bats are even hanging from the branches extended over thermal springs. I try to avoid looking up , to avoid bat poo on my eyes, and i hope i had nothing on my hair as well.

 

It is around 4:30 PM that we leave the thermal pools to the direction south. we think we will sleep in Dunmarra camping ground tonight. It is around 6:30 PM and we are still on the way, with a very beautiful sunset view on our side.IMG_3689.JPGwhen we arrive in Dunmarra camping ground I can see there is a Petrol station there and there is also an aircraft runway beside the petrol station. So you can imagine that you are in the middle of nowhere again. The temperature dropped down ,and it seems it is going to be a very cold night , those kind of nights in desert.

Note: If you are interested to know more about Elsey national Park, click here.

From Today I try to uplad some pictures of the route on where we passed on the map,and i will try to do the same for the last days later.

 

 

 

Boodjamulla to Borroloola

Time to drive further, after the first 2-day camping and relaxing a bit on Adels Grove. The next stop will be Borroloola , in Northern Territory. There are 2 different way we can select in the beginning of the ride, The first one is just derivable with a 4WD and the second one which is a part of Highway No. 1 . we decides to go on the 4WD- only way. IMG_3415.JPGThe first things we can see on the way is a beautiful outbacky Rainbow. IMG_3411.JPGalthough the presence of rainbow is beautiful it means that there was a recent rain which can make the way on 4WD road more challenging. driving further on the road , and now we are on our first 4WD challenge, a Creek .IMG_20171021_090426726.jpg before we start the way we were told on the camping place that there are gates on the road, to prevent the cows to escape, so we need to get off the car and open the gates and when we pass, we need to close the gates.now I see the first gate with the cows that may not see any car or human for weeks. The same way they are interesting for me, I think I am also interested for them. I can be the first Iranian they have ever seen, i do not know about Ivan. comparing the cows in Australia to what i see when i go hiking in Germany, I can mention that these cows are really thin and the one on the Alps are really really fat . the ones that I see here can run very fast, specially when they see our car, and they have no idea what we are. They just start running like a race hours. I am in doubt if the one on the Alps can compete with them.

although the road is very nice but it is really slippery after the rain last night and not easy to control the car. IMG_20171021_091405158

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this is the trace of our own car we made some minutes ago, we can see in this picture

because of the road condition Ivan needs to drive slowly to make sure that he can control the car. driving some kilometers on this road, we start discussing that if we go with this speed probably we will not reach Borroloola tonight , so it is better to turn back and take the highway number 1 .

according to the map it is 502 kilometers from Adels Grove to Borroloola on the highway, and as I learnt on this trip, the highways are not what we expect from highway in Europe. it is mostly gravel road , where also should be shared with Long Fast Road Trains, or The Killers.IMG_20171021_140033987.jpgOn the way we reach the small city Doomadgee and stop to tank our car. the name seems like an aboriginal name to me. there is not much to see on this long way. at is afternoon and we also feel hungry. soon we arrive on Hells gate Roadhouse where we can have a lunch, a huge huge outbacky Burger as usual on the Savannah way.

On Hells Gate Roadhouse we are not far from Northern Territory boarder, where we need to pass today. In my view, Hells Gate is the gate to Nowhere, is where the road to infinite road starts, as the next Everything is around 320 km. good luck .IMG_20171021_152121337.jpg52 kilometers after Hells gate we reach the boarder between Queensland and Northern territory. IMG_3441.JPGTonight we will be in Borroloola, 250 kilometers of gravel road in front.

Down-under ,A journey to Australia_day 1 _Munich to Sydney

I Wake up at 5:30 am , getting ready to go to the airport.
I left my flat at 6:50 am and took the shuttle bus at 7:15.
I am supposed to be at 8:00 at the airport.
It is my first long road trip ever and I am a bit nervous.
I am not going to be alone ,but I travel with a Buddy , Ivan the Swiss friend who is in love with Australia and New Zealand.
I tell myself, before leaving my flat: hey Meisam،everything is going to be all right,and then lock the door . The journey starts.
I am sitting on the bus to the Airport. Outside temperature is 9 degree with a slightly fog coverring the farms on both sides of the road the sun is shining as well . It is a beautiful day .

Arriving in Doha,Hamam Airport , and if I didn’t not know l am in Qatar, I could believe I am in country between India and South East Asia. There are many foreigners working in the Airport,from India, Bangladesh, and other countries.
Even the guy at the security control asked me where I am from,and he told me that he is from Nepal. This kind of conversation does not happen usually at a security at airport.
The boarding starts at around 18:30. Next stop ,Sydney .