Darwin and the journey East

After a stop at the glorious Berri (hot) springs we finally made it to Darwin. A spot where we sorted out a few bureaucratic necessities. Here we also managed to meet up with Tina and Jens; two German acquaintances I met 2 years ago and that now emigrated here (Warm wishes to both of you).


An interesting get together as Laura and me had had similar plans (we still haven’t given up on the thought of emigrating). Generally, it was a time of meeting with fascinating characters who left a lasting impression.

With the clock ticking and the season warming up, we had to move on. Although we should maybe have waited, as 500KMs South, in Katherine, the starter went back on strike and a break caliper decided to have a leak as well. Luckily, Katherine was a large enough town to offer wreckers, part dealers and mechanics. We were in for a 3 day wait as we arrived on a Friday afternoon. Nevertheless, we decided to make the best of it by spending our time at the local hot springs. This break also gave me some time for a spot of programming (yes, I’m a geek).


After a whole day at a friendly wrecker we finally did find a solution for the starter (dirty contacts) but for the brake we could only do a temporary fix. Following the traditional Australian saying: “She’ll be alright, mate” we crossed fingers and continued our long journey East.

The Savannah Way

Since we were feeling adventurous and the eastern direction in mind, the famous Savannah Way (including large unsealed sections) was our choice.

It was also the first long stretch of Australia neither of us had visited before and one of our greatest adventures, especially the scarcely used Limmen Road leading through the equally named National Park. To me, this drive represented the Australia many of us imagine:


Rough as guts, hot, dusty and remote savannah with crocodiles luring in every creek (though we sadly didn’t see any salties), framed by eucalyptus forests. Something we enjoyed here more than anywhere else were the bizarre characters and their habits after having spend prolonged periods of time in this remoteness.

These were a few of the highlights that we came across:

• A bull shaped post box where mail is loaded via its bum.
• A 30+ strong convoy of spectacularly decorated old-timers.
• An hour long discussion in the center of a crossroad.
• A lady that walks across Australia with a push buggy.
• A road house name Hell’s Gate.
• A man who spends his day fishing out the same fish and releasing them.
• Grey Nomads that set up a month long survival camp that gets driven down at a top speed of 20Km/h (maybe that’s why they stay so long).

Another aspect of this road was its lack of famous attractions. A fact that completely changed the type of visitors driving here, particularly the missing tour buses was a welcome change. That didn’t mean we had nothing to enjoy. We discovered abandoned townships, lakes teaming with life, relaxed at the beautiful Butterfly Springs and the unreal Leichardt falls. Not to mention the adventure of the drive itself where you can get a feel how it must have been like to be one of the early pioneers traversing through this rough landscape.