balichti

North-Western Australia & the Northern Territory have 2 seasons throughout the year: the Wet Season & the Dry Season - both HOT! My timing & travel plans had me visiting during the wet season. Unfortunatley this means much of the Natioonal Parks (the Kimberlys & Kakadu) are closed or only accessible by 4WD. But the thunder & lightening storms are something to experience. Lightening flashes across the night sky regularly, quite beautiful but difficult to photograph.

 

My flight into Broome was delayed in the air because of one of these storms (interestingly enough, where we were above the clouds was blue skies & sunshine!). Once there, it was hot & sticky the entire time. The hostel was nice & relazing with a pool that was almost never empty. I walked the infamous Cable Beach (practically deserted in the heat of the day) & tried to watch one of the breath-taking sunsets but the clouds blocked my view... Went out to Gantheaume point where - when the tide's at it's lowest - you can see some of the oldest remaining dinosaur foot-print fossils. Broome is also home to the oldest, still functioning, outdoor cinema - Sun Cinema - where I watched James Bond triumph in "Casino Royale". The theatre is set up like a regular theatre with decor resembling the classic old-style theatres, lounge chairs & giant speakers. Only half the seats are covered over-head - the others out under the stars. Quite an experience with geckos crawling across the open-air screen & giant jets flying overhead to land at the near-by airport.

I'd like to come back to Broome one day - experience Cable Beach & the sunset during the dry season. But for now, it was time to keep moving.

 

Next stop - Darwin in the N.T. People say that Darwin is a town to experience, quite unique from the rest of Aus. It was bigger than I expected, but does have a different feel to it, though I'm not sure I could describe it. It is home to many aborigines, and has a slower, more relaxed pace of life than many of the bigger cities.

I was actually feeling a bit lonely & homesick during my 3-days in Darwin - after 11mos of travel, I think I was starting to be ready to go home again... I did however walk downtown to check out the place. It rained that afternoon & the street mall was empty with most of the shops closing by mid-afternoon. Guess people just stay home when they can see a storm's coming.

 

The popular thing to do out of Darwin is camping trips to Kakadu National Park. Since most of the park is inaccesible at this time, & I didn't much fancy camping in the rain again, I opted for a day tour through Litchfield National Park - to the waterfalls & swimming holes. Being the wet season, those waterfalls you can imagine were flowing very well (compared to the dryness of the drought-ridden parts of Aus, the landscape was green & lush!)

It rained a bit in the morning of the tour - but then I was able to witness a beautiful, full, double rainbow! We saw a field of termite nests that looked like a graveyard. And of course about 3 or 4 different waterfalls, a couple that we jumped into for a swim.

 

Thankfully we weren't visited by any crcodiles, which are plentiful in that area of Aus. I did see some at a park in Broome - scary creatures they are. Even the baby ones have a strong snap of the jaw.

 

My whirlwind tour of the west coast came to a close. And with only a couple of weeks left, I once again headed east...

 

B.