Bullshit, bulldust and...well, bulls...

So it was with a heavy heart that I bade farewell to Darwin, I'm not sure who's heart it was but it certainly wasn't mine. I should probably look into giving that back at some point.

Kakadu National Park, green, very green.

I took a short trip into Kakadu National Park, because that is the done thing around these parts. A few waterfalls, some rock 'art' and a bit of bush camping later, and I was firmly back in the travelling groove. I have a hard time getting too excited about Aboriginal rock paintings, some are interesting, don't get me wrong, I just don't 'feel' it, if you catch my drift. I wonder if in years to come we will be touring round London underground stations, marvelling at the graffiti covered remains of the tube trains, wondering at who exactly Wayne and Tracy were, and what exactly it was that they 'did' there. Who can say?

Rock 'art'

Headed south from there down the highway to Mataranka, before breaking with the bitumen to head east on the 'Savannah Way', a mostly gravel, sand, water and dust track linking up with Queensland on the east coast. Certainly beat travelling via the highway at least, although the road-house at Roper Bar certainly knew how to take advantage of the location, by charging the most I've yet to pay for fuel in Australia.


Please deposit soul at counter before filling tank

A few encounters along the route with large (200m long or more) sections of the infamous Australian 'bull-dust', certainly served to keep the mind awake and the body aching.

Gosling One, lying down on the job

Of course me being me, I thought it would be quite nice to have a bit of a lie down half way through one patch of bull-dust, just to get the full effect. Trust me, the places I ended up with dust in you don't even want to hear about.

Orange is the new black for 2007, trust me

If you don't know what this bull-dust stuff is, just think about riding through knee deep icing sugar, only without the potential for making tasty cakes, and you'll pretty much get the picture.

In addition to the bull-dust, there were also plenty of bulls, cows, kangaroos and various other critters that were determined to make the best possible roadblock they could.

The immovable object meets Gosling One

All good fun, and despite their murderous intentions, I managed to make it to the lush and very, very green state of Queensland. Certainly quite a departure from the dry and dusty conditions in the Northern Territory, it's even been raining for the past couple of days, which actually makes for quite a refreshing change. First time in about four months that I've actually needed to break out the waterproof liners for the riding gear. Saves you getting wet from the rain, but you get just as wet from the sweat, so I'm not altogether convinced of the usefulness of said items at the moment.

Not having my bird book to hand, I shall hazard a guess and say Kookaburra, sheltering with me from the rain.

I have a couple of days in Cairns, catching up with emails, doing some much needed washing (a service to mankind at this point) and hopefully sorting out Gosling One with some nice new rubber; in preparation for the stint up to the top of Cape York.

Ever get the feeling you're being railroaded?