The long trek home

Our last full day with the camper van involved a drive north from Katherine to Litchfield National Park; a distance of just over 250kms. The day got off to a rocky start when warning lights and ominous messages (i.e. ‘engine failure 136’ and ‘service required’) began flashing on the dashboard minutes after starting the engine. A series of calls to the rental company eventually resulted in us being told to ignore these warnings. Much to Garry’s indignation, the van manufacturer’s service centre told us someone had called with the same problem on the same vehicle a week earlier.

All these trials set our plan back several hours so we decided to pace ourselves as we drove back up the Stuart Highway. With no cellphone coverage and temperatures hovering in the mid-thirties we weren’t keen on breaking down miles from civilisation. We stopped briefly at Pine Creek, Adelaide River and Bachelor. You quickly learn that most towns in the region are associated with the Overland Telegraph Line, or the railway - often both.


Pine Creek was once the southern terminus of a railway line extending south from Darwin. Visionaries had foreseen it as the start of a trans-continental railway line running to Adelaide; a line that was never built. Today the town hosts a series of old rail infrastructure including a working steam train – which wasn’t operating when we visited. Instead we drove to the town’s lookout where a deep blue lake dominates the view. This was once a working, open-cast gold mine. The pit was flooded in 1993 after the mine closed.

Adelaide River was also steeped in fascinating history. After the Japanese air raid on Darwin in February 1942, the entire township of Darwin was evacuated to this remote place 226kms inland. For the next three years, Adelaide River became Australia’s World War II front line. Thousands of military personnel were based here along with all of their logistical support, including a full military hospital.


Today a poignant reminder of the town’s wartime heritage - an immaculately manicured war cemetery - can be found on the edge of town. 63 civilians and 434 Australian, British and Canadian servicemen and women are buried here. It's also the final resting place ofseven postal workers killed during the first Darwin air raid. They died when a bomb exploded in a trench they’d taken shelter in outside the local Post Office. Garry and I stopped briefly to pay our respects. As was the case at ANZAC Cove in Turkey, the young age at which so many died saddened us, reminding us again of savagery of war.


Our first stop in Litchfield National Park was its famous magnetic termite mounds. Here magnetic termites build oddly flat, oblong mounds oriented in almost perfect north-south axis. The termites build their mounds in this manner to ensure a constant daytime temperature inside the nest as the sun traverses the sky. The end result is an incredible sight. We were greeted by a field of these mounds stretching into the distance like an old, abandoned graveyard.


The final stop of the day was at Florence Falls where we spent a leisurely hour swimming in the icy plunge pools at the base of the falls. Once again, local rivers proved a perfect antidote for the afternoon heat. I’ve been swimming every day for the last three days. I can’t remember the last time I spent so much time in the water. We’ll be stopping off to see several more such falls tomorrow.


This evening as I type this blog Garry and I are sitting under an incredible canopy of stars. Our last night with the camper van has proved a winner. We’re 50kms from the nearest town, on a moonless night, and thus the sky is truly pitch black. Above us the Milky Way is spread from horizon to horizon in a distinctive dusty band. There are stars everywhere, all twinkling. I’ve even spotted, just briefly in torch light, a wallaby bounding off into the bush. It’s the perfect end to our Top End adventure. Tomorrow we’re back in Darwin for two final days chilling on the ocean front.