Thief on the campsite, 7th September 2007

Got up early and drove to Katherine Gorge for our day of canoeing. After finding the hut, they told us that we needed to go to the Information Centre to book. When we got there, they said they had no full days left. So we booked a full day for the following day and also a night in the national parks campsite. After that we drove in to Katherine for a better look around. Visited the information centre in town and then drove to Katherine springs. We had our lunch then went for a swim.
Back at the campsite we sat and relaxed, had dinner and looked forward to tomorrow. The couple behind us were having some problems, Hannah heard them saying someone had stolen some food. I got back after washing the pots and Hannah told me, then the man behind us started shouting and banging his hands together. We turned around to see a kangeroo jumping out of their tent. It turned out the kangeroo was stealing their food!

Caught in a bush fire, 6th September 2007

Set off about 8am, heading for our next land mark, Larrimah. The guide book says to stop there for sandwiches from a lady's house. They are supposed to be the best in the area. When we got there the house is on the main road and has boards all out the front advertising different things to eat and drink. The lady had a special on today, roast pork and lamb sandwiches on freshly baked bread.
So after one of each to share (which were really nice) we started driving again. A short way ahead we could see lots of smoke. Hannah was driving and around a corner the road was covered in smoke and as we got closer the trees and grass at both sides of the road we on fire. The smoke got thicker and Hannah had to drive quickly in the middle of the road to be able to see anything. The fire was that close I could feel the heat. It last ed for a few seconds and then we were out the other side. It was a bit like that scene in Days of Thunder with Tom Cruise, driving through the smoke on the race track and not knowing what was on the other side. A bit scary.
After that we got to Mataranka, hot springs. It was mid-afternoon so we stop for a swim. After that we decided that we were so close to Katherine we should just drive on. We found a campsite just outside of town, on the road to Katherine gorge, the place we were going to canoe tomorrow. The campsite was nice and as soon as we were booked i, we saw a man we had meet in Alice Springs. His name is Peter, but not Peter Kay our storker. We got the site next to him and had a drink and a chat with him after dinner. We found out he was going to the gorge tomorrow too but he was going on a boat. It was getting late, so we said good night and we headed for bed.

Devil's Marbles, 5th Sepember 2007

The car seems fine this morning, so we drove to the Devil's Marbles 200km to the north. These are rock formations that are rounded stones balancing on top of each other. A sacred site for the Aboriginals. They believed that the rocks had secret people that if a child was left there to play on their own the people would come out of the rocks and pull the child in to the ground under the rocks. The rocks are various sizes from small stones to 3-4 meters wide. We walked around the rocks and took some great photos. We had a cup of tea and did some more walking across the road to see more of them. After that we had a big drive north, about 270km to Rinner Springs roadhouse. Its is just a service station with a camp ground. We got there to find it a bit disappointing to find a rubbish site and toilets that looked like they were going to fall down. Couldn't go further as its about other 150km. About 2 hours driving! And they charged us more than most sites we've stayed at. So we're telling everyone we meet heading that way, not to stop as there are better sites before and after Renner Springs. We got chatting to a younger couple, one English and the other German. They had been working in Alice for about 4 months and glad to be moving again.