We left Kakadu at about 9.15am & drove south toward Pine Creek & Katherine. We felt a little sad at leaving Kakadu, where we had been so enthralled with the creatures & the scenery. It is such a special place & we felt privileged to have experienced it.
Our route was more winding & undulating than that to which we had become accustomed & Bob was not able to just switch on to “cruise control” & leave the car to cope – it actually needed some input from him!
Now, it was goodbye to the Dreamtime & back to reality – we began to encounter road trains again & there was also the occasional ominous sign, warning of livestock wandering on to the road from unfenced land. One or two dead animals lay at the roadside – a kangaroo, a dingo & a cow. Our beautiful world had melted away &, with the return of “civilization”, came stress. But, we’ll cope. “Keep calm & carry on!” is the motto.
Katherine was an absolute nightmare – large numbers of people, indigenous & otherwise, were milling about all over the place. The queues in Woolworth’s were unbelievable & some of the trolleys must have had elastic sides, going by the amount of food they were holding! It all seemed so crowded & noisy, particularly after the tranquillity of Kakadu – I couldn’t get out quickly enough!
We passed large herds of hump-backed cattle &, although much of the land appeared to be fenced, the carcasses along the roadside indicated that the animals often found their way through the wire barriers.
We had a message from Judy & Charlie to say that they intended to spend the night at Victoria River & so we headed for the Road House there. We arrived at 4.45pm after a long drive & found ourselves a powered site (no telephone or Internet contact, though). We couldn’t find Judy & Charlie, so will have to look out for them tomorrow.
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