Australia 3

In the afternoon we left to the Kings Canyon, along the road we stopped to do branches hoarding buckets that we would have used the evening to shoot an immense fire. For dinner Mick would have prepared us his specialty: meat of Emu (a kind of ostrich with a taste of chicken vaguely) with a peppers sauce and contour of varied vegetables, all cooked in big pots on the fire. After dinner however I had to clean the pots with a English boy, at the end we had the arms completely black.

Very early the following morning we started the walk around the Canyon, indeed it is worth the punishment to do it the first hours of the day to walk with an acceptable temperature. In around 3 hours we were been able to admire these beautiful rocky formations eroded by the wind. In this occasion I have been able to experiment my trekking shoes acquired for this trip, they revealed essential.

Before leaving again we stopped in an aboriginal reserve where the head-tribe spoken to us of their traditions.

In the evening once arrived to Alice Springs we prepared for the end-tour party; after having dined there with barbecue meats of kangaroo, camel and buffalo we danced; this was probably the group with I was much more enjoyed and I was regretted a little bit to leave them.

The following morning I met the new group composed from around 50 persons we would have crossed the Stuart highway, from Alice Springs to Darwin; for around 800 Km there wasn't a lot of thing to see except the point in which we crossed the tropic of the Capricorn and the Devil's Marble, some strange rocky formations to form of big ball.

On this highway if so is able to call considering that and comparable to a provincial road of ours we met the roads train that are long truck composed by 3-4 or more that must be overcome with a lot of attention. Unfortunately to the sides of the road I saw a lot of dead kangaroos, being the very scarce traffic in fact, the animals are not afraid to cross the road; for this motive, every vehicle from those parts and endowed with a grille that it protects the anterior part of it.

For the night we camped in the village of famous Daly Waters, here you can see one of the more famous pubs of Australia the Daly Waters Pub. From those depart if wonders a beer in can or in bottle this is inserted in a thermal container that maintains it fresh.

As soon as it continues toward north the landscape becomes more and more green, to the borders of what is called Top End it is found Mataranka famous for its thermal sources; after days and days of desert, the bath in this natural swimming pool inside a palms wood with water to 33 degrees and it was very relaxing.

Following was the park of Katherine, after being systematizes us in the camp have gone to do another bath a handle of the river that flows near the camp; to say the truth we had a little bit of fear to throw us in water considering that was everything very calm, seemed that from a moment to the other a crocodile was able to came out!!

In the Top End the crocodiles are very common, they are divided in 2 big categories: the freshwaters that measure 2-3 meters and it seems are not aggressive and the saltwaters that are very big and bad; to say the truth however I tried to stay distant from the one that from the others.

We stopped in this park to visit the Katherine Gorge, it concerns a series of canyon crossed by a course of water; for the visit it's possible to choose between the boat or the canoes.
During the dry season (from May to October) passing between a gorge and the other one is necessary to overcome a series of rocks, the persons that had chosen the canoe had to load it to pass the shoulders while us moved afoot to another boat that waited for us in the following gorge.

Before arriving to Darwin we stopped to the Edith Falls that they fall in a beautiful little pond "crocodile free" and stop another to be able to see Charlie the buffalo hypnotized by Mr. Crocodile Dundee in the homonym film; it is worth the punishment to mention this sets that it finds in proximity of the intersection between the highway and the Adelaide River because there is a kiosk where it's possible to buy good aboriginal crafts; I saw dijerido for a good price (around 80 A$).