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Chris and Charly Down Under

a travel blog by chrischarly


Bye bye tuk tuks
Bye bye negotiating
Bye bye, 'Hello Mister'
Bye bye long bus rides
Bye bye heavy backpacks
Bye bye savings...
And G'DAY 'down under'!

After plenty of time spent in South East Asia, we have just left Australia after having an amazing time driving around for almost 3 months in a camper and are now in New Zealand doing the same :)


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Lichfield Park

Batchelor, Australia


It was so nice to sleep in an air-conditioned room last night! But woke up and Chris went straight to work mowing the lawns whilst Becks and I cleared the twigs and hoses out of the way.

After that, Daniel took us to go and see the magnetic termite mounds that point from North to south and the reason they do that is to get the sun when it both rises and sets to keep the mounds warm as much as possible.

Quite clever. After, we went to go for a cool off at some pools at Lichfield Park. Nice way to finish off the afternoon.

permalink written by  chrischarly on October 14, 2011 from Batchelor, Australia
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A baby cow!

Batchelor, Australia


I felt like I truly worked hard today! Being on a farm is pretty exhausting at times! Chris and I put up a chicken wire fence that took us 3 hours in the baking hot sun, with the animals not particularly being helpful. The goats kept trying to eat the cable ties and our clothes whilst the pigs kept pushing out the fence in the wrong direction. Pretty irritating but funny and the same time, especially when the goats fell out of the wheelbarrow! But when we did complete it we were pretty proud of ourselves and a little sunburned. Rebecca went out in the afternoon to meet up with a couple of friends whilst the boys went camping so it was just Chris, Cheryl, Rick and I for the evening, so I went out and helped Cheryl move a couple of gates around so the cows had access to a waterhole and walk the dogs. Whilst we were out there, Cheryl spotted a tiny calf out walking on its own at the end of the far field. How she noticed it, I’ll never know as it was so far away, so she went back to lock away the dogs whilst I went to try and grab it. I didn’t have a clue what to do, having never even stroked a cow before let alone go and grab a tiny baby one. So I slowly walked up to it and tried to pick it up, but it was so scared of me so I sat down and stroked it a bit so it could get used to me and tried to persuade it to walk, but it was so weak it just kept collapsing to the ground, so eventually I gave up and picked it up and started walking back.

Meanwhile back at the house Rick and Chris couldn’t believe Cheryl had sent me to go and get the calf, finding it hilarious so Chris came back with Cheryl armed with a camera, whilst I was struggling to walk back the length of the field with the calf (later named Ginger Princess by Chris). As soon as we got back Cheryl made up a milk formula for G.P and bless her, although she could hardly walk she drank 2 bottles until she fell fast asleep in the kitchen in an old dog cage.

Let’s just hope she makes it and is still alive in the morning.

permalink written by  chrischarly on October 15, 2011 from Batchelor, Australia
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Day of rest

Batchelor, Australia


I had a bit of a lie-in today which I felt was much needed and of course Sunday is the day of rest, but I did feel bad waking up at 10:30am whilst everyone else was out working. But I didn’t feel like I could do a lot anyway considering how achy I was after carrying G.P. yesterday, but it was great to see her still breathing this morning as I’ve already gotten very attached. I feel like such a girl! None of us did a great deal today apart from check-up, feed and water a very sick cow that cannot walk and is slowly dying. We originally thought yesterday that this was G.P’s Mum, but then later today we found a dead cow with the same kind of markings as the baby so that wouldn’t give G.P a very good chance as it would be unlikely that she fed on her. Had a good day though, Rebecca, Daniel, Jesse and Brendon came back after lunch and just basically chilled with just a little bit of farm work to do.

permalink written by  chrischarly on October 16, 2011 from Batchelor, Australia
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Jumping Crocs!

Humpty Doo, Australia


Woke up this morning, sorted out and tidied the van as we made the sad decision to leave the farm today. We have had a brilliant time, but must go and do some more exploring. So after saying goodbye for far too long to Rebecca and Cheryl and of course to all the animals we finally left at 1pm heading for Kakadu National Park via Darwin.

On route we stopped off at Adelaide River and took a boat trip to see the crocodiles. It was a really good trip as they tempt the crocs with big chunks of meat to persuade them to jump out of the water and we did get to see and learn about some of the massive ones.

They also fed the white bellied sea eagles and kites which was also pretty scary as they fly straight past you to grab the meat.

We arrived a bit later than planned to the park and after travelling 5kms up a dirt track to a free campsite we came across a huge puddle so instead headed for the next available place to stay for $29.

permalink written by  chrischarly on October 17, 2011 from Humpty Doo, Australia
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Kakadu National Park

Kakadu National Park, Australia


Went for an early swim in the campsite pool to refresh ourselves before our busy day ahead. Firstly we went to Bardedjilidji which was a beautiful 2.5km walk through layered sandstone outliers before stopping off at Cahills Crossing which had a viewing platform over the East Alligator River, where we stood watching some huge crocs coming up out of the water.




Finally we went to Ubirr which was a 1km track that takes you past several fascinating Aboriginal rock art sites, which some are a few thousand years old.

We then climbed to the top of a steep rocky lookout which has superb views over the Nadab floodplain which was beautiful.

Then, pretty tired, we went and found a free campsite and set up early before all the mozzies came out. At about 8:30pm we were tucked up in the van and we started to see lightening continuously 180 degrees around us, and slowly it got closer until the winds started to shake the trees and the van. We were camped out under a huge tree but decided as we were in a forest there was little point moving. So, we lowered the pop-top roof and just prayed for the best. It was pretty scary but a truly awesome storm and we don’t even think we got the full brunt of it luckily as the next morning there were many fallen trees.


permalink written by  chrischarly on October 18, 2011 from Kakadu National Park, Australia
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Another day in Kakadu

Pine Creek, Australia


Got up early once again and took a drive out to Nourlangie and went on a 1.5km walk past an ancient Aboriginal shelter and several more art sites.

We then took a steep climb to Gun-warddehwardde Lookout and saw some impressive views of Kakadu’s escarpment and Nourlangie. After this we went to the Yellow Water Wetlands which is part of the South Alligator River floodplain and walked along a boardwalk to see the wildlife. Unfortunately most of the walk was closed as the water was too high but it was still a nice, if short walk.


We then went to the Warradjan Aboriginal Cultural Centre and learnt many things about the culture and history of Kakadu before watching a video and I fell fast asleep until Chris awoke me.

Then after a quick lunch we drove to Maguk and took a 2km walk through monsoon forest and along a Sandy and rocky creek which led us to a small Waterfall and a clear plunge pool where we went for a quick swim reassured by the rangers that this area had been checked for crocs although later signs suggested otherwise. Next stop to Pine Creek to meet up with Jesse, Rebecca’s brother for a couple of drinks and a pizza before pulling up at the pub campsite, pouring with rain where we camped out for the night.

permalink written by  chrischarly on October 19, 2011 from Pine Creek, Australia
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A lot of driving and Edith Falls

Elliott, Australia


Left Pine Creek this morning with a lot of driving ahead of us as we are now making our way down south to Alice Springs. We camped up just outside of Elliot for the night after driving pretty much all day stopping briefly at Edith Falls for a refreshing swim and Katherine for a bit of shopping.

permalink written by  chrischarly on October 20, 2011 from Elliott, Australia
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Bush fires and the devils marbles

Alice Springs, Australia


The alarm went off at 5:30m this morning to get on the road first thing for an exhausted day of non-stop driving. Drove pretty much all day, with just a brief stop-over at Devil’s marbles which are a collection of round-ish rocks seemingly scattered in the desert.

Chris tried to move them but didn’t have much luck.

Also drove through a bush fire, which was a bit too close for our liking considering we couldn’t see and had to drive on the other side of the road to avoid our jerry cans from exploding. Pretty scary. Then stopped for the night at The Tropic of Capricorn rest stop just North of Alice Springs. Long day, awesome sleep.


permalink written by  chrischarly on October 21, 2011 from Alice Springs, Australia
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First spotting of Ayers Rock

Yulara, Australia


Drove to Alice first thing to fuel up with coffee and petrol and do some shopping before getting back in the van for another afternoon of driving. We found a really nice free camp spot for the night about 30kms away from Yulara with views of Ayers Rock for sunset up a sand dune with a beer; although sunset was a little disappointing. Nice early night in preparation for Sunrise but not a great sleep due to another bad storm.


permalink written by  chrischarly on October 22, 2011 from Yulara, Australia
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The almighty Ayers Rock

Uluru (Ayers Rock), Australia


After hitting ‘snooze’ to many times we did surprisingly get up at 4:45am and drove into Uluru to see the amazing Ayers Rock for Sunrise with a ton of other tourists.

Although it is a rock, it’s still pretty impressive and thought we would make the most of our entry fee and walk around the base 10.2kms and do a couple of the extra walks to the waterhole and a gorge.

Exhausting day and very hot with not much shelter from the sun, so for the rest of the day we were a bit like zombies. In the afternoon we checked into Ayers Rock campsite which although it was a paid sight, was nice to just chill the afternoon away in the pool before heading back out to Uluru to see sunset although that was a non-starter much like last night but an excuse for another beer didn’t hurt.



permalink written by  chrischarly on October 23, 2011 from Uluru (Ayers Rock), Australia
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