Day 19, Katherine to Darwin

Wednesday 17th August, 2011 Day 19…

Odo start, 9,223 K's

Odo end,  9,601 K's

Distance Travelled.  378 K's

Accommodation, Darwin FreeSpirit Resort, $150 for a Poolside Ensuite Room…

I packed up and left Katherine at 8:00am, i had a relatively short run into Darwin today. The road ahead looked smokey or overcast, it was hard to tell…

I discovered later that it was both smokey and cloudy. I saw a scenic route option at Hayes Creek, this rejoined the Stuart Highway at Adelaide River, so i decided to go have a look. about 500 meters before i saw the sign, i had just passed a 4 trailer road train, as i was approaching the first trailer, the truck hit a pot hole and what looked like a cubic meter of red dirt fell from the chassis and hit the road, so i found my self on the wrong side of the road overtaking a 73 Ton 50 meter long truck at considerable speed blinded by a massive cloud of dust and peppered with small pieces of rock! This may have had something to do with my decision to take the scenic route : )

I rode along a nice twisty narrow road with limited views to Litchfield National Park on my left. There had been some roadside burning off, and the contrast of the blackened tree trunks and new green vegetation was worth getting the camera out for.

I finally arrived in Darwin at 11:15am, i went straight to Startrack Express to pick up my tyres then off to refuel. 19.35 Ltrs @ $1.49.9/Ltr $29.01

New tyres about to get fitted..

Holeshot Kwaka were great, a bit exxy but they squeezed me in for the tyre fitting and oil change at 1:00pm I had to run Motul 7100 Synth as they had no 5100. They even washed the bike for me…

With all my stuff fitted back on the bike, i headed for the Darwin Tourist Information Centre to get info on Litchfield, Kakadu and accommodation for the night. I tried a couple of backpackers on Mitchell Street but everything was booked.

I decided to run out of town to the caravan parks, to spare you the gory details, i think the chicken sandwich i had for lunch was responsible for a bout of Delhi Belly, so i lashed out for a private poolside room with ensuite : 0

I saw enough of Darwin today, so tomorrow i am straight into Kakadu, i will either camp there or move on to Litchfield and camp there. There are a couple of waterfalls i want to photograph.

Twin Falls at Kakadu, Tolmer, Florence and Wangi Falls at Litchfield.

The guys at Holeshot Kwaka told me that apparently the Gibb River road is badly corrugated, if this is the case, i will ride in as far as Home Valley then turn back for the bitumen. I am hoping that the grader gods are with me and the road has been graded recently. The new tyres may also help with road conditions, i guess i'll find out in a few days.