The Central Arnhem Land road

It’s all about the journey - not the destination! That was some of the advice we were given in Katherine before we began this trip. Other advice was that the road was flood damaged and rough so take it slowly & one flippant remark was that we were grey nomads about to write our vans off!! All of the advice was certainly  correct, except for the last one! That was due to the excellent patient and careful driving skills displayed by Dennis and Darryl. 

The journey was really amazing with so much to see. We had a narrow strip of bitumen to begin with but that quickly gave way to dirt!

Our first morning tea was at this lookout over the valley -other stops were just on the side of the road.

We were excited to see donkeys, buffalo, dingo and cattle along the road.

It was lovely to see all creeks and streams flowing - there have been big rainfalls (Nhulumbuy has had 636mm for April) so things are still lush green and wet! Our first night was at this wonderful oasis, the Mainoru store where we set up on a beautiful grassed area and even enjoyed a few drinks at the bar there.

Some cars didn’t make it - dotted along the way are wrecks - usually stripped of parts. We did meet the most popular man along the road and Darryl gave him some advice! He has an enormous amount of work ahead of him! 

The road on the second day was relieved by a strip of bitumen and a freshly graded road but that soon was replaced by an even rougher road so it was with relief we set up at a free camp by a running creek.

By the third day we were actually a bit over the roughness as conditions require such concentration and the shadows make it so difficult to see the holes and ruts so it was quite tiring.  The road on day 3 was wetter and impossible to avoid holes and ruts so we had to crawl through them - reducing our average speed to 23kmh. We took 10 hours to travel 212km. Much of the road was flood damaged and lots of creek and water crossings.

The scenery was so pretty and changed from Savannah woodland to more tropical and if we had less time focussed on the road, we would have appreciated it more! When we finally arrived here, we set up quickly in this caravan park with a view over the sea, then we were advised to dine at the club before meals went off so we dined out feeling tired and grubby but enjoyed a lovely meal and drinks. We were most fortunate to meet at the Mainoru store and again here at the camp a lovely couple from New Zealand, and tonight we’ll dine on their generously donated fish. Thank you James and Kathryn 👏. 

It’s hot and humid here and no pool in the camp so later we’ll be checking out a swimming spot - seeing the beach is croc friendly! What a shame this beach isn’t a swimming one. We’ve got lots to check out here so next blog will be about here. Cheers from the happy travellers ❌❌❌

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