From Katherine, we zipped first for a couple of hours on blacktop, then hit the dirt of the Central Arnhem Highway for three hours to get to Mainoru, a green pitstop and comfy campsite halt before early morning departure.
The second leg is a long day driving 9 hours for 420 kms to Nhulunbuy. Crossing bone jarring corrugations interspersed with long, smooth stretches through woodland, the road covering varied from sharp rocks, deceiving rocky outcrops, to bulldust, claytop and sand.
We pass herds of wild donkeys with twirling tails and twitchy ears; and family groups of buffalo, the bull flaring his nostrils for the scent of danger.
Towards the end, joy of joys, we met a grader smoothing our woes for a while.
A final stretch of bitumen led us past Rio Tinto's giant, bauxite mining infrastructure to Nhulunbuy.
We booked in at Gove Boat Club's campsite to put our feet up with a chilled glass of white wine.
During the night, the cursed female sandflies, pinhead small but hugely itchy, got through a slightly open sidewindow and woke us at dawn for their slapup meal of our blood to nurture their eggs.
The town lookout gave us an overview of the Gove Peninsula.
Then we went via the modern church to the tiny centre, and on to the local wetlands to view birdlife from the hide.
The evening highlight was a wine, oysters kilpatrick (more on those later) and crackling pork dinner at the Boat Club to celebrate my captain's receipt of her UK pension. It was a true, informal Aussie occasion, with mobs of high-speed kids playing tag between the tables as the sun set and the sandflies scrubbed up for dinner too.
Back at camp, we sealed the open window and marinated ourselves in deet which successfully kept the bugs at bay. However around 2.30am, Rob's gurgling stomach heralded the triumphant return of the Kilpatricks and a starlight dash to the bathroom where the bottom dropped out of my world. A celebration too far. Pensioner dyspepsia before dementia!
Next day, we unsuccessfully spent several hours on the phone trying to sort a high voltage problem with our mains charger. Solar still worked, so we delayed a fix until return to Darwin.
In the afternoon, we drove 38km to Daliwuy Bay. The last 11km dirt section was tough, but the mangrove lined bay is spectacular.
Our campsite had ringside seats at the water's edge where an osprey caught fish and was mobbed by whistling kites. A large ray created much excitement when it burst straight out of the water and flew for a few metres before diving back.
At Rainbow Cliff we camped in a great spot overlooking the sea with resident honeyeaters sipping grevillea nectar.
At sunset, the cliffs glowed in warm, red colours. No wonder this is a sacred place.
In the morning, we took a look around the local beaches. East Woody beach has a scenic boulder outcrop where we saw locals with spears going fishing.
First overnight on the return to Katherine, was at the lava rock-lined Giddy River with clear water and the look of being a crocspot.
Moving at a slower speed next morning, we came across magnificent wedge-tailed eagles feeding on wallaby roadkill with a retinue of crows waiting hopefully.
Our halt for the night was Flat Rock Creek where we camped beside murky pools with the resident bowerbirds.
Our final night on the Arnhem Land road was at the green oasis of Mainoru. During the night, I answered the call of nature in the loo shack in the middle of our campsite clearing in darkness. As I exited, I heard the crack of a branch. Suspecting buffalo, I jumped back inside, before hightailing it back to the bus when the coast was clear. Next morning, there were fresh buff footprints outside the loo!
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Arnhem Land, Nhulunbuy, Gove Peninsula, Rainbow Cliffs, Daliwuy
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