Distance: 514km
Dep: 10:00am
Arr: 5:00pm
Temperature: 25°C - 36°C
Total distance to date: 9988km
Route:
- Kununnura
- Timber Creek
- Katherine
Caption: We've entered the Northern Territory (NT) which has the total opposite vibes of Victoria. There are no "watch your speed" type of signs, instead, it's "she'll be right".
We started the day by silently mourning the end of our trip in WA. After spending 3 weeks circumnavigating the state, Kununurra is the final town (if coming from the west) before entering the Northern Territory. The last couple of days of riding has been exceptional in terms of how clean and smooth the roads are, and we knew that was about to change today.
Caption: The smallest mountain of the day. Everything after this was much bigger, however, we found it difficult to pull over to take photos.
Packing felt like more of a task than usual, and it didn't help that we were not only in a gated parking lot, but the suites were also barricaded in. This meant bringing out 50kg of separate pieces of luggage, plus our gear, out in 6 trips from the motel suite - including unlocking the gate with a key each time. We left a bit later than planned, but after a breakfast pie and some last sips of water, we were back on the road eastbound to the NT.
Caption: Steph on her MT-09 Winona about to cross into NT.
It was only 30 minutes to the border. The westbound side of the road (heading toward Western Australia) was policed with quarantine officials inside a little hut. If you had any plans to bring in any bananas, you'd better get rid of them now. Meanwhile, on our eastbound side of the road, we were greeted with "Welcome to the Northern Territory!" along with speed signs not seen anywhere else in Australia: 130kph.
Caption: A much greener scene than the landscape we had gone through to get to Broome.
The scenery was alive with lush green bush, a lighter green than what we've seen in WA. More waterways helped irrigate the land, so there was no shortage of water here. A giant stork stood on the side of the bridge as we rolled past. He calmly followed us with his head - we were about the same height and you can imagine my shock when I only noticed him when we were parallel with each other.
Caption: Steph needed a petrol stop yet again, while Nena was able to make it to Timber Creek with 20km left in the tank.
The roads were pretty much vacant aside from the same 4 caravans we kept passing. Motorbikes travel faster but also need to pull over to reapply sunscreen and rehydrate, so the same vehicles would leapfrog each other all the way through to Timber Creek. There was a stark contrast between Western Australian and Northern Territory roads. For one, potholes sprouted up all over as soon as we crossed the border. The NT road looked like a quilt made up of various coloured asphalt bits and pieces. There was a literal rock inside one of the potholes to fill it in. The sides of the road were not cleared or well-kept; in Western Australia there is a noticeable buffer of clear land between the road and the bush so that you have a few more milliseconds to react if an animal came out to greet you. No, not in the NT. Good luck with that.
It proved true, because shortly before entering Timber Creek, a large white bull decided to merrily skip across the road, only stopping to stare at the work ute that we were about to overtake. We caught up with the driver at the servo and he was shocked at how big they can get - and this is his usual commute.
Caption: The tyres are definitely starting to square off now, yet Mr Plug is still going strong.
Mountains started appearing, first in the distance, and then we realised that we are in fact approaching them quickly. So much so, that it had a weird tunnel effect of the mountains looking smaller as we came closer, then suddenly towering over us as we rode alongside them. We had to crane our necks to see the peaks of them, if you could call it peaks. Almost all of them were completely flat at the top, then a layer of soft green grasses, followed by another striking layer of rock, all the way down to the bottom. Imagine multilayered birthday cake, for giants. Other mountains looked like rust-coloured marbles were carved out of them and that they were falling out of the sides but stuck in time. They weren't moving, but each marble was likely the size of a 3-story house, often leaning toward the road as though they'll fall out at any minute.
Timber Creek has a population of about 70 people, and is the only settlement between the WA/NT border and the town of Katherine. It's the only place to refuel for the next 285km, and the first place to stock CUintheNT merch. I always told myself I'd get some merch next time I was in the NT, and now I'm the proud owner of a crass crocodile keychain.
Knowing it was our only lunch stop, and the fact that we lost 1.5 hours due to the timezone change, we grabbed a half-decent sandwich and asked for two chicken tenders.
Girl at the register, handing us the bag of tenders: "No payment. They've been sitting for a while."
Steph: "Thanks! Are they... safe to eat?"
Girl: "Oh yeah. They're just hard now. If you don't want 'em there's some dogs who'd love to have 'em."
Steph taste-tested one and discovered the girl was right, so we finished our sandwiches and placed the loose rocks / previously tenders into the bin.
Our 2nd and last leg to Katherine was packed with bends. One notable section was along a cliffside - it needed a fence to keep vehicles from falling off the side, which was a first of its kind in our weeks-long trip around the Outback. Everything leading up to this has been so straight, so to be on a road like this was euphoric.
Caption: One final petrol stop about 120km west of Katherine. A great place to stop for lollies while we're at it too.
The mountains eventually flattened out into familiar plains once more, albeit with many more trees this time. Northern Territory's top end gets its fair share of rain as well, and even in the 'dry season' the area is teaming with wildlife. We rolled into Katherine with plenty of daylight to spare, just in time to meet our motel neighbour, an older fellow who also owns bikes and is heading to a meetup in Alice with a Bobber in tow. We were equally vertically challenged, and he had a long grey beard, was shirtless and covered in tattoos. He decided he need to find some tartare sauce, so we ended the evening walking with him to the local Woolies and grabbing some Chinese takeaway on the way home. I eventually fell asleep to the sound of Mr. Tartare watching some late night TV through the paper thin walls of this motel.
Tomorrow we head north once more to see our friend Kate in Darwin!
