In which Darwin becomes a little less muggy.

I'm back in Alice Springs after a week in Darwin. This time around, I got a first glimpse of the Top End in the dry season. Whilst it was still hot and a little bit muggy, the air was decidedly less thick and there was even a bit of a breeze some days. My Darwin week is always very full on — work usually hectic with lots of meetings (on Friday at 4.00pm I stepped into my seventh meeting for that day) — and to top it off, I had a Criminal Law assessment due during the week. I also discovered I had failed (miserably) my first assessment (ever). Not just a smidgen-under-fifty-per-cent fail, but a walloping great capital 'F' fail.

Nothing says quick fix like eating a dripping mango and butterscotch ice cream next to the sparkling ocean. We spent a lazy Saturday wandering along the jetty and foreshore, spotting fish (well, Peter pointing them out to me) and always on the lookout for a crocodile. Being the paranoid desert dweller I kept imagining that I'd see them in any and every waterway, and even dreamt of crocodiles while I was there.

On Saturday night, we went to the Deck Chair Cinema and sat under the stars to watch the movie 'Tracks' about a woman's camel journey from Alice Springs to the Western Australia coast. (I wrote about the book that inspired the film here.) The movie is wonderfully shot and many of the scenes were just as I had imagined in the book itself. It also helped having the Pitjantjatjara translated quietly next to me by Peter during the scenes with Mr Eddie, the elder from Docker River who accompanied Robyn along a section of the trek.

And now, I'm back home with the dogs and the chooks and the gum trees in dry river beds.

Territory traversed.

Isn't this place glorious? I'm still pinching myself that this idyllic lush, green carpeted dell is in the heart of Central Australia. We've covered some ground this Easter long weekend.

On Friday, we brunched lazily at the Roma Bar in Darwin before jumping in the car to begin the 1,500 km drive south towards Alice Springs. We didn't leave early, figuring that every man and his dog would be hitting the road. As it turned out, we needn't have worried; the roads were almost deserted and we had a clear run out of town. We didn't rush. The landscape transitioned from thick, tropical vegetation, thinning out gradually to termite country, with big skies and long, gold-coloured grasses, punctuated by trees.

We stopped in at the Hi-way Inn near Daly Waters for fuel and a loo break. A poster on the door advertised that the North Sydney Girls school orchestra would be playing a free concert there that night. The swimming pool in the caravan park tacked onto the side of the roadhouse was brimming with squealing first violinists and cellists and violists, clearly making the most of their free time before the show began. There wasn't any sign of an audience, so far; we didn't stick around to see the performance.

The sun began to set over the grassy plains and it was becoming so lovely that we pulled over to take photos. We decided to drive on to Tennant Creek, where we could stay overnight in a motel and rest our eyes. We woke before the sun came up, jumped straight in the car and were back on the road well before dawn. The sun inched above the horizon, casting red and pink and gold across the country, which was now the familiar red dirt rocky landscape of the arid centre.

Along the way, just out of Ti Tree, we approached a van on the side of the road and a couple of women, greying hair and bright, mismatched patterned skirts, waved us down. We pulled up and wound down the windows.

"Morning," they called out cheerfully. "You got any matches?"

We didn't, not even a lighter. "Sorry, we don't have any," we said.

"Ah. That's okay," said one of the women. "We want to make a cuppa tea," the other explained. "We got a flat battery."

We looked over our shoulders to the van and at the back, curled up on a canvas was an old fella, one of their husbands, presumably. We didn't have any jumper leads, either. They didn't seem bothered - someone would come along who could help - first, with the tea. Then, the van.

"It's okay, thanks for stopping," they said cheerily, waving us on our way.

And after a while, the MacDonnell Ranges drew near, carpeted by a sea of green after our recent rains in Central Australia. Then, the Alice Springs sign welcomed us home.

On Sunday, we loaded the dogs, the tucker box and swag into the car to head out for a night under the stars. We took the Ross River Highway east out of town, turning off onto a four-wheel-drive track. The photos above are where we spent a lazy evening, wandering along the riverbed, reading, relaxing and cooking over the coals. The golden sunlight through the trees was just magical. We had the grassy spot to ourselves and the silence - oh, the silence! We lay awake for ages just gazing at the stars in the inky sky, pointing out satellites and the odd shooting star.

The sun rose through a dip in the rocky outcrop surrounding our camp and we set about our morning camp chores lazily. A hot chocolate, a bacon and egg sandwich and we were on our way, the dogs tuckered out on the backseat.

A delightful long weekend spanning the length of the Northern Territory - perfect.

I hope your weekend was as wonderful as ours!

Other places: Exploring the Top End.

We spent today exploring the a little corner of the Top End, as I enjoy a weekend with Peter following on from a quick visit to Darwin for work. After visiting the popular Parap markets, we headed out of town. (I was going to say 'headed south' but to be honest, I am still finding my sense of direction completely askew here in Darwin. I think we eventually made our way south. Anyway, I digress.)

First, a little zip around Humpty Doo (yes! that's really what it's called!) before reaching Batchelor. Best known these days for the tertiary institution of the same name (Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education, or BIITE), the small town with a population of just less than 500 people lies near a former uranium mine called Rum Jungle. We stopped at a butterfly farm for lunch on a breezy and eclectically-decorated verandah.

Next stop was Berry Springs Nature Park, a popular picnic and swimming spot during the dry season. Since it's still considered the wet season, the swimming holes were closed, with water levels high and turbulent. We umm-ed and ahh-ed before deciding to continue around and head north through the Cox Peninsula. The end of the road brings you to Wagait Beach, a small and sleepy coastal community. It sits almost directly opposite Darwin with a stretch of clear blue water between, which is traversed several times each day by a ferry service. This means a 130 km trip by car becomes a 15-minute boat trip - very handy for residents who commute for work or school.

Dark and foreboding clouds cracked open for a heavy rain shower on our drive back, but in true Top End style it soon passed. I'm looking forward to being able to explore some more of the Top End - including Kakadu and Litchfield - during the dry season. Tomorrow, it's back to Alice Springs for the week ahead!