Where are we? 
A two week tour of Australia’s Northern Territories and the Red Centre
For full itinerary please click here.

Part 4: Kakadu, Katherine & Litchfield
On Sunday night I watched Crocodile Dundee, the iconic film starring Paul Hogan and Linda Kozlowski, a story of a croc wrestling bushman in Kakadu called Mick. Do you know how old that film is? This will make you feel old. This year it will celebrate its 30th anniversary.
 
Kakadu
My first piece of advice for this part of the trip is: Don’t go in the wet season. Most of the park is shut. We visited in early April, which according to Kakadu’s Park Pass pricing system is considered to be the start of the Dry Season. However, after handing over AUS$100 we found that most of the park was shut and still waterlogged, making the fee a very expensive toll to drive on the only road that runs through the park.
 
When they are open, there are some beautiful walks however, and if you get the chance to go, take it. It doesn’t even matter if you don’t like walking. Most of the routes are very short, just a kilometre or so. Ubirr and the Sandstone walks are pretty, as is the climb to the Mirrai lookout.
 
There’s a short walk at Nourlangie, which will give you a flavour of the views, as well as some interesting rock paintings, or if you go early enough you can walk the full 12km. The routes are generally well signposted, although some of the maps and noticeboards are a little worn.
 
Before heading out get advice from the Bowali Visitors’ Centre on what’s open, what to see and what provisions you’ll need. Our girls loved the exhibition at the centre so it’s worth visit, and there’s free wifi!
 
One of the highlights, although a little pricey, was the Yellow River cruise. With an interesting commentary and a guide who had better eyes than a hawk, there was plenty to see. Who doesn’t want to search for crocodiles from the safety of a boat? Just keep all body parts inside the vessel. These snappers really do bite.
 
To cool off from the heat and humidity visit the Yurmikmik Motor Car Falls, which are free of crocodiles. (Don’t take our word for it. Crocs have a tendency to move around with the changing water levels so check before you go.)  The water is clear, clean and cool. Although a linear walk of 7-9km, you can break it up with a short detour to climb to a look out.
 
Katherine
You don’t visit for the upbeat, cool vibe of the town, because it doesn't have one. It’s a pleasant enough place to stop, but our real focus was a visit to the Katherine Gorge. Owned by the local Jawoyn people, the Nitmiluk Gorge, as it is also known, offers an insight into the cultural significance of these rocks. Our guide was brilliant at giving us information on the indigineous way of life, as well as the geology, flora and fauna.
 
We also spent time at the Katherine hot springs. The water is beautifully clean, but unfortunately the river bank has been concreted and reinforced, and the changing rooms are now derelict.
 
Litchfield National Park
Batchelor is the gateway to the park, a interesting little hamlet built on what was a demonstration farm established in 1912 by EL Batchelor. The discovery of uranium in 1949 led to an economic boom, although the mines were shut in the early 1970s.
 
You can spend days exploring the falls and walks of the park, but for a short refresher on the way back to Darwin we dipped into Florence Falls, a double waterfall with a natural splash pool for swimming.
 
If you’ve been to the Red Centre, this circular route at the Top End of Australia is a great trip, especially with children. Whether you’re looking for restaurants and bars, swimming, walking, wildlife, culture or history, there is something for everyone.
 
Trip details
Kakadu:
Where we stayed:
Kakadu - Cooinda Lodge. Tired and could do with sprucing up, but good location, clean linen and great dinner (not so impressed with the breakfast) and swimming pool.
 
What we ate:
Fish and chips, kangaroo burgers and lamb shank from Cooinda. Sandwiches, pastries and ice cream from Jabiru bakery.
 
Katherine:
Where we stayed:
Shady Lane Tourist Park, one of the best I've been to. A clean, neat and pleasant family-run campsite, which also has great little cabins on stilts. The river flooded in 1998, rising to a peak of 20.4m, hence the stilts.

Where we ate:
Not a great selection, but the Katherine RSL Club is the hub of the community.

Part 1: Darwin
Part 2: Alice Springs
Part 3: The Red Centre
More photos
​

Where are we? 
A two week tour of Australia’s Northern Territories and the Red Centre
For full itinerary please click here.

Part 3: Uluru and King’s Canyon
Today is the day we met Joe, from Outback Tour Services, our tour guide for five days. We usually go it alone when we travel, but the Red Centre is one place you may wish to enroll a little help. I could list a hundred reasons why, but I’ll start with five:

• You don’t want to get lost – it’s hot, remote, and full of things trying to kill you,
• There’s a lot of driving,
• You can take a backseat and enjoy the scenery,
• A knowledgable guide will give you an insight into the land, flora and fauna,
• And you’ll cram in more than if you do it yourself.

 
You might think that there isn’t much to see in this great expanse of dust. After all, some of the cattle stations are the size of European countries. You could be a seagull tourist, just flying in and flying out again. But if you really want to get to see why people visit and stay, book yourself on a tour.
 
(If you do go it alone, you’ll need a 4WD, as not all the roads are sealed. You’ll need to know how much petrol and water you’ll use if you’re planning to travel off road. You’ll need a sat phone, as your iPhone certainly won’t work.)
 
Jolly guide Joe was full of relevant information that enabled us to understand not only how the rock in front of us was formed, but what it meant to the local tribes. It’s not just a rock. It’s a snake or a paw print, wrapped in stories that have been passed on verbally and through rock art over centuries.
 
If you’re expecting luxury, you’ll be disappointed if you go with thoughts of crisp white linen and chandeliers. This is not luxury in terms of glamping. The outback is a hard and harsh environment. Aussies are rugged, fit and keen. Luxury camping means that you’ll be offered a bed in a tent with a solid floor instead of a sleeping bag on the ground (although the latter can be arranged, and is worth doing). You’ll be able to sit at a table to eat dinner from plates, although there’ll also be opportunities to roast marshmallows over an open fire. And you can’t beat the glass of bubbly and nibbles on offer as you watch the fantastic sunset over Uluru.
 
Sights to see
Uluru
Let’s face it, Uluru is just a rock. That’s it. It’s a huge rock in the middle of nowhere. Except it’s not. It has a magical spirit that draws in travellers from far afield with a force field that can’t be explained. And the more you learn, the more mystical it becomes. For example, you’re only looking at the very tip of a gigantic rock that sits on its end, reaching a depth of 2.5km below ground. It’s about 3.6km long, 1.9 km wide, and has a circumference of 9.4km. As I say, it’s a big rock. 
 
It’s swaddled in Aboriginal stories and tales that go back centuries, and you’re asked to respect the rock in the same way. You’re asked not to climb it, although you can if you want to disregard the locals’ wishes. Try the 10km base walk instead, which is dotted with paintings and sacred Aboriginal sites. (You’ll be asked not to take photographs of these areas.)
 
Essentially, the rock will question your integrity. It will question your views on how Aborigines and Europeans should live together.
 
Make sure you see the rock from the sunset viewing spot. It’s amazing. The photographs speak louder than words, so click here to see our "no filter' pictures.
 
Also set in the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park are the 36 domes of the Olgas, or the Kata Tjuta to give them their local name. The area has some lovely walks, with the Valley of the Winds being my favourite.
 
Kings Canyon National Park and gorges
We continued on to Kings Canyon National Park, which for some people is the best part of the trip. Beautiful walks, stunning viewing, drops literally to die for so keep hold of your children. As with most walks in this region you need to start early, finishing before 11am, and take plenty of water.
 
The sealed road disappeared into dust as we continued around the Mereenie loop, which took us to Glen Helen and several beautiful gorges, with ochre-red views.
 
I don’t feel I’ve ticked Uluru off my list. I’ve done more than that. With Joe’s help I feel I’ve been able to get under the skin and gain a little understanding of what I’m looking at. I've changed my mind. It’s not just a rock.
 
Who we travelled with:
Outback Tour Services. They offer a range of tours to suit all budgets. We experienced the five day 4x4 Red Centre Adventure as part of a luxury private chartered service, but group tours are available too. They even offer disability camping tours making the Outback accessibly to everyone.

Where we stayed:
Two nights camping near Uluru, one night camping near Kings Canyon, one night camping at Glen Helen.
​
What we ate:
Traditional damper bread cooked on the fire, barbeques, curries and Bolognese. And of course marshmallows.

Watch our video below for a peak of what we got up to.

Part 1: Darwin
Part 2: Alice Springs
Part 4: Kakadu, Katherine & Litchfield
More photos
Uluru in the news. To climb or not to climb?

For our itinerary and destination blog, just click.

Where are we?
A two week tour of Australia’s Northern Territories and the Red Centre
For full itinerary please click here.
 
Part 2: Alice Springs
Alice. What thoughts immediately “spring” into your head? A Nevil Shute novel or a Roy Chubby Brown song? Is this why the name is famous?
 
Alice Springs has a reputation bigger than the small plot it occupies in the middle of a huge, red, dusty desert. Although still 462 km away, most people use Alice as a launch pad for a pilgrimage to Uluru (Ayers Rock), even though the rock has its own airport now.
 
The tourism boom in the outback is still in relative infancy, although there are a few modern chain hotels on the edge of town. Alice may not be the dusty outpost it once was, but if you turn up after 5pm the place will have battened down its hatches. It will look deserted, except for a few bars, where the beer is flowing. Living in Alice is thirsty work.
 
From the air, Alice is nestled on a flat red dusty plain between the spiny backbones of the MacDonnell mountain ranges. Around 25,000 people live miles from anywhere in the red dusty centre of Australia. It is edged by the Todd  River and two hills: Billy Goat Hill and Anzac Hill. You can climb the latter for a great view of the town.
 
During the day, the town comes to life with interesting museums, boutique shops and cafés in Todd Mall.
 
Don’t laugh, but I particularly enjoyed the Old Gaol and the National Pioneer Women’s Hall of Fame. The remoteness of the town makes this exhibition all the more interesting. For a long time Alice was just a lonely telegraph station at the end of the Ghan railway line.
 
Women started to accompany their husbands, who set up cattle stations. They took on roles as midwives, teachers and nurses. With these more feminine skills, Alice became a settlement, rather than a stopping off point. It became a home, rather than somewhere just to water the horses and camels. (Yes, there are camels, from Afghanistan. They were the trains before the railway opened in 1929, and the reason the modern train is called the Ghan.)
 
Its history, however, goes back far deeper as a town in the middle of Aboriginal “countries”. While the mystical and fascinating stories still enthrall explorers, the indigenous population has had a rough ride, seen as animals, and treated as such. With such lack of respect it's little wonder that today’s problems of drink and unemployment may be a reflection of the past.
 
White and black have never fully assimilated each other, absorbed an alternative way of life or become a melting pot of cultures. Whether you look at the situation as Europeans and locals, whites and blacks or infiltrating power and indigenous, the two elements have still not accepted the position of the other, although there are plenty of people on both sides making huge efforts to change things. This isn’t about living in harmony, or even mutual respect. It’s about accepting and living contrasting lives side by side. The Aborigines believe they are tied to the land. Traditionally, there is no time structure in their society. If you’re hungry you eat; if you’re tired, you sleep. That doesn’t overlap well with a modern society governed by clocks, timetables, technology, rules and regulations. There are so many issues that it’s easy to see how this tinderbox could go up in flames.
 
And there are no answers. How do you enforce a structure on a free-flowing society without damaging its culture? How do you create jobs and opportunities for people who don’t seek a European/ Western life? How do you ensure law and order, when the approach of each way of life means accepting the other, and leaving each to their own devices?

Notes on Alice Springs
We stayed at: The Double Tree, Hilton
We ate at: The Overlanders Steakhouse (beef, kangaroo, crocodile), Uncles Tavern (beer and pizza).

Part 1: Darwin
Part 3: Uluru & Kings Canyon
Part 4: Kakadu, Katherine & Litchfield
More photos

Where are we?
A two week tour of Australia’s Northern Territories and the Red Centre
For full itinerary please click here.
 
Part 1: Darwin
Darwin, on first glance, was not a town I wanted to return to. A small isolated place, it was rebuilt after being bombed by the Japanese during the Second World War, and then rebuilt again after being flattened by Cyclone Tracy. You’d think that would give town planners the unique opportunity to create something special, but it’s not pretty. It’s functional, and decorated by too many singlets, tattoos and drunks.
 
But as we know, you should never judge a book by its cover, and first impressions are often deceiving.
 
It has a lovely harbour area, regenerated with restaurants, holiday apartments and a lagoons. There’s a chilled out, relaxed vibe. No-one is going anywhere fast – partly because there is nowhere to go, unless you hire a car and head for the countryside. Which is what we did. Not before boarding a plane and heading to Alice Springs.
 
Part 2: Alice Springs
Part 3: The Red Centre
Part 4: Kakadu, Katherine & Litchfield
More photos
 
Notes on Darwin:
We stayed at: The Double Tree, Hilton
We ate at: The Ducks Nuts (breakfast), Roma Bar (toasted sandwiches), One Wharf (steak)

Christmas is just around the corner, and there is nowhere quite like home for its traditions.

 But every country is different, so it got us thinking: what traditions are we missing out on?

Here are just a few:

1. Smelly feet in France: The Noël season starts on 6th December. Instead of stockings, children leave out shoes for Father Christmas to leave gifts in. Food to try: The Bûche de Noël is a traditional Yule log.

2. Strong herbs in Greece: Families attend midnight mass on Christmas Eve. To ward away evil spirits (Killantzaroi) they hang up sprigs of basil. Food to try: Christopsomo (which translates to “Christ’s Bread”) is a sweet bread baked on Christmas Eve.

3. Put another shrimp on the Barbie in Australia: I’ve never actually heard an Aussie say this, especially as my Aussie friends call them prawns. Anyway, I digress. Christmas is in the middle of the summer holidays Down Under so barbecues are popular on Christmas Day. Food to try: Pavlova with fresh berries and passion fruit.

4. Make them wait in Mexico: Children aren’t allowed to open presents until the final day of the festive season on 6th January, which is called El Dia de los Reyes. Food to try: Salt cod with spicy vegetables, a dish known as bacalao.

5. A 12 course meal in Russia: The Orthodox Church uses the traditional Julian calendar, so Christmas is not celebrated until the first week of January. When the first evening star appears a huge 12 course feast, to represent the 12 apostles, starts. Food to try: Russian King Cake made with three layers. The secret ingredient is poppy seeds.

6. Burn the goat in Sweden: In the town a Gavle, a huge straw goat is built every Christmas, and every year vandals try to burn it down. Despite its guards, it has only survived until Christmas Day ten times since 1966. Food to try: Rice pudding, or risgrynsgröt, flavoured with cinnamon.

And finally:

7. Pants down in Spain, Portugal and Italy: Some villages set up a traditional Bethlehem model. “That’s not unusual”, I hear you cry. These models include a Caganer, which is a figurine with his pants around his ankles caught in the act of defecating. Charming. Now on to food to try: Stuffoli is popular in Italy. They are small nuggets of fried dough flavoured with lemon. Reindeer poo anyone?

What's your favourite family Christmas tradition? Drop us a line.

Margaret River
It's half term and already we have bumped into three families from our children's school. Put simply, Western Australia is the place to be, and in October it’s the perfect antidote to Singapore: the weather is cool, but the sun is warm; there are wide open spaces and fresh air; the countryside is a playground with miles and miles of vineyards, forests and farms; and it’s only a four-hour flight away.

We based ourselves in the small town of Margaret River, in the heart of the wine region. It's a pleasant place with all you need in terms of butchers, bakers and supermarkets (ha – didn’t think I was going there, did you?!), as well as little artisan shops.

We did our best to wear the children out, but in fact have done the opposite. In the evenings, we only have the energy to sip a bottle of local wine. Or I could just be making excuses.

The vineyards
Talking of wine, it is one of biggest enticements for coming here. To be truthful, I’m not a fan of reds from this region. They are a little too dry for me. But the whites are perfect, especially if you live in a hot country; fruity, crisp, clean and tangy.

The easiest way to see the region is to join a tour. As we reached the vineyards we noticed a sign asking: “Who’s the skipper?” It took us a while to realise that, as we didn’t speak Australian, there was a language barrier. We think a skipper is a designated driver, or a kangaroo, or is that a skippy? Goodness knows. Best said, get on a tour, and then you don’t have to worry about drinking and driving as someone else will drive you around.

We joined Neil McLeod’s tour. On family holiday’s they have worked out that people often pack their kids too, and so have created a varied agenda to keep the whole family entertained. On the one-day tour we joined there was a stop at an artisan coffee shop for Dad, four vineyards for Mam, a chocolate factory for the children, and a cheese shop for everyone. Smiles all round. Neil has just spruced up his big red Bedford lorry for a sunset kangaroo safari too. A Margaret River native, he knows the region’s iconic highlights as well as the best-kept secrets.

The manmade
The Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse is about as far south as you can go without swimming to Antarctica. It was built in 1895 to guide ships heading to the eastern ports across the rocks where the Indian Ocean meets the Southern Ocean. Its claim to fame is that it is the tallest mainland lighthouse in Australia, and as part of a tour you can climb to the top.

At the other end of the region, the Busselton Jetty reaches 1.8km into Geographe Bay and is the longest timber-piled jetty in the Southern Hemisphere. The Jetty used to only protrude 161m, when it was first built in 1865, but due to drifting sand and shallow waters it has been extended a number of times to enable ships to unload cargo without grounding. Horses and carts were loaded up, later to be replaced by a train, until the port closed in 1973. It’s a beautiful spot and whether you decided to ride the train or use your legs, it’s worth getting to the end of the jetty to see the underwater observatory. A spiral staircase takes you eight metres under the water so you can get a close look at the corals, sponges and barnacles clamped to the side of the piles, and well as spot the odd fish or two.

The natural
There are hundreds of caves, but only a few are open to the public. Lake Cave, although not large, is one of the most intricate, with hundreds of straws, stalagmites, stalactites, columns and a floating table. If you visit Lake or Jewel you’ll need to be part of a tour. Mammoth Cave is self-guided.

The coastline is pretty spectacular. Drive to the top of South Point at Gracetown for a sweeping view over Cowaramup Bay. From the top of the cliff you can often spot whales, and the odd surfer or two. There are plenty of beaches to choose from too.

Here's an outline of how we spent our time:
Day 4: Drive to Margaret River. A wander around the town and dinner at the Settlers' Tavern, Margaret River.
Day 5: A walk around the trails of Margaret River, lunch at Leeuwin's Wine Estate.
Day 6: Breakfast at Morries, drive to Busselton. Busselton has a fantastic 1.8km pier. You can buy a combined ticket that allows you to ride the train there and back, as well as visit the underwater aquarium at the end of the jetty.
Day 7: Lake cave, lunch at Cafe Boranup, Leeuwin Cape Lighthouse, dinner at Swings Taphouse & Kitchen, Margaret River.
Day 8: Wine, coffee, cheese and chocolate tour with Neil McLeod.
Day 9: Drive to Perth. Lunch at Cottesloe Beach Club.

Where we stayed:
We stayed at Villawarra, a bungalow set back in the bush, with a warm fire, an outside bathroom and kangaroos in the garden.  We booked through Airbnb. 

For more information about our trip, and photographs, click here.

 Fremantle
Just outside Perth, at the mouth of the Swan River, is the chilled out little port of Fremantle. In fact it’s so laid back, you senses will be stimulated as you amble down Cappuccino Strip, passing through clouds of incense, wafting out of shops selling crystals and tie-dyed bags, as well as clouds of less legal smoke from time to time.

Freo, as it’s known locally, is the starting point for Western Australia’s settler history. It was here that the first colonials set up base in 1829, naming the town after an English naval officer, Captain Charles Fremantle.

The town has a number of heritage buildings, which have been preserved, offering their own insight into settler life. The oldest is the Round House, a prison at Arthur Head, which was completed in 1831. However, with the arrival of the first shipload of convicts, it became apparent that it was too small. Fremantle Prison was built in 1850. Between 1850 and 1868, 37 ships of prisoners set sail from the UK for the penal colony Down Under.

Fremantle Prison was used until 1991, when it was placed on the World Heritage List. Today it is open for tours; there’s a surprising amount to see, and no visit is complete without the escape stories and an insight into the harsh conditions (bucket toilets and the hangman’s noose). This was an era when prison was about “doing time” rather than rehabilitation.

The port area is also worth wandering around. Stop at the Little Creatures Brewery for a long lunch or grab a bag of fish and chips. The nearby Western Australian Museum Shipwrecks Galleries will give you some context into life at sea. It also home to part of the 17th century Batavia, raised from the seabed in the 1970s.

Fremantle is a small town and it’s easy to wander around, meandering through the markets and recharging every now and then with a coffee or ice cream.

Fun fact: Swan River was named after the native black swans that cruise up and down.

Places we tried:
Little Creatures Brewery (40 Mews Road): Great food and a fun place. Tours also available.
Gino's (1-5 South Terrace): The place for breakfast.
Cicerello’s (Fishing Boat Harbour): This is billed as the place to go for fish and chips. Fish was great. Chips not so.
Fremantle Prison (Parry Street, Fairbairn Ramp): Family rates available.
Western Australian Museum – Shipwrecks Galleries (Cliff Street): Entry free, donations appreciated.

We booked our accommodation through Airbnb. 

Here's the itinerary we created and our photos.

How to (not) board a plane
“You are kidding me?” It was a statement, rather than a question. I was doing my best to keep my emotions in check while my pitch crescendoed towards a section of the aural spectrum only dogs can hear.

“Sorry but you can’t board the flight because you don’t have a visa,” said the check-in assistant. I’ve travelled to more than 55 countries. I thought I knew how to travel. What I’d learnt is: lesson number 1 - don’t leave all the travel arrangements to your husband.

“I wondered why I couldn’t check in online,” DH (Darling Husband) says.

“But you flew there on business four months ago. Didn’t you need a visa then?” I whined.

“Well, I had a slip of paper, but I thought it was for the lounge,” he mused, having five minutes earlier gone as white as a sheet as he realised that yet again we were at risk of missing a flight. It’s a reoccurring theme in our marriage. Next time I arrive at the airport, I wouldn’t at all be surprised if an alarm went off and the loud speaker announced: “The McClures have entered the building. For your own safety please keep out of their way and avoid eye contact.”

Lesson number two - you may have a British passport, but it doesn’t open all doors. You actually do need a visa for Australia.

So we’re standing in the middle of the Changi airport, the children are bored and we’ve learnt that we’ve (I use the collective term loosely) forgotten this step. There is an hour and half until our flight sweeps off the runway, with, or without us. We have a choice: We can pay $70 per person and arrange to have the Qantas desk file for an immediate visa, or we can go online, and do it ourselves for free. So being cheapskates (or looking at it the other way, saving $280), we took the DIY route. DH’s visa came through fine. Apparently I am, along with my seven and five-year-old daughters, slightly more suspicious. No visa. No travel.

“We’ll keep the desk open another three or four minutes,” said the check-in assistant with a cheery smile. 

I legged it back to Qantas, tossing aside luggage and pensioners in my lunge for the counter, panting and asking with a “pretty please” if they would be so kind as to take my money and get me a visa.

Voila. The doors open; check-in completed, passport control negotiated, a mad run with two small children across the terminal with seconds to spare…to be met by a long security queue at the gate, followed by an hour sitting on the apron. I felt like someone was secretly filming our soap opera, or we were starring in a National Lampoon film.

All in all a fairly relaxed start to the holiday. There was one advantage: I didn’t even mind paying for the wine on board. It was for medicinal purposes.

Oh, did I mention that our luggage didn’t arrive. That’s right: two small children, no toothbrushes, clean clothes or any way of charging our phones. So I’m going to stop here before my laptop battery runs o...

Do you have a holiday disaster story to share? We'd love to hear from you. Drop us a line below.

Here's the itinerary we created and our photos.