Tanami Track

The Tanami Desert
When mum and dad said that we were going to travel 1000 km across desert plains on the Tanami Track,I pictured a hot place with no vegetation, no animals or interesting events.  well it was hardly that.

The first day we travelled to Wolfe Creek Crater and the next morning we went to see the crater where a meteorite had hit.  It was so amazing to be able to see a real crater. We started back on the Tanami Track. After lunch we stopped and saw strange footprints but the next day we saw some camels and the mystery was solved. The footprints were made by camels.

Along the way we stopped at Yuendumu to look at the  art gallery.  There were so many beautiful artworks that we even bought some paintings. Many of the artworks were dot art. It was so fascinating to see so fascinating to see the artists paint.

Facts about Wolfe Creek Crater
*The meteorite hit the earth 300,000 years ago.
* The crater is the second largest in the world.
* The crater was thought to be 120m deep when the meteorite first hit but is now only 20m deep.
* The aborigines tell the story of the crater being formed by two rainbow snakes coming to form Wolfe Creek and Sturt Creek. The crater was formed when one of the snakes came out of the ground. The snake's name was Karlputa who came from the coast south of Broome. The centre of the crater is salty because Karlputa came from the sea.

Gibb River Road

We have finished our quest of the Gibb River Road. We started off by going to Windjana Gorge and seeing a number of freshwater crocs. On the second day we went to Tunnel Creek, this is a very important site to Aborigines because this is where Jandamarra, an aboriginal legend survived for three years. The police had blocked both ends so he couldn't get out but he still did. He had escaped as an aboriginal tracker and was on the run for three years until he was found and shot by another aboriginal tracker. This story is very important to aboriginal culture.
We have seen so many gorges lately, it hard to count them all but they are all special and unique. There have been so many exciting adventures and places we have seen and done. I am sure that if we ever do another trip there will be alot of "have to come back" spots. We have a month left and I hope it doesn't go too quickly. We have alot of places yet to come that will satisfy the human eye. I have also included a photo of a G.T I caught this was not on the gib river road.

Croc Facts

Crocodiles
There are two types of crocodiles found in Australia. Estuarine crocodiles (salties) and freshwater crocodiles (freshies). Both types are only found in the north of Australia and both are protected. Any killing, poaching, or interfering with crocodiles, their eggs or habitat  has penalties up to $10,000.

Freshies
Freshwater crocodiles inhabit freshwater rivers and creeks. They feed on fish, insects and small aquatic animals. Freshies are small compared to salties and rarely grow longer than 3 metres.

Salties
Despite what their name suggests, salties are not found only in saltwater but are sometimes found  in freshwater. Salties are the largest of all crocodiles. They can grow up to  7 metres long. They mainly feed on fish and water birds but occasionally feed on large animals like wallabies. Their size and large snout make it easy to recognise them in the wild. Salties are dangerous to humans.