Wed. 28th: Up at six and on the road at ten to seven. There were only fifteen of us on the bus as we set off on our six hour journey. The first thing I noticed about N.T. (Northern Territory) was that the speed limit is 130 km. Up until recently there was no limit until there was a bad accident during a ‘Cannonball Run’. I saw quite a few road trains some three and some four carriages long but none more than 55m.
The place is very un-desert like due to the rains. There was water flowing in most of the rivers and everywhere was so green. In a normal year they would expect to get 70 mls of rainfall but so far this year they have had 570mls! There was a noticeable absence of road-kill as the animals do not need to come close to the road to get the nice grass. We even saw two tractors cutting the verges! Seemed a little pointless as there was hardly a house within 100k. When we asked the bus driver why she replied:
“…because they can! It has been ten years since they have had that novelty.” Another highlight of our day was the two (and only) right turns we had to make. Other than that it was all straight ahead. We had plenty of stops for photos and food so the journey was not long in passing.
We passed through two or three cattle ranches each about 2,500 square miles in area. They supported about 8,000 head of cattle. Gives you an idea of the scale of the place.
The place is very un-desert like due to the rains. There was water flowing in most of the rivers and everywhere was so green. In a normal year they would expect to get 70 mls of rainfall but so far this year they have had 570mls! There was a noticeable absence of road-kill as the animals do not need to come close to the road to get the nice grass. We even saw two tractors cutting the verges! Seemed a little pointless as there was hardly a house within 100k. When we asked the bus driver why she replied:
“…because they can! It has been ten years since they have had that novelty.” Another highlight of our day was the two (and only) right turns we had to make. Other than that it was all straight ahead. We had plenty of stops for photos and food so the journey was not long in passing.
We passed through two or three cattle ranches each about 2,500 square miles in area. They supported about 8,000 head of cattle. Gives you an idea of the scale of the place.
No comments:
Post a Comment