Litchfield National Park

Litchfield National Park is awesome.

There are loads of interesting things to do and campgrounds with good facilities. It would be brilliant to live in Darwin as Litchfield is only about 100km to the south, an easy day trip or brilliant place to camp overnight if you wanted bush getaway without driving too far.

There are caravan parks in the nearby town of Batchelor, or you can tent camp at one of many Parks and Wildlife run campgrounds within the National Park itself.  There is one campground for caravans and campers within the park and it is at Wangi Falls.

We spent the first 3 nights at the Litchfield Tourist Park just out of Batchelor, near the entrance to the park.  After Katherine we discovered that our dual battery system was STILL not right and we needed to adjust it.   Jenny and Ross did a lot of testing and found that everything is drawing directly from the second battery; when the caravan is connected this equates to a significant load (16 Amps from the caravan fridge, 3 Amps from the caravan battery charging unit, 2 Amps from the caravan electronic stability control, 6 Amps from the car fridge, 1 Amp from the car UHF and probably another 1 Amp from the caravan indicator and brake lights). After much discussion, they decided that it would be more sensible to run the caravan fridge directly off the primary car battery, which would halve the load on the auxilliary battery. Jenny spent half a day back in Batchelor (where there was phone service) doing research and calling some decidedly unhelpful and rude auto electricians before deciding to get the necessary parts sent up to Darwin from a supplier in Melbourne and just do the job herself.  Ross had wired his own up and would provide assistance.

Once we were all back at the Litchfield Tourist Park, we explored the sites at that end of the national park before taking a day trip into Wangi Falls 45kms away to check out the campground.  We had heard that you need to get there early to get a van site and didn't want to risk taking the vans all the way in only to find we wouldn't fit. It all looked good and we had no trouble moving there the next morning, even scoring 2 sites next to each other.  We were camped about 200m from the falls and huge swimming area so it was easy to keep cool in the heat.  There is no power at these campgrounds which meant that we couldn't run the aircon in the van so regular swims were needed as it gets up to 38 degrees in there during hot days.

After all of the croc filled waterways we have recently visited, it was great to see that most of the swimming holes at Litchfield are continually monitored and safe to swim in.  They still have signs that say the croc danger is 'very low' but nobody pays any attention to them :)

Buley Rockholes

A series of cool, deep pools with water cascading from one down to the next until  the last pool spills over into a continuation of the river.

Jenny and Ben in one of the lower rockholes.

You can see the series of swimming holes behind Ben.

Magnetic Termite Mounds

We have seen a lot of termite mounds throughout WA and NT.  They range in size from small bumps on the ground to 4m tall giants and vary in colour from grey, beige, brown to the red of desert dirt.

We're used to seeing this type of termite mound.

We were therefore intrigued as to why these particular termite mounds were worthy of being a tourist attraction and how they could possibly be magnetic.  It turns out that the mounds them selves are not magnetic, but they are tall and narrow and all arranged in a vast field, oriented the same way (north/south). 

All oriented in the same direction.

Here is an explanation from the Queensland Museum's Magnetic Termites Fact Sheet:

"Modern theories explain the phenomenon as a means to protect the colony inside the mounds from extremes of temperature induced by the strong tropical sun. Protection is particularly needed in the hot summer months that coincide with rains. Other species of mound-building termites can retreat into cool, insulated underground galleries when temperatures in the mound are high. However, northern Australia has heavy monsoonal rains and the areas where the mounds occur are inundated with water during the ‘wet’, so the termites cannot retreat underground and must survive the summer
heat in the mound itself.  In the morning the sun shines full on the eastern face of a magnetic mound. At this stage the western face is not only in shade, but also insulated from the hot eastern face by the thick, solid core of the nest. Temperature measurements show that there may be up to 8ºC difference in temperature between the two surfaces. In the afternoon the reverse happens and the western face becomes much hotter than the eastern. At midday, the hottest part of the day when no shade is cast, only the thin upper edge of the mound is presented to the sun so minimum heat is absorbed. It has been shown that more termites can be found in galleries on the western face in the morning and more on the eastern face in the afternoon, so there is obviously a pattern of migration to cooler parts of the nest during the course of the hot daylight hours.  Experimental rotation of mounds to an east-west orientation has been shown to upset the temperature pattern inside the mound causing an overall rise of up to 6ºC in internal temperature.  To build ‘magnetic’ mounds the termites must be able to sense the direction of the earth’s magnetic field. It has been suggested that they do this by means of magnetite in their tissues, as has been shown in other animals, such as dolphins and pigeons that orient themselves without access to visual guides."

Florence Falls

There are two ways to get to Florence Falls from the carpark and we chose to take the 350 (ish) steps on the way in and the pleasant walk through the forest on the way out.  The falls aren't as big as some we have seen but they are still beautiful and you can have a nice cool swim there.  The place was packed when we arrived and the ever present insane French tourists were again putting on a dazzling display of stupidity.  The pools at the base of Florence Falls are full of large submerged rocks and you can actually stand up on one right in the middle of the pool.  This didn't stop the Frenchies though, they were climbing up the walls and jumping in and one of them even dived in. It's doubly unbelieveable - firstly that they would do such dumb things, and secondly that it seems to nearly always be the French guys and girls.

View from the lookout.

In the swimming hole.

Shady Creek walk back to the carpark.

Wangi Falls

We went to Wangi Falls several times, once to check out the campground and swim and then a couple of times each day that we stayed there.  The swimming area is huge and there are two falls flowing into it.  They have catered well for the huge numbers of people who come here by providing a picnic area, cafe, information centre and paved steps with a handrail to enter and exit the water.

There is a natural 'spa' a couple of meters up the face of the left hand falls which are relatively easy and safe to get to. We all went in with the kids and enjoyed the remarkably warmer water. 

The steep wall of the face of the falls above the natural spa looked slippery and dangerous so of course some idiot decided to climb up it (after all of my bagging of the French, this moron was Australian!).  Entertainingly, once he made it up there, he got stuck and then spent the next half an hour with a large audience as everyone there watched him creep slowly down, realise there was no path and then climb back up again.  I could hear a woman who was swimming with her husband about 20m away from me remark "what a dickhead" as they watched him.

I had one of those 'am I a bad person?' moments because I had no concern at all for his safety and only wanted him NOT to fall because I didn't want Ben to witness a horrible, bloody accident.  He eventually made it down and in case you were wondering if he found the experience worth the effort, I heard him remark to his friend that the cave at the top was "damp and smelled like bat shit".

All sorts visit Wangi Falls.  Another time we were swimming, 2 huge overweight guys dressed as Minions walked to the water's edge, stripped off their costumes and went for a swim.  Unfortunately, despite us all scrambling for cameras (we were in the water at the time) nobody got a photo!

This was another campground where we had wildlife really close.

In the bushes just next to the van.

Breakfast snack for this little guy.

Greenant Creek

The hike up to Greenant Creek was hot and it was obvious that a fire had recently gone through as everything was burnt, it still smelt of smoke and larger logs were still smoldering.  There was a small plunge pool at the top but it was a little mossy so when Jenny and Ben went for a dip they made sure to keep heads clear.

Steep trail through burnt out trees.

Jenny and Ben having a cool off swim.

Ben was very concerned to learn that Green Ants bite you and then squirt you with acid.  Thus began a science lesson about what acid is and the many different types there are.  

Lost City

We drove down the 10km 4WD track to the Lost City, cracking the obligatory jokes about having found it.  It isn't in fact a lost city at all, it is a large area covered by huge sandstone slabs that resemble the ancient buildings of a long lost civilisation.  It is a very cool place and would be as spooky as hell in the dark.  I can imagine all kinds of Blair Witch type creepiness there.  The boys loved running through the slabs and climbing into the many caves and we had to keep reminding them to watch for snakes, spiders, bats and other critters.

We found the Lost City!

Lots of places to crawl through.

Into another cave.

Boys exploring.

Walker Creek

We tossed up as to whether we would do the Walker Creek walk as the day we planned to go was really hot and sunny.  It is a 3.5km round trip and only the presence of swimming holes all along the trail convinced us to give it a shot.  We took ample supplies of water and jelly babies and set off.

This is such a great walk!  Along the trail there are eight side trails, leading to secluded riverside campsites with swimming holes.  There are no crocs in this creek so you can swim in any of them.  It would be awesome to bring in your tent and camp here for a couple of relaxing nights (evidenced by all the sites being taken).  We decided to try to hold off on swimming until the farthest point so we could swim and then know we were heading for home.  The first campsite had a lovely pool and that was a good goal to aim for on the return journey.

Hot walking!

Benny struggled a bit in the heat, especially after the big hike to Greenant Falls the previous afternoon.  He soldiered on though, buoyed by the promise of a cool swim at the end.  This walk was not without incident.  Jenny, Ben and I had stopped for a drink so Ross, Barb and Daniel ended up ahead of us.  We got to a branch trail going to one of the campsites but Jenny walked down there a short way and couldn't see them down there so we continued on the main trail.  Ben wanted to catch up to Daniel and was quickening his pace just as I heard a yell behind me and saw that Jenny had tripped and was sprawled in the dirt about 10m behind me with a nasty graze on her leg.  I went back to her and checked she was ok only to see Ross, Barb and Daniel walking up the side trail from the campsite.  I turned to tell Ben that Daniel was here but he was nowhere in sight.  I called his name and heard no reply.  I yelled really loud and there was no reply.  The trail continued ahead up a hill and disappeared over the crest about 250m ahead.  By this time we were all yelling and I ran up the hill, seeing nothing but empty trail on the other side.  My brain went into stupid overreaction mode and started whispering "Dingo's got my baby!" and "snakebite!" and, since Jenny had recently told me all about the movie 'Wolf Creek', "psycho serial killer!"  I yelled Ben's name again and finally got a response from far down the trail.  He had been really keen to catch up to Daniel and so had run to find him, not realising that Daniel was actually behind him!

That all sorted out and all parental heartbeats returned to normal, we continued along the trail to the 8th campground.  The creek had saved the best for last and we had a fantastic swim at the water hole there.  The water was really warm and we were able to stay in there for ages.

Ben and Jenny made leaf boats to sail down the mini falls.

By the time we had walked back to the cars we were all sweaty and gross again, more-so when we climbed into our roasting hot vehicles.   We had another swim back at Wangi Falls and tried to cool down outside our vans (no aircon here so they were hot boxes). Unlike previous nights, the bugs that night were horrendous and we were driven inside, taking an extraordinary number of the flying critters with us.  It was not our most comfortable night but the day had been brilliant and we knew we were headed for Darwin and a powered campsite again the next day.


Tabletop Swamp

Tabletop swamp is teeming with life.  Mostly insects.  We didn't stay too long :)

Yep, it's a swamp.

Mt Bundy Station

After patching up the van and agreeing that we would need to skip the dirt road into the Douglas Hot Springs, we headed for our next stop, Mt Bundy Station, which is about 5kms from the town of Adelaide River.

Lou had spent time there when she was 3-4 years old and had visited there briefly a couple of years ago.  She was keen to stay there and look around.

We set up our vans in powered sites, glad to have the luxury of aircon back.  The first thing we noticed about Mt Bundy was the abundance of wildlife.  There were horses, a shetland pony, several Indonesian buffalo, Nigel the bull, loads of wallabies, birds, crocs in the lagoon and river, frogs and dogs.   Ben had a great time feeding Nigel and patting the horses and we were all surprised when the pony decided to take a look into Ross and Barb's van.

A very friendly pony.

The sign says "Only enter the paddock if you can cross it in 9 seconds.  The buffalo can do it in 10."

There is a pool with a gate but no fence, the Adelaide River running along one side of the property, a giant Banyan tree and loads of amazing WW2 history.

Huge banyan tree.

Big red roo out in the paddock.

 The Australian and US Armies were stationed there during the war and we went on a 4WD tour through the property with a very informative guide, Bill and his dog Pickles.  There are remnants of old barracks, offices, sheds and communications buildings (mostly just decaying concrete slabs now), rusty vehicles, ammunition shells, tools, bottles and bits of metal scattered throughout the property.  Bill showed us an old airstrip and the paddock where the airforce planes were parked for maintenance and refuelling.  There is apparently unexploded ordinance scattered around and he has collected many shells, casings, old gunnery equipment and other aircraft parts.

Spent shells.

An interesting way to toilet.  The soldiers would do their business here and once a week they'd just set fire to the lot.  The methane gas would produce an inferno.  The chimney funnel prevented the built up gas from causing the whole thing to explode (which would have been messy!)

The tour ended with a spectacular view of the sunset from atop a hill with cheese, crackers and a drink to accompany it.  

Ben, Jenny and Ross with 2 other guests and Bill the guide on the right.

Nice silhouette.

We all had a great time at Mt Bundy and we will definitely go back next time we pass through here.

Umbrawarra Gorge

We could easily have stayed at the beautiful Edith Falls for much longer but had to move on.  We packed up, ready to set off for our next destination but ended up having an unexpected detour back to Katherine.

As we were pulling out of the Edith Falls campground Ross noticed that their van brakes weren't working so we spent some time in the carpark troubleshooting before Ross called an auto electrician who said he could take a look at it in Katherine.

We drove the hour back there and while Ross and Barb had the van and car looked at we took the opportunity to stock up at the supermarket and go to the hardware store to fill our gas bottle.  We have to take the bikes off the front of the van to get into the toolbox where the gas bottles are stored and while we were doing that we noticed that two of the nuts holding the support arms in place had come off.  We are lucky that the bikes hadn't come loose and been damaged and were particularly lucky to have noticed before we took the dirt road to our next campsite.

If you're going to realise that you urgently need to buy nuts and bolts, being stopped outside a hardware store is the place to be!  We were able to fix the bike rack then and there while we waited for the gas bottle to be refilled.

We also purchased a tall plastic bucket with a good lid as we have spoken to several people who use them as emergency clothes washers.  Before a long drive you half fill it with water, add washing detergent and dirty clothes then lock the lid down tightly.  Then you just pop it in the back of the car or van and the agitation of the bumps along journey washes your clothes for you.  When you arrive you just need to rinse the clothes and hang them out.  It's a great idea!

Luckily it didn't take long for Ross and Barb to be ready to go and we set off for our next stop - Umbrawarra Gorge.

As we drove towards the turnoff we saw a giant plume of dark smoke coming from the bush near the gorge.  There are fires all over the place up here, most set deliberately to clear out the undergrowth and they are such a regular occurrence that nobody seems to worry about them.  They don't seem to burn far or fiercely although we have seen many a large tree stump that looked to have been smouldering for days.

We decided to play it safe and check with local authorities but found it surprisingly hard to contact anyone.  After trying half a dozen different fire, police and national parks numbers we finally got hold of someone who told us that the fire was no danger to where we were going.

The road into the gorge was 20km of dirt, and again the van struggled on the corrugations so we had to stuff the stove with towels and sponges.  We realised that we needn't have worried about the fire coming through here because the trees and landscape were blackened and some of the logs were still smoking so it (or another) had obviously recently passed.

The campsite at Umbrawarra Gorge is pretty small and is very uneven.  There are probably a dozen spots and 4 or so were already occupied.  We did a few laps looking for somewhere the 2 vans would fit that was flat enough and stopped at a site about 10 feet from a family in a big tent.  As Jenny backed in I noticed that the woman was giving us a look and I said hello and just to confirm said "that's not too close is it?" knowing full well that it wasn't.  Most caravan parks would have you closer than we were and I was very surprised when she replied with a hostile "Actually, it is."  I said "really?" in disbelief and she said "really!".  What a cow.

We could have ignored her but in the spirit of avoiding unpleasantness I said to Jenny that we may as well move to another spot.  Funnily enough the only other site we fitted in was on their other side, with the back wall of the van the same distance away from them as the first time.  Ben jumped out of the car and made friends with their kids and we relished the look on the woman's face when she awkwardly realised that her kids were making friends with the kid of the people she had just been really rude to.  Love it :)

We walked into Umbrawarra Gorge the following morning and it was more of a tricky long walk next to a river than a gorge walk.  We encountered was one beachy swimming spot along the way but we decided to wait until our return journey to have a swim.  After an hour or so we decided to stop in a shady spot on some rocks while Ross went ahead to see if there was much more to see.  It was getting really hot and the path had long since lost any definition, leaving us to clamber over rocks and pick our way as best we could along the river.  While we waited for Ross the boys built a shelter out of sticks and leaves before sitting under it for a picnic.  They'll be well prepared if they ever want to go on Survivor one day.

Walking into the gorge.

Swimming spot.

Master builders having morning tea.

Ross finally reported back that the rest of the walk was very difficult and not overly rewarding, so we headed back to the van and set off back to the highway.  Despite padding everything we could in the van, on the road out (which was not really that bumpy) the top part of the tap unscrewed itself and popped off, a hinge came loose leaving the cupboard door hanging and some of the screws holding the stove in started coming undone.  So much for having a 'semi offroad' van.  We were supposed to be heading for some hot springs but decided that we needed to avoid any more dirt roads until we had done some repairs. 

Katherine Gorge and Edith Falls

Katherine Gorge was a weird, slightly disappointing destination.   

We intended to stay for 2 nights, having planned to do the short, loop walk to see the gorge and then a longer 4.5km each way walk up to a rockpool we had read heaps about.  Ross also wanted to put his kayak in the water and paddle up though the first few gorges (there are 12 or so making up ‘Katherine Gorge’).

Our first surprise was the price of the sites.  $58 for a powered site and $43 for an unpowered was the most expensive we have come across in our whole trip.  We didn’t need power so booked for 2 nights in the unpowered section. We were about to walk out when I mentioned to the girl behind the desk that we were going to do the rockhole walk the next day.  She said that there was no water in the rockhole and then when Ross asked about kayaking she said that there was also no water in the first gorge and he couldn’t use his own kayak because they only portage their own boats (which you have to pay to rent of course). 

That left us standing there realising that there was little for us to do other than the short loop walk.  We were only planning the long walk to the rockhole because it meant that the boys could have a swim in between long hikes there and back.  With no cool down swim on offer and no picturesque rockpool to see, the hike had lost its appeal.  It is super hot during the days at the moment so a swim would have been very necessary.  

We felt sure that we were missing something but it really is the case that you can only see the gorges there if you pay for a boat ride (over $300 for the 3 of us to go), pay for a helicopter ride (even more $), hire their kayaks or canoes ($80-90 per hour and they wouldn’t let Ben go anyway as he is too young) or do a minimum 10km walk, which the boys wouldn’t be up for.  

We ended up changing our booking to only one night and as it was too hot to hike that afternoon, had a couple of swims in their pool that afternoon. Unfortunately there must have been way too much chlorine in the pool and Jenny did a lot of underwater swimming with her eyes open. 
That night she was in terrible pain with red swollen eyes. We did many eye baths, pain killers and cold compresses but it took several hours before she could see properly and for the pain to subside.

Great Pool but too much chlorine!  Not much else to do for less than $300.

There was a wallaby family near our caravans and they came to visit us, sitting under the vans to keep under the sun.  They were hanging around the leaking water tap so Barb gave them a bowl of water that they eagerly drank.  The joey was very cute.

  

This little guy had a crook back leg.

Sneaking out after resting in the shade under the van.

We walked the loop the following morning and saw the river which was very much full of water, leaving us to wonder why Ross hadn’t been allowed to put his kayak in.  We couldn’t see the gorge at all.

Like I said, it was weird.  We stayed at Katherine Gorge but didn't actually see it, so we packed up and made our way up the highway to Edith Falls.

Edith Falls

The Edith Falls campground is really nice and we had two sites opposite each other with a grassy area (complete with sprinkler) in between.

There are several walks and swimming areas, one of which is right next to the campground.  It is awesome and is one of Lou's favourite places so far.  There is an enormous natural pool at the base of the falls with the river flowing out of the far side.  Near the bank on the campground side is a small island which is an easy swim for the kids to reach.  The water is cold but the days are so hot that it is really refreshing.  Loads of people make the long swim across to the base of the falls, with pool noodles being the floatation aid of choice.

Great little swim spot.  You can stay close to the shore...

Or swim right across to the falls.  Hello Lou!

We were planning to do a long walk out to Sweetwater Pool the following day.  It is 4.5km each way and the pool is apparently wonderful but we spoke to a few people who had done walks over the previous few days and they said that it gets so hot that such a walk would be too much, even if we left early.  We decided instead to walk to another swimming spot at the top of the falls, a shorter walk.

The walk to the upper falls is just over 1km up some really steep steps.  We stopped half way at 'the green seat' that the kiosk manager had said has phone reception.  While we had a rest and drink we were able to check some emails and try to arrange some van repairs.  We were glad that we had decided against the longer walk as by 10.30am it was already unbearably hot.

Walking to the upper falls.

The upper falls are fantastic.  There are two main pools that you can swim in with a huge rock island between them.  After the hot walk, it was wonderful to jump into the cold water and we had a great play there with a bouncy ball.  We all played catch and then Ross and Daniel had fun throwing it up into the water at the top of the falls and watching it flow down into the swimming pool again.  

Ben and Jenny on the rock in the centre of the pool.

Upper Falls.

Throwing the ball with Ross.

After the hot walk back we swam in the campground pool again, played cards and caught up on the olympics using Ross' satellite dish. The main challenge was just trying to stay cool.  When we are free camping we can't plug into power and so can't run the air conditioner in the van. It can easily get up to 39 degrees in there so we open up all the windows as wide as they will go and hope for a breeze.

 

Katherine

Our first day in Katherine was spent doing at least 10 loads of washing as well as hosing the down the van, which was covered in red dust.  The car was in better shape - it had been kicking up all the dust and just pulling the van right through the clouds.

The caravan park we stayed in has a restaurant called 'The Big Fig' and we went for dinner one night.  The seating is all outside under a big fig tree (hence the name obviously) and fairy lights are strung around the tree.  The food was nice but they really struggled to tell me which meals had egg in them.  It was like they'd never been asked about allergens before.

Ben collects bottle tops and was stoked when the lady behind the counter gave him a full bowl of the ones she had accumulated through the evening.  Some of the XXXX ones had trivia on the back so that provided some entertainment too.

Katherine isn't as big as I had imagined and most of the shops were shut by midday on the Saturday.  We wanted to have a coffee and nice sandwich for lunch but finding a cafe was impossible.  We ended up with pies and coffee from Brumbies, eaten standing up in the shopping mall because there was no seating.  Luckily there is a big Woolworths and we were able to stock up on everything we needed for the next few days.   

We visited the nearby Cutta Cutta Caves and did a one hour tour with a very non PC tour guide.  She cracked slightly inappropriate jokes and was very knowledgeable but said "in saying that..." every second sentence which was a little distracting.  She said that the caves were named by the local Aboriginal tribe in the 80's at the request of the government. The elders came into the cave, saw the sparkling rocks inside and named them Cutta Cutta, meaning 'Many Stars'.

Rock formations on the roof of the cave.

Sparkling rocks.  Cutta Cutta means 'many stars'

That afternoon we also went to the "Top Didj Cultural Experience" where we spent a few hours with a local Aboriginal man called Manuel.  He was awesome and told us about his childhood and his culture.  He is obviously very motivated to share his culture and was honest about the challenges that his people face.  He is frustrated and disappointed that the young Aboriginal people have no interest in learning the traditional ways - it must be devastating to see your history and culture being lost so quickly.

Manuel playing didgeridoo for us.

He played didgeridoo, sang for us and told us about some of the rules within the tribe that govern who they are allowed to marry and how their family structures work.  He showed us how to paint in the style of his tribe and we each did a small artwork following the seven steps that he outlined.  We tried making fire by rubbing sticks together and then had a go throwing a spear at a wooden kangaroo using a woomera (spear holder).  At the end of the afternoon we met a rescued wallaby joey called Annabelle and the boys fed her pieces of sweet potato.  They wanted to take her home and thought she was the cutest thing they had ever seen until the owner brought out two more baby joeys, so small that they are still wrapped in blankets and being fed only milk.  This was one of our favourite afternoons of the trip so far and if you ever go to Katherine you should definitely go and meet Manuel at this experience.

With Manuel and our paintings.

Ben making fire.  It's hard work!

Ben about to let fly.

Ben and Daniel with Annabelle.

Lou with a joey.

Ben with a joey.

Our second awesome experience in Katherine was going to the 'Katherine Outback Experience' show.  It was at the property of Tom Curtain who is a horse breaker/trainer, working dog trainer and country music singer/songwriter.  He combines all of these skills in the show which starts with a demonstration and explanation of horse breaking.  He took a flighty, feisty young horse who had never been handled and over the course of an hour or so gently persuaded her to tolerate being touched, having a rope around her neck, a bridle, then saddle, then rider.  He finished up that activity cantering around the ring on her.  It was absolutely fascinating.

Get away from me, human!

Now happy enough with a saddle on.

Riding!  Amazing transformation.

He then brought in his own horse which he has trained to roll out his swag for him and lie down.  He got out his guitar and sang a song on horseback (sitting), sang one later on horseback (standing!) and another whilst riding and guiding the horse with his legs while be played guitar and sang.

He and the horse had just been lying down on the swag.

They brought out a couple of buffalo, a mule and Brahman cow for everyone to pat and the boys got to water down the buffalo with a hose.  We were then treated to a working dog demonstration which concluded with the dogs riding on horseback before they ended the show by allowing us all to play with half a dozen puppies.  It was awesome, interesting, enlightening and fun.  We loved it!  Tom's songs are also great so we bought his CD too.

Ben watering the buffalo.

Playing guitar standing on horseback.

It is interesting being up here in the outback and gaining a different perspective on things.  They talked a lot about the impact of the live cattle export ban and how this show that they are doing was born of necessity when all of a sudden, cashflow into the cattle business dried up.  Tom went from having 15 horses a month to break/train to none and he ended up gigging 4 nights a week to earn money.  Even the local beautician in Katherine closed as overnight they lost 30% of their clientele.  Things are only just starting to recover now, and tourism is playing a big part too.