Just a short 1300km trip

1300 km, that's how far it is from Kakadu to Alice Springs. The journey is long and dare I say it, rather un-adventure like. But as these travelling crusaders have learnt, there's always a bit of fun to be had to break up a boring road trip. 

Suzy Q & Co. provide the following suggestions:

• A swim at the local thermal pools (Mataranka) - while the warm crystalline waters are said to have powers to ease aches and pains from a long road journey, in all honesty we found the unexpected-and-not-included-in-the-brochure slight smell of sulphur somewhat off-putting

• Count the caravans game: It seems the grey nomads have flown their southern nests and are heading north for the winter. The number of caravans in the parks, rest stops and on the road is more than we have ever seen. Our counting got us to an average of one per kilometre - that might not sound that much, but remember we've just travelled 1300km in a few days!

• Cheer loudly upon passing a 'no speed limit sign' and then explain to the kids the difference in speed capacity between Suzy Q and a Ferrari.

• Hold some baby northern yellow-faced turtles found in the local river and all say 'awwww'.

• Stop in at an historic pub with quirky but cool collectors items and people drinking beer at 1030am. Join in the drinking ritual with the locals but whisper the word 'light' when ordering a beer and order food as well for good measure.

• Accidentally stumble across a rodeo next door to an historic pub and have a ball watching men and women be bucked off bulls and broncos for an hour or so.

• Discover the UFO capital of Australia only to wonder if it is self-proclaimed given no empirical evidence was observed and the town seems to consist solely of a caravan park.

• Find some big metal things.

• Stop at the Devil's Marbles and read the sign saying 'no climbing' after taking a photo of climbing.

• Admire the Anmatjere statues at Aileron, too big to just drive past without stopping.

• Find the awesome vehicle for the next big adventure in a car park in Alice Springs. We named him T-Rex. Suzy Q was too scared to park next to him.