OK, so it’s taken us pretty much a month to get here, but today, we finally leave Western Australia, cross the border, and into another world. (Well the Northern Territory anyway) , the first thing you notice is that the “highway” deteriorates into a collection of bumps, interspersed with potholes (well maybe not a pot more like an industrial boiler sized hole). Some are definitely big enough to swallow Little Bus in one go! The road verge has gone, with what remains of the white line disappearing down a cliff, but its OK because they put out these little red triangle signs to let you know it’s not there anymore.

Couple this with a speed limit of 130 km/hr and you’re dicing with disaster! Maybe they are working on the theory that if you are going fast enough you will just float over ( or fly over) the holes and thus won’t feel them, much like on a  corrugated gravel road.

Half the time, the roadside grass is 2 or 3 feet tall, and right up to the bitumen, so if something were to come bouncing out, you wouldn’t know it until it was too late.

Also just when you get used to all of that, you realise the time has now jumped an hour and a half forward and it’s lunch time, so yes it feels like we jumped forward in time, through a portal to somewhere else entirely…… but we are loving it!

The border, really, is only for us humans… the wildlife and scenery don’t care about the imaginary line, delineating the states. The kites still circle, looking for unwary mice and lizards, the cows chewing their cud on tbe side of the road, still look at you with the same mild curiosity, as we bump and wiggle our way past, the only difference is that now there doesn’t seem to be any fence between us and them. I still think there is something vaguely alien about the look of the cows up here.

The landscape is still definitely Kimberley like but has changed with more breakaways towering up from the plains. The trees feel a little different here as well.

Eventually, we pull into our stop for the night at Victoria River Roadhouse…..$70 gets you a steak sandwich, ibis (aka chicken) burger,lots of chips and two beers, add $40 for the powered site, and its adding up a bit, but we wouldn’t be anywhere else at sundown as the sun turns the escarpment red. Plus I made a new friend!

Onwards tomorrow

See you all next time.