I’m just about to board a Merpati plane, on the way from Kupang, on Timor Island to Darwin.

My tourist permit for Indonesia expires tomorrow, so, off to Darwin. I was there already 2 months ago to renew my permit for Indonesia

When I step into the approx. 30-seat, twin-engine propeller machine in Kupang, the first thing I see is an inflated rubber boat that has been strategically tied up by the entrance-door

Really, I thought I was hallucinating, but there really is a fully inflated rubber Boat on the floor?! Our lifeboat!? Or maybe just for the crew? Or to give us a sense of security!?

But, no worry’s, the flight is uneventful…… until, shortly before landing, a stewardess tries to poison us all!!! She runs through the plane with two spray cans and sprays the stuff, DDT or whatever it is, above our heads. Australian law she announces with a smirk on her face.

The landing is successful, but the plane does not taxi to a gate as usual, but parks about 500m away from the terminal, at the edge of the runway. We are asked to get out and wait. After our luggage is thrown in front of our feet by a member of staff, we are ordered to walk with our collected luggage to the airport entrance where we are already expected by the Darwinian customs officials.

Easy admission to the Lucky Country, as the Aussies like to call their country. So this time I’m staying a little longer down under. Last time I was here only 3 days. Actually I’m thinking of looking for a job right here in Darwin, I’ve been on the road for 7 months now and slowly running out of money.

Outside of the airport I take a cab to the guesthouse where I already stayed 2 months ago. The guesthouse is actually a private house whose owner rents rooms to passers-by and also to some permanent residents. Good people, good vibes. There I meet, among others, an Englishman who gives me some good tips about finding a job

For several months I have been in intensive correspondence with Noemi. I met her a few years ago in Argentina. She is Uruguayan and has been living in Australia for several years, and is currently in the country. She has been traveling by herself in Australia for some time, hitchhiking with backpack, tent and stove and has arranged her trip so that we can meet in Darwin.

We meet in my Guesthouse. She suggests that I hitchhike with her to Noosa, where she could organize a job for me. Well that sounds perfect, so thumbs out and let’s go.

We are not in a hurry, travel slowly and comfortably, we want to see something on the way and also take a few detours to national and nature parks. First we hitchhike to Kakadu to check out the National Park. But it is rather tedious, and really difficult to get lifts in the Park. Most tourists come to the park in organized tours, or in rental cars and generally do not take hitch hikers. The Rangers are not allowed to and also do not want to, so only the locals remain and they are sparse around here.

But we still manage to see some things and spend two nights in the park.

Before leaving Darwin, I organized a sleeping bag in a second hand shop. It can get really cold in the outback at night. I don’t have a tent, but carry a large mosquito net that has been serving me well for several years. it is also necessary out here because it is teeming with Mosis. We camp both times at official picnic spots where it has table and bench. The table is just long enough for me to set up my night camp on it. I attach a long branch to each of the four corners and attach my net to it. Works wonderfully. This way I don’t have to sleep on the ground with ants, snakes and other critters. Noemi sleeps in her tent. As we want to leave, we stand for a whole 5 hours at the roadside until someone takes us out of the Park to the Stuart Highway, the main road to the south.

We travel super cheap, = actually we need almost no money at all. In Towns we stock up on food in supermarkets, eat it mostly cold or cook it up on Noemi’s stove. Nights we spend in the bush, a little away from settlements and roads.

So we travel on to Katherine, and from there to Nitmiluk National Park, Katherine Gorge. A little green paradise on the Katherine River in the middle of the dry outback. There is a small, narrow lake, wooded on its shores in which we can cool off. We find a secluded, hidden place a little off a hiking trail directly on the lake where we spend the day swimming, sunbathing and relaxing.

At the entrance there is a campsite, but we decide to stay right here for the night, although illegal. We can’t make a fire, but we do use the gas cooker with a visibility protection

The next day we Hitchhike back to the highway and continue our journey south. Shortly before Alice Springs, a young guy gives us a ride in his jeep. He is planing to cross over to the east coast on the Plenty Highway and is looking for people who want to join him to share fuel costs. That’s awesome, exactly what we were looking for.

We team up and spend the night a few kilometers before Alice. The next day we drive to the city to have a look around and to buy travel provisions. We also fill up the fuel-tank and additionally a big barrel (liter?) with diesel because on our route there is no gas station for about 1100 km. And Tom, our driver, says his Jeep is very thirsty.

As I walk around Alice Springs and surroundings I feel that I am still not quite adapted to the modernism here in Australia, still used to the cities and landscapes of Indonesia, everything seems a little surreal to me. The dry landscape, the modern, clean cities with their peculiarly maintained lawn parks, the supermarkets equipped with everything one needs etc.

We spend another night in the same place as yesterday and early in the morning, after a hearty breakfast we’re off. First northwards to the junction, then east with a few more kilometers of paved road and then we hit dirt road and that’s what it is for the next about 1100 km. The route is, as expected, scenically rather boring, totally dry, partly prairies, partly desert, with a few varied highlights.

Once Tom brusquely stops the jeep, runs to the back of the car, pulls a rifle from a bag and runs into the terrain. He aims at something in the distance and then we hear the shot. He comes back to the car and says succinctly “a wild boar, they are a plague, they spread diseases and are a danger to native animals and must therefore be destroyed. ” Do you just leave it there? Should we not use some of the meat of the Dead pig? I ask him “It’s too risky, the animal could be infected with viruses or bacteria” he says.

After three days driving we reach Longreach where we part with Tom. He continues north to Townsville and we hitchhike on to Emerald. There we go to a campsite, for the first time on this trip, to take a proper shower and wash our clothes after the dusty ride. The campsite is located just outside of Emerald on a small lake. On a small meadow it is teeming with small parrots that are not shy at all and even crawl on my leg. Anyway, the nature here in the outback is totally fascinating, really wild areas with an intact wildlife, especially the many birds stand out.

We continue on to Rockhampton and from there relatively quick and with only a few rides along the coast south to Noosa Heads where Noemis Brother lives and were she has her Mobile Home parked. There we will live for the next few days until I find a job.