On the road.

I have logged almost 5000 km on my car already.  Australia is a big country.  Here are a few observations I have made on driving around.

The highways do not have a lot of traffic.  I would say that 99% of the road between Townsville, Queensland and Alice Springs, Northern Territory and also between Alice Springs and Darwin, NT are undivided roads, with one lane for each direction.  These roads are very long and straight.  Sometimes it appears as though the road far ahead blends into the sky, so vehicles up ahead seem to be floating.  Because the roads are so straight, it is easy to look ahead to make sure there is no oncoming traffic, because you need to move into the right lane to pass vehicles.  Make sure you have lots of room when passing road trains; road trains are heavy duty trucks that can be as long as 55 meters with 3-4 trailers. 

These roads have few highly populated areas.  Some of the towns/homesteads along these stretches might consist only of a roadhouse (pub with food and some accommodation) and a fuel station. 

I had expected to see more wildlife (i.e., kangaroos) while driving.  Unfortunately, the only ones I saw were roadkill.  Perhaps it is better that I didn’t see any (small car).  I purposefully drove only during daylight hours (not dawn or dusk) on these roads.  However, I did see a lot of cattle and only had to slow down for one on the road.  I saw thousands of termite mounds.  They range in colors (reds to browns to grays) and size (as I approached Darwin, I saw cathedral termite mounds which can reach 4 m or so).  The termites store dry grass inside their mounds, which helps them survive the seasons.  Their ability to adapt to the Dry and Wet is a testament to their survival and explains why there are not many wild grass-grazing mammals in tropical NT.  I noticed that in areas where there was fire recently, the mounds don’t really show damage or even burn scars.  I am beginning to wonder if perhaps Uluṟu was built by giant termites.  The mounds also vary in shape (sometimes inspiring people to put articles of clothing on them).

Here are my two pieces of advice for road travel:

1.  Wave.  It took until my second day of driving to notice that some folks in the opposite lane were waving at me (or some other friendly acknowledgement).  So I started waving back.  And then I began to initiate the waving.  Not everyone responds, but enough do.   As I said, there is not a lot of traffic on these roads, so it’s nice to acknowledge the other travelers.  It is almost a game.  Plus, I hope I am building up my friendliness karma, in case I should need the help of another traveler along these lonely roads someday.

2.  Plan bonus stops.  A little something extra to do along your multi-day trip.  Something to look forward to.  Some incredible natural wonders like Devils Marbles could be right off the road.  Or perhaps a swim in some natural thermal pools (like Bitter Springs in Elsey National Park) to relax your traveling body.