Ngukurr

So after a brief rest in Perth, I was off to Ngukurr via Canberra, via Sydney, via Darwin. Ngukurr is an Aboriginal community around 310ks from Katherine. I drove 3 hours in a brand new Patrol to Katherine feeling like I was in a bus and worried about the tyres shredding. The 3 day 4WD course did nothing but make me fearful for every possible car disaster (tyres shredding, feral animals crashing into your car, snakes flipping up underneath, overheating, fan belts breaking).

After a night in Katherine, a brief swim and my last beer for 2 weeks, I took to the dirt road the Roper Highway out to Ngukurr. Highway is not the right word for this road, in most places its a one lane black top and for about 80ks its a dirt track...and a dirt track in the wet season is fairly challenging (read=I can't believe they sent me here alone!).

There are 2 options for getting into Ngukurr by road and crossing 2 rivers or getting on the barge to cross the river. As one of the rivers was at 1.8 (higher than my car I think) I chose the latter option. I think my heart actually stopped beating for a moment when I saw the barge, it looked like a tinny. Upon driving onto it, which was no mean feat, there was about 10cm on either side of the car - not even room enough to open the door.

But I arrived, in 1 piece, with 10 years taken off my life and all tyres in tact.