Kakadu National Park NT

We stayed at the Kakadu Lodge Caravan Park in Jabiru right in the heart of the Kakadu N.P. This was a great park with a resort style walk in pool situated in the centre & all the grassy sites in three concentric circles around it divided by the road. Very few parks as nice as this one.

"Schools In" This photo is a lovely family we met, the three kids Maddie, Lilly & Amelia in their "classroom" with Teacher mum. We travelled a few days with them & they have now headed for Broome & further south in WA.

 

 

Kakadu is the largest national park in Australia & largest park in the world where the whole land & river system is protected. It is bordered on the east by Arnhem Land which we were told has all Kakadu has but more of it.

The scenery from the escarpment at Ubirr (Oo burr) over the South Alligator River is amazing and it is here that Crocodile Dundee looked over his shoulder & said "This is my backyard". When we saw this area a few years ago it was dry season & had been burnt off for fire protection so it was great to see it now & due to late rain it looks like it would in wet season.

 

Looking towards Arnhem Land over the wetlands.

Aboriginal art here has been dated back 50000 years. This Rainbow Serpent is an important part in the creation of the land & people of the Dreamtime. Other artwork includes animals & birds that have been extinct for 15000 years, sailing riggers, Dreamtime mythical creatures & white mans activities. The name Kakadu comes from the aboriginal Gagudju.

 

 

 

The border crossing to Arnhem Land where some locals were fishing for Barramundi. This lady could cast her line & retrieve while her handbag never left her shoulder.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A few trucks made the crossing at the causeway at Cahills Crossing allowing a few small cars to follow in their wake through the 70cm depth. The community of Oenpelli is just over the river in Arnhem Land.

 

 

 

 

 

Incongruously the Uranium Ranger Mine is situated in a contained area of Kakadu when the rights were signed with traditional owners. This is a huge open cut mine with FIFO (fly in fly out) workers. The town of Jabiru was built by the mine obviously with plans for a bigger percentage of permanent residents going on the roads.

Trucks carrying ore containing uranium oxide & an Oenpelli piccaninny.

Two cultures colliding!

 

 

 

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Bark Hut & Wildman Eco Resort

Stayed at the Bark Hut, another iconic outback pub. A good little park with the usual Irish barmaids. Pub fair as usual out here, Chicken Parmigiana, Barra, Rump, all with salad & chips.

 

 

 

We are now in buffalo country so the pub had a bit of a different theme with horns adorning the walls, makes a change from baseball hats & undies. Also some history about the pioneer buffalo hunters & croc hunters.

 

 

 

 

The weather over the last few weeks has been very hot & humid. Max 34 deg, min 24 Late afternoon clouds were rolling in in from all directions with thunder rumbling in the distance. Steady rain commenced & continued during the night, clearing the air. The sound of soft rain on the caravan is fairly soothing so with the cooler temperature & the melody of the drops on the roof a good nights sleep was had. Next morning driving towards Kakadu the sky was sailor blue, the air crisp & the sun glistened on the leaves of the pandanus & gums, washed clean by the overnight shower. Heaven!

 

We took a side trip out to Wildman Lodge, a place we had visited about 8 years ago when a friend Mike McGuire was managing the original resort. Since then it has been turned into a upmarket Eco lodge with safari tent style accommodation or Eco lodges priced at $550 & $650 per night ... It does include food.

 

 

 

 

Our original stay here was a unique experience, the isolated situation, our first sighting of a wild croc, Big Arse ( he still lives in the home billabong) & the characters we met. Our accommodation was a donger complete with wild flowers on the bedside table, a walk to the shower while looking out for snakes & frogs, & a quick spray of the thoughtfully provided insect killer before disrobing to avoid bites on exposed flesh. Backpackers from Germany, UK & Japan were employed & became instant best friends. Other guests were workers employed on the salt water barriers who were helicoptered out each day to work in croc infested country. As you can imagine they were pretty tough blokes. One guy came to dinner each night in the mesh enclosed dining room with his blue Heeler, which sat on his lap for the entire meal. Somehow I think our experience would beat the experience of today's 5 star resort.. For me ..." More stars than the Milky Way"

The pool & safari tents overlooking the runway.

The Eco Lodges.

The new dining room. No Blue Heelers in here!

A local.

 

The old resort now staff accommodation.

 

We had a funny experience driving along the road to Pt Stuart. All of a sudden there was a sound like thunder & two buffalo were galloping in the bush beside us at rate of knots, one behind the other. The young heifer had age on her side & the bull gradually started puffing & heaving with a roar at the effort as he tried to keep up with her. He challenged us a few times but then would remember his original mission & take off again. Tone had his foot on the accelerator ready to take off each time we stopped in case the big boys lust moved from the princess to our silver Prado. Eventually age caught up & the bovine was reduced to a trot, by then the girl of his dreams was well down the track.

All in all an interesting day.

 

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Litchfield National Park & Berry Springs Nature Park

The day trip to Litchfield National Park makes you realise why so many overseas visitors visit the NT. Access to the park is through the small town of Batchelor which was originally a demonstration farm experimenting with various crops before the airfield was used during WWII & then after Uranium was found at Rum Jungle the government constructed much of the town for administration & housing for workers.

The park is home to assorted termite families including the magnetic mounds that are built north south to minimise exposure to the sun.

We could be in a movie at this site. The guy that took this photo was doing a time elapse photo of this ants nest for a project he has worked on around Australia. He is entering it in short movie contest relating to the genre & also releasing a photographic book of his photos.

The twin cascades at Florence Falls are spectacular & after a descending 160 steps the pool at the bottom is crystal clear. We had a swim here & swam up to the falls. There is a strong flow from the water & close to the falls it is quite windy. While it is supposed to be safe from Crocs you can't help feeling a bit uneasy! Luckily we were refreshed & nice & cool for the walk back up the 160 steps.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The rocky outcrop reached by 10km of rough narrow dirt road is worth the trip. The Lost City is an area of eroded sandstone rocks covering the area of a small village. Be because we are here just after wet season it still has remnant vegetation including the dry spear grass that covers much of NT.

Single lane in & out so it was a bit exciting around corners. Most drivers were taking their time except for one young cowboy in his fitted out ute who thought it was a good place to impress his chicky babe in the passenger seat, luckily we passed him on a pullover area.

 

 

 

Next stop was Wangi Falls. This is a beautiful spot. The water so clear and the bottom strewn with rounded rocks & pebbles. This has to be one of the best places I have visited - it is simply one of natures perfect spots. A bit of a cliche but this a breathtaking place & swimming here is magic. Imagine if you were from a crowded country or city & arrived here? It would be a great place to spend a day on a li-lo.

This is the runoff area from the pool through pandanus lined banks

The trip home via the dirt option to complete the Darwin to Darwin loop. As we were getting late in the afternoon we saw quite a few wallabies on the road so travel was steady. Unfortunately we saw a hire van being loaded on a trailer after a rollover just near the start of the tar, could have been speed or swerving to miss some wildlife.

We thoroughly enjoyed Litchfield Park, though others we have spoken to weren't that impressed. We missed Buleys Waterhole & have since been told it was a highlight for others.

 

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Bombing of Darwin - Defence of Darwin Museum

On 19th Feb. 1942 188 Japanese planes launched an attack on Darwin crossing the Australian coast over these waters. The raid was planned & led by the commander responsible for the Pearl Harbour attack. There were two attacks an hour apart lasting 40 minutes & 25 minutes. Between this date & 12th Nov. 1943 there were 64 raids on Darwin & 33 raids on other parts of Australia. In December 1941 most of the women & children were ordered to evacuate Darwin, the last ship sailed on 15th Feb 1942, just before the bombing.

This museum is a well presented & interesting monument to the people who lived here & were involved in the defence of Darwin & Australia during WWII. Many lost their lives and much infrastructure such as the PO. & Telegraph staion were destroyed. Both civilians & servicemen panicked & fled until order was restored after a few days. You can follow individuals stories of the attack & life in Darwin at the time through interactive video.

Various tanks & vehicles are scattered throughout the tropical garden, & other military memorabilia is housed in the original sheds on the site. The new museum has an amazing film produced from old film & still photos digitally enhanced to make you feel you are part of the population during the actual first bombing.

Below are photos of other artefacts in the collection from various Australian conflicts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's very sobering to see how close Australia came to being invaded by the Japanese. Throughout Darwin & the NT there is still evidence of the defence forces that were stationed here, including gun embattlements, storage bunkers & many landing strips adjacent to the Stuart Highway.

 

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Darwin Days

After leaving behind the flies at Winton, the myriad of assorted insects at Roper Bar, which made reading by bed lamp at night impossible, Darwins' squadron of mosquitoes formed a welcoming committee to greet us on arrival at the Lee Point Caravan Park. Just needed a few strategically placed smoke coils & a generous coating of Aeroguard & all was well.

Darwin had a late wet season & the air was still quite hot & humid with temperatures between 24 deg min. to 34 deg max. Preferable to an overnight minimum at home of 5 deg.!

Darwin is still a big country town & every time we went to the inner city we drove straight into a car spot on the street There is lots of growth & development happening here with plenty of jobs advertised. This photo is the city mall & the demolition work goes on right outside this coffee shop with just a wire fence between it & the pedestrians.

In fact most homes in Darwin have this same cyclone wire fencing surrounding their blocks. I guess after Cyclone Tracey this was a good option. Many fences are draped with shade cloth in varying degrees of ageing at an attempt for privacy from roads & neighbours.

 

There are a lot of indigenous people here & unfortunately not many seem to be employed. They are mostly well dressed & barefoot is the preferred option. Most aborigines have skinny legs but the legs that emerged from the bright coloured calf length skirts the women wear ,have to be the skinniest I have seen.

Darwin is also a hot pot of multiculturalism. From Filipinos, Timorese, Thai, Tiwi Islanders to Indian, Javanese & more. With this mix of people the food courts at the shopping centres smell of delicious herbs & spices & they're not Colonel Sanders secret recipe.

 

Mindil Markets on the harbour foreshore is a Darwin institution similar to Eumundi Markets. The heady aroma of spices from the array of foods on sale is mixed with crocodile skin belts & bags, Bali clothing & jewellery, indigenous paintings & the drone of the didgeridoo.

Luckily the Casino is next door so Tone got his footy fix there while I enjoyed some retail therapy.

Our big Barra cook up was cause for getting out the candles & tablecloths. Fellow campers at Lee Pt, Al & Shirl, Ray & Joy, all from Noosa, as well as Jack & Sue from Darwin joined in the feast.

Ray had a supply of red claw from Emerald so all the seafood & crustacean eaters were licking their lips.

Gee, my Chicken Parmigana was delicious!

 

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Roper Bar to Pussy Cat Flats via Mataranka & Katherine

Heading back to the Stuart Highway from Roper Bar. There are lots of wrecks by the side of the road or driven in to the bush, some accidents, some just abandoned.

 

The scenery is still beautiful, especially the rocky outcrops. The colours in the layers are amazing.

Back in Mantaranka for a cuppa. Stopped at this nice little gallery which sells aboriginal art. The lady who owns it has a beautiful little garden in the courtyard. Loved the handmade baskets but "Why are they so expensive?"

The statue is Aneass Gunn from "We of the Never Never"

A quick stopover in Katherine as we will be back to go to the Katherine Gorge. Not a bad town but the same problem as everywhere up here. Wherever the locals sit (which is under the shade of every tree) they leave their rubbish behind. Bottles, papers, nappies, food containers - you name it, it's left on the ground even if the bin is right there. I just don't get it when "Country" is so precious! If ever a town needs a ban on glass bottles it is here. There are jagged glass bottles scattered in the streets & car parks look like they are paved with crystal. Other than that it is a nice town.

Great little camp spot at Pussy Cat Flats just out of Pine creek. This is the local racecourse & we were parked near the bar opposite the finish post so this was unique camp ground. Nice green grass which was a luxury after the red dust. Had a nice night here at happy hour & found the campers an interesting agreeable bunch. Will stay here again after we do the Kakadu loop from Darwin.

Amazing what pets vanners travel with, our next door neighbours had their pet cockatoo which they have had for 25 yrs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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