The Darwin Adventure

It was a relatively short hop across from Jabiru to Darwin, so we arrived relatively early to set up camp yet again and go in and refamiliarise ourselves with Darwin. There has been a lot of growth in the city itself since our last visit about 3 years ago. Much more hi-rise development and of course when it comes to the shops you could be anywhere in Australia, same old, same old. Still the weather up here is just beautiful, going up to about 37 during the day and a cold night is about 20. Needless to say we are enjoying it, especially when we hear of the ghastly temps being experienced back in Sydney.

So what have we been up to....well before leaving Kakadu we did an all day trip into Arnhemland and wow, we just loved it. We followed a road alongside the East Alligator River, which was teeming with crocodiles, stood on top of rocky outcrops and gazed out along the Arnhem escarpment. Everywhere was so lush and vibrant, the reds, greens and blues. We visited the Injalak community and saw many of their works of art, and spoke to the artists. Their work is beautiful, they work with lines not dots like many aboriginal mobs do and their work is known the world over. Not cheap by any means but you can't expect it to be given away. We had lunch by a billabong, sitting under the trees, being eaten by mozzies and went for a walk through the bush. All in all a great day, we loved it and are now planning to come back and spend some quality time there, even if we do have to jump through hoops to do it.

Next day we did an early morning boat ride down the East Alligator River croc watching. We counted quite a few of them lying on the river banks and it does make you wonder how many are out there that you can't see.

Back to Darwin....our first mega outing was to the Tiwi Island group and to Bathurst Island in particular. Bathurst Island is about 60 km off the coast and about 2.5 hours away by boat. Bathurst Island played a mega part in the defence of Australia during WW11 and it was actually from Bathurst Island that the first warning was given to Darwin of the approach of a massive squadron of planes, this advice was ignored by Australia. The rest of course is history.

Bathurst Island has a certain charm and is probably typical of many aboriginal communities that the place is a mess, with rubbish everywhere and everything seems to be in a state of steady decay. We visited several churches, which being the focal point of the community are in good condition. The museum was most interesting and was well photographed by the missionaries when they were stationed there in the late 1800's. We enjoyed morning tea and damper with a group of aboriginal women who also put on some traditional paint and did a bit of a song and dance for us. All the locals we met were really friendly and only to happy to talk about their island. We did visit their 'store' where again we got to talk to some of the artists and had the opportunity to purchase their work. Mike and I both agreed that the quality of their work did not compare to the Injalak and the prices were very dear in comparison. Still it was an interesting day and we are glad that we had the opportunity to visit.

Back in Darwin we have visited the Charles Darwin NP which is really a collection of WW11 bunkers up on top of a hill overlooking the city. The botanical gardens are very good and cover a huge area and considering they were totally blown away in Cyclone Tracey are well on the way to total recovery – although they do not compare with the wonderful gardens in Rockhampton.

East Point Nature Reserve was a delight, especially the mangrove walk. Sounds boring but the boardwalk extends out to the ocean and goes partly underwater at high tide. It was just so cool and refreshing in there we did not want to leave. Of course we visited the Mindil Markets, that is a must for anyone visiting Darwin, the highlight for us was seeing a guy playing 5 dij's at the one time, just amazing and then to top it off a group of young aboriginals got up and started to dance, throwing their bodies around in time to the dij. Fantastic.

Yesterday we visited Fogg Dam and were very disappointed by the lotus lily display or lack of display. Apparently it was a crook wet season so it is very dry up here as a result. Late in the afternoon we did a magical sunset cruise down the Adelaide River, croc watching yet again and just enjoying the cool breezes and the beautiful light as the sun set over the grassland and pandanus,

Today has been out last day here in Darwin, we have done the necessary shopping to stock up for the next few weeks. Tomorrow we head back to Katherine for the night, then over to Lake Argyle where we will stay for 3 nights. We stayed there once before but only for a night and because it looked so lovely we felt we should revisit to explore the area properly.

From there we move on to El Questro where we have a private site booked. We have stayed there before and to be right out in the bush, with the nearest camper being at least .5 km away, no power, no running water etc etc, it will once again be one of the highlights of the trip. Of course there will not be mobile phone coverage, so it could be about 10 days before you hear from us again.

Kakadu

Maybe it is the blue skies and the delightfully warm (hot) weather or maybe I have just gone troppo, but somehow or other it has taken until now to get around to updating our blog. So much has happened since the last post it all now seems like ancient history.

We left Townsville and headed west, stopping one night at Richmond, a little town trying to reinvent itself and being on the dinosaur trail it seems to be succeeding. We stayed in a great park, right on a lake, very clean and very quiet.

Next stop was Mt Isa. Having been there before we decided to veg the only excitement was going out to dine in The Buff.

Our next one nighter was Barkly Homestead – sounds very gracious but it is in fact a roadhouse so the less said the better.

Next stop was Cape Crawford – last time we were there it was choose your site – this time we were lucky to get one. So many people are on the road these days. We had two nights there, our aim was to revisit the lovely Caranbirini NP and have a good wander around what are loosely termed 'the beehives'. We arrived early in the morning and decided to do the 5 km loop walk, which turned out to be a mega blunder. We trotted off into the wilderness armed with cameras, water and not a lot else. After about 2 hours and no closer to our objective we decided that someone had made a typo on the distance of this walk and that it should have been at least 10 km maybe more. No we did not get lost, we followed all the signs and markers. When we eventually reached the beehives, we were totally out of water, sweating like pigs and all we wanted to do was get out of there. Great adventure that one, NOT.

After two nights we moved on to Katherine where we stayed for 3 nights. Our first day was spent doing the usual housekeeping and some shopping. Next day we headed out to Edith Falls, neither of us had been there before, so that was a good reason to visit. It is about 40 km up the road from Katherine and well worth the trip. Upon reaching the car park we then had the decision, wander just to look at the lake or do the loop walk. Being the gluttons for punishment that we are, we decided to do the 2.5 km loop walk. This time the walk was accurate, there was a lot of uphill, downhill stuff and a fair bit of rock scrambling but the views of the falls made it all worth while.

Next day we did the Gorge. It was a third time for both of us, the bonus this time was we actually got to the third gorge, usually only to the second. It is all done on a boat no mega exertion required. On other visits the third gorge has been too shallow for boats, this time just enough water for us to float around. Next time we will do a chopper flight over the gorges for an entirely different perspective.

From Katherine we moved up the road to where we are now based – Jabiru in Kakadu NP. Last time we were here we stayed at Cooinda – the southern end of Kakadu, but this time we decided to come to the top of the park at Jabiru wich allows easier access to the East Alligator River region.

Today we drove up to Ubirr which is as far as you are allowed to drive east. The East Alligator River forms the natural boundary between Kakadu and Arnhemland and you can't get in there without jumping through hoops.

There is a fantastic collection of aboriginal rock art at Ubirr and climbing up to the top of Nadab Lookout gives 360 degree views of the Kakadu wetlands and over to Arnhemland.

We are so glad we opted to come here, it is quite different to Cooinda and because of its location we will tomorrow be hopping onto a trip into Arnhemland. I have been wanting to go there since I was a little kid so I am very excited and Mike is too as again he has never been there either. Going on a tour means we don't have to jump through the previously mentioned hoops.

Our final day in Kakadu will commence with a quiet cruise for a few hours down the East Alligator River, what a pleasant way to finish our stay in Kakadu.

Next day we head out to Darwin where we will have 7 days to wander. We hope to get to do lots of things we have not done before but will throw in a few old favourites too.

That's it for now. Oh yes, it is 5.30 pm, the weather is perfect, currently about 32 degrees, and just perfect for beer o'clock.

Townsville & Other Places

It's been a while!

After our few days in Buderim and the Sunshine Coast we headed north up to visit Nikki and her family for a few days in Yeppoon. Tommaso had celebrated his 9^th birthday a few days before we arrived, Fabrizio has his the day before Tommaso's, then the excitement built for Sienna's 5^th birthday. Although it was a school day she managed to pack enough into the day to last us a month. Mike had his birthday the next day, but it was a rather subdued affair.

All too soon it was time to say goodbye as we again hit the road, destination Mackay. We stayed in a pretty good park, right on the edge of a waterway, a big birdie attraction. The main reason for our visit was to get up to the Eungella National Park about 60 km away. The drive along the plains to get to the mountain range was quite lovely, passing by a few very large sugar refineries. The cane is being harvested at the moment, so there are quite a few big machines out in the cane fields chopping the cane and loading it into the little carriages that then get hauled along the rail tracks to the refinery. Modern technology has caught up with the sugar industry so the cane is no longer fired – pity as it would be a fantastic sight.

Rising up from the valley floor we drove up a very steep road to the top of the range to Eungella. Hopping out to admire the superb view we quickly hopped back in the car – it was 13 degrees – down in the valley it was about 25. What a difference. We continued along and pulled in to Broken River for coffee. Broken River is a great place for spotting platypus, but we were way too late in the morning for them, although we did get to see lots of turtles just cruising around in the sunshine.

Heading back down off the range we made our way to the Finch Hatton Gorge where we then spent a few hours exploring the area and doing the walk into the Araluen Cascades. It was only a short walk of about 3 km along an exceptionally well made track, and well worth the walk.

Next day we were off again, destination Townsville. Mikes GPS, which is usually very reliable decided that it was time to play tricks with us again, so it took us about 40 km out of our way to the Bruce Highway, but hey, it was a road we had never travelled before, then when we arrived in Townsville instead of taking us by the ring road it decided to take us the most convoluted route through the city. Still we got here in the end.

Day one we explored the city, which involved the drive up to Castle Hill Lookout. Castle Hill dominates the city skyline and all roads to the city run around its base. The views up there are expansive and just stunning, almost 360 degrees of the city and looking straight over to Magnetic Island and the Coral Sea. Coming down from the heights we parked over at Kissing Point and did the Ethno Botanical and coastal boardwalk. This extensive boardwalk is a relatively recent addition to the city having been built on the former military base right on the foreshores. The trail then leads up into the headland where native plants are grown in abundance and the plants are signed giving their names and the aboriginal usage. A very informative and beautiful walk. Later we wandered off to the fort where there is a memorial to the Australian US joint force which defended the Coral Sea.

Next day we left early to catch the ferry over to Magnetic Island, only 20 minutes away from Townsville and like Manly in Sydney 1000 miles from care. We rented a little 'topless' Daihatsu to takes us around the island for the day. Everywhere is just beautiful, lovely beaches, plenty of picnic areas and small clusters of shops. We did manage to do The Forts – this trail (all up) takes you up to the highest peak of the island. It was from here in WW11 that the army built lookouts for defensive purposes. The views are just magnificent and 2 of the lookouts from WW11 remain to clamber up into. It was quite a hot day yesterday, so the walk down was welcomed.

Today we have done some very necessary shopping, stocking up on stores before we head out tomorrow morning. We plan to stay tomorrow night in Richmond, a small Qld outback town, then we will have one night in Mt Isa and follow up with one night in Barkly Homestead. Then we hope to have two nights at Cape Crawford before reaching Katherine for a few days respite and to visit the gorge once again. Internet may be an issue, so not sure when the next installment of adventure will be. Till then...