Day 20: Jabiru

It's hard to believe that we have been on the road for almost three weeks!

We had a good day today - went to Ubirr, about 30 kilometres north of Jabiru to ther Arnhem Land border. You can't go any further without a permit. Enroute, we had to drive through a couple of crossings where the water was 40cm deep. They say that a Prado is good for 70 cm but that would scare me a bit too much - worried about not having diff breathers, etc......

Ubirr has an abundance of rock art on the 90 minute walk we went on. The highlight however was the view of the wetlands from the top of one of the rocky outcrops. I have put some of these photos below but they do not do justice to the magnificent scenes as we were there at noon! (& sometimes/often my photography is crap).  Definitely be there at sunrise (fools) or sunset if you value great photography!

After taking the walk, we had a picnic lunch at Cahills Crossing. We had heard that the crocodiles chase the barramundi at the crossing on the change of the tide.  This was not to be, however Doug & I both pulled out our expandable 12 foot rods and them in. You have to use lures (soft rubbers best) because you are in a National  Park. I caught nothing, and Doug caught two small fish but had to throw them back. The legal size of a barra here is 55cm (a big fish). The tide was incredible here. One moment it was coming in and then the next it was pouring out at an incredible rate of knots!
However, wetting the line has made me a bit keen to do it again so I have left my rod assembled in the pod on top of the car roof.

Following the fishing expedition, it was back to the van, clean up, swim in the pool, check the photos, do the washing, then go out for dinner.

Gary & Joan shouted Lorelle & I dinner so we chose the most expensive thing we could - steak, chips & salad!!! (They got the last tow barras.)  It was a great night by the edge of the pool. Terry & Lyn Grant, previously from Gatton, also joined us for the night. Terry drives a truck for Ranger Uranium and Lyn works at the visitor information centre.  Their son-in-law is a police officer in Jabiru.

Following dinner, we sat outside Doug's van for a final few drinks before calling it a night.  Tomorrow morning at 8:30am we head for Katherine and Gary & Joan head for Darwin. It has been good having them here for the last week or so. We will miss them!

Tomorrow - Katherine for us!  Gary & Joan leave for Darwin.

Cave area with extensive indigenous rock art

Intrepid explorers!

More intrepid explorers!!!

Geoff - trying to snag a barra at Cahills Crossing

Day 19: Jabiru

This morning we got up at 5am and left at 5:30am for a 55km drive to Cooinda where the Yellow River Cruise was departing from. We arrived at Cooinda at about 6:15am. Luckily we had some insect repellant because they were carrying away the unprotected!

The cruise was great ($97 each). It lasted for two hours and the scenery and animal life was terrific. This was the kakadu that we were expecting - wetlands, water lilies, crocodiles, eagles, etc......

We thought it was great value for money and it was followed up by a buffet breakfast at Cooinda included in the price.

We left Cooinda at about 10:15am and headed to Nourangie Rock which was on the way home. Nourangie Rock is a large rock outcrop with lots of caves and rocky overhangs and many of these areas are covered with aboriginal rock paintings. The walk was approximately 2 kilometres and we had some great views of the Kakadu escarpment plus numerous rock paintings. It was a worthwhile detour on the way home.

We got home hot and sweaty so it was straight to the pool, then some basic shopping and now the blog and it's 5pm as I type - where did the day go???

Day 18: Jabiru

Today we slept in until 8:30am, had breakfast then went for a swim.

After the swim, we headed out to the airport for our one hour flight with Kakadu Air. Unfortunately, due to our combined weights, they could not take the 6 of us, so Doug & Sue offered to do the four o'clock flight, which probably worked out to be good, because although the flight was great and we took lots of photos, all of us except Joan were sickkkkkkk....... - none of us actually did the deed into the air-sick bag but we all had them ready and it did spoil the flight to a degree.

Comments Lorelle: "I was OK until the turns, then when I knew Geoff was feeling sick, I couldn't think of anything else."

Comments Gary: "Enjoyed the flight until he started banking and then dying to get home."

Comments Joan: "I had great confidence in our young pilot. Loved the spectacular scenery."

Comments Geoff: "I never get sick........"

When we got home, we went straight to our vans and had a sleep to recover.

Doug and Sue got the four o-clock flight which was a larger air-conditioned plane. We also gave them some Kwell tablets (anti-air/sea sickness) - we didn't take any unfortunately because we thought we would be fine!!!  Anyway, Doug & Sue were fine!

Tomorrow we go on the yellow Water Morning cruise (2 hours) followed by a buffet breakfast. We have to drive 50km to Cooinda to be ready to leave on the cruise by about 6:30am - maybe an early night tonight.....

Flowering gum in our Van Park

Our van site

Pool in van park

Big Crocodile Resort - Gagudju

Ranger Uranium Mine - just outside Jabiru

Day 17: Darwin to Jabiru

Today, we left the sanctuary of a big city to again head off to smaller towns and places. Our goal today was Jabiru, the centre of Kakadu.

We left at the usual time of 8am and enroute stopped at the 'Windows to the Wetlands' display not too far out of Darwin along the Arnhem Highway. It is an elevated building run by National Parks in partnership with the traditional owners. Inside are displays and information about Kakadu and its plants and animals. It is worth a visit.  I've attached a couple of photos taken from the building.

After that stop, we continued on our way through a mixture of wetlands and savanah grasslands. We crossed the different Alligator rivers (east, west, south I think?) a number of times and they were flowing crystal clear - not a place to swim however. At a couple of the bridges, people were fishing. Some people say that the only place to swim in NT is in a swimming pool, due to the ever present fear of crocodiles.....

We had a small taste of animals - dingoes, jabirus (wader birds), but no crocs. Apparently however, a croc crossed the road just outside Jabiru this afternoon.

We arrived at our van park at around lunch time. The park is great. There is almost no-one here due to the wet season only lust finishing - it has scared off many tourist from southern states. We paid $115 for thgree nights with the fourth night thrown in free. We are staying at the Kakadu Lodge (or Aurora) at Jabiru. It is a huge camping ground - plenty of shade plus a fantastic shaded pool. Just what we need because it is very hot in the NT!

After lunch we all (Lorelle, me, Doug, Sue, Gary, Joan) set off to see the town - it is basically a mining town to support the nearby Ranger Uranium mine but it also a tourist centre as well. It has a garage, food store, bakery, golf club, school, etc. Most of the houses are quite modern and it is a clean, tidy town.

After visiting the town, we went to the Tourist Information Centre where we had to pay our $25/adult National Park fee. NT residents or children under 16 don't have to pay. The Information Centre had a decent display and we followed this up with ice-blocks before returning home to make bookings for the next couple of days, have happy hour, another swim, cards and now before I call it a day, my blog.

Tomorrow we go on a one hour flight of Kakadu ($215 per person).

Windows to the Wetlands

Photo of a jabiru I took from google so you know what I am talking about!!!

Day 16: Darwin

Today we slept in. At 11am Gary, Joan. Lorelle & I drove in to Causaurina Shopping Centre (it's huge). Lorelle had a haircut, I bought a new bulb for the van door, bought some new shorts, etc.... Mundane things that have to be done.....

In the afternoon, we went for a drive to Fannie Bay - it is terrific - Darwin's best kept secret. A huge expanse of water. Heaps of people having BBQs, picnics, etc. Children and adults swimming - despite concerns about crocs. The water is beautifully clear & unpolluted.  There is also a War Museum at Fannie Bay which we didn't visit because we were two late in the afternoon but it is a lovely drive around the bay.

After the drive, we again visited the Mindil Markets because Gary & Joan were not with us last Thursday when we visited the markets. The sunset was again great but I left my camera in the car-there will be more.

The heat up here has been a real pain in the neck - the mornings are OK but by about 10am it hits 33-34 degrees and just stays there all day, every day. Bring on winter. I was amazed to see that Lowes were selling jumpers - a bit of a joke really. I don't think it gets below 20 often!!  We were talking to a guy who works for the navy the other day and he said that winter temperatures average 23-27. Not sure if he is correct - he said he had only been here 5 months!!

Tomorrow we set off for Kakadu.......

Day 15: Darwin (Litchfield National Park)

Day Trip: We set off at 9am for Litchfield National Park about 110km south of Darwin. Gary and Joan came with Lorelle & me.

We arrived at the town of Batchelor around 10am. You may remember the name 'Rum jungle', well that was the name before they renamed it Batchelor. No idea why because we did not stop in the town.

We then visited a number of different places including the giant termite mounds plus the Buley Rockholes, Florence Falla and Wangi Falls.

The swimming is great - the water was a pleasant temperature and crystal clear. We swam at the Florence Falls (140 steps to the water but not too hard) and the Buley Rockholes - they were both great - quite a few people there but the water was superb!

The most spectacular place was the Wangi Falls - they are fantastic, but unfortunately due to the large amount of water and the possibility of salt-water crocs, they were closed. We gather that July/August is the best time after the water has dropped and the rangers declare it safe.  There were two falls dropping into a crystal clear pool of approximately 70 metres diameter - all fringed by palm trees!!

We did a lot of walking today and we were all stuffed. After returning to the van park, we had a communal BBQ, a few cool drinks and turned in.  Might sleep in tomorrow....

Florence Falls

Wangi Falls

Possum hanging around our BBQ