Sunday Sept 8 to Wednesday Sept 11...Darwin, Leitchfield and Kakadu camping

 

It was time to say, “Good-bye,” to Alice, and after our breakfast we were picked up and taken to the airport.  It was another hot day, and our flight to Darwin was pretty clear and calm.  It was amazing to see out the window…..nothing but red rubble for a long time, then all of a sudden we were over rainforest and the sea.  We arrived in Darwin in the afternoon, and took the shuttle to our hotel…the Value Inn.  What a beautiful city!  The boulevards were lined with frangipani (plumeria), bougainvillea, palms, and wattle trees.  The city is very clean and modern, with a real tropical and laid back feel.  Not a lot of traffic, and the people were very friendly.  The downtown core is right at the water, and there is a buffer of park between the ocean and the street. We got settled, and headed out for dinner and a little exploration of the area.  Turns out we were in the middle of the backpackers’ area, with all the bars and clubs.  Darwin is a place that a lot of military people and workers from the oil/gas industry come for time off. Apparently the ratio of guys to girls is 8:1…..and they party hard, we discovered!!  We were up early to get picked up for our second 3-day/2-night tour…this time to Litchfield and Kakadu parks.  Our guide, Richard, was a park ranger who was taking a break and trying out a new job.  Very nice, knowledgeable, professional…..looked like a younger version of Patrick Dempsey!  We had to stop and pick up more people; one of the stops was at the naval base for a couple of Americans who were in port on an aircraft carrier.  We had to wait for a bit (we were in the wrong place) and had time to see the carrier.  Talk about massive.  You don’t really get how big it is, until you really look and see all the jets, helicopters, and other machines that are on it.  The sunrise from here was beautiful……pinks and purples. Once we had everyone on the bus, we numbered 14, and headed to Litchfield Park first.  It was a drive along the Stuart Highway again.  This time, it was lined with eucalyptus, palms, and ferns.  Our first stop was at the termite “rocks.”  They were really interesting; it was pointed out that they all had the same alignment, and that was not a coincidence.  The rocks were about 6 feet high, and are formed by Magnetic termites.  They are aligned N/S towards the poles so that they avoid the midday heat.  With all the mounds in the green field,  it looked like a graveyard. Magnetic Termite mounds   This is where Pam's camera stopped working and she started using Lori's with Lori's memory card and eventually moved her memory card into Lori's camera......are you mixed up well so am I (especially as I am downloading pictures onto this blog some of the beautiful pictures w took will not download.....sorry)......first on the list when we get back to Darwin is a new camera! Buley plunge pool That's Lori by the falls.....she went in behind too   Florence Falls Next stop was at the Buley Rockhole, which is a series of shallow cascading waterfalls and rockholes.  We went in here for a little dip….the water was unbelievably warm.  We’re so used to freezing cold water at the bottom of falls at home, that this just seemed weird!  After we swam, there was a beautiful 1.5 km walk through the tropical forest to the next stop at Florence Falls.  Some walked, some rode the bus.  Richard walked with us, pointing out different plants and filling us with lots of information.  Just near the end, we saw flying foxes…fruit bats…. dancing around the limbs of the trees.  Florence is a beautiful double waterfall emptying into a plunge pool.  I (Lori) even swam across the pool and under the waterfall.  It was great.  After that, we had 160 steps to climb to get back to the bus.  We had a little detour to attend to some “business,” (geocache!) on the way back.  We then headed to the third and final falls, Wangi Falls.  While we were off exploring and climbing the steps to the canopy platform (geocache!) lunch was being prepared by the Richard.  We stopped for a final plunge, and then met up with them for delicious chicken burgers. It was during  this time Lori noticed Pam's swimsuit......ok ladies you know what chlorine does to the back of swimsuits....yes eats away the fibre so that it looks like you are wearing  nothing.......now a new swimsuit has been added to the Darwin shopping list along with a new camera!!!!!!  Beautiful trail at Wangi Falls  We headed back towards Darwin, and dropped off 10 of the passengers….they were just on a day trip.  That left just us and a couple from Virginia, Tom and Linda, to explore Kakadu.  It was a lot of driving, but we got to our first campsite at Stuart Point before dark.  This time, we were in fixed tents, so we felt like we were in heaven…..cots, pillows, electricity, and a floor fan! I don’t think Tom and Linda were as impressed, but we thought it was great.  There was a large, enclosed mess tent, and we all pitched in to cook a delicious dinner of Thai chicken and salad.  We were visited by a very nice fellow who came to play the didgeridoo for us.  He was very, very good at it.  Pam even gave it a try!!  Our overnight home Didgeridoo lesson We were off to bed early, as we had to get up again at the crack of dawn for a little boat trip to the Rock Hole billabong….home of the most and largest saltwater crocs in the world.  There are also freshwater crocs here.  The billabong is part of the Mary River floodplain, and was huge.   It was early morning, and the river was very calm.  It was lined with huge lotus leaves and gigantic pink flowers.  We even peeled some of the pods and ate the seeds…..they were like sweet peas.  Our guide found lots of crocs for us!  And they were huge!   There were a lot of different birds along the ride as well:  egrets, jabirus, magpie geese, eagles. Crocodile We got back to the bus, and continued East and entered into the park.  We crossed the Mary River at one point, and were told about the young man a few weeks back that was killed by a crocodile at that spot.  He was at a stag party, and decided to swim across the river.  Apparently he made it across, which was a miracle, but he didn’t make it back.  Dumb, dumb, dumb.  Just before lunch, we spotted a dingo at the side of the road.  He just stared at us, and didn’t run away…..I have to say, he was pretty cute.  We then headed to Ubirr, which is famous for its rock art.  It was really fascinating; most of the pictures were painted over 2000 years ago and they tell stories of food, ancestors, and lessons.  There was a hot and steep hike here as well….with a beautiful panorama view of the floodplains and out to Arnhemland. View over Arnhemland from Ubirr Cave painting Can you see the rock kangaroo? We drove out to Cahill’s Crossing, which is the entrance to Arnhemland.  We had to stop here, as you need special permits to cross over.  The water in the river here is tidal, and was just coming in.  It covers the road, and the crocodiles were just waiting there in the current for dinner….fish being brought in by the tide.  We saw 6 or 7 that were visible, and then three guys came down the walkway and started fishing!  We had been told time and time again to always make sure we were 7 metres away from the water (crocs could get you if you were closer) and these guys were actually wading in there! Croc crossing Those aren't logs! We took a drive up to the Ranger Uranium mine (incredibly huge) and stopped at the Bowali Visitor Centre (great presentation of the area’s fauna and flora) before heading to our campsite at the Coolinda caravan park.  Our tents were a little more rustic here (no power and no fans) but there was a pool.  It was about 34* and we were pretty warm; the pool was a good way to cool down.  Dinner was a barbecue of assorted meats:  beef steak, chicken sausages, and KANGAROO!!  Surprisingly, the roo tasted pretty good.  Another beautiful sunset, and off to bed. At the visitor's centre (I haven't seen a live one yet...touch wood!)   Lori tastes roo! We headed straight out to go see Twin Falls and Jim Jim Falls.  We stopped to drop off the trailer we were towing, because the roads were not paved.  It was 40 km of gravel road, followed by another 20 km of a sandy track through the forest.   At this point we were really happy that we hadn’t rented a car, as we would never have been able to get to these beautiful falls.  I would never have believed a bus could get here, either, but it actually had 4WD!!! Both falls involved a hike, and we were now in 36* heat.  To get to Twin Falls, we had to take a shuttle boat first, then we walked along the canyon walls and scrambled over boulders.  You could not swim in this place, because of crocodile danger.  There were traps set all along the way.  But when we got there, it was magical, very spiritual.  The canyon walls were about 100m high of layers of rock.  The falls plunged into a pool lined with fine sand.  When we went to Jim Jim, there were three pools along the way.  We made it to the second, but to get to the third (and the only one you could swim at, because the water was too cold for crocs) we had to do some real heavy-duty boulder scaling, so we stopped here.  Only Tom went the distance….and the falls were dry anyways!  But he said the swim across the pool was worth it. We had to do a crossing through the river each way here in the bus…those vehicles sure take a beating! Twin Falls warning   Croc trap to the falls Shuttle to trail We drove through that! We stopped for lunch at a picnic site, and met up with another tour group from the same company.  We picked up 10 people from there to come in our bus back to Darwin.  It was a long drive back, and of course we could not end this trip without a bit of drama!!  We pulled into a gas station about 90 minutes out of Darwin, and the guide said that we shouldn’t need gas.  But the driver said we were out of gas.  Once we stopped, we could smell gas, and when we got out, there was gas all along the side of the bus and trailer, and it was leaking out under the bus.  A repair (with tin foil!!!) was attempted, but it still leaked.  Apparently it was a cracked fuel pump, but they filled up, and away we went anyways.  A repairman was to meet us at the next gas station.  We were stopped there at the pump, and the mechanic set to work.  Pam and I went to sit on a rock by the giant propane tank, about 40 feet away.  Then a guy comes between us (between the leaking gas and a propane tank) and lights up a cigarette!!!!  Unbelievable. We made it back to Darwin by about 7 pm without further incident.  We picked up our luggage and checked back into the hotel and showered up.   A few of us met at an outdoor bar for dinner.  We were so exhausted and didn’t stay up very late! Thursday morning we got ourselves organized and tended to a bit of business.  Pam needed a new bathing suit and a new camera (hers died on the Kakadu trip) so we headed out to a few stores.  It was hotter still today, and the humidity was 58%.  Can’t imagine what it will be like in the wet season!  Pam was successful on both counts, and we went back and checked out and took our luggage to the shuttle bus office, where they kept it for the day.  We walked around the city, grabbing a few caches.  We were wilting in the heat, and had to quit earlier than we wanted.  We had a little picnic in the park by the ocean, then finished up with some delicious yogurt gelato….mango and passion fruit.  We headed to the airport, and left Australia for a few days.  Bali…..here we come!! Goodbye to Darwin