Category: AYDU – Break 2 The Red Centre & North

Our last morning on the Kakadu tour had a more leisurely start. First off we headed to Yellow Waters. There was a lovely boardwalk through the marsh with lots of birds – but we failed to spot any crocodiles or snakes this time round.

Next we stopped at the roadside for a wander through the termite mounds. They were quite similar to the cathedral termite mounds we had seen in Litchfield park, towering up to 12 feet or more.

Then we were off to Maguk, aka Barramundi Gorge for another climbing hike and waterfalls. We had a swim up at the top pools. This waterfall was a bit different than the others. The top pool was sort of a deep elongated river with steep walls up the edge and underwater tunnels.

Some of the group did some rock scaling along the edges, falling back into the water when their grip gave out.  Patrick joined some of the group who dove into a deep pool which had an underwater tunnel into the main stream. Steve had the whole group of us lay down across the stream and block the water from the waterfall also. It was lots of fun to then jump up and run over to the edge to watch the wall of water hit the edge and push the waterfall several feet further out.

After a quick stop for some snacks, we stopped at Fog Dam. This was an interesting place where they had built a dam back in the 1950’s hoping to flood the land to grow rice. After a couple of years of limited return and several lost staff due to crocodile attacks, they finally gave up on the idea. But the dam is still there and the area is now a wonderful sanctuary for the local wildlife. The place was swarming with busloads of people. Some not so knowledgeable folks were wandering almost into the water where salties are rampant. Amazingly they all came out alive – especially the old guy who wandered far out into the marsh alone for bird photos. Natural selection failed on this occasion.

Our last stop was at an aboriginal art store where Pat bought himself his ‘big’ souvenir – an aboriginal painting. The shop also had emus (babies running around), a baby wallaby, a pink & grey galah, a red tailed black cockatoo and lizards and snakes to entertain those who were waiting for the shoppers.

Then the exhausted bunch of us were back to Darwin to go our separate ways – and a much appreciated shower. The four of us were then off to dinner to Thailicious which fulfilled its name before an early bed.

We had one day left in Darwin – we slept in a little bit till almost 8am. We headed to Monty’s (we tried to buy one of their custom t-shirts, but no luck!) for breakfast which was just outside of the local bookstore. Patrick was in line waiting for the store to open to pick up his copy of the latest Harry Potter. He thought it would be his flight reading material, but he had it finished by mid morning the next day! While Patrick read, the rest of us went off to do some shopping. We spent the day browsing around Darwin and just relaxing around the cafes. Kyle caught up on some of his internet access with his friends and Mike and I caught up on our diary and photo editing. Sunday morning we were up and off to the airport to return to Perth.

By the time we landed, Kyle was well into Harry Potter….

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We rose very early the next day (5:30 am) to head out for our 2-3-4 Kakadu Dreams trip. We were going on a 2 night-3 day-4 wheel drive tour into Kakadu park. Our group consisted of Meg, Darren, and Dave who worked on an oil exploration/surveying ship. Darren and Dave were ship navigators and Meg a geophysicist. The last 2 in our group of 9 were Marian and Alexandria who were sisters from Italy. Marian is from the Italian international snowboarding team and has just retired from competition. And of course, our tour guide – who was Steve. Steve has been doing tours for about 1 ½ years and knows his stuff and seems to enjoy his work. It was enjoyable group with lots of interesting conversation over the bumpy drive (that’s a view of our trailer out the back of the vehicle – including the spare tire which we were about to use).

So by about 7:30am we were off to Kakadu. We saw wild horses on the drive into the park. Our next stop was for a flat tire. Since we were stopped anyway, we set up lunch at the roadside while Steve and some of the guys struggled with the tire. All inclusive trip – part of the fun.

After lunch we headed for the South Alligator river where we took the jumping croc tour. To start however, we were introduced to some of the local snakes. We got to hold the water python. The snake was very calming to hold. It was soft and smooth and you could feel its muscles moving very strongly under its skin.

The crocodile tour was impressive. We spotted lots of crocs – all ‘salties’. Despite being called salt water crocodiles, they in fact live much of their life in freshwater. Males can grow up to 7 metres – the average fully grown male about 6 metres. Some of the crocs were a golden colour, and others were dark and had algae growing on them. We found out later that it was due to whether they had been out to the salt water or not. They go out to the salt water to get cleaned off, and will come back lighter coloured. These are the ones which are most hunted for their skins.

There were a surprising number of missing limbs from these guys. They apparently fight a fair bit, and most were missing one or more hands, arms, feet or legs. One was missing 3 complete limbs and one foot. They do an amazing job of hiding themselves in the mud. They dig their nose in and crawl into the mud leaving only their eyes and nose exposed. They can be very hard to spot and given their acceleration and ability to jump, you really don’t want to get anywhere near them. (The jumping seen here is encouraged by hanging the food from a rod off of the side of the boat)

Similar numbers of people die of crocodile attack as shark attack (average 1 per year or so). Steve told us of one instance where some guys were out on their ATVs. They stopped for some reason. One guy was grabbed by a croc and his mates had to scramble up a tree. They were there for 48 hours as the croc walked back and forth below them slowly eating their friend. They were finally rescued by a search party. Bit of trauma there I suspect.

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Our 10 days in the camper van were over. Returning the camper was quite an experience, and I have to share my comic relief from all the stress.

We got into Darwin – its suburbs and lights hitting us about 50 km out. I dropped off the 3 guys and our bags at the hostel and then headed to drop the camper. Finally finding the rental depot, I first learned that it had to be washed or pay a $300 fine. So off I went to the car wash – I had to use the self-clean wash due to the size, and it took a bit to figure out the automated soap and water dispenser car wash process. Back to the rental shop over an hour later where the boys had come looking for me by now – Mike had ordered me a beer an hour ago!

Next I learned that I had to empty the toilet or the fee was $150! So Pat & I headed to find a public toilet while Kyle went back to Mike – I was hot (it was well over 30 degrees) and tired, and my frustration was at it’s limit. We found a public toilet – the Euroflush 2000 – it was a stainless steel cube. There were 3 lights – vacant, occupied and closed. When we walked up, another couple had been waiting but gave up and left. The light said ‘closed’.

We were at a loss on what to do – reading further we read it was programmed to self clean when unoccupied. It was certainly making lots of swishing sounds. Another couple passed and we inquired if they knew anything about these toilets. They just replied “Oh no, I’m not sure you could get out” (or something like that) and wished us luck. The swishing suddenly ended and the ‘vacant’ light came on. We quickly emptied our toilet. The whole time a voice was repeating “Welcome to the Euroflush 2000. Press the button to close and lock the door.” We had entered, but had not pushed the button to close the door. As we were leaving, Pat reached in and pushed the button.

So we left the Euroflush 200 with its door closed, no one in the toilet, and the ‘occupied’ light flashing. So much for the fully automated Euroflush 2000 – Patrick was quite thrilled to have outwitted this rather elaborate and certainly expensive fixture!

This hilarity helped my mood and upon returning to Mike 2 ½ hours after having left him, I enjoyed my beer immensely and got to meet all of his new acquaintances. You can’t leave Mike alone a bar and not expect him to meet a whole new crowd of friends after all!

Pat & Kyle had a very tasty fish & chips then headed to see the Harry Potter movie. Mike & I had a nice dinner as recommended by his new mates, checked out some souvenir shops then returned to catch up on photo editing and diary. And despite my initial introduction to Darwin, I really do like it.

Today is waterfall day. We had a quick brekkie (mostly what we do it seems!) and hit the road. We wanted to delay driving around wet as much as possible, so visited Tolmer Falls first since you can’t swim there.

You could either take the stairs in, or hike. Of course we hiked – which was well worth it. You went through a grove of cycads. These were quite different than the ones in Kings Canyon. These were feathery looking – although stiff and hard to the touch.

The areas around Tolmer falls are sensitive for native wildlife, hence no swimming. The walk took you to a lookout over the gorge. A woman was all set up with her easel and paints capturing the scene. I was able to see her work progress quite nicely as we waited for Mike to arrive (he of course stops to photo along the way), and then to finish his shots.

All of the waterfalls here are very impressive. Due to the extremes of wet season and dry season, the volume of water changes drastically. We are seeing the falls in the dry season. But most of the force which carves the landscape occurs in the wet season. The falls are basically inaccessible by roads during the wet season – you have to fly in since most of the roads are flooded. It must be incredible to see them in the wet.

Next we headed to Florence Falls – they are a twinned set of falls. We had an early lunch at Florence, then hiked in for a swim. It was not too overly crowded, but there was no where to put your stuff, which made it a bit chaotic. Kyle managed to have his shoe fall in and drift downstream, but managed to fetch it okay. The dual waterfalls were very nice, and the water was not too cold. It did get colder right up to the waterfall and the force of the water pushes you back quite noticeably. The wind is quite strong coming off of the falls also making the swim to the waterfall more challenging. We all had our turn directly under the waterfalls, and both Pat & Kyle climbed up at the base of the falls and did cannonballs into the pool (it is nice and deep where the water falls hits). We had a great time.

Next we headed back into the depths of Litchfield closer to our campsite to Wangi Falls. Kyle and I went in for a swim while Mike took some photos (Pat deferred swimming).  In the photo gallery, see if you can spot Kyle and I under the waterfall with our hands up – Kyle in his red bathing suit. There are crocs here – freshwater for sure – which you try to avoid and ‘be nice’ to. Occasionally there have been salties here in which case you get the hell out of there! (They monitor closely and have traps set.)

All of us then took the hike over the Wangi Falls. Mike and I take the hikes with the shortest steps possible, especially on the downhills and our old knees are holding out quite nicely for us. This hike had some incredible orb spiders – they were HUGE and numerous. One of the creeks we passed over was surrounded by their webs. The one photo’d in the gallery is a yellow spotted orb.

We ended with a final swim together. Again this is a dual waterfall, and again we all made sure to get right under each of the falls. One of the gallery falls had a natural ‘mini pool’ part way up the ledge of the fall which you could climb to. Since it is a very small pool, it is warmer than the main pool at the base of the falls. We all had a nice dip in there – although returning to the main pool to get out was less pleasant!

Then back to our campsite and after a nice curry dinner, we laid back to listen to more of Bill Bryson where I quickly fell asleep (could have been all the fresh air or perhaps the extra glass of wine at dinner!).

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We left Katherine behind and our final destination for the night was Litchfield Safari Park. First off though we stopped for a hike into Edith Falls which is up the highway, but still part of Katherine Gorge Park. We did the hike in, but did not plan on swimming even though you could. Again we did the longer hike, and then headed for Litchfield.

Thinking we had a fairly short drive ahead, I took a ‘scenic route’ detour heading north. Although it was a pretty drive, I had to keep my eyes on the road as it twisted and turned every which way with the Beast camper swaying as we went. We did manage to get ourselves in the middle of a controlled (we think) burn off of the bush though.  In the Northern Territory, they are very diligent about their fire management. They burn every area of the bush once a season if possible. They do small patches at a time using natural barriers to control the spread. It is quite a complex skill to know when and where to light the fires – taking temperature, winds, ground conditions, landscape and more into consideration. But by doing controlled burns they allow new growth to flourish (which provides great feed for the wildlife) and avoid deadly forest fires which would wipe out the animal life and destroy property.

It was a long drive into the park as it turned out – the place we were staying was in the deepest depths of the park. En route we stopped to check out the termite mounds. WOW were they big (this one was not unique – there were also other bigger ones around). There are two types of termites here. The cathedral termite mounds were huge as you can see in the photo. The other mounds were interesting and more unique. The magnetic termite mounds were much smaller and looked like tombstones – thin and rectangular. And they are all oriented north / south so as to avoid the sun as much as possible. This is part of the temperature control mechanism they use. The cathedral termites migrate in and out of the folds of their mounds as the heat of the day changes. Up here it’s all about heat management – or rather cool management!

Then off to our campsite! There were several wallabies around, and Mike and I went for a walk where we spotted several more. Beyond that, our evening entertainment was to sit back and listen to another Bill Bryson book on CD – much like the old days of radio listening I suspect. Very entertaining and we all enjoy.

And just for the record – this was a photo from one of our campsites a few days earlier. We awoke to emus roaming around the grounds. Just like squirrels at home with kids running around chasing them and everything!

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We left Daly Waters semi early to head to Mataranka hot springs. The hotsprings were more like warmish springs – apparently a constant temperature of 97degrees I think. We walked to the main swimming/dipping area which was ‘humanized’ with steps and concrete supports so that too much erosion did not occur. It was quite nice, but rather crowded and not as hot as I had hoped for. We decided to push on to Katherine and did not bother taking the longer trip into the other area you could swim in a more natural setting. The actual restaurant/bar area was quite interesting as you could see where the flood waters rise up to – half way up the walls! We are certainly in monsoon land now, no longer in the dry outback of the red centre!

After driving to Katherine, we spent the rest of the day at an internet cafe and making plans for the next day. Despite the lateness, and much to the tourist bureau staffs surprise, we managed to get 2 canoes rented for the whole next day.

We had the canoes from 8am till 4pm. Katherine Gorge consists of a series of 13 gorges. With the full day rental, you are able to make it to the end of the 3rd gorge comfortably. To go any further in requires doing overnight camping in the gorge. Unfortunately, the ‘canoes’ were not so much canoes as plastic surfboards with seats. They were closer to kayaks, but had no rudder and no keel. They were almost impossible to steer, but very stable… Mike and Pat were sterning and both had their work cut out for them. Other than the ‘crappy’ boats, the actual trip was fantastic.

The gorge rises all around you. At times it bends and is wider with interesting shoreline and birds and butterflies, at other points it narrows down and you are surrounded by perpendicular walls on both sides. There are often small water falls and caves along the walls also. Being on a small boat in the bottom enhances the experience. There are many areas along the shore which are natural sandy beaches (the sandstone rocks erode into nice sand) – but they are off limits since this is where the freshwater crocodiles lay their eggs.

At the end of the first gorge, you leave your canoe and swap it for another one rather than portage. (that’s when we managed to get the really awful boat!) At the end of the 2nd gorge, the ½ day renters turn around, and the full day renters haul their boats over to the 3rd gorge. As is the norm, there were a lot less people doing the longer haul – and we were much more secluded once into the 3rd gorge.

Near the end of the 3rd gorge is a hike into a fantastic waterfall. We hiked into Lily Ponds where we had lunch and a swim. It must be a bit wetter this year than usual, since the waterfall was still flowing and according to our map, it usually flows from January to June. We all agreed that this area should be called the Garden of Eden rather than that at the base of King’s Canyon – it was breathtakingly beautiful and remote. As we finished our lunch, some others joined us, but it was still quite secluded. The water was quite cool (early summer in Lake Minnicock type temperature), but refreshing. Standing under the waterfalls you were able to see a complete circular rainbow surrounding you.

Next we paddled to the end of the 3rd gorge where the ‘vortex holes’ formed a natural barrier to the 4th gorge. The water is fairly low at this time of year, so the rapids above the vortex holes were also quite shallow – forcing those on the longer trips to portage a fair distance. It must be even more impressive to go deeper into the gorges where there are even fewer people! But for us, we puttered around the rocks for a bit then made our way back with the canoes.

It was quite a memorable day, and enjoyable to work our upper bodies rather than just our legs as we do when hiking!

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We were back on the road (sharing with the road trains as seen here – that’s ONE truck) with about 1500 km to drive to our drop off point in Darwin. First, off to Alice to stock up on supplies, we rose and made the boys get up too this time. We pulled into Alice just before noon and started with a visit to the camper rental shop. We had by this time accumulated quite a list of problems with the camper and we wanted to make sure they knew they were pre-existing. Two of the more concerning issues were the ‘sticky’ door lock and cracked windshield. While they waited for the windshield guy to come check it out, they gave us a loaner rental car to use. I went shopping for groceries with the boys, and Mike stayed back to deal with the camper. Turned out that they swapped vehicles for us, and we were back on the road by about 1:45 – so not much time lost even!

As expected, we filled up regularly with diesel. Not sure what the prices in Canada are at now, but here it is quite painful. We paid as much as $1.80 litre on this trip, with $1.40 being a bargain price in the bigger towns. Diesel is about the same price as regular petrol (or gas for the Canadians). Back in Mandurah it’s anywhere from about $1.25 to $1.39 a litre – the prices here bounce around just like back in Ontario!

We had phoned ahead to see if we could get a powered site booked at Barrow Creek – but they indicated it was not really necessary to book. We made decent time and pulled into Barrow Creek around 5:00 pm. It was clear to see why pre-booking was not needed – even as roadhouses go, this was not a very luxurious spot to say the least. There was one power pole in the middle of a clearing. We were the only power site users when we arrived, although several more campers did pull in after us. The final sight was quite humorous, camper vans all huddled around the pole in an odd layout.

But fate was on our side is a weird way. As Mike filled the camper, what appeared to be smoke started coming out of the pump and our tank. Turned out the tank was empty (it was probably deisel fumes). They were out of fuel till the next morning. We were only charged $20 for the $25 which showed on the pump – and we were not charged for a campsite since they thought we were staying just for the fuel. Little did they realize we had tried to book a space, and would have stayed anyway!

The place was full of character however which made for lots of material for Mike’s favourite pastime – he had fun perusing the grounds. And as in many roadhouses, people for some strange reason like to leave things behind. The ‘bar’ (actually an extension on the cash register / grocery station) was full of memento’s even in this remote station.

None of us slept overly well that night as there were noises all night of banging metal doors. It sounded like the wind, although there did not really seem to be much of one. Perhaps it was the locals up all night…at any rate it was disruptive to the sleep. And given the circumstances, none of us used the shower facilities either (see photo 🙂

Back on the road tomorrow to see the Devil’s Marbles!

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Mike and I slept in till 7:30 and we hit the road with both boys still in bed. The emus saw us off!  And the boys stayed that way till almost 11:00 when we arrived at Kings Canyon. It was a much longer drive than we had expected. We had a bite to eat at arrival – and headed out on the lengthy walk around the canyon.

The path is now marked so you do not need a guide, and again the long walk was the best route to take since the crowds were much reduced. The trail takes you all the way around the canyon (seen at right) and down into the bottom half way through. The hike is intentionally reversed now – posted signs indicate that it starts with a very strenuous vertical climb meant to ensure only suitably fit people attempt the walk (we managed to pass the test).

There were several spots which triggered memories from 18 years ago. Mike is quite certain that some of the trees he photoed were the identical trees to last trip. We will have to compare when we return home!

Both Pat & Kyle thoroughly enjoyed the hike also. It is hard not to be awed by the physical beauty of the canyon. It is the type of hiking we all enjoy – over rocks and open landscape with views abounding. The photos help to tell the visual story.

The hike takes you through the Lost City where ‘beehive domes’ cover the landscape (much like the Bungle Bungles in the north of Western Australia which we won’t get to see I suspect).

There is a wide variety of plant life in this area which is due largely to the location. Kings Canyon is at the meeting point of 3 distinct vegetation areas: the western desert which we are more familiar with, the abundant varieties of the MacDonnell Ranges and the harsh vegetation of the Simpson Desert.

Once in the bottom of the canyon, it is a tropical oasis, aptly named The Garden of Eden. The water hole was much fuller this time, and there was now a staircase leading both down and up making the trip easier – we had to scale the rocks last time! 

Once back at the van, we had a sandwich lunch and then started our drive back to Alice. We pushed darkness a bit far (luckily causing no roadkill), but managed to make it out to the Stuart Highway at Elrunda Roadhouse and even lucked out with another powered site.

I haven’t mentioned the weather as yet – although you can see from the photos the sun is shining brightly (Pat got a bit of a burn today). The daytime temperatures are comfortable, but the nights are MIGHTY COLD. It was a good thing we got a powered site since we need power to run the heater and it went down to -3c that night! Ah, but we’re headed north starting tomorrow, and we’re told once we hit the Tropic of Capricorn it will warm up nicely.

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