But what a terrible time to get a plane, no wonder the tickets were cheap. 2.00 am is not a good time to fly. We put the van into a storage facility on the Wednesday afternoon, and then headed into the city. We walked around a little until it was time to meet Yvette for dinner at one of the restaurants on the wharf. We all enjoyed our meals, and after farewelling Yvette, we spent some time walking around the nightlife at the waterfront. Unfortunately the car park closed at ten, so we headed out to the airport. I am sure the chairs there are deliberately made to be as uncomfortable as possible and impossible to sleep in. At least the plane was only a little late leaving.
Jim had the aisle and I had the middle seat. There was a woman in the window seat and I could tell very early on from her demeanour that she wasn't a frequent or comfortable flyer. She did tell me she hadn't flown for eleven years. But she had come prepared!! She had a huge bag full of food and drinks. A hamburger at 2.00 am certainly didn't appeal to us, but this she had. But she obviously still wanted the full flight experience as she paid for an ipad. Then she asked me to grab the attendant as she went past because she also wanted a cup of tea. As soon as she finished the tea, she drank her bottle of coke. Just as they turned the lights down her ipad went into sleep mode and as it was now dark, she coudn't find the button to turn it back on, so another call for the attendant. Then she dropped her rubbish on the floor and couldn't find it in the dark. And half an hour later, the inevitable happened after the coke and tea, and we had to let her out. Eventually she went to sleep, still with her ipad going, and no matter how Jim and I closed our eyes, the light from it shone through. Fortunately we had strong tail winds, and the plane was half an hour early. The poor woman did keep apologizing for disturbing us, plus she was also very nervous.
Hayden picked us up and we were so excited to see Jack and how he had grown. We spent three nights there, babysitting on two of the nights. It was lovely to see him reaching some milestones while we were there, such as his first tooth, sitting up on his own and early attempts to crawl.
Pop showing Jack how it is done
Three handsome fellas
Four generations
Isn't he just gorgeous?
We spent the next three nights at Preston, seeing the latest improvements to Lauren and Lee's house and I did quite a bit of cooking to restock Mum's freezer.
We had been very lucky with the weather as Melbourne was very mild for that time of year. But all too soon we were back on the plane to Darwin. The plane landed on time, but had to wait fifteen minutes on the tarmac for another plane to leave the gate. Then when we got to the car park, the pay machine didn't work and we had to ring for someone to come over as we coudn't get out. Then our luck continued. We got back to the van and no lights/no power. We had left the van outside hoping the solar would be enough. We had left the van for two weeks at Christmas in Melbourne with no issues. However, Darwin's heat must have proved too much. We think the van must have got very hot inside, making the fridge work harder and use more power. Jim hooked up to the car and ran it for a while which got the batteries back up enough for lights and got the fridge going again. Fortunately we had used most of what was in the fridge, so the caretaker's dog got some mince that we weren't sure if it had thawed and refrozen. So the plane had landed at 1.30 and it was now 3.30 am. We were lucky that the storage people live on site and were happy for us to crash in the van until morning. So after a rather short sleep, Thursday morning we were hooked up and on the move again.
We stopped at Humpty Doo to restock for Kakadu. The day before we had flown to Mebourne we had decided as we were so close, we would do Fogg Dam and Window on the Wetlands. We were very glad that we had done these, as we were really too tired to appreciate them and it had been much easier without the van as well. My original plan had been to do the Corroboree Billabong Cruise that others had told us was good, but by the time we got there, the morning ones were finished and we were reluctant to do the lunch one as it was quite expensive and we had lunch with us, plus it was going to be an hour before it departed. We also decided we were too tired to do it justice. Instead of our planned stop at Bark Hut Inn, we decided to continue to Jabiru.
Fogg Dam - originally set up for rice farming, but this failed, partly because the magpie geese kept eating the rice.
It probably used to be a lovely walk, but a drive for us.
We stopped at Kakadu lodge, and got a lovely grassy shady site. A swim in their lovely resort pool helped to aleviate the tired/heat headache we both had. An early night was certainly on the cards.
Friday morning we headed to the Bowali Information Centre. This was far more comprehensive than we realised and before we knew it, we had spent the whole morning there. There were many displays and information boards, plus a video running. Last year a documentary series was made on the park, and we watched one of them. This was so interesting and informative and we hoped to catch another before we left Jabiru. From here we then drove in to have a look around the town itself. This did not take a great deal of time - a half dried up lake with a very nice park, a small shopping centre and a few random shops. But there was a bakery which was well worth the stop.
Our afternoon was a quiet one, still in recovery mode from our overnight flight, and we did a few chores and spent time in the pool.
Kakadu has a number of ranger actiivities, and we decided to avail ourselves of these whenever possible. Friday night there was a slide show at the caravan park so we attended this. Saturday morning we set the alarm to head to Ubirr and the ranger walk on that morning. This is the first year that they have got some of the local indiginous to talk and explain the wonderful rock art that is here. They are still very shy, but I'm sure it is going to be a great concept.
Ubirr rock art
360 degree views from the lookout, and all different.
By now two hours had passed, and we left Ubirr to look around the rest of the area. The Border Store hadn't opened for the season yet and it is supposed to be quite a landmark. Next we headed to the famous Cahill's Crossing. We were told this is so crocodile infested you can't help but see them. Not for us that day, but we were amazed at the brave people fishing off the side and the rocks on the causeway. We then drove to the southern boatramp, looking at the beautiful rock formations and regretting that the walk through these has not been opened yet. Unfortunately, although we had delayed going to Kakadu, so much was still closed. The video we had watched the day before certainly explained to us why these take so long. Many of the places are completely submerged during the wet season, so every year all the infrastructure needs to be put back into place. Seeing film of a helicopter flying in a walkway certainly showed that point.
We had lunch at the picnic area near the boat ramp then decided to go back for another look at Cahill's Crossing. What a shock we got. It was only about an hour since we had been there, but obviously nearing high tide. The crossing that was half out of the water was now completely submerged and the water was rushing over the top of it. Cars and trucks were stopped either side waiting for it to go down and those fishing were no longer in sight. We were so amazed we had to stop and watch. The roaring flow began to lesson and then just stop completely. By this stage the water was still very deep, so large trucks started to cross. Soon after we saw the water start flowing back the other way. It was interesting watching the depth marker dropping down, and the cars start to cross again. By now it was well into the afternoon and time to head back.
They were fishing from the rocks here
High tide and the water was roaring over
Status quo, no movement either direction and time for the big trucks to cross
Even the boats took the opportunity
Sunday morning, the alarm was again set, this time for the guided walk at Nourlangie. This area also has an abundance of impressive rock art. We met the ranger at the lookout which is the furthest point, then made our way back along the art work. After our walk/talk we headed off to explore the areas nearby which inlcuded a number of billabongs with fantastic birdlife on them.
Lookout at Nourlangie
More view
Rock Art
Anbangbang Billabong. We were amused by the tables so close to the water and thought this was a better use for them. At a campground a few days later, others voiced the same opinion.
Before we knew it, our four days at Jabiru were up, so Monday we hitched up again and travelled not much more than 50 k's down the road to the Yellow Water area. We camped at the lovely Madugal camping ground, being quite surprised at how few people were here. From here it was on a five minute drive to Cooinda, which we promptly headed to after lunch. Cooinda is really just a service area for the beautiful Yellow Waters Billabong. We made enquiries about the boat trip, seeing as we hadn't made the one further north. It was quite expensive at $90 each, but they have an offer where you can get a second tour for $25 extra. We were able to get into the sunset cruise that was to leave in just over an hour, and also booked the 9.00 am one the next morning so we could see things at a different time of day.
We headed back to the campsite to get Jim's good camera, and then we were the second couple lined up to get good seats right at the front. Up to now Jim had been quite disappointed at not seeing a crocodile, but he soon spotted a bit one cruising along while we were waiting for the boat. And that was the first of many for that evening and the next morning.
The cruise was two hours, and the amount of bird life is phenomenal. The sun setting on the water was something to behold. We decided the trip was excellent, and the one the next morning, although not as spectacular or as abundant in bird and animal life was still very good.
Not even on the boat, and our first croc sited
An alluring crocodile. We think a fisherman got a very big surprise.
Cruise boat on the billabong
Whistling ducks
water lillies
Wetlands wonderland
Jesus bird and chicks - walking on water
sea eagle
sunset
more sunset
and it just kept getting better
and more the next morning.
After our morning cruise we headed to Cooinda for a coffee at the bistro there, and then to make use of the lovely resort pool they have. The next morning was another ranger guided walk from the campground. We had Annie who had been our guide at the Nourlangie walk. Annie has a habit of not wearing a watch, so our hour walk became two and a quarter hours. This wasn't helped by the painful person on the walk who kept asking inane questions, that he should have already known if he had taken the boat trip as he said he did. One of those people who love the sound of his own voice. He was an absolute pain and I could see Jim get annoyed with him. A number of times I held my breath waiting for Jim to say something cutting to him, but fortunately he held it in.
Annie's extended talk left us leaving a lot later than we had planned. There were some lookout walks along the way, but as it was now the middle of the day, strenous climbing isn't a good idea in this heat. We were still unsure where we were going to stop. I really wanted to go to Gumlon Falls as I had heard how beautiful they are, and there was a slideshow that night and a guided walk to the top pools the next morning. The road had only opened a couple of weeks before and the road report said no caravans only high clearance camper trailers. We know they do err on the side of caution, so we had asked the ranger the night before for his off the record advice for taking the van in there. He said with our high clearance if we took it easy, we should be fine. We talked about and decided we had spent a lot of extra money on the van just so we could do this sort of thing. We stopped at the turnoff and checked the signs. No where did it say that caravans weren't allowed, so off we headed on 37 k's of dirt road. The corrugations were something to behold, and with the van on, we couldn't really fly over them as you might in a car, so we just took it very slow, with a couple of stops on the way to check the inside. The van was holding up well, but each time we stopped we found either side of the stone guard on the car had come off. Jim had them attached with D shackles, and these had rattled loose. Good timing each time we stopped, but he couldn't find the spares he thought he had, so padlocks ended up doing the trick.
About ten K's out, the corrugated road gave way to what looks like a river bed. This was where the high clearance was needed, and we had no trouble at all getting through, just picking our way through the rocks and ruts. And once we arrived how it was worth it. Probably the highlight of our time in Kakadu. We immediately paid for two nights, we were going to make the most of that drive in! How did the van fair? At the first stop I discovered my spice rack that sits on a shelf had emptied the containers out. Moving this to the bathroom mat for the rest of the trip solved that. A light fitting cover had come down, probably not put back properly after the last clean as it held after that. I'd carefully packed the contents of the fridge, and all this was fine. The only thing we did find, and that was a number of hours later, was that the bathroom door had jumped off the bottom and pulled the screw through at the top placement. Jim was able to fix this fairly easily, so overall, considering how bad the road was, we were pleased with how the van held up.
As soon as we had set up, it was off for a swim, and then later, another swim in the large bottom pool. That evening there was a ranger talk on the area and the next morning, bright and early a guided walk to the top pools. The sign did say a very steep climb, and it wasn't joking. A lot of the way was a hands and feet job climbing up the rocks, but so worth it once you were at the top. It's only 500 metres to the top, but it sure seemed a lot further than that, I guess because it is straight up. The ranger had warned us the night before to take some fruit or nibbles as we would be wanting to spend some time there. Such a gorgeous spot, and well worth all that effort to get there.
View after our climb. Campground is down there somewhere
Beautiful top pools
The infinity pool
Jim under the waterfall
View looking back down as we headed out
The bottom pool, just a short stroll from the campground.
More swims in the bottom pool for the afternoon, and then the next morning back out on that road. It didn't seem as bad going out, as we knew what to expect. We had heard that Jim Jim falls was opening, and had to make a decision. In the end we opted not to backtrack, and found out later that it didn't open until the next day in the end.
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