As as update to the last post, the Darwin Cup, played over 4 games.
Game location – Leprechaun Caravan Park, Darwin
Scores – Tim 4 Amber 0
Due to the recent Darwin Cup taking place in the city, this game has been played in its honour.
Title Score – Tim 2 (Darwin Cup and Kakadu Grand Prix) Amber 0
To join Amber & I, Bill, Mulligan and Steve the Kangaroo, a new addition hopped on board in Darwin.
His name’s Charlie the Wombat. Amber has wanted a cuddly wombat since day 1 but can you work out the reasoning behind his name?!
This isn’t an unknown department of the United Nation rather the card game, UNO, meaning one.
To add a little competition into the trip, the inaugural The Big Twelve Monther UNO 500 Championships have been set up. Although the rules have been slightly modified so we can both understand them, standard UNO rules apply but scoring to 500. Each game is being named and awarded a title so we’ll be able to keep the blog posted with the latest scores.
To date the only game to have been played is the Kadadu Grand Prix, played over 3 matches with Tim winning 2 games to 1.
Let the games commence
I’ve been wanting to do that for ages!! Apologies in advance for the long post too :)
Kakadu is a must-do in Australia regardless of who you talk too but make sure you take a 4X4 and have an interest in walking, sunsets, rock art and Aboriginal culture. If you don’t then don’t bother. It’ll save you passing on inaccurate information to others who may do. This little disclaimer is due to a conversation we had with a Kiwi couple who didn’t rate Kakadu and had told us there was nothing to do or see. What a load of crap!
Our first adventure in ‘Stan’ was a daunting one but afterwards realised how simple and straightforward touring could be. 9 days in all was spent in Australia’s largest National Park, over 20,000 sq/km and again think we judged it about right.
Looking at what could be done I reckon we’ve done just about it all from the Ubirr rock art and spectacular sunsets in the North to the controversial uranium mine in the middle to the magical freshwater rock pools of Maguk and Gunlom in the South.
The Park is naturally set along two roads, one coming in from Darwin to Jabiru and the other from Jabiru to Pine Creek, in a triangle. I say this because the map we used was an idiot’s guide that laid it out exactly like this marking each 'sight of interest’ with a red dot one after another. Our aim was to tick off the red dots! In reality, the Park is split over many regions that the official guide book covers separately that fortunately we had too…
After two days of getting there and a $25pp park fee, Kakadu is the home of the best preserved Aboriginal rock art in the world and a landscape that would be difficult to beat too. The word ‘escarpment’ became known to us on the trip as KNP has it in bucketloads. I’m unsure of the exact definition but the Tim definition is “raised plateau of rock over many kms that overlooks low ground’. In this case, the Arnhem Land Escarpment is the famous view of Kakadu that many would recognise.
Ubirr is arguably the main attraction of Kakadu and offers visitors the chance to see rock art from thousands of years ago in their original location. It is a controversial statement as some believe that it is drawn or topped up each year to preserve the interest and therefore the huge income from tourism. A walk around some of the main sites displays the Aboriginal story telling in picture form that during the Dry season is accompanied by a Ranger talk at certain times to help explain the significance. A main gallery shows ochre paintings of the different foods eaten; barramundi, long-necked turtles, pig-necked turtles, kangaroos etc whilst others show paintings created by ancestral beings far out of reach of humans.
I say that the walks cover some of the main sites, as many other significant paintings are still reverred by the local Aboriginal people and are considered too sacred for tourists to see. The Ranger explained that although the park management is jointly run by the Rangers her position as a female meant that she wasn’t permitted to see areas used in the male Aboriginal ceremonies. Similarly, male Rangers aren’t permitted to see areas used in female Aboriginal ceremonies.
Our visit was timed to perfection benefitting from not only the interpretative Ranger talks but also the stunning sunset. Visible from Nadab Lookout, the Nadab Plains stretched out for many kms in the slowly dying light, slightly hazy from the Eucalypt oils in the trees but also the bushfires that are commonplace in the Park around this time. This haze adds to the sunset and provides the ‘redness’ to the sunset. This for both of us will be one of the striking memories of the trip.
Merl campground will also be a striking memory but for a completely different reason; mosquito heaven. It seemed a bargain $10pppn but as soon as the light went, mosquitos came to life. The campground is set in the forest and far from running water that seems to attract the midges. Unluckily for us, the benefits of citronella and moretin mosquito coils hadn’t yet been realised so both got eaten alive especially whilst trying to cook on a camp oven. It was to prove a decisive moment shaping our evening routine for the rest of Kakadu and prompting many to ask during setup, “Have you been to Merl?” – it’s obviously a problem many encounter that seems to create a bond simultaneously.
A few nights in a resort in Jabiru eased the pain, benefitting from hot showers, pool and access to mosquito-free areas and also gave us the option of visiting the Ranger Uranium Mine (RUM). RUM provides 10% of the world’s supply of uranium that is solely exported by Australia, that is estimated to hold over 40% of the total world supply. The mine is majority owned by Rio Tinto, one of the world’s largest mining companies and is reckoned by them be the most intensely scrutinised mine in the world due to the controversial material being mined but also its location.
The land is leased and technically isn’t contained within Kakadu but is obviously still heavily impacted on the work. One of the most sacred locations in KNP is only 2kms from the pit hole. The tour was constantly reassuring the visitors of how good the owners are at ‘sustainable environmental management’ and that ‘open and constant dialogue with the authorities’ is there to the point it felt like a propaganda tour. I just wanted to see glowing green rock and big yellow diggers!
The Bowali Visitor Centre, 2kms outside Jabiru was an excellent place to spend a hot afternoon in the shade. The centre works in conjunction with the Warradjan Cultural Centre further south, to provide information about the park and the people who live there focussing on landscape, habitats, culture and language. Bowali dealt with the first two points and was a useful insight to have as we progressed throughout the Park. Monsoon forests, savannah lands, stone country, woodland and wetlands are all present in Kakadu which is why it’s such a special place and World Heritage Listed. It helped to give some context as to how the Park is co-managed by the Park Rangers and the Traditional Owers and the type of work they have to do.
Kakadu also broke our ‘unsealed road’ cherry and boy did we know about it. Unsealed roads in Australia essentially means that the road is made of graded gravel and sand but corrugated at the same time. Think driving on a loose cattle grid for 10s of kms that also happens to be a on a slant at the same time. It didn’t help that ‘Stan’, bless him, isn’t a tank and felt every bump and groove due to small road tyres and a many year old suspension. At this time, our setup inside the van wasn’t battle-worn so cutlery, crockery, pots and pans were smashing and bashing into each other unsecured adding to the racket. It felt as though we were going to shake apart!
Several walks were undertaken that meant a few kms down unsealed roads that gave a new meaning to ‘taking the rough with the smooth’ as they tended to be spectacular. One at Gubara was especially nice taking us through shaded trees and sandy tracks into a deeper forest overlooked by ‘escarpment’ and along past a shady creek that had many pools of water. Crocodile warning signs were enough to keep us out but some went in. Instead I was quite happy damming a little creek with rocks and stones. It was like I was 6 again :) A meanwhile found a small lizard to watch.
Lookouts were aplenty but the one at N was the best affording the most scenic of views over the Kadadu dense forests and billabongs. It was one avoided by the adventure tour groups, that in a pleasant banter type of way, became our adversary. Seeing them anywhere guaranteed many people rather than a few and lots of hussle and bustle. Early morning bushfires and the eucalypt haze added to the early sunlight providing another fond memory.
Nourlangie Rock is the second rock art site but is no way second-rate, just different. It provides more of a story to how the local the Gun-djeihmi, Kunwinjku and Jawoyn people live further south in the area due to the different shelters and significance of the art work. It wasn’t the right time for a Ranger talk and feel it would have aided our understanding of this special place much better. All of these areas had excellent signage and walks that gave some understanding.
Yellow Waters is the secondary main attraction of Kakadu that provides the opportunity for tourists to cruise on wetlands and spot all manner of wildlife including birds, mammals, fish and of course crocodiles. It gets its same from the effect the sun has on the water at sunset and was my only regret of Kakadu that we didn’t see it. It is also part of the Gadadju Association, a company owned by the local Aboriginal people, who also own the Cooinda Resort and run many of the tours within the park. These tours can include the wetland boat cruises ($60pp) to helicopter flights to luxury accommodation. It was beyond our price range to experience these as we’d done our cruise back at Mary River Park a few days prior.
The jewels in the crown of Kakadu is Jim Jim Falls and Twin Falls, two magnificent waterfalls that fall near to 100m. It also gave ‘Stan’ and us, our first 4WD and swimming adventures.
As with any good parents rather than throw him in the deep end, we tried out a small water crossing at Jim Jim Billabong a few kms up the road…
and rather than armbands (they wouldn’t fit on a Mitsubishi Delica) he was surrounded by lifeguards, or should I say, a couple of hardcore Toyota Landcruises and Nissan Patrols.
We figured should he start to drown, the lifeguards using their snorkels and winches could pull him, and us, to safety. Everything was going swimmingly well until we heard a big bang.
The big bang ended up being the driver side access rail at the bottom of the Delica that had become loose (you can see the passenger access rail in the pics above!). We later learnt many Delica drivers remove this to aid clearance in such 4WD adventures but probably with a bit more care and attention that driving through a billabong. The lifeguards humoured us by taking our picture crossing the water :)
Jim Jim Falls is only accessed by a 60km unsealed road with 10km of that being proper 4WD territory; soft sand, blind corners, humps and bumps, water crossing, rocks, you name it. As you can imagine both of us were bricking it! Neither of us had driven 4WD before so I drew the short straw and did have to learn on-the-job. It was a little scary but absolutely brilliant! Another striking memory!!! It was the look of the big adventure tour bus and the Landcruiser drivers at the other end that was the picture – you could see they were thinking, “How the bloody hell did YOU get down here?!”. ‘Stan’ did us proud and was promised a clean upon returning to Darwin.
After the drive, another 1.5-2km was walkable over rocks and logs through croc-country to the most spectacular view ever. It was no mean feat. A couple in the campground didn’t make it as the wife’s shoes fell apart not once but twice after finding a replacement in the car.The Falls were a good 100m high being in sunlight at the top descending into a shadow and further still into a perishingly cold plunge pool. Someone mentioned you’d be suffering from the first signs of hypothermia if you swam to the waterfall and back and it was only 50m or so… Further round clear freshwater pools basking in the late sun were possible to swim in so set off to see the plunge pool and swim whilst Amber sat and chatted. The pools were magical, lined with sand, it reminded me of the joys of Fraser Island. Many had snorkels to spot the little fish and avoid the big rocks whilst others jumped off tall rocks into the channels…’Tombstoning’ in one organisation’s book!
The southern part of the Park is much quieter except for Maguk and Gunlom, the only two ‘safe’ swimming spots in the Park. Crocodile warning signs remain but the risks were generally much lower due to the type of terrain and height of the swimming areas. Both were accessible by unsealed roads but were much better that those further North perhaps due to the higher number of visitors.
Maguk was my favourite as we were let in on a secret to find a better swimming location than advertised. If you want to know more, drop me an email! The location was stunning and we were all alone and isolated. A rocky terrain had to be negotiated first before dropping into the water and drifting down the creek flow into a much larger pool. The pool was only 10x15m at most and very deep but incredibly cool and refreshing. For some reason neither of us had taken swimmers. I was in like a shot but took Amber a good 10-15mins to battle her nerves to come in too!
video
A narrow plunge pool had been created that was a good 20m deep but only 2m wide and as we’d arrived had seen a chap jump down. After a few minutes I was a little concerned he’d not reappeared but then emerged somewhere else…confusing…me too.. It turned out that the pool wasn’t just a plunge pool but had an underwater arch that allowed you to swim out through. I had to try that! After a little panic, surfaced and was completely exhilarated…another striking memory! I was like a little kid again here, splashing and relaxing in the water, bathing in the shallows much to the amusement of Amber sitting on the side. I didn’t want to leave.
The evening’s campground was equally impressive. Only one near neighbour, an open fire in the forest and a full moon to light everything up and to top it off, no mossys!!! This was why we came to Australia..for days like today :)
Gunlom was Amber’s favourite and involved a 1km upwards walk, that probably shouldn’t have been undertaken in the heat of the day, to a series of fresh spring water pools that overlooked the landscape like an infinity pool. The scenery was stunning. It was a little precarious entering the water due to the algae covered rocks but once in was very refreshing, especially after the steep climb up. It was picture postcard stuff with the campsite below looking like model tents and buildings due to our height. It was very popular due to it being advertised as a swimming spot that meant having to share this scenic spot with many others.
The evening was also shared with many other campers but at a free Ranger talk on ‘bushtucker’ under the stars in the campground. It was a great photo presentation that would have been good to have at the start in order we could keep an eye out for edible treats but not to worry.
The 250kms back to Darwin was a funny drive filled with much emotion. It was sad leaving Kakadu but good to be heading back to civilisation, or rather beer and wine. As soon as the mobile started beeping with messages and missed calls, we knew we were back but made us realise how remote we’d been.
