Kakadu

We headed off from Katherine, filled up with petrol at Pine Creek and promptly headed off in the wrong direction for the next hour or so! That will teach us for trying to rely on mobile phone navigation when there’s no service!! Back to old paper maps for us! After a slight (2-3 hr detour) we were back on the route to Kakadu. We have to say that we were pretty underwhelmed driving in through the national park. We didn’t see any wildlife, only dry scrub. A ranger later told us that even if you drove ALL of the roads through Kakadu, you would only see about one percent of the park. So over the next 4 days we got out and got into some amazing areas.

Day 1 – Art sites: we visited Nourlangie which is known for its amazing wet season caves that have been inhabited for thousands of years, and art sites. We had our lunch at Cahill’s crossing beside the West Alligator River. We saw a road-train & vehicles crossing through the river which has a massive tidal current stretching 100km upstream from the ocean! Some fishermen were lure-fishing there – we thought they were mad considering we could see a massive crocodile in the vicinity! We also visited Ubirr which were even more amazing. We also walked up to the lookout at Ubirr which is the northern-most point accessible for tourists – you have a 360 degree view of the wetlands which are a vibrant green. Today we also struggled with the heat and MOSQUITOES!

Day 2: Yellow River sunrise cruise: what an amazing way to start the day! We watched the sun rise over the billabong with wild brumbies frolicking across the grass. Then we cruised down the river to see SO many different types of birds: kingfishers, cormorants, finches, egrets, jabirus, Sea eagles, jacana (pictured - Tessa's favourite), whistling ducks and so many more. We also saw 2 huge crocs – cleverly camouflaged against the muddy bank. A water buffalo was also hidden near the bank whilst a large water monitor (lizard) decided to be our boat mascot and ride with us the entire way! It was certainly worth the cost to see so much wildlife that you wouldn't see from the road. Master J was also very impressed with the buffet breakfast that was included! (so were we – first time in history we didn't need to feed Mr J lunch!) Brunch was followed by school work – yes, we still have to complete a few hours a day! We followed this up with a swim in the nearby resort which they kindly allow us bush-campers to use!

Day 3: Jim-Jim Falls: we got ready early and headed out to Jim Jim falls. The last 10km saw some fun 4 wheel driving on a single lane track through creeks, sand and over humps. I think Kieren and the kids enjoyed that a little too much!! We saw another water buffalo (he was madly trying to get out of Kieren’s way lol!) Jim Jim falls was meant to be a 900m bushwalk although it took us about 3 hours. The boulders to climb over were ENORMOUS! Little Miss T had to be carried over some of them. But we were rewarded with an amazing swimmable beach and falls that were still running into a stunning plunge pool. On our way back we saw a metre-long golden tree snake which was eating a frog. We had hoped to get to Twin falls as well but ran out of steam & time after the massive boulder walk. We didn't want to run into Mr Water Buffalo in the dark! On our way back we dropped into the aboriginal cultural centre which had lots of great information. Master J was particularly amazed that there used to be 200 different aboriginal languages in use in Australia but now there are only 50. There are 4 language groups just in the Kakadu area.

We got back to our caravan to find another triple bunker caravan with KIDS!! This is a rarity we have discovered so this evening and well into the next morning the 7 kids played & schooled together. Unfortunately this family are travelling the opposite direction to us but we swapped tips & will perhaps meet in Melbourne at the end of the year! Thanks for a fantastic 16 hours Ward Family J

Day 4: After school work we slowly packed up and headed to Darwin through the haze of smoke. Apparently the past 24 hours had reached the perfect temperature for controlled burns. A little off-putting to see fires burning alongside the highway with no one in sight (at least for this Victorian!)

So long Kakadu – hoping to see this interesting place in the wet season sometime!