Prelude – Monday 18th July in Darwin
Did a quick, final tour of Darwin. Morning tea down by the bay at the deckchair cinema before heading into the tourist info centre to book a couple of tours in Kakadu.
In the afternoon while Di explored the delights of Darwin's answer to Chaddie (Casuarina shopping centre), Steve went to see the final instalment of Harry Potter. (I cried).
To be fair to Di, her shopping experience consisted mainly of supermarket shopping. To be fair to Steve, it's a very emotional movie.
Tuesday 19th July
Well after two weeks propped in one spot MM hits the road again. After the usual filling things that need to be filled and emptying things that need to be emptied.
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| The famous jumping croc tours at Adelaide River Last week a 6 meter croc leapt out of the water next to the boat And there was a collective scream from the passengers onboard |
An hour into the trip and we get seriously carved up by a road train. To be fair the sign did say Trucks entering. It should have said: Trucks entering without giving any heed to traffic that may be travelling along the road at the time. Unfortunately road trains are very long and MM is not the bright red subaru we used to drive, so it was a frustrating 15 minutes stuck behind him. In the end we pulled over and had a bex and a lay down. No that's not right, we stopped and had an iced coffee and a Woolies muffin. We also paid the $25 per head Kakadu entrance fee while we were stopped. Should have come here a few years ago, the entrance fee is a new addition :-(
Checked in at the Jabiru Lodge Resort, $38 for a powered site, but then again that's what you get when you stay at a resort NOT just a Caravan Park. To be honest it was very nicely laid out and very big sites. There is also a bar/cafe and a resort style swimming pool. Unfortunately when we checked in they told us, “just pick any site you like.” Oh oh, you know what that means:
“what about this one?”
“No, not enough shade”
“This one?”
“Too close to the one next door”
“This one?” ........
Eventually, after perusing many, and setting up in one and eating lunch, we moved to our final resting place.
Proof readers note: It nearly was Steve's final resting place. Make a damn decision!
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| We had lunch on this site - and then moved |
After settling in, it was time to pack up and go out for the afternoon, the motorbike would have been good at this point.
Taking in the advice from the tour books, our tour guides at home and suggestions from people on the road we headed off to the East Alligator River. Starting at Ubirr to view the rock art and take in the scenery. The local aboriginal community has inhabited this area for over 20,00 years so I must say the paint they use is very durable because you can still see their early artwork.
Considering the walking /climbing we did yesterday I think we did very well to make it to the top of the lookout walk. Again the view was worth the walk. From the lookout you get a great perspective of the size of this place (although you can't see the entire 20,000 square kilometres). You do get to see the wetlands surrounding the river and a good view of the escarpment which runs from Arnhem Land right through to Katherine.
Next stop Cahill's Crossing which not surprisingly is a crossing (of the East Alligator River) used by one of the early settlers, Mr Cahill. Once you work out the naming convention everything falls in to place.
By the way, the naming of the Alligator River was …... a mistake. The bright young thing that named it did not realise that alligators do not live in Australia and the thing that had just eaten two of his horses, one of his men and all his biscuits was in fact a crocodile. Or as the lovely little French girl, who we will meet soon, would say (phonetically) “le crocadill papa”.
While standing on the viewing platform marvelling at people fording the half a metre deep river in their 4WDs, the lady next to us pointed out the le 3 metre crocodill floating in the water. Twenty metres from the crossing.
No wonder no one was getting out to check the depth. She also pointed out the quite large barramundi jumping 2 feet out of the water just downstream. Consensus had it that if a 55cm barra was jumping out of the water it was more than likely because a large croc was trying to eat it! Not sure if it is anything to do with a life insurance policy I don't know about but Vicki had encouraged me to fish here. Herb did, she said, with a wink.
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| Honestly, I really think they are trying to discourage people from crossing here |
Back at the caravan park it was time to take advantage of the facilities, so we headed off to the resort style pool for a bit of a dip. Water doesn't seem to be getting any warmer.
After wine o'clock, while chatting to Jean Leary on the phone, a dingo wandered through the campsite next to us. A dingo? Has it got a baby? Actually no. If truth be known dingoes are extremely sorry about the incident at Ayers Rock all those years ago. Mainly because it led to someone convincing Meryl Streep to appear in a movie about it and performing the worst screen accent since Dick van Dyke massacred a cockney accent in Mary Poppins. Anyway, now dingoes just take shoes from campsites if you leave them outside overnight. Allegedly.
On reflection, could have stayed here for another night or two. Very pleasant.
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