Rock climbing, billabongs and water buffalo

The best laid plans... by the time we got organised this morning, we decided it was too late to make the trek down to Jim Jim and Twin Falls so we headed off just before lunch to Nourlangie Rock via the Bowali Visitor Centre. Another day of  amazing sights and experiencing the spiritual pull of Aboriginal Australia

Some great exhibitions including the snake... I was just saying today we haven't seen one in the wild and I hope that is not tempting fate. Then we headed off to Nourlangie via Anbangbang Billabong with more stops on the way to take photos of the spectacular sandstone escarpment that runs the eastern length of Kakadu..

 The billabong was full of birds and magpie geese with the obligatory crocodile warning. This billabong was well sign posted with a 2.5 km walk around the edge but we opted for rock climbing instead.

For Trsih and Robbie...here's Arthur again!

Anbangbang Billabong

From the billabong

So onto Nourlangie and the art works and the view. There were coaches in the car park and many cars but somehow we managed to do the whole walk without seeing anyone else. The pictures speak better than any words I can write. It was the most amazing place.
The climb was moderately steep and lucky Ian had the backpack with the iPad and all the water. My thighs are still screaming from climbing Ubirr yesterday.. I knew we should have gone into training before we left!
It was so hot, I even wore a hat which as those of you who know me wwll know, is most unusual!

Then we climbed to Gunwarrdehwarrde Lookout and the views and the rock formations were spectacular.

From here we headed onto a 5km of four wheel drive track to Sandy Creek and Sandy Billabong which had been recommended to us by Bernie and Marg Gosling (from the Nambucca Valley!) This billabong was just what we were expecting at Kakadu. Full of bird life, saw my first Jabiru and even a pelican. Absolutely deserted and we had it all to ourselves. I was a bit wary of snakes and crocodiles walking through the spikey grass to the edge and the barrier fence to keep crocs out was a it off putting.

Sandy Creek..looks like good fishing

Four wheel  driving

A fence in the middle of nowhere...to stop the crocodiles!

A Jabiru feeding in Sandy Billabong

Beware of crocs! Signs everywhere

The pictures cannot convey the absolute quiet, the pristine environment and the searing heat which saps your energy,  considering it is the middle of winter up here on the Territory.

Safely back in the car after braving the threat of crocodiles on the edge of the billabong, and snakes in the long grass, we were taken aback to see a sign warning of a rampaging bull buffalo which had been spotted in the locality.

If I had seen that sign first, you would not have seen any of these photos and I would have stayed safely in the car!

Tomorrow  we will do Jim Jim and Twin Falls. Over fifty kilometers on a four wheel drive track. Should be interesting.

Words fail me... and that never happens!

If you only ever travel to one place in the world, you must visit Ubirr in Kakadu National Park in Northern Australia... but I'll get to that in a moment.
We started the day in a leisurely fashion in this little oasis where we have camped beside this quiet little billabong. :)

 We lay around the croc free pool, and I started to read Helene Young's Burning Lies before we ventured into the small well stocked supermarket in town for some provisions.
Lovely fresh bread purchased from the Kakadu Bakery where I saw the biggest cream bun in the world. I guarantee it would have fed an entire family. The mine workers at the nearby Ranger Uranium mine must like their cakes huge!

After lunch and another swim  we headed off in 35 degree heat, provisioned with lots of water, to the East Alligator River, Cahill's Crossing and Ubirr.

We saw our first saltwater crocodile in the wild at Cahill's Crossing while a very casual couple fished for barramundi on the barrage.

See if you can pick him in the middle of the photo.

And they caught one!  A barramundi that is.

They were very game... the crocs were only about fifty meters away from the causeway they were fishing from. Certainly not for these little black ducks!

We couldn't go any further across the barrage as it marks the entry to Arnhem Land and you need a special permit to cross.

After that we drove a couple more kilometers to Ubirr which is the most amazing, spiritual place. Aboriginal art...three to four thousand years old.

We climbed 250 metres to the Nardab lookout to see the most spectacular views. The photos just don't do it justice. It was the most amazing panorama and the small crowd up there was silent.. an almost reverent hush.

On the way home the sandstone rocks lit by the setting sun necessitated about ten photo stops.

Then back to the campsite to cook dinner and across to the pool area to watch Crocodile Dundee in the open air. We wanted to see the local scenery but got there too late!
Tomorrow Jim Jim Falls.. stay tuned.

Daly River...shame about the barramundi or lack thereof

We left Litchfield Tourist Park on Wednesday and headed for Daly River...reported to be the fishing capital for barramundi. Not sure who decided that but no one told the barra!
It was a long drive down with a brief break at Adelaide River.
The landscape we drove through was very interesting. Ancient rocks, termite mounds and cycad palms.

We drove into  Daly River mid-afternoon to a non-existent town. A police station and three houses with caravan parks hidden along a twenty kilometre length of a beautiful but crocodile infested river

We drove round for a half hour looking for the best looking caravan park and settled on the Banyan Farm.
Hot and sticky, we put the trailer up and headed for the pool. It was  a lovely park with a little bit of grass.

Where are those fish!

We haven't seen green grass since we left home and everything inside and out is covered in a fine layer of red dust. We were visited by a peacock before we headed over to join another eighty grey fishermen and their partners to watch the third State of origin football match with a sumptuous feast of pies, peas and mash for a bargain $12!
Ian watched the footie while I played with my iPad and talked to a new acquaintance, Kerry who shared a love of reading and travelling Cornwall.

Go the reds..or is it the blues?

We also heard tall tales and true about crocodile jumping into fishing boats and eating a horse in said caravan park.
One crocodile apparently guards the boat ramp and is reported to be 2.5 meters long and fishermen have to stay in the boat and throw a rope so it can be driven up onto the trailer.
But alas, the fisherman reported there were no fish being caught due to a poor wet season and no run off,so we decided to move on and spend a week or so up in Kakadu National Park.
A long hot drive (about 450 kilometers up to Jabiru)
To digress...one of the most interesting things we have found on our travels is the number of back packers working in remote locations. We have been served by German, French, Irish, English and even one guy at Wangi Falls who said he came from heaven!
Today the young  French waitress where we stopped for to refuel and have morning tea at Pine Creek,  was not quite up with Aussie cuisine. On the menu we were  tempted by  scones or lamingtons, so we opted for a cup of tea and a lamington.
Interestingly they were served with jam and cream! I think she confused them with the scones!
Onto Kakadu...a long and very hot drive and then we put up the camper trailer in thirty-five degree heat. When we finished we went straight to the pool and gave lunch a miss. (The lamingtons and jam and cream saw us through the whole day!)
And joy of joys, not only do we have five bars of internet but the mobile phone kicked in with full service as well and ten messages dinged in!
Tomorrow we are off to explore Kakadu, book a fishing trip and watch out for crocodiles!

From the DEEP blue sea to crystal waterfalls...

I am happy to say that yes we survived the deep sea fishing trip. We haven’t blogged since then and have had some concerned emails...one that said...

Hey Grey Nomies, we have been following the blog and was concerned that the LAST one was the day BEFORE you were going on that big fishing trip. 1. Did you get back safely?  2. Did you get back at all? 3. Did you catch any fish ?  4. Did you intercept any incoming illegal boatpeople ?  CONTINUE THE JOURNEY  !!  

Yes thank you, Trish and Robbie: 1. Yes. 2. Yes. 3. Read below. 4. No 5. Yes!

Thursday

So the fishing trip... it has been agreed between the two grey ‘nomies’ (our new moniker .. .thanks to the Polwarths) that this shall never be again mentioned.

We departed on a brilliant sunny day on a sturdy vessel. Brilliant sunshine, opalescent waters.

We disembarked that night later in pitch dark after enduring ten hours of three metre seas, ONE AND A HALF HOURS total of fishing, a cowboy of a skipper and a poor passenger vomiting beside us. Ian fished and caught a few small fish.

 I fished until it got so rough, I couldn’t hold the rod and balance against the pitching boat at the same time. (I did write 17 pages in long hand of my current novel but was unable to read my own writing the next day!

It was an experience never to be mentioned again. For any of you future grey nomads and prospective deep sea fishing charter customers email me and I will tell you which company NOT to choose!

Friday

Coincidentally, previous Katherine park neighbors and fellow travellers Allan and Jenny pulled into the same park and were next to us again.

So the day was spent quietly wandering around Darwin.  We visited the Australian Aviation Heritage Centre and spent a most enjoyable couple of hours wandering around looking at the planes and reading the history. Look at the size of the B52!

Then into town to go shopping (a lovely pair of pearl and diamond earrings purchased  for my birthday) and some cooler clothes.

A visit to the World War II tunnels near the harbour which were built to store oil...but never did .

Then we wandered over to Stokes Hill Wharf to depart on our Sunset Harbour Cruise. Fabulous food (the diet is not looking good) and a colourful sunset.

Saturday and Sunday

Next morning we departed for Litchfield National Park to book in for a restful four days and organised to meet Allan and Jenny there on Sunday. Litchfield Tourist Park is a lovely quiet park, where we have spent each afternoon in the pool chatting to new acquaintances before heading to the bar for a cooling drink.

Monday:

We spent the day touring the park with Allan and Jenny taking in the spectacular sights of the national park.

 Waterfalls and crystal clear swimming holes: Wangi Falls,

 Tolmer Falls and Buley’s Waterhole of cascading pools. We also visited the old Bamboo Creek Tin mine which was very interesting.

Today we ventured into four wheel drive and drove through our first river to see an old abandoned homestead.

The Sargent family settled there in 1928 and had fourteen children... in the wilds in the middle of nowhere but when we came to the second river crossing (very crocodiley looking) no one would volunteer to get out of the car to check the water depth so we turned around.

Pic 1599

 It was all very beautiful but spoiled by the yobbos drinking and playing the fool (dangerously over a rock edge) at Buley’s Waterhole.

Lots of new acquaintances made and email addresses swapped : Allan and Joan from Melbourne, Sue and Allan from Nhulunbuy (three Allans!) and Rowena and family from Tassie, as well as Brian and Lynn from Tassie.

We enjoyed dinner in the open outdoor restaurant on Monday night to say farewell to those moving on Tuesday.

Tuesday:
Our last day in Litchfield Tourist Park after bidding farewell to our new acquaintances this morning. Jenny and Alan are heading to Edith Falls, and Sue and Allan back to work in Nhulunbuy with their delightful children, Darcy and Mary.

So the day was spent chilling, and getting organised and washing. (If I am completely honest I must admit that Ian did the washing, the organisation and the chilling while I spent four hours finishing my current novel which is due to my publisher today)

But hurrah! Finished and then we drove into Batchelor through a massive burn off  for internet access so  the manuscript could wing its way across the Pacific, A huge load is now off my shoulders and I won’t have to write in the car as we travel... Ian has also sighed with relief as I have been a very quiet passenger.

So tomorrow we are off to Daly River for some barramundi fishing for four days...Trish and Rob... don’t worry about no new blogs and crocodiles. We are fully expecting no internet access there.

Till the end of the week when we reappear on our way to Kakadu!

Sunset in the tropics

Not a lot to report today.
Visited the Casuarina shopping centre.. the largest in the NT for essential supplies. ie more shorts!
Missed Kevin Rudd by one day.. he was there kissing babies yesterday!

A very lazy day which finished with a trip to the Darwin waterfront and the awesome wave pool. Lovely park lands with lots of backpackers with severe cases of sunburn still soaking up the sun. Ouch.

Then we wandered over to Cullen Bay with Allan and Jenny to watch the most spectacular sunset.

Fish and chips on the Timor Sea.... oh... and wine of course!

The photos tell it all!
And the sunset...

Tomorrow.. THE fishing trip!
Stay posted.