Day 20 (June 18th, 2015): The Aboriginal Rock Art at Ubirr

Today we left early to go check out The township of Jabiru and the aboriginal rock art site at Ubirr. 

Firstly into Jabiru and grabbed a few groceries at the Jabiru supermarket. Not getting too much here as it's pretty expensive and the fresh fruit and veg don't look so great either. 

We checked out he Mercure Hotel that is built in the shape of a crocodile. I have seen aerial photos of this - but it's pretty hard to make out the shape and get a decent photo from our level. So I have only tried to photograph the head.

The Bowali Visitor Centre, just out of town, was terrific - with great visual displays, an information centre, a great coffee shop and very interesting movie educating people about the work they do researching and managing the park.  

Throughout the year Kakadu's landscapes undergo spectacular changes and this art work painted on rock (pictured below) sits at the main entrance foyer to the information centre. It depicts the Six seasons of Kakadu as described by the traditional owners.

The video showed the constant battle they have with poachers in the park - commercial fishing and catching crocs is not allowed. They also have the 'cool burns' that are done at the beginning of each dry season - these are fires lit by the park rangers to burn off the spear grass that grows so rampantly after the wet. By doing this they minimise they risk of 'wildfires' in the park that can cause much damage to plant, bird and animal life.

It also gave an insight into the research they do and the Croc surveys that rangers carry out at the beginning of the dry - which is also the tourist season. The rangers survey the popular areas looking for crocs and setting traps to catch any Salties before the area is deemed safe for tourists.

At Jim Jim Falls they even have to helicopter in the access walkways that float on the water - seems they are chopper the walkway out section by section at the start of the "wet season" and then back in again for the "dry".

So after seeing all this movie I could not begrudge the $25 per adult that they charge for entry to Kakadu NP (the pass lasts for 14 days - but I did note that Territorian residents get free entry year round). Kakadu covers nearly 20000 sq km and must cost quite a large sum to manage and maintain.

Today Kakadu is aboriginal owned and is a jointly managed Commonwealth Reserve. The traditional owners have leased their land to the Director of National Parks - with overall direction provided by the Kakadu Board of Management which has an Aboriginal majority representing the traditional owners.

   

After the visitor centre we headed out to Ubirr - with a stop off at Cahills Crossing. This is where a road, via the causeway, goes over the East Alligator River into Arnhem Land.

There were quite a few aboriginals fishing here on the causeway when we first passed through. 

When we stopped again on the way back from Ubirr the tide had come up a bit more and they had gone - it would be a dangerous pastime fishing off this causeway as the crocs get here at high tide we are told waiting for fish coming over the causeway on the rising tide. We were not lucky enough to see this. 

There was a woman - with a couple of kids - though fishing off the riverbank with a hand line- a bit too close for my comfort to the waters edge.

Well Ubirr was to be another highlight of our journey through NT. 

Ubirr is a collection of aboriginal rock art galleries. It is definitely on a par with Carnarvon Gorge (in QLD) - but the art works here are more about hunting and fishing - where from memory I think at Carnarvon they are more representative of people and ceremonial events.

The dates of the rock art here range from 15,000 years old to as recent as 150 yrs ago.

We spent a good couple of hours wandering round the rock art sites here - and chatting with some other travellers as I am want to do.

For Aboriginal rock art the act of painting is said to be more important than the painting itself - so many older paintings are covered by newer ones.

This one was on a rock overhang quite high up above us and the ground level.

At the end of the trail was another prize. You climb up onto an escarpment and the view across the Nardab floodplain of the Kakadu wetlands is fantastic. Atop this escarpment you have a 360 degree vista of the stunning green wetlands and more escarpments out beyond this to the start of Arnhem Land. It took my breath away and no photo I could take could ever do it justice. It will be a site I will remember for a long time - as I stood there trying to imagine what it must have been like for the indigenous people wandering these lands to spend time here sheltering on higher ground and under the cover of the large rock overhangs doing the art works found here.

I loved this quote from an aboriginal elder regarding Kakadu:

"People need to come here and relax, sit on the country, feel the spirits of this country, and go home and feel the same way"

Day 19 (June 17th, 2015): We enter Kakadu National Park!!!!

Well our first day here in Kakadu NP is a hot one - 34 degrees at about 3pm. 

Our last few days just seem to be getting hotter - although now we have left Darwin it's not as humid.

Not too bad for me at the moment though as I sit here by the pool catching up on the blog. It's nice and shady and the pool is a pretty nice place to hang out.

We nipped out after setting up and having lunch to check out the South Alligator River and Mamukala wetlands just up the road from where we are staying - at the Aurora Kakadu Hotel campground - for a couple of nights.  

The South Alligator River is quite large with very muddy banks. 

Everywhere here now it is difficult to get a good view up the river as you are warned to stay at least 5metres from the waters edge for safety from the "Salties" (saltwater crocodiles that inhabit all of these waterways). To take the  picture of the river (above here) we had to pretty much stop on the bridge - very quickly - watching all the time as the speed limit is still 130km per hr here (as it is along most major roads in NT) and a vehicle can come up on you quickly.

No one can say they are not warned about croc safety - as there are signs everywhere pressing the danger and the need for vigilance.

Since there are not many places to take a dip in Kakadu - we are having to stay in caravan park type campgrounds so that we can cool off in a pool on these hot days. 

The Mamukala wetlands we visited was lovely and the large bird hide there was a fantastic hideaway from the heat of the day. We saw quite a few different birds

The Magpie Geese were there - 

- and we helped a young lad with spotting little frogs in the shallows just out from the bird hide.

The campground here is very basic but it is very cheap for Kakadu (at $20 per night) - the amenities leave a lot to be desired and they have no insect screening or anyway to keep out the frogs - and that means that the snakes - who like to eat the frogs - can also get in. 

We did see lots of the frogs in the showers and toilets but fortunately for us no snakes - but as you might imagine I did a pretty good check of every shower cubicle before I entered any for my shower.

The best part of this campground is the pool. It is huge - but it would have to be the noisiest pool we have ever been to - as a huge mob of cockatoos seem to hang out there all day - in the palms around the pool perimeter.

Thank god they have shade sails covering most of the pool otherwise it could have perhaps been a bit unpleasant for swimming.

This is the first campground on this trip that we have seen a dingo hanging around the grounds - we also hear them howling at night here. So we have had to make sure that we leave no rubbish - or shoes outside - as they are likely to take off with the shoes.

The Hotel organised an outdoor screen for the State of a Origin match the day we arrived - and a BBQ - so we rocked up and enjoyed a big feed of meat and chicken and salads, Schooners of beer for $5 and then the big game outside. It was a great game but sadly NSW were the victors.

Day 17 & 18 (June 15th & 16th, 2015): Mary River Wilderness Retreat & Wetlands Cruise

PToday (Monday 15th) we said goodbye to Berry Springs heading for Kakadu NP. 

We ended up going only the 104 km to Mary River Wilderness Retreat (on the Arnhem Highway) where we booked for a 2x night stay. We stayed here because we decided we would do a Wetlands Sunset Cruise on the Corroboree Billabong. 

Along our journey today we happened on the "Windows on the Wetlands" centre where we stopped in to view their exhibits. It turned into a longer stop than planned - with us ending up there at least a good hour. The exhibits were really interesting with lots of interactive things to help us learn about the wetlands creatures. It was a very well presented gem of a place and we were really glad we stopped. 

They also made really good coffee which we enjoyed whilst watching an informative video about the changing seasons in the wetlands of Kakadu. 

Heading off we made our booking for the Wetlands Cruise this evening and checked into the Mary River Wilderness Retreat.

This campground is located between Darwin and Kakadu NP and is a family owned and operated accomodation. They have a few walks on the grounds and even have golf buggy hire for those that would like to explore but don't want to or cannot do the walking.  We explored the Bamboo Walk one morning whilst here. It's a shaded walk through a bamboo forest. We saw some nice birdlife along this walk but did not spot any crocs in the billabong. Yes we did walk - no buggy for us!

We also see lovely orange bloom in the trees

And - an interesting fruit that the birds are eating. It has a hard shell pod that opens to display little buds of fruit.

They also have a pretty nice (even if a bit smallish) pool for guests and we spent some time here each day cooling off and as usual chatting with other travellers. The camping areas are very green since they seem to water quite constantly (from the Mary River) - this provides lots of good eating for the considerable mobs of wallabies that inhabit the campground most of the day.

I don't think I have mentioned that most of this trip since leaving home we have had quite hot days and some very warm nights to go with them. Lots of days over 30 degrees and many around the 33-34 degree mark. It's been a bit hotter than we hoped for - but generally the dry heat up here at the moment hasn't bothered us too much - especially when we have lots of places to swim (either natural or man made).

Also at Berry Springs we were getting some humidity which made for sultry nights that were quite warm in the tvan. We have now started using the fan in the tvan either for the heat or for the bugs & mozzies that sneak in at night when we are opening and closing the screen doors. We have never really used the fan before but it does a pretty good job and doesn't seem to draw much power from the battery. 

I seem to have digressed a bit with my narrative on the weather.

Really the highlight of our stay here was the 1.5hr Wetlands Sunset cruise. 

It was just awesome - and I know I am using that word way too much. It was a very relaxing and informative cruise on the picturesque Corroboree Billabong and we saw quite a few, very skiddish crocs that would frantically disappear when we got near, as well as heaps of birdlife and a gorgeous sunset.

Corroboree Billabong is part of the Mary River Wetlands and is said to be teeming with birdlife and saltwater crocs. 

You can see here some of the many birds we managed to photograph along the cruise and hopefully the photographs will relay how beautiful and serene this cruise was.

Well I did get a photo of one smallish "saltie" - before he jumped into the water.

There were a pair of White Bellied Sea- Eagles - the second largest raptor in Australia (the Wedge-Tailed Eagle is the largest)

We saw lots of the Red-Combed Jacana. These little birds (also known as the "Jesus Bird") walk around on the lily pads and have the appearance of "walking on water".

The lily pads are in fact quite water resistant and you can see beads of water on many of them

There are lots of the gorgeous pink lotus flowers and lily pads all around the billabong - this is because they did not get a big wet season this year - so where they would normally be washed away by the flooding - and they need to re-establish - this year they did not get washed away so are a bit overgrown on the billabong.

This Whistling Kite was guarding a dead turtle that it was eating

A gorgeous Rainbow Bee-eater

The skiddish "Azure Kingfisher" - which was very hard to get a photo of - and this photo does not show off all the orange colours on his breast and the red legs

See if you can find the juvenile Rufous Night Heron in this photo - he blends in very well

We saw lots of different Egrets --

At the end of the cruise we watched the sunset before heading back to shore - it was very beautiful. Yes I know another photo of a sunset - but I just love them

And our last treat just heading back in - in the fading light - was a Jabiru standing at the waters edge that was happily posing for us as we slowly cruised by him.

Interesting fact: the Jabiru is the only stork we have in Australia

Day 13 - 16 (June 11th - 14th, 2015): Berry Springs & Darwin

We took a short hop up the back road from Litchfield NP into Berry Springs for our location for the next 4nights. From here we plan to day trip the 40minute drive to check out Darwin.

Well we did pick up a fair bit of the red dirt this morning on the unsealed back road where the are also doing roadworks. It was pretty corrugated in sections - but a good drive with little traffic this morning for us to contend with.

Tumbling Waters Caravan Park is a little gem of a place - with lovely shady unpowered sites to choose from and a reasonable camp kitchen. We were camped right near the Crocodile enclosure that they have here - so had plenty of opportunity to watch the crocs moving around and sunny themselves during the day.  

There are also these Rufous Night Herons that come into the park in the evening - they seem to like to hang out in the heavily foliaged croc enclosure!!

The park has a very very friendly vibe with free croc feeding, outdoor cinema a couple of nights a week and quite a few other activities for the large number of regular caravanners that come here every year it seems. The have a new liscenced cafe - with great food and free live entertainment on Fridays.

A park ranger comes Sunday mornings (at the cafe) to show animals to all. 

Here is Millie the baby Frill necked lizard that I got to pat!'

I am no doubt raving on about this park but it was great - did I mention the big pool they have - I did spend a fair bit of time in it and met many friendly travellers cooling off there.

In particular, was the couple who helped us out after we broke a camp chair (just after setting up camp here). For some unknown reason I did not bring any extra chairs this trip. Over at the pool chatting away - we mentioned that we needed to find a camping store because we needed to replace the broken chair. Well this couple very generously insisted that we should pop over later and borrow a chair from them until we could find what we wanted over the next couple of days.

The next morning we set off early to get into Darwin and check it out before the day got too hot. We parked the car and wandered around the waterfront precinct of Darwin. 

What a lovely area this is - with lagoon swimming area and a wave pool and lots of eateries. We had a coffee and checked out the waterfront areas before heading up into the city to take a wander around.

We found the Supreme Court building (which is a Cyclone Refuge centre), 

NT Paraliament House - and 

 the ruins of the Old Town Hall which was destroyed by Cyclone Tracy where the ruined walls serve as a backdrop for outdoor theatre. 

Government House erected in 1883 (as was the town hall) is a stone replacement for the original timber structure built 13 years earlier which was irreparably damaged by white ants. With its gabled roof and all round timber-louvred verandas it has a very 'colonial' look to it. 

There is also the site of the the first Overland Telegraph Pole - erected in Darwin. Here they have placed a replica of this pole.

I was interested in seeing the WW2 Underground Oil tunnels that were built under the city of Darwin towards the end of WW2. The entrance is down near the waterfront area and we found it almost by accident. 

Darwin played an important role as a strength base for the allied defence forces. It is still plays a role today with a large RAAF, Army and Naval presence - as well as U.S. Marines being based here as well.

After the Navy Oil supplies on Stokes Hilł were bombarded and destroyed a decision was made to construct underground steel lined tunnels from the wharf running under the city- to store and protect the oil supplies. Tunnel 5 is open to the public.

We spent probably an hour walking through and reading the informative and interesting storyboards, set along the length of the tunnel, which detail the history of the tunnels and wartime Darwin.  It's a fantastic display that has recently been upgraded for the Anzac Centenerary.

As it happened the Tunnels were never fully completed (the plan was for 13) and never used for their intended purpose as peace was declared before they were finished. 

After this we decide to head of to Stokes Hill Wharf for a lunch time experience at this iconic Darwin waterfront area.

After lunch we headed back to our camp - with a bit of grocery shopping on the way. We also managed to find a decent camping store at Berrimah and replaced the camp chair.

Next day I returned the borrowed chair ( along with a couple of beers) and we spent the day just swimming, washing and reading at the campsite. 

We did also head to Berry Springs Swimming holes - a great little recreation area that we were pleased we got to early and enjoyed the swimming there before lots of day trippers starting heading in for the day.

Our last day we had a lazy morning and went back into Darwin after lunch to visit the Museum /Art Gallery - and to go to the Mindil Beach Sunset Markets.

We enjoyed the museum - it's small but very well set out. We especially loved "Sweetheart" - the Top Ends most famous Crocodile!! In the 1970's he gained notoriety because of several attacks on aluminium dinghies. He was eventually trapped but drowned when attempting to haul this huge croc ashore. He is immortalised now in the NT museum for all to see!!

The Cyclone Tracy exhibit was great - although I came away feeling pretty sick after experiencing the sound bites of people's actual experiences that night and also the sound room where you are in the dark and hearing an actual live sound recording made during Cyclone Tracy. It was a pretty scary experience hearing the wind and the noise of things hitting the building - even thought you knew you were safe. It must have been horrific to have been there when it hit.

In the exhibition is an actual obsolete Railway Signal tower that was destroyed by Cyclone Tracy - 25th December 1974- it is made of riveted wrought iron. The 200km winds of this cyclone bent it right over as can be seen in the photo below.

We also had a bit of fun at the "Legendary Fring Pages of the NT News" exhibition - it seems I have now been added to the exhibition.

Mindil beach is renowned for its magnificent tropical sunset over the beach. The markets are a vibrant friendly atmosphere with lots of different culinary delights on offer along with live entertainment, street performers and arts and crafts stalls.  We tried many of the Culinary delights!! - before heading down to the beach for sunset. 

Digging in to the yummy food on offer!!

We were stunned how many people gathered on the beach to watch the sunset - we think perhaps 1000 people could have been there with us experiencing a sunset that did not disappoint.