Trackin' into Kakadu

Day 47, 48 and 49

Sunday 27^th, Monday 28^th and Tuesday 29^th May.

I still have not seen a large crocodile up close and (not too)  personal in its natural habitat. Oh I know I saw George the “freshie” at Kununurra, but he doesn’t really count. We were on our way to Kakadu and everyone guaranteed we would see lots of “Salties” there.

Sunday we left Darwin, destination Kakadu, but we decided to make a 50Km detour to a place on the coast called Shady Camp. All those in the know assured me we would see lots of crocs there sunning themselves. A large weir runs across the river and because its tidal, water flows over it as the tide comes in and then back the other way as the tide goes out. Apparently the crocs line up catching fish as they swim either out or in with the tide. Its such a spectacle that a viewing platform has been constructed so that tourists can watch this spectacle.

The viewing platform. One little bump, that's a crocodile, can you spot it?

 Well the river wasn’t even flowing and of course, no crocs in sight.

We stood quietly on the viewing platform, willing a croc to show itself. Finally one did raise its head a fraction in midstream. All I could see were three bumps, his snout and two eyes and then they also sank out of view very quickly as soon as I got my camera out!

I don't think a tortoise really counts!

Still we weren’t actually in Kakadu and I had been assured I would see lots of crocodiles there.  I was determined not to go on one of the tours that provide “jumping for chicken carcass crocodiles”, I wanted to see them in their natural habitat.

We booked a Guluyambi Cultural Cruise on the East Alligator river which departed upstream from the weir/floodway that connected Oenpelli in Arnhem Land to Kakadu.

Crossing into Arnhem Land! Permits please! but NO CROCODILES!!!

 Again we were assured that we would see dozens of crocs lining up at this weir, again waiting for unsuspecting fish to foolishly swim over with the flowing water….. You guessed it , a beautiful river with enviting sandy banks for sunning on…but no crocs.

The tour made up for it! The captain and cultural tour guide, Neville, was extremely proud of Arnhem land,”His Land” and he showed it off in a sensitive and positive way. He also had a great sense of humour and entertained us with stories of his culture,his land, his law and his way of life which made us feel really priviledged that he let us visit Arnhem land even though we didn’t have a permit.

Gill in Arnhem Land

Neville shows his Javelin style!

Paul has arrived in Arnhem Land, but no permit!

 This also makes for a positive sign that this ancient culture is in the sound hands of its modern day caretakers.

Mimi Artwork at Ubirr near Oenpelli crossing into Arnhem land

We also visitied two different areas of the large national park to view Aboriginal art work which was up to 5,000 years old. I find it overwhelming to view paintings that have been painted with a stick paintbrush and ochre onto rocks and they are still crisp, clear and devoid of any fancy protection or fixative.

It was a real privilege to view the rock paintings at Nourlangie Rocks. A very Handsome warrior! 2000 years old!

Paul and I also climbed 2km up to the top of Mirrai lookout which gave us views across the vast area of Kakadu towards Arnhem Land and south to Mary River and West to South Alligator River.

We don't swim in these Billabongs!

I will be sad to leave this beautiful country; its ancient culture, the majesty of the huge rock plateaus, beautiful blue billabongs laced with lotus lilies and white egrets dotting the shore line, they all blend to provide a lasting memory of a beautiful part of our country, Australia

Tracking into Darwin

Days 42 to 46

Tuesday 22^nd May to Saturday 26 May.

Darwin! I have totally fallen in love with this city! The city centre reminds me of a mini Hongkong or Singapore and yet the true nature of this city represents the real Australian laid back, “she’ll be right mate” attitude. 

This bird is a reminder of home. They are scavengers and they ar SO UGLY!!  but we have them on our billabong. They are the scavengers of the caravan park

The climate is warm, balmy and welcoming and the people even more so! You can wear thongs at the yacht club for dinner and be received warmly everywhere. No Judgment or expectations.

Howard Springs we are camped near this beautiful natural springs.

We have happily played tourist for the last five days, but in doing so, we have discovered a different Darwin.

One of my favourite subjects in Primary School was Social Studies. I enjoyed the many lessons where the history of Australia was laid out in depth. We learnt dates and drew maps and copied timelines which represented all the major developments and incidents which formed the Australia as we know it today.

Not once do I remember the date, February the 19^th 1942 being cited as a date which was of historical note and played a significant role in Australia’s development.

It has been a real eye opener this visit to Darwin. We have been here long enough to visit the Museum, the War Museum and a structure which runs under modern day Darwin. The six Oil Tunnels! We have visited these massive constructions which were built after the fact!

There are six of these tunnels and they are designed to hold oil so that the city of Darwin's fuel supply is not compromised. We learnt after visiting these that they were never used. Built after the fact!

 We have visited massive gun emplacements which were built after the date. That date was February 19^th 1942 when the Japanese bombed Darwin and 100’s of Australians lost their lives. This was not a one off date, this occurred over the next year and included the bombing of Japanese submarines in the harbor as well as the destruction of wharves and significant structures in Darwin.

Gun Emplacements built after the bombing of Darwin!!

This trip has been a continuous list of firsts and our visit to Darwin has continued to add to this.

It’s amazing that this city has not only survived everything that World War II could throw at it but also survived Cyclone Tracey and has continued to thrive and grow.

Track into Litchfield National Park

Days 40, 41 and 42

 Sun 20^th, Monday 21^st and Tuesday 22^nd May 

We have really been looking forward to our visit to Litchfield National park, so it was with a certain amount of excitement we packed up and moved on from Katherine.

It really is not a good idea to presume or imagine what to expect.

A national Park for me, means an area of totally virgin growth, an area which is pristine and shows little impact from man.

Controlled Burn off in Litchfield National Park

I was unaware of the burn and control policy utilized in the tropical areas until this trip. May and June, the start of the “Dry” is the time for the practice of controlled burning to prevent fire storms in areas which are too remote for conventional fire fighting practices later in the Dry season.

The first impression of Litchfield park was of course a patchwork of blackened areas , interspersed with areas which were re-vegetating from last year’s controlled burn.

Fortunately first impressions can be radically changed and that occurred as soon as we began to explore the many special features offered by this National Park. I found the many waterfalls and their surrounding vegetation a refreshing and photogenic experience, so much so that if we weren’t photographing these features, we were probably swimming in them.

Florence Falls

165 steps later and we were at the bottom of the falls  which flowed off into this beautiful undergrowth

In complete contrast was the peaceful Tabletop Swamp which was bejeweled with exotic waterlilies.

 All plunge pools were guaranteed croc free so we indulged as the temperatures rose during the day. 

Buley's Rockholes a series of water holes which eventually flow into Florence Falls.

Wangi Falls, we camped at this waterfall and plunge pool and spent half each day swimming here.

We also took a 10Km 4WD trip to find the Lost City, although we did feel that it looked more like the “Burnt out City”

Lost City!!! We found at the end of winding 10Km bush track

We did enjoy the waterfalls and rockpools and found Litchfield National Park to be the home of some photogenic gems.

Tracking the Flora and Fauna

Days 39 to 41   

Sunday 19^th to Monday 21^st May

I have decided to devote this particular blog to the flora and fauna we have encountered during our recent travels. Over the last four days we have visited both Katherine Gorge and Litchfield National Parks so of course you can expect to see some pretty spectacular views. (Paul is always worried that I am going to run out of film!). I will include them in my next blog.

I won’t bore you with too many pictures of wild flowers, Paul turns white every time I say “stop the car, I just saw some wild flowers!” I have included one for Dad. Even Paul recognized that this one wasn’t a gum tree or a pine tree. I think it’s a silky grevillia, I’m sure someone who reads this will know if I’m right.

Okay now I have got the Flora covered ( one picture out of many) I will spend the rest of this blog discussing the Fauna!

The most unbelievable part is that most of these creatures have been photographed in our camp sites. Obviously the diets of these indigenous creatures are supplemented by the many tourists who move through their environment and can’t resist them

The first day we arrived in Katherine in time for lunch, so I made us both a healthy salad sandwich. I handed one to Paul and when I turned around the top piece of my bread was missing from my sandwich.

These beautiful blue-eyed honey eaters, (misnomer they should be called red handed bread thieves) were tucking into it. The mature birds have blue patches around their eyes and the young have lime green Patches.

I’ve also included this cute little lizard we met at the Kathering Gorge interpretive centre.

Another “Character” we encountered in Katherine was this grasshopper (I think it is one of the locust varieties), seen here posing with Paul’s hand.

Unfortunately a few Seconds after posing for this photo he leapt to his death. A kingfisher obviously had his eye on him the same time we did and swooped down as the grasshopper gracefully leapt into space. The last we saw of him was a few legs hanging out of the kingfisher’s beak  as he headed back to his tree.

My final brush with nature is this beautiful “Wallaby who jumped into our camp at Wangi Falls to show off her baby. She also enjoyed a lettuce salad with us before moving on to the next camp site for her main course. Foraging is very easy during the tourist season!

The big track - Savannah Way completed.

Days 35, 36, 37 and 38  15^th to 18^th May.

Yesterday as we motored in to Katherine we completed one of our 4WD ambitions, to complete the trip across the  Savannah Way. The Savannah Way is the highway that runs across the  Savannah Grass lands of Tropical Australia from Broome to Port Douglas or Cairns. I use the term “Highway” loosely as this road is mainly dirt and the majority of the traffic consists of huge road trains or intrepid 4WD people, with the odd foreigner on a push bike thrown in for good measure.

We began our conquest of the Savannah Way four years ago, in 2008, when we left Katherine, motored on down to Mataranka  and then turned left and headed across to the Gulf country of Northern Territory and Queensland. (We threw in a fishing trip at Karumba for an interesting break in this trip). We knew then we would have to complete a trip over the Gibb River road and continue on to Katherine to complete this track. Yesterday was that day!

We can now cross off our bucket list, The Tanami dessert track, the Gibb River Road and the Savannah Way. (oh by the way, we have already discussed our next track which would have to be the Birdsville track)!

We spent two nights at Lake Argyle.

This immense wall is made of rock and clay sourced from the site.

Dam Wall from a different perspective, I hope they built it well!

Taken from a lookout towards sunset. This is only a tiny part of the Lake.

We were only able to take this photo after we traveled 7.5kms over a very bad 4WD track!  BUT it was worth it!

 A beautiful caravan park with an infinity swimming pool, which, (you guessed it) blends into the largest,  inland water way in Australia, Lake Argyle.

Infinity pool! Would you believe it was 30 degrees out but the pool was cold!

We are continually astounded by the size of everything in the Kimberley, and the words, vast, immense, magnificent, awe inspiring continue to roll off our tongues but they still don’t really do this country justice.

We have spent our time in Katherine restocking the stores and the batteries (ours) ready for our next adventure at Litchfield national park.

Gibb River Road - Vast lands - the final track

Days 30 and 31 Thursday and Friday 10^th and 11^th May

I still can’t believe that we can finally relax! The wheels stayed on and we didn’t get stranded in the floods. We thoroughly enjoyed our private bush camp at the mighty El Questro station. Our bush camp called “Sea Eagle” was located on the banks of the Pentacost. Would you believe that! The irony of it was that this beautiful pristine clear river was the same one that nearly submerged Paul, I and the Prado!

It was only waist deep and so clear and fresh, we couldn’t resist it. It was 36 degrees! What would any true blooded Australian do? Go for a swim! Right so we spent half of each day that we stayed at El Questro in our own private water hole on the Pentacost. The ranger assured us on the second day that only small “freshies “ inhabited the waters and that they would shy away from us!

We felt we had earnt the right to enjoy several days of just relaxing, swimming and not doing too much hard core sight seeing, ie not too many elaborate walks up all the gorges abundant on this vast million acre station.

El Questro Homestead

We did however visit the Emma Gorge, for obvious reasons, the Chamberlain Gorge and the warm thermal waters of the Zebedee Springs. This country is so vast, so breathtakingly beautiful that the photos are really the only way I can describe it accurately.

Chamberlain Gorge.

Zebedee Thermal Springs.

Day 32 Saturday 12^th May.

Our final day on the Gibb river road! We shuddered and bumped our way over the final 45 Kms of this challenging, notorious track. At 11 am we finally drove past the sign which informed us that all roads were open!! This included of course Bell Gorge road and Drysdale station road, the entrance into the Mitchell Falls, two of the most impressive attractions in the Kimberley (such is Life) I think at that stage we were quite happy to drive onto smooth bitumen with all trailer tyres intact! At least we can say that we survived all that the Gibb river road could throw at us!

We made it - but we missed some of the main attractions. Such is Life!

We spent the next four nights at the Big 4 caravan park at Kununurra on the banks of the Kununurra lake which is all part of the Ord river Irrigation scheme.

Finally a Croc up close and personal! George the resident crocodile at the caravan park - a "Freshie" of course!

After all the incidents and excitement of the last few weeks its good to report that:-

Days 33 to 35 (Sunday 13^th to Tuesday 15^th of May) have been relaxing and consisted of visiting the many tourist attractions around Kununurra and the Port town of Wyndham.

Views at Wyndham of the five rivers lookout.

My photos will highlight the many attractions and vistas that we have seen over these days . The optimum tourist adventure for me was the sunset cruise on Lake Argyle, a vast lake the size of 22 Sydney Harbors. The captain of the cruise boat had to explain the life jacket procedure the same as any cruise ship officer. The lake is so vast that it is considered to be an inland sea.

For me, this lake epitomizes the essence of the Kimberley region in Western Australia.

Vast ranges, vast rivers, vast stations and vast lakes and we have experienced them all.

One more river on the Gibb River Road

Days 27, 28 and 29

 Sunday, Monday ,Tuesday, 7th, 8th and 9th May   We have now spent 5 days on the Gibb River Road

 Day 27

We travelled from Imintji to Mount Barnett Road house, a very short distance by our usual standards but we were still worried sick about the wheel on the trailer. Also there were several spectacular gorges to see in this area. We had missed the opportunity to see Bell gorge as the road was still closed because of the wet season damage, so we didn’t want to miss visiting Galvan’s Gorge and Manning Gorge.

Paul swimming at Galvan's falls in Galvan's Gorge

We camped at Manning Gorge on the banks of the Manning River. The water holes were beautiful and the locals assured us that there were only small “freshies”  in the water. The easiest way to access Manning falls was to swim across this waterhole and then hike up into the Gorge to the waterfall at the top.

So we spent the day hiking into gorges and swimming at the waterfalls. A much more relaxing day than yesterday!

Day 28 and 29   Tuesday/ Wednesday 8^th and 9^th May Still On the Gibb River Road

We left Manning Gorge early and drove the 220Kms to Ellenbrae Homestead. Paul was still stressing about the axle and its ability to “shed” a tyre due to the stripped thread, so again we took it fairly easy. Our Guardian Angels had recommended the Devonshire tea at Ellenbrae so we decided to not only partake of scones, jam and cream but also to stay the night. We parked in Ringers Campsite which contained a very quirky and artistic facilities block, including a donkey which had to be fired up for hot water and also a shower and bath which were basically out in the open.

The facilities brought back memories. The Donkey to heat the water.

Wednesday we were up early, packed up camp and drove up to the homestead for our breakfast of scones, jam and cream, and also for Paul to recheck the bearings on the trailer. So much care has been given to these wheels, surely they will keep us going.

The Gibb River "Road"!  Track would be a better description!

This was our 5^th day on the Gibb River road, and the end was in sight. The Pentacost River and El Questro station.

I was quite impressed by the size of the Durack river crossing (One of the rivers that feed into the 5 river system), it was huge so it was quite an ambitious crossing. Paul “Tip toed” over rocks trying to spare the trailer axle as much as possible.

Durack Creek Crossing

Now there was only one more river crossing.

One more River crossing and we would be at the end of the Gibb River Road.

We had heard many stories about “the Pentacost’

We knew our next campsite at El Questro was on the banks of the Pentacost. We had read numerous 4WD and camping magazines which included detailed articles and photos of the crossing. We had seen photos and travel videos which portrayed this vast expanse of water bubbling over stones at the famed Bluey O’Malleys crossing. Our main concern was, as always, the trailer axle. Would it hold up to the constant bumping over the river stones?

Our First Glimpse of the Pentacost

We were looking forward to this crossing. It heralded near completion of the Gibb River Road and the wheel was still on.

We drove over a crest and there it was! A huge, fast river of water flowing through magnificent towering cliffs.  It then opened out in to a huge sheet flowing to Wyndham in the north. The final river crossing!

We wound our way down to the crossing.

We paused at the edge……in shock!

Where were all the rocks the water was supposed to be bubbling over?

Paul’s thoughts immediately turned to “How deep is it? Will water get into the air intake” I was not prepared to get out and check the depth! I’ve heard too many stories about crocodiles!

We had no choice! There was only one way to go. Forward!

Paul selected low range 4WD, gritted his teeth and slowly edged forward into the water. As the level rose so did our anxiety. Paul leant further and further forward as the depth increased, his grip became so tight on the steering wheel that his knuckles turned white. Paul sat further forward,…..AND STILL THE WATER ROSE….AND ROSE….

The first inclination that we were in deep water (literally) was when it started trickling through the door and pooled at our feet. I managed to grab camera and maps from the floor and also to take a photo mid stream. It looks like we are sitting in a boat!

Taken midstream from the window. No! we are not sitting in a boat!

By now I could  hear Paul clench his teeth as he willed the Prado forward, it was lapping close to the air intake and we still had a large distance between us and the bank.

A sigh of relief, the level was beginning to drop.

“The Pentacost was conquered”

As we rose up out of the depths and onto the embankment, water poured out through every opening, doors, seams on the trailer, toolbox etc. 

Draining!!!!

We checked the water level mark on the side. We had driven through water which was more than one meter deep.

The first night our beautiful, private camp site at El Questro looked more like a wrecker’s yard. Dripping carpet car mats festooned the trees, tools lay out drying on the tarp and we sat dazed around the camp fire.

We had done it and the wheels held up to their biggest challenge yet.

Drying Out.

FOOTNOTE: we were speaking to a couple the next morning. We found out that the Pentacost at this crossing is tidal. We didn’t know that. We can’t recall ever having read that in all the articles we have read. There are posts that mark the edge of the floodway. They have a series of three red rings painted on them to allow travelers estimate the depth of the water. It is recommended that you only cross when the bottom ring is exposed. WE DID NOT SEE ANY RED MARKERS. It is full moon and the tide was at its highest when we crossed.

You learn something new every day!