DAY 45 – SUNDAY 8TH AUGUST – KAKADU
Trip Start
Jun 28, 2010
1
56
209
Trip End
Jan 14, 2011
Where I stayed
Kakadu National Park, Northern Territory, Australia
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Not far down the gravel road we came across a tour vehicle on the wrong side of the road, for a moment we thought they had hit a tree but they had actually lost a wheel, yep the whole wheel was on the L/H side of the road in the bush and the vehicle was on the R/H side of the road. It was actually a bit scary but everyone on board was unhurt and safe. Once we made sure they were ok we continued on. We were making fairly good time until we hit "the 4WD track" and yes it was a track for 1 vehicle with little turnouts if you come across another vehicle and every 1km or so were “speed bumps”, some more so than others! This road is 15km long , the first stage was quite sandy (we came across a Tarago trying to head out only to get stuck on the sand – the track says 4WD for a reason and they found out why!), the next part had water patches everywhere and a lot more rocks with little creek crossings, the last part had a creek crossing about 50cm deep and a mixture of the last two sections. By the time we reached Twin Falls, the trip had taken us just over 2 hours! When we got there Dion checked the radiator and it seems we have a leak so will have to keep an eye on it today.
We thought we would do a walk to the top of Twin Falls and began our ascent. This was 1.5km up and by half way the kids were not happy campers (mind you by just over ¾ s the way, neither was I) We finally made it to the lookout ½ way to the top and decided that was enough. The view from the lookout showed there was not much to see, so we were a bit disappointed about making the trip. The falls were only just flowing and you could only see part of 1. So to the descent we went which somehow went so much quicker than the walk up! At the bottom we decided to do the boat trip and walk up the gorge – well that made it worth it. The gorge was nice and when we got to the base of the falls there was actually 3 flowing not the normal 2. The walk to get there involved some rock ledges and a boardwalk. The gorge is lovely but I think we were spoilt with Lawn Hill being quite spectacular. Once back at the car Dion checked the radiator and we headed back 10km to Jim Jim Falls.
The walk to Jim Jim was easy but once we got there, we found it was only a little trickle (all the pictures you see are taken in the Wet season), we decided not to go any further and headed back to the car. After another check of the radiator is was off down the final 5km of this road. On our way out we did not pass 1 vehicle on this road but on the way back in 15km we passed 19! We were pleased to get to the end and back on the gravel road and on our way back to Cooinda. We returned to the van about 3.20 after a big day. Dion then spent some time on the radiator and we began to plan the next few days.
We decided to do the trip to Ubirr in the northern part of Kakadu which is great for sunset photos and also the aboriginal art around the site. We left with plenty of time to get there to see the art and be there for sunset. We saw many of the art sites and then headed up to the lookout for the ranger talk and sunset, however there was a fire burning right where the sun was to set so we took our photos and headed off. We drove to Jabiru to fuel up and decided to by Eagle Boys for dinner as it was 7pm and we still had another ½ hr to travel back to Cooinda and then would be too late to cook tea. By the time we got back the kids were ready for showers and bed. As I came back from my shower I heard a noise from the van next to us and when I stopped, the dingo from last night had picked up their rubbish bag and was carrying it away from the van down one of the roads, I called Dion who said he didn't even here it. The german couple and their daughter didn’t see it that time, but while they were eating dinner it came back just to check on what they were doing. It was a great experience for them but made us extra cautious about how game they are just walking around.
Dion and I weren’t going to be far behind going to bed but I realized I needed to do washing to get us to Katherine, so we put them on and I did some internet things and blogs and had a nice brewed coffee. Finally about 10pm we got into bed, hoping for a good nights sleep.
Tomorrow we will head to Gunlom falls for a look and maybe stay the night.
Till Next Time
Take Care
The Ross’
Stats for Today Money Spent $71.35
Accommodation $47.50
Fuel Cost at Jabiru $1.499
Fuel Economy 6.29 km/L
15.89L/100km
Distance Travelled 621.1km
