Kakadu National Park to Daly River
Trip Start
Jan 06, 2009
1
23
28
Trip End
Nov 24, 2009
Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia
Thursday, September 24, 2009
The blog is being updated a little more often at the moment, due to the amount of traveling and sightseeing we are doing. We want to keep it up to date as much as possible.
Still in the Northern Territory, we headed North East, past Pine Creek into Kakadu National Park. First stop was Yellow Water Wetlands (Aboriginal name is Ngurrungurrudjba – we could not pronounce it either) which is part of the South Alligator River Flood plains. We did a 3 km walk to Home Billabong. The variety of bird life is unbelievable. As it is currently the dry season (June – October) the surrounding vegetation and landscape is very dry except around the billabongs, wetlands and rivers. We stopped by the Warradjan Aboriginal Culture Centre to view the culture and history of the Aboriginal people in Kakadu. Next stop was Nourloungie Rock and Anbangbang billabong walk – again the bird life was prolific. We drove through Jabiru towards Ubirr, stopping along the way at Cahill's Crossing. This is the crossing into Arnhem Land which belongs to the Aborigines and a permit is required to cross. Standing a nice distance up on the bank, we spotted quite a few salt water crocodiles in the wild, at Cahill's Crossing.
One of our highlights at Kakadu National Park was our visit to the Ubirr Rock Art Sites. It was only a 1 km walk past several fascinating Aboriginal rock art sites. We then climbed to the top of the rocky look-out to have 360 degree views over Nadab Flood Plains.
Through Kakadu National Park, we headed towards Darwin stopping at Humpty Doo Pub for a break and then Darwin's Fisherman's Wharf for a lunch of fish and chips. While in Darwin we checked out the city center and most of the tourist spots along with Mindil Beach. Mindil Beach has a night market twice a week – it just happened to be the night we were there, so we hung out with a lot of locals as they watched the sunset over the Timor Sea (a tradition amongst the locals) and ate Laksa (Indonesian noodle dish). There are lots of Indonesians in this area due to the close proximity).
Our goal (well..... my goal) for the Northern Territory was to catch a barramundi fish and eat fresh mangoes - I have really been hanging out for fresh mangoes. They are grown in Queensland and The Northern Territory but were not yet ripe while we were in Queensland . I was able to buy a couple at the Mindil Beach market and ate them Mexican style – with fresh lime and Mexican Chili Powder drizzled on top – MMMMM delicious!!!
After leaving a very hot and humid Darwin, we drove to Mandorah and Berry Springs Reserve where we went for a dip in the beautiful, natural swimming holes. We spent that night at Tumbling Waters where we decided to go fishing after the locals told us it was a good area to fish in. We put a couple of bait traps in the billabong that evening and the next morning we were hoping to have some live prawns to use as bait. After checking our bait traps, we were pleasantly surprised to find one live prawn, but also a nice size barramundi had its head and gills caught inside the trap and couldn't get out. We have now officially caught our first barramundi fish – unfortunately not on a line, but who is judging?
Next stop is Litchfield National Park which has the perfect rock formed swimming holes. The park is made up of 4 main areas for walks and swimming, and everyone we saw at the first walk/swimming area, we saw again at the 2nd, 3rd and 4th areas. The first stop was Buley Rock holes, 2nd stop was Tolmer Falls, 3rd stop was Florence Falls and the final and our favourite place was Wangi Falls. We kept the walks to a minimum today as it was very hot, but we did lots of swimming and cooling off.
As we have been driving the Territory, we have noticed huge termite mounds all around. There are two types of mounds - “Cathedral” and “Magnetic”. The “Cathedral” mounds look like mini medieval castles. The “Magnetic” mounds look like head stones and are built so they align North or South to minimize exposure to the sun and maximize temperature control. I have to say, the builders must be little architect insects in the making.
We experienced our first little tropical storm in the NT a couple of days ago – lots of lightning, thunder and rain that came down in buckets, but it only last about 15 minutes and the sky was clear again.
We made it to Daly River where we were hoping to catch another barramundi (with a line this time), as this area is known for its fishing. We fished in the afternoon and the morning at the Daly River Crossing but didn't have luck on our side this time. While at Daly River, we did an afternoon drive to Nauiya Aboriginal Community. We sat on the lawn here and watched the young Aborigines (girls and boys), play Aussie Rules football – it was a lot of fun to watch. Some of the kids were quite talented, so watch out for them in the AFL teams in a few years.
On the road again, back to Katherine via Douglas Hot Springs and onto the Victoria Highway, heading West. We are finding The NT very hot and humid, so every opportunity we get to cool off in a swimming hole, we are there.
Comments
Hello!
Hey Guys, it looks like you're really moving around a bit now. Looking forward to seeing you near X-mas. I absolutely LOVE laksa, ate it all the time in Singapore. Tim and I found a good place in San Francisco that you can get it. Be careful, have more fun, and Wayne, I'm disappointed. No beer by 10:30 am? You're slacking!
Take care!
ENVIOUS!!!
You guys are motoring!! Its great to hear all your stories as we seem to following in your foot steps!!!
We in Boyne Island at the moment (Gladstone region) Toad 'almost' landed his first barra today out at Lake Awoonga but it snapped the line after a few minutes fight!. Great reading your updates keep them coming!!1 Kel & Toad
Hey
The Falls all look so wonderful....enjoy your Mangoes!
Luv LJx