Kakadu

We only had one full day in Kakadu so we had to decide on one place we would go and see. When in Katherine we had heard that Yellow Water was a great place to see animals; birds in particular, so we decided to focus on that.

Yellow Water Sunrise Cruise
At the tourist information centre in Darwin we booked into the Yellow Water sunrise cruise; departing at 6.45. This meant we had to be at reception for the bus (we stayed at the caravan park - Gagaju @ Cooinda - which ran the tours) at 6.25am. We knew it would be cold so we dug our warm clothes out of the bottom of our bags.

The view from the boat when we got on board. If you look carefully you can see the reflection of the stars in the water.

A jacana walking on water

Never smile at a crocodile, especially a big salty like this!

...or this

I never knew Azure Kingfishers were so tiny!

White bellied sea eagle

Rufous Night Heron - a very shy, and statuesque bird.

The birds don't bat an eyelid

whistling ducks...they really do whistle and quite a lot

ibis and egret

Jabiru, with Magpie geese (breeding trio) and egrets

The vastness of the landscape. Three months earlier these grasses were completely covered in water.

Burrungui and Anbangbang - Nourlangie

The place commonly known as Nourlangie was named incorrectly by white settlers when it was mistaken for a nearby area. Burrungui and Anbangbang are the correct names for the land in this area. On maps of Kakadu you will see the name Nourlangie but when you arrive there there is a sign which asks that the proper names be used. The main reason to visit this area is to see an aboriginal rock shelters (traditionally used in the wet season) and rock art. It was also conveniently close to Yellow Water!

A small section of the area that was used for shelter

somewhere to grind seeds into flour 

like to dance?

Fishing Yellow Water

We were considering going on the sunset cruise to see the billabong at a different time (would have been cheaper) but in the end we decided to go fishing instead. It was the best decision. On the boat was the three of us (Maddi left us in Darwin) and our guide/boat driver. This meant that for three hours we were able to enjoy Yellow Water Billabong and river without all of those pesky tourists getting in our way, and standing in front of our photos.

our private vessel

Liam got to drive

Neil caught a barramundi (which was too small so we had to throw it back).

Libby and Liam caught some weeds

We saw more birds...

...and crocodiles (this one was massive)

and we watched the sun set!

This video was taken just after the sun disappeared over the horizon so the quality is worse than usual, however, it gives you a sense of the activity, and peacefulness, of the place. Enjoy.

Darwin

Darwin Military Museum

This was actually a pretty good museum, with good exhibits and interesting information about how WWII affected Darwin. The 'Defence of Darwin experience' was very powerful. We also used their Defence of Darwin app to find out and locate other WWII sites around town.

Mindil Beach Sunset Markets
Thursday and Sunday Nights. Heaps of delicious dinner options from around the world, entertainment and great market stalls. Very busy but worth joining the crowd.

There were so many people on the beach watching the sun set that we took this photo from the grass!

Darwin Wave Pool

Enjoying the warm weather

Litchfield National Park

Litchfield was one of our favourite places because we had so much fun swimming and jumping into the waterholes here. The caravan park (Litchfield Tourist Park) we stayed in had a good pub/restaurant and friendly staff (and they had buffalo ice cream!) There is water in the falls and waterholes at Litchfield National Park all year round as the sandstone in this area is very absorbent, capturing water during the wet season and slowly releasing water thoughout the year. There are crocodiles but the safe swimming holes are well marked.

Termite mounds

A cemetery of magnetic termite mounds.

A cathedral termite mound

Wangi Falls
Wangi falls is the most accessible and popular falls in Litchfield. It is beautiful but because it is easy to access there were many, many people swimming and picnicing there. 

Wangi Falls



Blythe Homestead, Sandy Creek, Tjaynera Falls

It is worth following the 4WD track out to all these places just to see the landscape and cross the wide creek crossings, but there are more treasures to be found here.

Blythe Homestead

 As we crossed the creek on our way back to the road from Blythe Homestead we saw a small (maybe 1-2 year old) crocodile swimming downsteam. We had to slow a little to let it pass. Neil had previously told me that you should never drive across water that you wouldn't walk through...hmmmm!?

Hiking along Sandy Creek

We hiked along Sandy Creek to find the falls. Most of  the hike was in the shade but it was very hot. We saw a few people heading out as we hiked in. Our reward was having the Tjaynera falls to ourselves. We were able to swim to the waterfall and climb up and sit on the rocks. The best part was, no-one else arrived until we were just packing up to leave, then we saw several small groups heading in!

The reward at the end of the hike Tjaynera Falls

The snake Maddi poked with the toe of her thong, thinking it was just a skin as we walked back up the path. Luckily it wasn't offended!

Tjaetaba Falls
It was a bit of a hike to the top of the Tjaetaba Falls. It was hot and we were feeling rather sweaty; hoping it would be worth the effort. Liam was quite unhappy about having to walk and keeping him motivated was a bit of a challenge. When we finally got there we could only get a bit of a view of the actual falls. The pool below the falls was sacred to the indigenous people of the area so everyone was asked to swim only in the pool at the top.

When we looked at the rockpool we were unsure how to get in. It was deep and quite a big step down into the pool from the side you approach. The other side was the big drop - the falls. Finally I figured out where to get in. Maddi was a bit nervou about getting in as she had seen a Merton's Water Monitor going in and out of the water. When I got in it stayed on the side and didn't budge until much later when it realised I was looking straight at it. Then it climbed up the falls and swam off up the creek.

Liam jumping into the rock pool above the Tjaetaba Falls.

We also enjoyed swimming at the Buley Rockholes and F Falls. Unfortunately we ran out of batteries on our main camera, and then I managed to misplace the other camera which we used as a back up so no photos of these. I wish I could have taken photos of Neil doing horsey bombs into the Buley Rockholes. He nearly washed us over the fall into the lower rockhole! 

Katherine

Katherine School of the Air

The old radio equipment. Oldest at the bottom. The one at the top was used in the 90s.

Over the internet now. We could see (and hear) this teacher interacting with students through glass in a studio to the right of this screen. This is what the students see (although I doubt their screen is this big!). The high quality IT equipment is provided and installed for each of the families, or indigenous communites.



 

Scenic Flight

Katherine Gorge





gold mine and tailings dam

We were all feeling a bit green after the flight, although none of us actually threw up!

Katherine Gorge
We decided to do the "three gorge cruise" while in Katherine. This meant getting on a boat, cruising up the gorge until reaching shallow, rocky water. Then we got off and took an easy walk to the next boat, cruised a little further and got off again at the next shallow part and on to a third boat. At the end of the third 'gorge' we turned around and did the reverse.

At the end of the first gorge we were able to stop for a while and take a look at some rock art. Some of the paintings are warnings of danger and others are information informing about food that can be found in the area.

The rainbow serpent. A warning not to enter the second gorge.

One of the boats



The picture above and the one below are from the 'second gorge'. The area in the picture below is believed by the Jawoyn people to be the resting place of the rainbow serpent. The water in this area is apparently 40m deep. The Jawoyn people do not enter this area for fear of disturbing the serpent but they do allow visitors to visit as they know it will help their people to share their land and culture.

Before we got final boat to return to the jetty we were able to have a swim in the gorge. the water was cold, but refreshing in the hot weather. It is likely that we swam with some freshwater crocs here, although we didn't see any while we were swimming!

The wild (and not so wild) life

Anyone know what this bird is called?

Blue-winged kingfisher

Anyone know ehat this bird is called? It tried to chase away the kingfisher!

I'm unsure of these ones too...birds of prey. You see eagles, ospreys etc everywhere from the nullabor, right up through WA and into the NT. The one flying below is the one on the right after it saw me approaching.

A huge flock of these lorikeets came flying by; landing in the trees above our tent. They were making a huge racket and fighting/playing with each other. It was amazing to watch.

We have seen many of these signs in Northern Australia!

A saltwater crocodile trap in the first gorge at Katherine Gorge.

cormorant

Freshwater crocs resting on the river bank. \Apparently it is rare to see two crocs in such close vicinity to one another.

"Bessie" the Brahman cow interacting with Liam over the fence behind our tent. She was the friendliest. There were about five of them who came over each night. The kids named all of them. 'Bessie' was the only one who wanted friendship more than food! Liam has tried to avoid eating beef since making friends with her.