Steve’s Travel Blog

Hello all,

I am back in Darwin after camping thru Kakadu and Litchfield National Parks.  Here is a brief rundown of the last week

We (Meghan and I) headed into Kakadu National Park and had to drive to the middle of it to get to the information center and find out all the things we could do.  We toured the Bowali Info center while there and got lots of info on the aboriginal culture and the area.  We then drove north to the East Alligator region and camped at the Merl Campground for the night.  We actually did not leave Darwin till the afternoon so not much got done on the first days but driving.

In the morning we packed up and 3 different short hikes (Merls campground to Cahills Crossing, Bardedjildji walk and Manngarre Rainforest walk) that totaled about 5kms.  Each walk was different and gave us great views of the area.  A lot of the big walks are still closed at this time because they go to close to the water and crocs are still around.  later in the dry season all the walks will be open but that does not do us a lot of good.  After some lunch we got back into the car and drove to the Yellow River Region and toured the Warradjan Cultural Center.  This place was very informative and the building was the shape of a turtle.  We then set up camp at Mardugal Campground and I went for a evening river cruise.  The cruise was on the Yellow river and was absolutely incredible.  It started at 4:30 and we toured along the river and saw at least 10 different spieces of birds, pigs, horses, tree snakes and of course CROCS.  We must have seen 15 – 20 crocadiles during the trip and were able to get up very close to some, so close that we had to make sure we kept our hands in the boat while taking photos.  The cruise lasted about 2 hours and was worth all $74 I paid to go on it.  It was nice to see the crocs in there natural envirnment instead of in cages or zoos.

The next morning we headed to the Nourlangie region and did the 12km Barrk Circuit Walk.  This walk was really cool and again it went thru plenty of different eco systems.  The best part of this hike was the Aboriginal Rock Art from hundreds of years ago.  Each painting has true significance and meaning with some that are easy to understand and others that you just have now clue what they were trying to say.  It was really hot out as well and we were pretty tired after the walk so we just chilled at the Mardugul Campgroundfor the evening.  One thing with camping is that the mossies are definately a pain in the ass.  I am getting eatin alive and it does not mater how much spray I put on or how many clothes i am wearing.

The next morning we got up and did the Mamukula walk and then headed out of Kakadu back to Palmerston to pick up a few supplies and the on to Litchfield National Park.  We camped just outside the park at Banyan Tree Camp Park and even had some power outlets to charge a few things up.  The day was mostly driving and not a lot was seen today.  The next morning we drove into Bachelor to get hiking info for the park and filled gas then were on our way to Litchfield.  Our first stop was at the Magnetic Termite mounds, now unlike the termites at home these ones are good and build homes that are over 15 feet high.  They are cool little creatures that do nothing but work, man am I glad that I am not a termite.

Now it was time for some hiking, we did the Wangi Falls hike which are very popular and lots of people were around.  Litchfield is known for all of its waterfalls and plunge pools to cool off in.  Wangi Falls is the most popular but the swimming hole is closed because of crocs.  The water really needs to low before they can assure that there are no crocs in all of the swimming holes and Wangi is pretty deep.  After the hike we headed to Walker Creek, now this creek had hardly any tourists and was much better.  The hike consists of a 2km walk along 8 campsites that you have to book with the aboriginal community.  We did not stay here but we stopped at one of the unoccupied sites and went for a swim.  It was so refreshing and there were little fish and small crayfish trying to nibble off your toes. After a 1/2 hour stop we hiked back and then drove to the Buley Rockhole.

We set up camp and still had time to enjoy the plunge pools there as well.  These are much more popular and had a lot of people around, it seemed we timed it just right as a group was getting out we arrived and just took over there spot.  This is like a creek with multiple drop offs that create a bunch of plunge pools in a very short distance.  Here is where we run into a few problems, after the plunge we head back to camp to have supper and everything is locked in the car and the key has been in my swim trunks the whole time and it will not unlock the car.  Even when we try to do it manually it will not open.  Soon we have a few others around trying to give us advice on how to break in and I am trying all kinds of things.  It is starting to get dark and running out of options, so I decided that a rock thru the window is probably the only thing left to do.  We tried the key one more time and holy cow it actually worked.  It took about an hour for it to dry out but at least i didn’t have to use the rock.  The next morning we got right back into the hiking and did the Florence Falls hike, then Tolmer Falls hike where you are not allowed to swim and finally the Greenant Creek/Tjaetaba Falls hike.  The first 2 were very touristy and lots of people around, the falls were pretty cool though and I can’t believe how much water is flowing in such a dry area.  The last stop was the best, it is a 2.7km hike to the top of a waterfall that has a plunge pool right before a 100 foot drop.  There was no one around and the pool was completely refreshing.  This would be a great place for some romance it is so beautiful.  After our walk back we headed back to Darwin and stayed at Elke’s Backpackers for the night.

I was up early the next morning and off on a Barramundi fishing trip.  The 6 am pick up was tough but i made it and we were on the water at about 7.  The trip was along the Mary River and in the Corroboree Billabong.  It was a tough day fishing and I had only 1 bite but missed the fish and we landed only oe fish in the whole boat with 4 of us fishing.  It was a big fish (85cm & 15 lbs) but a little disappointing not to get anything especially since I paid $300 to be there.  The guide worked really hard and took us to lots of spots but they just were not biting, and that is fishing.  The gentleman that caught the fish did nt want it and gave it to me and I fed about 12 backpackers that evenings and it tasted great.  The next morning was just a early as this time Instead of river fishing i was going ocean fishing.  I saw n awesome sunrise while we boated for an hour out to our first stop.  I was the first to catch a fish which they called a Triggy Snapper, cool fish.  I also caught several other species for the day and about 15 fish in total.  It was a great day but the one fish I really wanted I did not get.  The big one that we were all looking for was called a Jew Fish and they are over a meter long and about 15 kilo.  There were 7 caught on the boat as well as some small sharks.  We saw a sail fish but were unable to catch it.  What a great day and amazingly the skipper was only 20 and the first mate was 18, these kids definitely knew what they were doing.

So where to now you ask, well tomorrow I leave Darwin and head east and probably to Cairns.  Right now I am going to meet up with my new travel mates and cook them some fish for supper.  I will be traveling with 2 French girls (Ashley and Olivia) and another girl from California (Juliana).  It should be a fun group and they all can drive so this time I will not have to do it all myself.

Well until next time, I hope you all take care.

Steve

PS:  Happy anniversary to Mom & Dad, Cathleen and Darryl, Jay and Liz and finally Don and Audrey.  Lots of birthdays coming up as well so I hope there is some online access along the way to Cairns.

Tags: Australia

This entry was posted on Friday, May 29th, 2009 at 1:23 am and is filed under Australia. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.