Kakadu, NT

22nd-27th June 2016

Ubirr

Ubirr

Yellow Water – Birdlife

Yellow Water – Croc

Yellow Water – Dancing Brolga

Yellow Water – Jacana chicks

Yellow Water – Sunset

Yellow Water – Egret

Nawurlandja Lookout

Anbangbang Billabong

Jim Jim Falls – Lower Pool

Jim Jim Falls (Spot Shane under the waterfall)

Jim Jim Falls

Gunlum Falls

Gunlom Falls

Gunlom Falls – Frogs

Gunlom Falls – Frog spotting

Ubirr is best known for its rock art but having seen it before we went there to see the sunset over the flood plains. The walk up is moderately steep but affords stunning 360° views, unfortunately it is very popular and there were hundreds of other people.  Thick smoke on the horizon from all the fires around made the sun dark red but hid it before it had fully set.

Our sunrise cruise on Yellow Water was so enjoyable that we also did a sunset cruise.  The cruises head out onto the wetlands of Yellow Water Billabong and along part of the Alligator River.  There were thousands of birds out on the flood plains, whistling ducks huddled on the edge of the water in their hundreds, magpie geese, egrets, darters, nankeen night herons, jabiru, jacuna and brolgas were the most abundant.  We saw plenty of saltwater crocodiles, many more in the evening than the morning, most of them were smaller females but there were a few good sized males.

We walked up the fairly steep rock face of Nawurlandja Lookout where the view of Nourlangie Rock and the escarpment were impressive. Luckily there was a cooling breeze as we did that walk in the middle of the day.  From the base of the lookout we also walked through to Anbangbang Billabong which was lovely, covered in white lilies and lots of birds. We were able to walk part way around the billabong although part of it is closed as the water is still high.

On our previous visit to Kakadu, Jim Jim Falls was closed but this time it was opened a few days before we arrived (after they had finished surveying for crocs).   The way in is a corrugated unsealed road with the last few kilometres on a sandy track that includes some water crossings. It’s only a 900m walk to the falls which starts easy enough but once past the beautiful lower pool entails clambering over some very large boulders. The sight of the large crocodile trap at the lower pools is a good reminder to ensure people only swim at the relatively safe upper pools. We were pleasantly surprised that the falls were still running and had a swim in the icy cold plunge pool at the bottom of them. Shane couldn’t resist swimming the hundred or so metres to the base of the falls.

Gunlom Falls has a steep track to the top of the falls which provides sweeping views of the national park and crystal clear pools to cool off in. We had a quick dip before it got too busy and then climbed up a little further away from the crowds to another small waterfall where there were hundreds of little frogs sheltering on the shaded side of the rocks. It wasn’t the easiest spot to see them as we had to crab crawl down a crevice to get close to them but it was worth it.

Darwin, NT

11th-22nd June 2016

Berry Springs

Berry Springs

East Point

Fannie Bay

Fannie Bay

East Point

Box Jellyfish Sculture

Sunset cruise

Sunset Cruise

FA-18 Hornet

Darwin has lots of markets, the best known being Mindil Beach where thousands of people congregate to sample from the varied international food stalls and browse through the colourful arts and craft vendors. At sunset everyone crowds onto the beach to watch the sun set into the Arafura Sea. We also visited Nightcliff and Parap Village markets which are more for the locals and have fresh fruit and veg stalls, a must buy were bags of limes for just $2 and pomelos for $3 a kilo.  At each market it was Shane’s mission to sample as many different food stalls as possible, some even merited a repeat sampling.

A swim at Berry Springs was our only opportunity to have a dip that was relatively safe outside of the resort swimming pool. There are beautiful natural pools emanating from the springs surrounded by trees and pandanus. Luckily I didn’t read the sign warning that crocodiles can move into the area undetected until after our long swim.

One evening we took a pizza down to Fannie Bay and watched the sun set.  There is lots of smoke about at this time of the year which makes for a vibrant red sun as it sets. We also took the bikes for a ride along the coast passing some lovely beaches that were all pretty much deserted despite the hot weather. The crocodiles and box jellyfish are definitely a scary prospect although they didn’t stop some brave horse riders taking their horses for a swim at Mindil Beach.

A sunset cruise on the harbour was a highlight. Leaving at 5 on the 50ft catamaran Sundancer we slowly cruised along sipping on champagne whilst being served many courses of a tapas style dinner. The sunset was stunning and we even had the full moon rising as the sun went down.

The V8 Supercars were on when we were there, whilst we didn’t go to the races we did drive down to an area overlooking Hidden Valley to watch an FA-18 Hornet aerial display.  We chose a good spot as it flew right over us.

Mataranka, NT

8-11th June 2016

Bitter Springs

Floating down stream

Floating

Bitter Springs underwater

Turtle

Water Monitor Sunning on the bank

Water Monitor on the bank edge

We stayed at Bitter Springs Cabins and Camping, mainly due to the fact that it is within walking distance of the magical Bitter Springs.  A 500m waterway is fed by an underground spring that gently flows down a watercourse lined with cabbage palms. The crystal clear water is a balmy 34º, when we were there early one morning there was mist rising from it.

Many hours were spent floating along searching out the rainbow fish and turtles.  We found the best time to see turtles was in the late afternoon, they were all along the waterway, sometimes we could see up to 5 at a time.

Unfortunately the rivers in the nearby Elsey National Park were closed for swimming because of a risk of crocodiles.

Longreach Waterhole, NT

View from our campsite

Juvenile Kite

Rainbow Bee Eater

Rainbow Eaters

Camp site

Whte Egret

White Egret

Camp site

Dragonfly

Exiting around the lagoon

6-8th June 2016

Heading into Longreach Waterhole does not instill much confidence in what the destination will be like, the turn off is on the edge of a dodgy looking town, the track is very dry and dusty then suddenly there is a serene stretch of water with shady trees along the waters edge.  There were a few other people camping so to avoid being too close to them we headed around to the other side of the bay, unfortunately we took the long way round and it was very slow going with trees overhanging the track and sometimes there being just not quite enough room to fit the caravan through.  We eventually found a good spot on the waters edge with some shade.

The next few days were spent lazing around outside the van watching the amazing variety of bird life.  Pelicans, egrets, kites, cormorants and rainbow bee eaters were just some of the inhabitants of the waterhole.  It was an introduction to hot weather being close to 35º, a bit of a shock to the system when just a few days ago in Alice Springs the maximum was only 16º.

Devils Marbles, NT

5-6th May 2016

Devils Marbles

Native Hibiscus

The Devils Marbles are huge granite boulders scattered across a wide, shallow valley.  They are best seen at sunrise or sunset so they made a good stopover after leaving Alice Springs.  There is a small campground which needs to be a lot bigger as it was overflowing by early evening, there were vans double parked and people stopped along the track in.  We had to squeeze into a spot between a bus and the fence.

 

Alice Springs, NT

Rainbow Valley

Todd River

Todd River first debris – liferaft

Emily Gorge

Jessie Gorge

East MacDonnell Fog

Spiderweb

Trephina Gorge

Trephina Gorge

Trephina Gorge

31st May-5th June 2016

Before hitting Alice Springs we spent a night at Rainbow Valley, a section of free-standing sandstone cliffs with colourful rock bands. At sunset the rainbow-like rock bands are highlighted by the sun’s rays so Shane was kept busy taking loads of photos.  The road in has some great corrugations which was complicated further from being wet with pools of water and dark red mud.  One point near a pool on the road was a herd of cattle of which one was reluctant to move, initially staring down the car then with the car slipping when accelerating again.

Our first morning in Alice Springs we were lucky enough to see the Todd River flowing. We walked down to the Gap to see 2 fingers of water gradually running along the sandy river bed, that was as far as it got before disappearing into the sand but further upstream there were some roads closed because of the water running over. With the head water came the first debris which not surprisingly happened to be an empty can of VB, which Shane took a number of photos of then even more when he saw the Red Back spider riding upon it.

We headed out to the East MacDonnell Ranges, it was very cool overnight and was foggy on the roads. Not far from town is Emily Gap, a narrow gap in the range with red rocks looming out of the white sand. Both there and at the neighbouring Jessie Gap were aboriginal rock paintings with striking red stripes depicting caterpillars that formed the gaps. After the gaps we stopped at Corroboree Rock, a dark column of rock which had a walking track around the base.

On to Trephina Gorge with red quartzite walls winding through pale sandy river beds. We did the gorge walk which follows the gorge rim then leads down into the sandy bottom.

Our plans to visit N’Dhala Gorge were foiled after driving across a few creeks to find a gate with a pool of water under it, there was no way to open the gate without getting wet. We instead went on to Ross River Resort for some lunch. The resort is built around the original 1890’s homestead so it was interesting to wander through to the bar, they even had a cosy looking fire going.

Yulara, NT

27th-31st May 2016

Uluru Camel Cup

Uluru

Uluru Climb

Kata Tjuta

Kata Tjuta

Uluru

Desert Oaks

The Uluru Camel Cup has been an annual event since 2012. We watched 3 of the qualifying races standing right on the edge of the track, maybe a little too close as we were almost hit by the camels as they went past. Some of the camels just weren’t racers, plodding around the track getting yelled at by their frustrated jockeys. We also got to see a whip cracking demo by Nathan Whippy Griggs, the world’s fastest whip cracker and possibly the world’s most okker man.

Taking the bikes out for a ride we cycled around the base of Uluru. It was a great way to see it, we took our time at the really good parts then sped up a bit where the path takes you away from the base. We even had a bit of rain on the way, especially when we went into a gorge that had a pool of water at the bottom so we could hear the rain on the water, it was so tranquil and quite unexpected.

For a completely different view of the rock we also climbed to the top, it was very steep with some narrow sections with almost sheer drop offs on either side.  There is a chain that goes part way up which makes it a little easier but there was still a long way to go once the chain stopped and lots of undulations some of them almost vertical.  There were a few pools of water at the top some of them even had little creatures in them and almost as surprising a few sections of shrubs and small trees.   The view from the top is spectacular, the surrounding land is flat, red sand and yellow grass dotted with green shrubs then the domes of Kata Tjuta rising majestically on the horizon.

When we were heading out toward Kata Tjuta we found it shrouded in clouds, for a while the clouds cleared but then more cloud gradually rolled in from behind. We did the Valley of the Winds walk, there was light rain that got heavier the further we went and clouds were sitting at the top of the gorge leading up to Karingana lookout where the rain seemed the heaviest. Despite the rain there were still lots of people doing the walk, the view into the centre of Kata Tjuta was definitely worth getting wet for.

On the drive back to Yulara we could see that there were clouds across the top of Uluru so we headed that way for a closer look. The rain wasn’t heavy enough to create any waterfalls but it certainly looked different wet.

Luckily on the day that we left Yulara we weren’t planning on getting one last look at Uluru as there was thick fog and we couldn’t see more than a hundred metres.  It did however make the desert oaks along the roadside appear as evocative sentinels.