A JOURNEY TO LITCHFIELD

29th June 2014

A beautiful Sunday morning we decided to take a trip out to Litchfield National Park which is about an hour from Humpty Doo reached via a town called Batchelor and Rum Jungle which used to be a uranium mine. First stop the magnetic termite mounds which stand around two metres high. It is very eerie sight as there is a whole field full of them. The mounds are constructed in a north-south orientation and they act as a built-in temperature control mechanism, allowing only the least possible surface area to be exposed to the sun. The ants actually have a built-in GPS so they know which direction the mound should face amazing!!

Florence Falls is reached by going down 135 steps and you are greeted by a double waterfall cascading into a tranquil pool at the bottom which many visitors love taking advantage of.

The Buley Rockhole is a very popular place with a number of holes and waterfalls cascading down. A perfect spot for a picnic lunch.

Then it was on to the Tolmer Falls which cascades over two high escarpments into a distant, deep plunge pool. This area is also home to Ghost bats and Orange Horseshoe bats so there is no swimming allowed in the pool at the bottom there.

The Wangi (pronounced Wan-guy) Falls is another spectacular area and is very popular with tourists. There are two waterfalls coming down from the top and the swimming here is very refreshing - we took a dip here and followed it up with an icecream from the cafe. Very pleasant.

On the way back to Berry Springs we stopped at the Cascades which seemed to be a lot quieter than the rest of the areas and we soon found out why. It was a 1.2Km walk to the lower falls. Easy we thought and the start of the track was but then we found we were walking across log bridges and clambering up rocks and crossing the creek over rocks and eventually coming to this beautiful tranquil pool with a waterfall crashing over the top and we were the only ones there (at the time)!! We absolutely loved it. What a glorious end to the day.

DARWIN - HUMPTY DOO 

28TH June 2014

For the past couple of weeks Karrots and I have been living quietly doing a housesit in Humpty Doo which is a rural area of Darwin about 10 minutes drive further out from where we were at Howard Springs. Luckily Jayne the lady who owns the property has kindly lent me her car whilst she is away so I can maintain my contact with the outside world and seem relatively normal. We are minding 4 beautiful dogs who are very well behaved, two rabbits and two guinea pigs which keep me pretty busy as Keith is working 5 1/2 days a week. It's school holidays here so there is quite a bit on.
The Darwin Festival starts on 7th August and runs until the 24th August which is a big thing in the dry season and there is constant entertainment on all month which involves a myriad of things to do  from theatre, comedy, bands, dance and various art festivals all month.
This morning I paid a visit to Aquascene in Doctors Gully. When the tide is high this area plays host to hundreds of friendly local fish who swim in and you can hand feed them fresh bread. This tradition has been going on for over 60 years much is the fascination of the thousands of tourists every year that flock here.

A groper that dropped in for a feed.

DARWIN

BIG 4 HOWARD SPRINGS

TUESDAY 17TH JUNE

We've been in Darwin for over a week now but it seems like much more. We are staying about 20 minutes drive out of Darwin at a place called Howard Springs. Up here this place is considered rural and I've since discovered that the bus service here consists of one bus to the nearest town of Palmerston in the morning and 1 bus back in the afternoon. That's about it so it's walk or there's a bike track into town which takes about 25 minutes but then you have to cross the major highway- the Stuart Highway- which can be a bit like playing chicken with the traffic depending on what time of day it is.
Keith started working the day after we got here and so that leaves me without a car in a remote area which can be difficult depending on what you need to do. I could drive him but it would be a 25 minute drive in peak hour traffic and then a 25 minute drive back so I have adapted to keeping busy. I am really lucky as I've heard the weather in Melbourne is raining and about 16deg. It's always about 30deg here, beautiful and sunny. Well it is the dry season I'm sure it would be vastly different in the wet. The locals are all complaining how cold it is!!
Whilst we have been here we have explored a bit of Darwin including the waterfront and the wavepool. The waterfront has been developed rather like the Docklands in Melbourne including a lot of restaurants and bars. We paid a visit to the Information Centre to get a feel for the place and had lunch in town. Another day I tried out the bike track into Palmerston and found the bus interchange. I intended to use the new bikelockup area but when I was told it cost $25 opted for just putting my own lock on. I found the Casuarina bus. The ticket there cost me $3 for 3 hours of travel.  Casuarina Shopping Centre offers a large amount of shops including Big W, Kmart and a lot of specialty shops and is the largest shopping centre in Darwin.

On Saturday afternoon we took a drive out the Adelaide River which took us around 45 minutes. We stopped off at the Fogg Dam conservation area to look around. You can normally walk along the dam wall but as crocs had been sighted in the area you could only drive across. Fogg Dam is teeming with bird life and is very pretty with lotus flowers in bloom. We sighted quite a few egrets and a few falcons as well riding on the currents searching for pray. From Fogg Dam is was a short trip to the Jumping Crocs. The place was jumping literally as people turned up all at once to do the tour much to the delight of the two brothers who run it. It is only a small business but they are a great tour to do as they like to give you a personalised tour and keep the groups small so everyone can ask questions and get great photos. They are called Adelaide River Cruises and are situated in Anzac Parade just past the Fogg Dam. They had a booking of 26 people when we got there. They all were drinking beer and one girl was swearing her head off in front of the kids that were there. They also wanted to take their esky on the boat for a one hour tour but one of the brothers told them definitely 'no'. Consequently no-one wanted to get on the boat with them but other than that the tour was very interesting and I'm really pleased with the photos I got.

On Sunday we went into Darwin and had a look at Crocosaurus Cove which is right in the heart of everything. It cost $32 each to get in. There are some really large crocs in pools and if you pay an exhorbitant amount of money over the normal entrance fee you can get in a cage and be lowered into their tank with them. Whatever floats your boat so to speak but it's not really my cup of tea. Also we felt it was difficult to see crocs in those cages when we had seen them in the wild.
There is also quite a good reptile display, a display of young crocs and turtles, a cafeteria and different talks throughout the day. We saw a snake talk. The girl had a black headed python which she fed a rat to and then you could hold it afterwards. (Hopefully the rat wasn't visible then) We opted not to hold it.

After lunch we went to the Darwin museum and Art Gallery in Bullocky Point. It's free entry so very reasonable. There's a lot to see here including a display on Cyclone Tracy and the devastation it wrought on Darwin and surrounds in 1974 with photos of before and after. You can see 'Sweetheart' a very large croc that was stuffed and put on display and lots of Aboriginal artwork including some of Albert Namatjira's paintings and also a large boat display.

We finished the museum tour and leaving our car there we walked around the point on the cliff top admiring the coastal view to Mindil Beach and the market. The market is huge with lots of different handicrafts including paintings, photos, clothes and jewellery. There is also a large assortment of different foods from all over the world. Most people bring their families, their chairs and sit on the grass and listen to the entertainers (of which there are a few) have a meal and watch the sunset which is a tradition here. The market is on every Tuesday and Thursday afternoons and one not to be missed.

Sunset viewing at the Mindil Beach Market.

KATHERINE - SATURDAY 7TH JUNE

SHADY PARK CARAVAN PARK 

NITMILUK NATIONAL PARK - KATHERINE GORGE CRUISE

Was woken this morning at 4am by something that sounded like a squeaky toy. I couldn't stop laughing but was annoyed as well that it had woken me up. We had to get up anyway at 6am because we had booked a cruise of Katherine Gorge Cruise out at Nitmiluk National Park and ended up just making it on time.  The park is just 32 kms out of town. There are 13 gorges in total and you can also see Aboriginal rock painting within the gorges. The gorge and river are the spiritual home of the Jawoyn and Dagomen people and providing both food and water. On the way to the boat we were amazed at all the flying foxes congregating in the trees. There must have been thousands of them.
We were on board with several teachers and students from Carey Grammar in Melbourne that were in the Northern Territory for a camp and to visit a remote community and spend time working with the
Aboriginal people.
The cruise was really good and the scenery spectacular. We cruised through 2 gorges stopping in the middle to take photos and to walk to another boat. The sun coming up and the light bouncing off the water was like little diamonds sparkling. A fantastic experience at this time of day.

Flying foxes at Nitimuluk National Park

KATHERINE HOT SPRINGS

Locals and visitors to this area alike love to take a dip in the hot springs that abound in this area both in Mataranka with the Homestead hot springs and Bitter Springs and also the Katherine hot springs where the temperature is a constant 32deg C and is very pleasant for the weary traveller. The springs are located just a 5 minute drive from town and the surrounding grassy banks and shady trees makes for a pleasant picnic area.

EDITH FALLS (LELIYN)

This afternoon we took a trip out to Edith Falls approx 60kms out of Katherine on the Stuart Highway. It is a pretty spot with a camping area, kiosk and toilet block. The falls gush over at quite a rate and everyone there was having a great time swimming around from kids to older people. I didn't go in as it looked a bit cold for me but Keith did and had a very pleasant swim out to the falls and back (150m).

MATARANKA - THURSDAY 5TH JUNE

ELSEY CEMETARY, THERMAL POOLS

Around 130kms this morning to Mataranka (quick trip). First off buy petrol (diesel $1.80 litre) then on to Mataranka stopping on the way at the Elsey Cemetary where lies the graves of the Jeannie Gun who wrote 'We of the Never Never' and 'Little Black Princess'. Jeannie married her husband and moved to Elsey Station and the graves are of her husband and staff who are all mentioned in her books. Jeannie arrived at the station in 1902 and her husband passed away the following year of malarial dysentery. Jeannie moved back to her home town of Melbourne soon after but never forgot her life at Elsey Station and wrote the autobiographical novel 'We of the Never Never' in 1908.

THERMAL POOLS

Mataranka is well known for its thermal springs in Elsey National Park. Today we swam in Rainbow Springs and in Bitter Springs. The constant temperature in the springs is around 34deg C. The springs were so relaxing and refreshing and crystal clear they are amazing.

Vistors to our camp site at Mataranka Homestead. There were peacocks as well.

ENROUTE TO DARWIN 

WEDNESDAY 4TH JUNE - DALY WATERS PUB

Back on the road again, passing through Tennant Creek (petrol stop) and bypast Banka Banka Station as an overnight as it was only 11.30am so decided to push on to Daly Waters Pub a very iconic place. It used to be an old Drovers store in 1930 and Daly Waters itself was a major airforce base in WWII for the Australian and American Airforce personnel. In fact the airfield there was the first International Airport in Australia.
Daly Waters Pub has a really good system that works well. You rock up to a table out front of the pub. Two girls ask 'powered or unpowered site' and 'Dinner beef, barra or 1/2 1/2 you pay and then you are directed to the campground which is at the side of the pub. This odd looking guy with a big beard, big black hat riding a bike with a stuffed pony on the front called Lightning directs you where to park and hook up to power. He then tells you where hot showers and toilets are. You just all line up one after another it's first out then everyone follows them.
We met up with Kerry and Barry who we met at Devils Marbles and we had dinner with them. There were two entertainers (unfortunately a bit loud so it was hard to talk and the music was pretty old stuff) but a good night and we had a few laughs. When we arrived you could not enter the bar as there was filming going on. Michael Caton was filming a new movie entitled 'Last car to Darwin'. Some of the campers ended up being extras in the movie. The bar is one of those typical outback tin shed bars with lots of stuff stuck all over the walls and very outlandish characters hanging around. There is always happy hour between 5 and 6 and free entertainment. Great place to hang out for awhile and meet some interesting characters. Dinner wasn't bad either and plenty of it.

AILERON  - DEVILS MARBLES

Tuesday 3rd June 

Left Alice Springs this morning enroute for Darwin and job interviews. Stopped at a little place called Aileron which has some very interesting statues and not much else.

Then it was on to Devils Marbles for a low cost camp overnight. It works by an  honesty system you put the money ($6.60 night) in an envelope and place it in a box for the Ranger. Got talking to some people from Melbourne and then it was early to bed.