Home Our Trip Northern Territory 34-Darwin, Kakadu & Litchfield
34-Darwin, Kakadu & Litchfield

6th October 2008.

We were looking forward to Darwin  as we'd heard so much about it and it would be our first capital city since leaving Perth earlier this year.

Darwin:

The first thing that hit us was the heat. Although the temperature had dropped to 35, the very high humidity made it extremely hot and uncomfortable. Another rude awakening was the traffic. After not having encountered much in the way of traffic since leaving Perth, it took a bit of getting used to being surrounded by all the traffic and hustle and bustle.

Darwin is Australia's most northerly city and is a very laid back tropical paradise.  WW11 bombings in the 40's and the devastation of Cyclone Tracy in 1974 resulted in the rebuilding of this new cosmopolitan city.

Highlights for us were the Mindil Markets (Thursday and Sunday evenings) with it's entertainers, food stalls and curio stalls, The Aviation Heritage Centre, feeding the fish at Aquascene and The Botanical Gardens. Although there are no major attractions in Darwin other than Darwin itself, it is the gateway to Kakadu and Litchfield National parks.

Adelaide River:

On the way to Kakadu, you have to stop at Adelaide River to see the Jumping crocs.

The python experience was weird. It was fine while it was behaving itself, but when it decided to go exploring and started slipping off my back, I didn't know what the hell to do. Fortunately the guide grabbed him and my undies remained clean. It was amazing to see how high the crocs jump to get some food with just the end off their tail left in the water. These are not tame crocodiles in a zoo putting on a show, this is the real deal out in the wild and is certainly a sight to behold. You also see eagles swooping in to steal a feed. Definitely not to be missed and at $25.00 per person was good value.

Kakadu:

We headed straight down to Yellow Water billabong and stayed at the Gagudju Lodge Cooinda caravan park. Although the facilities were good, thought $40.00 a night for a powered site was a bit rich.  The boat trip through Yellow Waters is awesome. The flora, fauna, birds and crocs were unforgettable.

Seeing the crocs catching and eating barramundi in the wild is an experience in itself.

Early rise next day for a morning fishing trip with Dean Jackson of Yellow Waters Fishing Safaris. This trip with only three guests, is better than the previous days sightseeing Boat trip and we see so much more coz we're stopping and fishing along the way. We all caught barramundi but threw them back coz they were undersize (limit is 55 cm), but Dean pulled in a few beauties which ensured we all left with a good feed . Highly recommended coz what Dean doesn't know about the area and Barra fishing and the Territory, isn't worth knowing.

In the afternoon, we headed off to Twin Falls and Jim Jim Falls. Be warned, it's 4WD only and Twin Falls involves a half metre water crossing. Reaching the end of the black top where you are warned to engage the front hubs, a ranger comes out and tells us we have to pay $12.50 each for the boat transfer at Twin Falls. When we arrived there, we found out why. The gorge is inaccessible by foot and the only way through the first 400 metres is by boat , Saying that, the gorge is absolutely awesome with it's towering and colourfull cliffs. The rest is a walk through some rugged and precarious rocks till you reach the boardwalk crossing across the next waterhole. Fortunately they've installed shower heads to help you cool down along the way. Then all of a sudden, Twin Falls towers towers above you. Fortunately, the Falls started flowing again yesterday so at least saw some water flowing. The gorge, falls and cliffs are awesome.

Then continued onto Jim Jim Falls. Unfortunately the falls weren't flowing but the gorge and views are awesome. Best to check if the falls are flowing first so you can make an informed decision on making the trip.

Following morning we headed further south to Gunlom Falls. Although the falls were only just flowing, it was well worth the trip..

We then packed up the caravan and headed north to stay at Jabiru (the township in Kakadu) so that we could visit Ubirr. A totally different landscape and environment... It's like entering another world with the total change of landscape and rock formations. Then there's all the ancient Aboriginal rock art. A magical place and not to be missed. 

Litchfield National Park:

Headed off west to Litchfield and just before the turn off and entrance to Litchfield, we came across this new sign "No Alcohol and No Pornography allowed beyond this point". We had no porn but as always, we stock up on wine wherever we come across specials so had a few bottles onboard. Decided not to risk the $1,000.00 fine so turned around and went back to Batchelor and setup the van there. Batchelor is a small sleepy town and that's it, what more can I say. Headed into Litchfield and saw all the bill boards about the various parks with bars and alcohol etc. When we eventually came across a ranger, we asked about the alcohol restrictions and her reply was "it's to stop the Aboriginals getting hold of it. If it's tucked away in your caravan, that's fine and we're not interested. But if we see you flashing it around or handing it out, it's confiscated and you're fined $1,000.00". Okay, so now we know.

First stop was at the Magnetic Termite Mounds. Most are up to two metres high, up to two metres wide but only a few centimeters thick and they are all in a north/south orientation and this allows the least exposure to the heat of the sun, fascinating and they are all in one little area.

Florence Falls is a double waterfalls and as it's spring fed, flows all year. It's a long walk down to the swimming area but views from the lookout are awesome.

Blythe Homestead originally built in 1929 then abandoned in the 60's is 4WD only and is an enjoyable bush drive including a 60cm water crossing. How tough were conditions in those days???? Amazing and a good insight into our pioneers and the hardships they endured.

Wangi Falls is the most popular spot in the park due to it's twin falls and the sealed road access. It also has a kiosk and camp facilities. It's awesome with a beautiful large lagoon type waterhole for swimming.

Tolmer Falls was only just flowing and was nothing fantastic.

The Lost City is approx 8kms off the main road along a rough 4WD track.  Reminiscent of the ruins of some long lost civilisation...

Litchfield National Park is definitely a must see.
 

Life On The Road:

The boss was definitely not a happy chappy. She had a haircut in Palmeston (a western suburb of Darwin) and to say it was cut too short and is an absolute mess is an understatement. So next day had to find another hairdresser to try and fix it and guess what, an even bigger mess. Then I'm roped in, "just try and make it all even and thin out the left so it looks like the right". I trimmed a bit off and it looked a lot better and told her she needs to wait for it to grow a bit so it can be fixed properly. NO, gotta find another hairdresser, so we head into Darwin town centre next day and find another hairdresser and the owner takes one look and says "This is the third haircut I've had to fix in the past two days, it's disgusting, sit down here girl and we'll do our best" Our special thanks to Jess at Innovative Hair Design for sorting it out and making it look respectable. At least the boss is smiling again, well sort of.

Gotta find a decent bakery to take her mind off the hair and cheer her up a bit. Gave up after the first two coz they were franchise operations and not that fresh, Even I tossed my donut into the bin after the first bite.

The oppressive heat and humidity made Darwin extremely uncomfortable. We were told that there are only two seasons here, the wet and the dry, but the locals then informed us that the worst time to visit Darwin is October, the "third season", what they call the "Build Up" when all the clouds and rains are building up ready to start the Wet Season and the humidity climbs through the roof. It's making us both ratty and to make things worse, we're both missing all our family and friends, so it's a trying few days.

Funnily enough after all this time on the road, we haven't had a single argument or disagreement about anything, which is unbelievable considering we're in each others faces every day, with no time out to ourselves with the girls and boys. On top of that, all the long treks carrying all the gear through some very rough and rugged terrain has been very trying on both of us. Fortunately Adelaide River, Kakadu and Litchfield National Parks were more comfortable weatherwise and things got back to normal and renewed our interest in our journey.

Next off to Ayers Rock which is going to be a long haul of around 1,850kms over approx 4 days.
 
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