Croc Spotting on Yellow Waters

Drove into Jabiru and had a look around town, Charlie spotted a playground so we had to grind to a halt (it is his trip too I guess..). Swings about 5m from edge of wetland, then there’s the lake, which had crocs in it (no fence between)..Just wondering how many curious toddlers have met their demise there...

Visited Bowali Visitor’s Centre and ran into the family from Williamstown we were sitting next to on Mindil Beach in the throng of thousands! Great Visitors’s Centre (I think my best yet). Really hands on, creative displays and not much to read (for the kids of course).

Set up camp at Mardugal and set off for our Yellow Waters Sunset Cruise, to spot some crocs! We weren’t disappointed, saw about 10. One was 4.5m long and just awesome, boat went right up close and I held v tightly onto Charlie! There were at least 20 species of birds (and some avid birdwatchers on the cruise let me tell you) Mark spotted a green tree snake on a bush which swam down and tried to slither into the boat (mother’s instinct had me pulling Samuel  back from the edge of the boat....didn’t know what sort of snake it was at that stage to be fair..I realise I am no Terri Irwin though!)

Guide said that the Aboriginal women get in (croc infested) waters up to their shoulders and feel with their toes in the mud for file snakes, catch them, bite their heads off, repeat the process 20 or 30 times and then cook ‘em up.

Battery on camera went dead flat on sunset and we are on an unpowered site tonight – doh! , may be a pic free post tomorrow, sorry folks.

Kakadu NP – Ubirr Rock

Samuel started his day kicking a footy with about 4 boys his age on the jumping pillow – heaven! They really haven’t had much chance to play with many kids their age as we are moving too quickly. Anyway, arrived in Kakadu early afternoon and managed to snare the last campsite at Merl Campground, a few k’s short of Ubirr Rock. Went to Cahill’s Crossing at the change of tide to see if any crocs were feeding. Nothing doing, must be wrong time of day (or season). Plenty of people fishing, some even in the crossing, despite signs up saying a man has been taken by crocs there! Crossed over but couldn’t see any crocs and turned around again as the other side of the river is Arnhem Land and we don’t have a permit (or time) to go in there.

Went into Ubirr and checked out the rock art there, listened in on a ranger talk, stories of the Rainbow Serpent and Kinship between tribes. Having the paintings explained adds so much more to the experience and one area we saw was like a fisherman’s bragging story, showing the size of their catch. Also a Tassie tiger painting nearby is believed to be about 3 – 4,000 years old.

Walked over rocks to the top of Ubirr Rock (despite my newly acquired bad back that I am willing not to get worse) to watch the sunset (with about 3 busloads of people). The ranger read a few quotes to us from the traditional owners about the place as the sun went down, which was quite moving. The kids took in lots of information about the wetlands ecosystem and aboriginal life in the area, then we scrambled down the rocks (me in my own special way) and back to camp.

Forgot to mention Samuel kindly made a tasty snack today or “Ant Butt Buffet” as Ella nicely put it. This consisted of green ant “butts”. He found the green ants at our camp, squashed them, then presented us with the green abdomen part – surprisingly tangy!

Crocodylus Park

Checked out the Crocodylus Croc Farm in the morning, saw feeding time and Samuel (with my expert help) had to lower the chunk of chicken on a big pole into view of a massive 5m croc, who jumped up and chomped into it (our hearts were thumping just a little, well just mine). Heard lots of impressive facts and kids were right into it (Charlie especially) Ran into a boy Samuel knows from his Auskick, funny that other people are having holidays too! Looked through the croc museum and some other enclosures that had hilarious looking species of monkeys. The baboon kept us entertained with a lovely butt picking episode – euww!

Back into Darwin for last arvo and took the kids to the waterfront lagoon wave pool at the Darwin Wharf Precinct. Drove down to the wharf and took in the last rays of sun for the day, grocery shopped and back to camp for planning our next phase..Kakadu!

Chuckfest then Darwin

V bad night’s sleep with the chuckfest going on, kiddies v lethargic today (there is an upside J) took it easy and drove to park in Howard Springs about 20kms south of Darwin to chill out for the afternoon. Lay around camp and took a dip in the pool, feels v hot to our weak Victorian bodies (a mere 29 degrees, sorry folks!)

July 1^st is Territory Day which they celebrate with fireworks (only day of the year any man and his dog can set them off – that sounded so Aussie) All feeling a bit queasy but dragged ourselves into Darwin to have a look in the city, couldn’t believe how quiet it was for a Sunday afternoon. Feel too hot to be anywhere but in the water so had a swim at Mindil Beach just before the sunset market (the water was 25 degrees!)

The market was awesome, the food stalls were magnificent, Thai, Japanese, Sri Lankan, Indian etc (i seem to have a strong food theme running through this blog!). Luckily our stomachs perked up just in time for dinner and we had a veritable feast. Everyone sat on the beach to enjoy the sunset and fireworks which we agreed were really good, there would have been 10,000 people there sitting in the dark together (felt like New Year’s Eve, a long time ago....) Back to the park and firecrackers going off till late all over the place, don’t these people know we need our sleep!

Florence Falls & Buley Rock Holes

Visited Florence Falls this morning, very crowded, lovely, but everyone jostling for their position on the surrounding rocks made it a bit tricky. Bit deep for the kids to have a proper swim. Overheard a lady saying a crowd of them were watching a python eating a wallaby next to the walking track just before we got there!

Continued onto Buley Rock Holes a few k’s away. Is a series of rock pools, plunge pools and mini waterfalls all cascading down the hill. Great spot, kids (and us) had a ball. Spent about 4hrs exploring and keeping cool (no snakes, and I was on the lookout!)

Headed back to our mozzie infested campsite (they seemed bigger and more vicious tonight) and we were basking in the glow of yet another sundrenched day of our trip when..(as the law of averages would have it) Ella and Samuel spent the evening throwing up about every half hour....

P.S. "Someone" didn't pack the camera today..

Litchfield and Wangi Falls

Arrived at Wangi Falls camp area about 11.45am, but still too late for a site! (our set off time after breaky, pack up etc of 8.45am is about the best we can do, 3 kids don’t forget and no alarms, this is a holiday after all) Oh, that and spending time on the side of the road collecting firewood and a “perfect” didgeridoo log (already hollowed out by termites and looks like bloodwood). Am thinking this will be Mark’s project to tune out for a bit!

We set up camp a few k’s down the road at Litchfield Safari Camp which is a funny little place. It has shipping containers as outbuildings and the little above ground pool has a couple of milk crates as the ladder!

Went back to Wangi Falls and had a lovely swim across the swimming hole to the waterfall. Shallow in some spots but most out of the kids’ depth. Really enjoying it until we spotted a king brown snake on a rock about 10m away – gulp! Luckily it headed the other way and after having a little swim it disappeared into a cave, kind of ruined the ambience a little! We did a treetop walk about a km around the falls. Got to the top but think trees may have grown as couldn’t see anything, nice to be walking through rainforest anyhow. Back to camp for a round of ice-creams and a green chicken curry (no damper tonight).

Pine Creek to Douglas Hot Springs

Got to Douglas Hot Springs in Douglas National Park late morning. Very basic camp. Made a picnic lunch and set up for the day at the hot springs. Just beautiful!! Meandering river which crosses paths with a hot spring, so some areas are 60 degrees and some are cold. The challenge being to find the bits that are just the right temperature! We spent hours lazing in there, soaking in the warm bits. The sand underneath when you lay on it was a bit like a hot stone massage...v nice! The kids stumbled across a sand monitor (which at first resembled a snake) and we explored up the river for awhile before we dragged ourselves away for dinner. Damper tonight had a gourmet touch...olive, pesto, sun dried tomato and feta. Could be our best day yet.