Blogs from Cooinda, Kakadu National Park, Northern Territory, Australia, Oceania

Deel 4: Zondag 18 sept. De wekker gezet om 6.30 uur. De schrik van mijn zonnesteek zat er flink in. Dat niet nog een keer. Om 7 uur aan de wandel in badkleding mét wandelschoenen. Heel charmant. Op naar de upper plunge pool. Een prachtige wandeling omhoog de berg op. Schitterend uitzicht met als beloning een soort Garden of Eden. Een grote rockpool met stroompjes overal tussendoor én de waterval waar je naartoe kunt zwemmen. We waren helemaal alleen, gek he, op dat tijdstip?! Na een kwartiertje de walk naar beneden gemaakt, tentje opgeruimd en naar de kiosk voor een ontbijtje. Hadden we natuurlijk ook zelf kunnen maken, maar hoe lekker is het als het voor je wordt klaargemaakt. Het is tenslotte zondag en op zondag wordt er altijd, iedere week, ontbijt klaargemaakt door onze geliefde ... read more

An early start today saw us all out on the water, David & David fishing and Lisa taking heaps of photos. It was a really beautiful morning with plenty of wildlife to photograph. The boys caught 4 barra, Lisa tried to reel one in but "dropped" it just short of the boat. We also saw 8 crocs and got great photos of 5 of them. After lunch the boys went back out and pulled in another 5 barra. We didn't keep any fish today, they were all released. We are heading back to Darwin tomorrow to catch up with Russell Jeffery and see where Josh will be playing footy this summer. We have also decided to go to the Darwin Cup on Monday which should be a great day out. ... read more

Sunday 3rd October - Kakadoo. Well, the much anticipated Kakadoo was a major disappointment after Litchfield and Katherine National Parks. Granted it is the dry season so the waterfalls, wetlands and rivers are not at their best, but in our opinion it is majorly overrated. We first visited an Aboriginal Rock Art site at Nourlangie. I tried to convince Dave of the cultural and historical significance of the paintings, but he's adamant that a couple of infantile crayon doodles do not a Rock Art site make. Indeed, Elle's artwork should solicit far more oohs and aahs than this rubbish (It did provide the comic opportunity for me to call them Kakadoo-dles, though). Next stop was the Mamukala wetlands and Bird Hide. Bill Oddie would probably be impressed as there were thousands of egrets, pygmy geese, herons,etc. ... read more

Day 135 - Welcome to Country Here’s a very special Happy Birthday wish to a young man back home in Bristol! Can you guess who it is? That’s right, Ben Gosling! Happy Birthday Ben, we hope you have a great day! We woke bright and early this morning after another very hot, sticky night even though it rained throughout most of it! We had the luxury of power so the cold fan blew away but it wasn’t until about 3am again that the temperature dropped to somewhere near comfortable! As the clock struck all the fives, 5:55, the alarm went off as we needed to be out at the bus stop to get to the early morning Yellow Water cruise. These world famous wetlands have a reputation that suggests they are not to be missed! There ... read more

Let's head North. Day 12.Left Adelaide after visiting BCF and picking up my new rod and reel courtesy of the Staff of the Rehab Ward at Newcastle Private Hospital. It was nice to leave the rainy, windy cold weather behind and head north through Port Awful (Port Augusta). Bush camp south of Coober Pedy after a day of head-winds. Bush-camp again this time near a bore off the Stuart Highway close to the Woomera Prohibited Area. The new OziExplorer software and Hema maps are helping to find these great isolated camp spots. Passed through Stuarts Well to take a photo. Then called into Rainbow Valley for a look see, worth the 24km of corrugated and dusty road (see photo). Into Alice Springs to have the mighty Toyota serviced, 60,000km = $363. Leonie ran into an old ... read more