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Published: October 26th 2009
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17th October 09 - 20th October 09
Kakadu National Park
Can't tell you how keen I was to finally get to Kakadu. It's one of those 'have to see before you die' kind of places. I headed into Kakadu from the southern end, via Pine Creek. First stop, Gunlom camping grounds.
Now I knew the road was dirt all the way into Gunlom, 37km of dirt. But I had been informed by some other travellers I met on the road, that it wasn't that bad a dirt road and only roughly 30 minutes of driving. The road I am sorry to say with shit! Honestly, they seriously need to get the grader out on this one! But I know it's the end of the peak season and it's a heavily used road, so I understand. It's quite a nice drive into Gunlom actually and there are some lovely creeks you cross. With only 10 kms left to go to the campsite I was looking forward to a swim.... BANG! There goes my tyre! Can you believe it?
Now I must admit at this moment I was kind of wishing I had practised taking the tyre off before
Gunlom Falls
Kakadu NP, NT I left for my trip. You know, just to give myself alittle confidence that I could do it in the middle of nowhere. Let me remind you, these are not normal car tyres, they are light truck tyres so alittle more muscle is required. But I am very happy to report I changed the tyre all by myself! The hardest part was actually getting the stupid spare tyre off. If only you could have seen me, I was dripping in sweat, covered in dirt, half of the van's contents were out of the van so I could get to the jack, and there were a few swear words flying about. But yes I laugh now! The only not so funny thing was the fact that my spare tyre was half flat! Again, should have checked that before (and I know my brother told me too so Rod I am sorry).
Drama over for now. So Gunlom is nice. The waterfall isn't flowing, only a light trickle which is to be expected with no rain for months. The 'plunge pool' is huge and lovely to have a swim in expect for the fish that keep on biting me! There are
some lovely pools at the top of Gunlom Falls and early the next morning I hiked up there. The view is outstanding. I saw my first snake up there so.... I didn't hang around too long! If you know me, you know how I feel about snakes. Personal space that's all I'm saying.
The flys are awful here and I was forced, under uncontrollable forces to pull out the net hat thing! Yes, Rod and Caroline will laugh their heads off if they saw me. I was officially a 'net head'! But why suffer when as soon as you put the hat on you feel so much better, calmer, not so annoyed! Don't worry, I laughed at myself too!
The next day I was heading for Cooinda and Yellow Waters. I had to drive so slowly out of Gunlom as my tyre was half flat and I was so worried I would blow another tyre and not having a spare now, well that would just suck! So over an hour later I finally got back out onto the main road and headed up to Cooinda. I made it in time for the sunset Yellow Water cruise. It was
Hello Mr Crocodile!
Yellow Waters Cruise
Kakadu NP, NT awesome! It was recommended to me and I can see why. I saw the Little Kingfisher, the Azure Kingfisher, the Jabiru, the 'Jesus birds', & crocs crocs crocs! It was wonderful. I have never seen a croc in the wild before so when one swum right next to the boat for 5 minutes, I was stoked. Oh my god, they are MASSIVE and really just so prehistoric. We saw 2 of the really big male crocs in the river, I think the guide said they were about 4.5 - 5 metres in length! Huge!
Sunset over Yellow Waters was breathtaking and I was very pleased I did the trip.
Talking to a ranger at the camp grounds that night I found out that a fire went through the campgrounds at Gunlom today and the area was all closed off. Wow, I was just there! Very lucky. I did see smoke around today but there are honestly fires all over the Park at the moment, so much of the bush has been burnt. There has been a smoke haze around the Park for the past few days and I see fires burning along the road side as I drive
Big Croc!
Yellow Waters Cruise
Kakadu NP, NT by. It's pretty bad.
I visited Nourlangie , an important site with lots of Aboriginal art. It was pretty amazing to see the artworks. I also saw the very rare black rock wallaby snoozing under the rocks. From Nourlangie I cruised up to the Bowali visitor centre, popped into Jabiru and then headed up to Ubirr at the very top of Kakadu, to camp for the night.
Ubirr is breathtaking, the views over the wetlands are just beautiful and ofcourse it's the place to go to see a gorgeous sunset. The rock art at Ubirr is the best I have seen yet, really interesting and beautiful. The following morning I went to Cahills Crossing. I was told that on the high tide you can view crocs in the river eating the mullet that more up the river. So I went to check it out. Fanastic! Crocs everywhere! It's free, there is a huge viewing platform and you are really close to the crocs. Really cool to watch.
So that was my adventures in Kakadu. I didn't get to Jim Jim or Twin Falls unfortunately or Maguk Falls but at the very end of the dry season, not
many of the Falls are flowing and the roads in are really 4WD roads only and after my blown tyre I just didn't want to risk it. I have to go to Darwin to get my tyre fixed so my 4 wheel driving days are on hold for the moment.
Next stop Darwin!
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