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Published: November 4th 2013
Florence Falls
I tried to swim behind the waterfall. I lasted about 10 seconds as it was so powerful...There are more things we want to do in Australia/New Zealand/South East Asia than we can possibly fit into 6 months so we know we wont get to do them all. However, a priority for both of us is to go “Up Top” to the Northern Territory. We realized that we are heading into the Wet Season and that if we don’t go now, we may not be able to see Kakadu so…we went. Booked a trip and flights one day and left the next.
There are really only two proper seasons in the North, the Dry and the Wet, however there is an unofficial season as the Dry turns into the Wet and it’s called the Buildup. Basically it means the heat is increasing, the humidity is increasing but the rain hasn’t come yet to break it and bring the temperatures down to something reasonable. Guess what season we went in??? It was hot. Temps were only low to mid 30’s but with humidity it felt like low 40’s. I’m famous for overpacking and was determined not to for this short trip. So I didn’t take too many things but I did take all the <em style="mso-bidi-font-style:
normal;">wrong things. I’m used to summers at home where the nights are cold so I packed a merino sweater…and jeans…and a down jacket. Those things never came out of my bag. I broke down and bought a hat and I even actually wore it sometimes. Shelagh eventually realized she needed one too. At least we are ready for stampede!
We flew up to Darwin and when we got off the plane everyone in the airport looked hot, and sweaty, and tired. 5 days later we understood why! We spent the afternoon in Darwin which is a surprisingly modern city with lots of restaurants and bars. We had some great seafood for lunch and a beautiful dinner at a Thai/Indian/Indonesian restaurant. In between lunch and dinner we had drinks. It felt too hot to do anything else. We weren’t the only ones either. It appears that what one does in Darwin is sit drinking very cold lager. I now understand why the Australians make light, watery lager. It’s delicious when it’s 40C outside.
Up bright and early to head out on our 4 day trip. Luckily an air-conditioned bus with 20 seats and a group of only 10. Our
I have my eye on you...
Just put your hand in the water…go on I dare you. guides were friendly, helpful and knowledgeable. Has everyone heard of the Australian Prime Minister who went swimming in the sea one day and never came back? While he was Prime Minister? Exactly. Anyway, that same guy had a brilliant idea in the 50’s or something that Northern Australia could grow rice and become the bread basket (or I guess rice bowl) of Asia. So he went to Hollywood to get a bunch of those types to invest (I know, it doesn’t make sense to anyone else either) and they did. So they built a dam to flood an area and...well…long story short, the whole thing cost a colossal amount of money and didn’t work. But now there is a very nice little habitat for birds and such. Thanks Hollywood. Btw, our guide believes one of the leading conspiracy theories that the Prime Minister ended up in a foreign submarine because of some useful information he had. I’m not sure if he planned it and was in cahoots with someone, or where they were from. Or, if he was captured, or what. We then headed into Kakadu National Park. Our first stop was Ubirr which is a rock art site. So
Kakadu
3 different geographical regions cool with a variety of paintings from different eras in different styles, some of which are up to 20,000 years old.
What do you do when you approach a river filled with Saltwater crocodiles? Get in a boat and drift down it of course. We took a crocodile cruise and were rewarded with many sightings of crocodiles big and small. We went ashore in one place that was supposed to be safe but the instructions were “There’s a little pool over there…don’t go down to it” and in the sand beside the boat landing there were crocodile tracks! We went to our first camp which had a large kitchen tent, a building with showers and toilets and then permanent tents with wooden floors, metal frame, canvas walls and roof, and actual beds. This was the luxury trip btw, the cheaper trips involve actually camping…on the ground…where the snakes live. All our camp sites were variations on this theme.
The next day we toured more of Kakadu including a stop at Barramundi Gorge, or Maguk as it’s also known, for a little hike and a swim. Now here’s the thing. It’s really hot in the
Crocodile
Jaws open and ready to eat you! Northern Territory so the thing to do is swim to cool down. However, the Northern Territory is filled with crocodiles. Filled. Both the saltwater and the freshwater varieties. Apparently freshies as they are affectionately known are harmless and don’t want anything to do with people. Be that as it may, I’d really rather not encounter one while swimming. Salties on the other hand are deadly and kill many people a year in Australia. I had always understood that you listen to the rangers and you swim in the pools that are ok and don’t have crocs in them and you don’t swim in the ones that do. Well, that’s partially true, however, the pools that “don’t have crocs in them” aren’t pools that never have crocs in them, they are just pools that probably don’t currently have crocs in them. In the wet season the whole area floods and crocs have access to virtually all pools except some that are very far upstream over lots of rocks and water falls. So in the dry season they put out traps and catch them (and usually take them to a croc farm where they become lovely boots, belts
Crocodile
Peaceful? and dinner), then they let you swim there. WHAT? The rangers have a system to determine if a pool is clean that they are fairly comfortable with, but I am far less comfortable with. They float a buoy covered in fish oil in the water. Any croc around comes and bites it because they are curious and constantly hungry. They can tell from the bite if it’s a freshie or a salty. If it’s a freshie, no probs. If it’s a salty they put out a trap baited with a pigs head. Yum. Then they remove the croc from the trap. Repeat. Once they aren’t finding any more crocs they put this bouy in the water for a certain number of days and inspect it. That has to come out clean 5 times and then they declare it clean. If at any point there are signs of a salty then they start at the beginning again. This seems insane to me. What if the salty is just hanging out eating fish and isn’t interested in the stupid bite ball thing. Then a tasty looking girl with legs so white you can see them underwater from 200m across the pool gets
in…Needless to say, we were both terrified. We went it but were terrified. And, we have to say Maguk falls is one of the most beautiful places either of us have ever been to. It’s just a small waterfall into a plunge pool with high walls on 3 sides but its gorgeous. In fact, it’s the kind of gorgeous setting from a movie where an unsuspecting tourist gets eaten by a crocodile.
We stopped in the town of Pine Creek to have a much-needed pint at a bar where the brick is made from termite mounds. Termite mounds are everywhere in this part of the world. We zipped over to Katherine Gorge and ran up a path and steps to a viewing platform to view the sunset. Gorgeous. The bathrooms at this camp site had an unusual feature…green frogs in the toilet. Like, literally in the toilet. The next morning we took a boat trip into the gorge. The water level is exceptionally low as it was the driest wet season on record last year. We saw lots of spiders and bats. You are not allowed to walk on most of the beaches in the
Maguk
After a really hot and sweaty hike this was the most beautiful thing ever. Complete with crocodile trap…We were so scared, but still swam. gorge because there are crocodile eggs there and they are protected. But, you can kayak up the gorge. WHAT?
That afternoon the rain came. Not officially the start of the wet, just a little storm in the Buildup. We headed to our last camp, Mount Bundy Station, which used to be one of the largest cattle stations in the Northern Territory but it has been sold off bit by bit. The place was filled with wallabies and Magpie geese and had cane toads hanging out in the kitchen tent. At one point as we sat around after dinner Shelagh looked behind my chair and said “Wow, look how big that is” I of course (over) reacted appropriately by shrieking like a little girl, jumping up and running away. What was behind me but just a huntsman spider. Although large these are the friendly spiders…not the deadly ones.
We ended the trip with a day in Leitchfield. It is an enormous piece of land donated under the condition that it became a National Park. Its very close to Darwin so very popular with the locals. It is filled with beautiful waterfalls and swimming holes. We went to
both Florence Falls and the Buley Rockhole. At Buley you can sit in any one of a series of swimming holes and get a free massage from the waterfall coming from the previous hole. The rain began again, in earnest, so we cut out the last waterfall and headed back to Darwin for a trip to the museum. Probably one of the best museums I’ve been to for a place that size. Excellent exhibit on the Cyclone that destroyed, really destroyed Darwin on Christmas day 1974. Also good information on the bombing of Darwin during WWII. And of course, a stuffed giant saltwater crocodile named Sweetheart. We went out to dinner at a very quirky place called Tims Surf n Turf that’s popular with the locals. The food was mediocre at best but it was a fun experience. Spent the next day wandering around Darwin. We hung out in the military built oil storage tunnels that are now a mini museum. We headed down to a waterfront restaurant for lunch sitting overlooking the harbor. It was soooo hot. We were pouring in sweat and unlike the locals we tried to walk places. Not advisable and we developed swollen hands and
feet. Yep – Heather had cankles! Clearly a sign of things to come…Went on a sunset dinner cruise around the Darwin harbor. We were excited when they offered us the seniors rate but on second thought maybe that’s not a good thing! On second thoughts it might have been the canckles!
Flight home delayed due to strong winds at Sydney Airport (winds that were partly causing the terrible fires in the Blue Mountains). Not a lot to do to kill time in the Darwin airport let me tell you! Stunning red sunset as we landed in Sydney. That’s what forest fire smoke will do for you.
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Beth Johnson
non-member comment
Good times!
Sounds as if you are having a lot of fun in spite of the heat and scaries. Great blog and great pictures! Love, Mom