When you don't need a lure to catch Barramundi

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Day 136 - Kakadu & Arnhem Land

We woke this morning to the birds squawking high in the trees! The little Wicked camper van that had pulled into the camp spot next to us after dark was still deep in slumber as we hit the road to Gunbalanya (formerly Oenpelli). Our journey involved the notorious Cahill Crossing where at high tide the crocs line up either side waiting for the unsuspecting Barramundi as the tide changes direction and delivers a tasty snack to their doorstep.

We’d researched the tide times and crossed at 7.34am, just after low tide so there wasn’t much water and no crocs visible from the road! We like to play it safe where they’re concerned! Our drive through the small part of Arnhem Land which we are able to access with our permit is stunning. Stone country mixed with billabongs adorned with beautiful pink lilies, it’s a fabulous sight at any time but first thing in the morning it’s just breath taking.

Our permit does not allow us to stop until we reach the Injalak Arts and Crafts centre so we adhere to the request and admire the view from the moving car. The road is corrugated for about 15kms and rough in parts but we’ve travelled on far worse in other areas (100 kms along Battlecamp Road in Qld for example!). As we near the community of Gunbalanya the road goes back to bitumen and it’s not long before we reach the arts centre. We arrive quite early but the doors are already open and we’re greeted by several dogs, some of the locals and a gentleman from the arts centre. He advices that we must keep our permit with us at all times and when we step inside he checks it to make sure everything’s in order.

The art centre is glorious, the displays have been really well laid out and there are some stunning pieces here. It’s so colourful and a great credit to the community as a whole. We have a really good look around and spend a lot of time admiring the intricacies’ of the basket weaving and the delicateness of the fibre made dilly bags. There are a huge variety of x-ray style paintings to view too and there are several that immediately grabbed our attention.

We wander outside to look at the view from the back of the art centre, they have a great spot here as it’s stunning country all around them. There are women weaving on the ground outside and men gathering to start painting, it’s all pretty fascinating to watch. Most if not all of the artwork here is for sale and as the centre is a non profit making community enterprise, with all of the artists being paid up front for their work.

I find a small dilly bag which I’ve taken a great liking to, these were traditionally made and are often seen in rock art scenes. I ask if the lady who made it is here today and she is! Fantastic! Her name is Audrey and she’s sitting outside, how lucky! She’s a gorgeous lady, very shy but she smiles when I show her the bag and nods when I tell her how much I like it. I was really pleased I got to meet her too and to see the new piece she was working on today. What a lovely experience.

We really enjoyed our visit to the art centre and would urge others to make the journey. We thank Suzette for allowing us to take some photos inside the art centre and wish her and everyone else well over the coming wet season, it will be a beautiful time in these awesome surroundings. You can check out the art centres own website on Injalak, its well worth a look and explains more about the importance of the centre and also how to obtain a permit for your visit.

We head back from the centre and make our way through the beautiful country around us until we reach Cahill Crossing again. There are lots of kids fishing here and a chap at our end throwing a line out. I jump out of the car to wade through the water so I can get a photograph of Darryl driving across. When I get to the fisherman I laugh and say that it must be safe at this time of day for them all to be here standing in the water. He laughs louder and tells me not to take his lead then starts to point out the crocs!!! None of them are ‘too close’ so I continue my wade through the not terribly deep water, all the while speeding up just that little bit more! Darryl drives through easily and doesn’t cause too much of a wave, the water was still very low as we’d intended! We continue our journey into Jabiru but promise ourselves we’ll return here later in the day ready for ‘dinner time’!

Our reason for driving into Jabiru was simple, we needed some bolts to ‘reattach’ the tow bar bracket to the underside of the car! When we parked up yesterday at Marl, Darryl noticed the tow bar itself was leaning backwards. That prompted him to check the bracket underneath and he found there were only two bolts, one each side, holding it on where there should have been six! Holy S**t! We have no idea how long it has been like it and can only think that it was a very recent event but whatever, we weren’t prepared to tow the caravan anywhere else until we’d fixed it. Luckily the Mobil service station in Jabiru had the perfect bolts, washers and nuts so Darryl spent the next hour crawling around under the car fixing everything back together. Well done Dar!

With that done we could get on and enjoy the rest of our day so headed back to Cahill Crossing to see how the water levels were coming on. There was still quite a way to go and a little while yet before the tide turned but the crocs were beginning to assemble in preparation! The time now was about 11.30 so we hot footed it back to camp, packed up the caravan, loaded her onto the car, had a shower then drove back to the crossing for the afternoon’s entertainment!

It was great to watch the tide turning and instantly see the water levels rising to flood the crossing. High tide was expected to reach 6.9 metres whereas low tide was around 1.85 metres so the difference was pretty tall! The crocs were both sides lying in wait for the fish feeding session to start! We counted 14 at one point, most were on the other side of the crossing to us but there were five that we could see on our side. As the water rose we were amazed at the amount of tour groups taking the crossing on with crocs so close to them and at one point there was a croc actually on the crossing with a vehicle ready to drive over! Sod that!! Not only is the current pretty strong and the water level reasonably high but you’ve got some very expectant 3 metres crocs just waiting for you to make a wrong move! It would be a bit of a mouthful a Landcruiser admittedly but they’d find a way to the soft and chewy humans inside! The cruise boats came up pretty close too but we were most amused to watch one literally chased off by a croc who seemed less than impressed the boat was in ‘his territory’! “That’s just like serving up tinned humans” remarked Darryl! The crocs had a good feast, on fish, and we certainly enjoyed watching them in fact we were the last to leave!

It was 3 o’clock by the time we got on the road again, no chance that we’d make Darwin in the daylight now so we decided to visit the Mamukala Wetlands en-route and hoped there was room at the Aurora Kakadu campground when we eventually arrived.

The wetlands were excellent, a bit like Slimbridge really and we could see plenty of birdlife from the hide. We stayed a while identifying different birds but we didn’t get a full house, there were no Pied Herons here today that I could see.

We found the campground not far down the road and booked in easily enough. The evening unfolded through the normal categories; swim in pool, dinner, blog & photos then the much need sleep in our nice cosy bed.

And there it was, another great day full of well mannered, happy and welcoming people which is just the way we like it.

Dar and Sar

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Photos

Dilly Bag
My new beautiful bag made by Audrey at the Injalak Arts Centre