Kakadu National Park

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Day 14 – Friday July 13^th – Kakadu National Park

Got up in the dark and drove the 10 mins to the Yellow Waters boat ramp ready for our sunrise cruise. There were a total of three boats going out on the water this morning. There was a fine layer of atmospheric fog on the water as we boarded the boat and the sky was starting to turn all shades of blue-pinks and dull orange as the sun rose out of the water. Mark and Dave were very active walking around the boat taking loads of photos...

Within the first few minutes we had spotted our first croc of the cruise. A saltie. Minding her own business, returning home after a night’s hunting. The guide was at pains to point out that this cruise is not all about the crocs but about the other wildlife and flora in the Kakadu wetlands environment. During the 2 hour trip we gently cruised up and down the Yellow Water billabong, the flood plain and the South Alligator River learning about the landscape, plants, animals and aboriginal culture and history. As well as the crocs of various sizes that we saw in various locations, we saw sea eagles, kites, Australasian darter birds, various waders that we can’t remember the names of, a wallaby and a yellow bellied tree snake. Unfortunately the scary water buffalo were not in their usual spot and we didn’t get to see them, however we did see the large areas of lilies and water grass that had been trampled by these large beasts as they made their way to the water. The cruise was an excellent way of experiencing more of Kakadu and the wetlands that you can’t see from the road and was thoroughly worthwhile.

The other good thing about the sunrise cruise is the fact that it includes breakfast back at the Cooinda resort afterwards. Cereal, fruit and yoghurt, cooked brekkie and croissants and muffins. We filled our boots and took bets on when we would start to feel hungry again that day. With very full bellies we broke the rule of not going for a swim straight after a meal and had a cooling dip in the resort pool, followed by a refreshing shower.

We had been debating our next move – head north to the 2 mile and 4 mile campgrounds on the way out of the park so we wouldn’t have quite so far to drive to Darwin the next day, or drive deeper South to another of the Kakadu Highlights, Jim Jim Falls. Both families had been having trouble with our fridges and we kept running the camper trailer batteries down low because they had not been charging properly while driving. So we stopped at the main town in Kakadu, Jabiru, to buy some ice for the fridges, some fuel and icecreams. At the Bowali Visitors centre just outside Jabriu we were persuaded that Jim Jim would be a more special place to stay the night than the 2 mile campsite so we headed back South again.

The road to Jim Jim Falls is 50kms of quite good unsealed road, with a few sections of corrugations and it only took us 50 mins to reach the campsite. The Jim Jim Falls is a further 5kms down a proper 4WD track with a few water crossings and some sandy and muddy bits. The plan was to try to get to the falls for a swim before the light disappeared. We had an hour to try to fit it in. Firstly the 4WD track was quite tricky and very twisty and turny, so 5 kms took a lot longer than we expected. Secondly, we stumbled across the one of the highlights of our trip so far – a bogged Wicked Camper hire vehicle driven by young Dutch and German tourists that was well and truly stuck in the sand. Time for Dave to put his underpants on over his shorts, don his cape and become SuperDave! The hapless tourist must have thought our reaction of loud cheering at seeing them stranded was slightly inappropriate, but we were just cheering at the prospect of watching SuperDave in action and Mark was happy because he got to open up and use bits of his recovery kit. Dave’s initial question to the guys of “Hello, would you like me to snatch you out?” was met with a blank stare and then nods and smiles when they realized it was an offer of help. Mark’s brand new “D-Shackle” was used to attach the “snatch strap” to the stranded Landcruiser. Strap attached to Dave’s Discovery. Lots of acceleration, wheel spins and sand flying everywhere but the Landcruiser would not budge. Attempt number 2 with a bit more power. And … ping! The D-shackle and part of the Landcruiser went flying off. Luckily the spectators and camera crew (us and the tourists) were far enough away from the flying parts. Hmmm. Plan B. Use 4WD techniques to coax the Landcruiser out of the sand. Dave gets in the car and tries to rock it out of the deep sand. Strangely not all the wheels were spinning. Weird. After checking again that the car was in 4WD it turned out that the hub locks need to be engaged to fix 4WD. Lots of laughing and “dohs” when the guys realized that they hadn’t in fact been using the appropriate driving mode. Hub locks engaged, 4WD engaged, Dave hops back in and drives the Landcruiser free! Lots of cheering as the guys get back in the car and we wave them off on their merry way.

A very amusing encounter. But it had eaten away around 20 mins of time before our planned sunset swim at the falls. And there was a 1km hike to the pool from the car park. Undeterred, we started up the path which turned out to be pretty rocky and rugged. We got almost half way to the falls and reached the lookout. The light of the setting sun made for stunning views of Jim Jim Falls and the first pool. The pool looked hugely inviting but was officially croc territory so we had to sit on the huge rocks around it and admire the view. We got chatting to a guy with a complicated camera set-up taking shots every 30 seconds of the falls. He explained that he is shooting footage for a documentary on Kakadu National Park and would be there all night taking various shots. He also advised us that the path to the swimming hole at the foot of the falls was more of a rock scramble than a hike and as it would be getting dark very soon it wasn’t a good idea to try it. So we stayed put and chatted some more to the guy and had our picnic on the rocks, planning on getting to the swimming hole the next morning. We timed our exit from the gorge to perfection and ended up driving the 4WD track back to the campsite in the dark, which was another very cool experience. Snakes, cane toads and dingoes were spotted as we drove along.

Emmy and Luke were pretty exhausted and went to sleep not long after we got back to camp. The grown-ups and Meg and Anna sat around our small campfire and watched the stars, marveling at everything we have seen and experienced in such a short time. Feeling very lucky J.

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