It all goes wrong; or was it a blessing in disguise?

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My entire trip to the Northern Territory was built around visiting Kakadu National Park. I booked the 2 day camping tour before I settled on airfares, hotel rooms, or any other activity. I had a few reservations about my backpacking tour, which was with the same company that I booked the Litchfield tour through, and it wasn't just having to spend the night in a rented sleeping bag. Tom and Dan were convinced that they offered the best tour available, and said sneeringly that the AAT and APT tours should stand for "aged arthritic" or "aged pensioner tours". Their advice to buy one or two (??!!) bottles of wine to take with me to save money on the expensive wine available where we were going so that I "could enjoy the full experience" was a little alarming. I had not envisaged that a full experience would also include getting drunk on cheap wine around the campfire and that day two should be undertaken with a roaring hangover. It made me worry - have I had finally crossed the line? Am I am now truly old? However these were minor concerns - the trip to Kakadu was to be the highlight, and I was incredibly excited.

So you can just imagine how I felt when I received a call on Friday evening, saying that the tour had been cancelled because there weren't enough people booked on it. The tour company was very apologetic, and not only refunded my tour, but the trip I took with them previously to Litchfield. They had also rung around all the other operators on my behalf and come back with the sad news that nobody else was running a two day trip the next day, or indeed until Tuesday, at which point I would be back on the 30th floor of my office building in Sydney no doubt stuck in a meeting. Disappointed does not even begin to describe it.

I was feeling very low as I trudged downstairs to the hotel's front desk. My first priority was to find some accommodation for the next night given I wouldn't be passed out in a rented sleeping bag in Kakadu. Luckily they had rooms available, so I upgraded to the "resort" part of the hotel to a King Lagoon room, which means you have a room with private swim out access to the pool, your own dedicated outdoor living area with your own loungers, all just outside your enormous sliding doors.

On Saturday morning, remembering my long, long, LONG, day in a bus to get to Uluru last year, it was with a very heavy heart that I booked myself on a one day tour for Sunday on a luxury coach with AAT ("aged arthritic tours"), and organised my 5.00 am wake up call for the following day. Having already spent a fortune to make myself feel better with a luxury lagoon room, I went the whole hog and also booked a scenic flight while I was in Kakadu. I was beginning to feel much better and I was starting to think that emotional spending was not so bad after all and sure beats emotional eating if I was going to be spending the day in my swimsuit.

Although I had started the day thinking I had been stranded in Darwin for another day, I must admit that my time in the rich part of the hotel, in my swim out lagoon room, passed quite well. They have created a little fake beach down one end, and a swim up bar nearby. My room had also doubled in size and included a humungous bath and his and her sinks. Things could certainly be worse.

By Sunday morning I was feeling quite excited again. Kakadu! Finally! I was the first pick up, so I had a good look at all the other passengers as they joined us. Crikey, Dan wasn't wrong, these people were aged and arthritic, and frankly, just old! I did admire their get up and go though, as for some, just climbing the stairs on the bus seemed to be as much adventure as they'd had in some time. The lady on the walker also showed a lot of gumption I thought.

So the day wasn't quite as I had envisaged, but I still managed to get a fantastic experience of all the park had to offer. First up we went to Nourlangie, which is where we got to see indigenous rock art. It was fascinating to see the different styles. It looked quite different to the rock art at Uluru, however our guide explained that in Kakadu food was more easily accessible for the indigenous people, which allowed more time for the painting as they were not spending so much time hunting.

In the afternoon we went on a Yellow Water Billabong cruise through one of Kakadu's best-known wetland areas. It is home to lots of crocs, and we saw plenty more of these, which was pretty exciting. There were also a few fishermen there, trying to land a prized barramundi. I would've thought the local fish shop would've been safer, given all the crocs I saw. There are also lots of beautiful birds, not to mention simply stunning scenery.

My final stop before heading back to Darwin was the scenic flight over Kakadu National Park and the Arnhemland Escarpment. It was amazing! Beautiful, breathtaking scenery, and we got up close with some of the waterfalls. It was fantastic, and definitely a highlight.

I was thrilled to be able to get to Kakadu finally, especially after all the drama. Although I'm disappointed to have missed out on the outback camping, perhaps things didn't turn out so bad. I think one of the best discoveries is that I'm not really that old ...I could fit in around a campfire with cheap wine after all!

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Photos

Anhinga (I think) - a snake necked bird
This is the male drying his wing

Comments

[Home and Away]

I had no doubt that you could handle the cheap wine!
It was the used sleeping bag that I doubted. Great to see that you upgraded to a resort room to salve your disappointment, although I'm sure you still ate well! And thanks for being understanding of the "aged, arthritic" companions on your tour...your descriptions of them getting on and off the bus reminded me of my recent experience in China, although I hope to get over my broken ankle and be able to travel as a "youngster" again.

[RJT]

I think the cheap wine would make the sleeping bag bearable! Sorry to hear about your ankle - hope you're on the mend soon.