The Red Centre Way

Officially this was the last big thing to do on our six month holiday. And it certainly had a few big ticket items.

We drove the outer loop through the West MacDonnell Ranges to King’s Canyon and of course Uluru. What’s a bit more corrugated dirt road after all we’ve done anyway?

Day one – Simpsons Gap, Standley Chasm, Ellery Creek Big Hole, Serpentine Gorge and Two Mile

Our first stop after leaving Alice Springs was Simpsons Gap. It was quite small and a nice introduction to the gorges in the area. We saw a black footed wallaby up high on the rocky slopes.

Walking into Simpsons Gap

Our next stop was Standley Chasm. We bought the $30 family ticket to enter the chasm as it was on private land but it was full of tourists and not all that inspiring. I appreciated the amount of infrastructure that had been added to support tourists to the area, but we left wondering what we had paid our money for. We probably would have liked it more if it was not full of people. As it happened, good photos were impossible.

We visited Ellery Creek Big Hole in the warmth of the afternoon and joined the throngs of people in the swimming hole. The water was freezing – we hadn’t felt water that cold since Karijini National Park. It was a brief swim!

We took a short walk into Serpentine Gorge which had a pretty waterhole and no other people while we were there.

We found a fantastic free camping spot along the Finke River called Two Mile. It would have been lovely to spend several days there because it was so relaxing. The boys spent ages playing in the sand and then I made them swim in the river to clean themselves off. Apparently it was a bit cool!

I should also make mention of the minor bogging that Drew got us into because we were too lazy to let down the tyres.

Day two – Ormiston Gorge, Redbank Gorge, Tylers Pass Lookout, Mereenie Valley, Ginty’s Lookout

We did the amazing 6km Ormiston Pound Walk which turned out to be a little longer than indicated but probably was one of the best walks we’ve done over the whole holiday. The views were incredible and track was really fun to walk. We caught up with a handful of walkers and eventually ended up at a swimming hole which of course was full of people. Drew and I noticed the absence of adults swimming and joined the throngs on the sand. The boys managed a very quick dip though.

Ormiston Pound View

View our photos of the Ormiston Pound Walk.

The Ormiston walk was both challenging and hot and we should have called it a day after that but the description of Redbank Gorge sounded too good to miss out on. We walked about 1km into the gorge, which included a fair bit of rock scrambling. We then swam into the freezing water hole which took us into a tiny chasm.

We knew we were in trouble when Chase got to the halfway break in the chasm which was a small rock scramble and he could not make himself jump back into the water. He was desperate to get to the end but his brain simply would not let him.

Things went from bad to worse pretty quickly. We were all freezing and we needed to get the kids and ourselves back on dry land. Luckily a party came through with some big inflatable rafts and Drew prised Chase off the rocks, threw him on the raft and another man helped pull the raft back to shore really quickly. I got Ollie back safely but poor old Chase had a complete meltdown. Both the kids are good swimmers but we made the mistake of pushing too hard that afternoon. We were all a bit shell shocked really.

And to top it off I left my camera in the car, so no photos for this one.

With normality mainly restored we then dropped in to Tyler’s Pass lookout which gave us views of the Gosse Bluff comet crater.

Due to the unexpected time taken in Redbank Gorge we travelled really late that evening, well into the dark of night. We drove the corrugated and sometimes nasty sections of road through the Mereenie Valley without the benefit of daylight to enjoy the views.

We arrived at Ginty’s Lookout (free camp) well after 8pm and made camp as quickly as possible.

Day three – Kings Canyon

Because we had pushed into darkness the previous evening, we had a relatively short drive into Kings Canyon the following morning.

We were all a bit tired from the day before and thought that we might pick one of the shorter walks. But all idea of that was banished once we looked at the map, with both boys immediately wanting to complete the whole loop. Of course we did the side walks too.

It was pretty spectacular and a little bit scary at times.

Atop Kings Canyon

View our photos of Kings Canyon.

We made sure we finished driving early that day and camped in a nice little roadside stop surrounded by red sand and desert oaks.

Days four to six – Uluru

We passed Mt Conner the next morning which many people know as “Fool-uru” but we didn’t stop at the rest stop for photographs as we were keen to get to the real thing. We stayed out in the overflow campsite at Yalara for two nights and as we are self-sufficient we found this a perfectly acceptable arrangement.

We purchased our $65 family pass on-line and made our way out to Uluru the following morning. The wind was up and the rock climb had been shut down so there were lots of disappointed tourists around.

We rode our bikes on the 10km track around the giant monolith. This was a good way to go as there wasn’t much to see on the back side of the walk and it would have been a long, hot and windy walk.

Iconic Uluru

Riding around the base of Uluru

View our photo’s of Uluru.

In the afternoon we visited the Olgas and did the Walpa Gorge Walk and the Valley of the Winds.

View our photos of the Olgas.

The next morning we came back to Uluru with the intention of climbing it. I know this is a contentious issue but that is what we as a family chose to do. More about that in my closing paragraph.

The climb did not open until 8am, one hour past its opening time of 7am, due to high winds. Weather conditions are monitored by rangers hourly, so when the wind dropped and it was announced that it would be opening, there was a huge cheer from around 200 – 300 people who were eagerly waiting.

The views were amazing and we all came away with some great memories.

View our photos from the top of Uluru.

Drew and I have done a lot of rock climbing all over the world. For us it is never about conquering the rock, it is always about appreciating the entire environment. We love what we see and it creates some great memories for us, and because of that affinity it becomes something we treasure and want to protect. We hope that we can pass on our love of the outdoors and the environment to our children, by helping them to create their own special memories.

 

Mataranka to Alice Springs

Warm springs, rocks and quirky pubs

Now in our fifth month of touring, we once again joined the Stuart Highway, this time going South.

We stopped at Bitter Springs and loved drifting down the thermal springs. The water was crystal clear and the boys enjoyed using their goggles to try and spot fish and turtles (hopefully not salt water crocodiles or snakes).

We spent a couple of nights in Elsey National Park. The campsite itself was huge with great facilities, but it was run-down and there were only a handful of people camping on both nights. We don’t like crowds so it suited us perfectly and it was also super cheap.

We swam in Mataranka thermal pool which wasn’t as natural as Bitter Springs but was totally lovely anyway. The only downside was the huge colony of bats which had returned for the breeding season. We loved watching the bats but they gave the place a bit of an odour and must have affected the water quality to some degree.

We had a quick look at the replica homestead used for the film “We of the Never Never”. It’s a real shame that it had been let go. The roof was buckling and some of the costumes had fallen off their hangers and were covered in dust on the ground.

We dropped in to Daly Waters for fuel. What a hoot that place was. The Outback Servo was tiny and to get to the bowser we had to park part way across a road, but no one seemed to mind. The town was full of character buildings and it would be great to spend a day exploring there. The pub was quirky; just hilarious really.

We visited the Stuart Tree, where the explorer John McDouall Stuart carved his initials on a tree in 1862 and also the Daly Waters historical aerodrome.

At Three Ways we drove past a memorial for the Very Reverend John Flynn, founder of the Royal Flying Doctor Service.

We had a look around The Pebbles and wandered around Devil’s Marbles. We dropped in to Barrow Creek Pub for a drink. This was another crazy little pub and the kids loved the real and pretend money pinned up on the walls, not to mention the very friendly bartender.

Alice Springs

Alice Springs probably deserves a post all of its own, but despite spending three nights there we hardly left the caravan park.

By the time we arrived we had been on the go non-stop for well over two months and we were completely travel-fatigued. We had no appetite for anything touristy. If we were having a longer trip now would have been the time to stay along the coast somewhere for about a month and just rest.

We planned to go mountain biking in an area which is supposedly fabulous but two mechanicals and flats on both the boys bikes meant that we’d covered less than 1.5km before we had to pull the pin. Three corner jacks were everywhere and the boys tubes were no match for them! We were really disappointed as the trails looked excellent and would have given us a wonderful experience of outback Alice.

The only other place we spent any real time in was the Alice Springs Hospital for yet another unscheduled visit to the emergency department! Oliver drove his toe into the ground after trying to leap from the ladder to the fifth rung on the monkey bars and managed to fracture it. Unfortunately he damaged it along the growth plates and so we need to return in a week’s time for another x-ray. What can I say!

 

Litchfield National Park

We are swimming our way around the top end of Australia and it seems that “swimmability” has become a chief indicator of a great spot to visit. There are a few others too; good 4WD tracks; lack of people (ie no tourists except us) and lots of birds.

Litchfield seems to win the peoples’ choice awards, but how did it rate for us?

We visited it hot on the heels of finishing Kakadu, so it was a tough act to follow. It had some pluses and minuses which probably means that on average it was okay.

We arrived on a Sunday and found a nice campsite in the 2WD camp at Florence Falls. As far as campsites go, Litchfield really had its act together; spacious, clean and  decent amenities.

But it was as busy as hell. We walked to the lookout at Florence Falls and the plunge pool was crazy busy. From the carpark it also had 135 steps, which was never going work for Mum. We checked out Buley Rock Holes which was even more crowded. People were streaming up and down the paths so we didn’t end up going any further.

Finally we drove to Wangi Falls which was a much easier proposition for Mum to get into, although she decided not to swim. The waterfall was still running but the water smelled a bit weedy and we had to share the pool with a lot of other people. There was a resident bat colony that seemed happy with their location.

The next morning we walked into Florence Falls around 7.00am. The water was refreshing (aka chilly) but we had the whole plunge pool to ourselves. We also discovered that the track out of the 4WD campsite to the pool was much more accessible, so we were able to take Mum in the following morning. We saw a keelback snake on the path on the way in; that was a bit of thrill!

We drove the 4WD track into the Lost City and enjoyed walking around and climbing over towers of rock. Mum also negotiated some of the track.

We drove Reynolds River 4WD Track which was a bit of fun and took a few hours. The scenery was varied and we came across a little wetland with a couple of Jabirus. We visited the ruins of the old Blyth Homestead and hiked in to Tjaynera (Sandy Creek) Falls for a lovely swim. Big tick for that swim.

The fearsome Reynolds River crossing turned out to be not so deep, although it was still quite a long crossing. We also hiked to Surprise Creek Falls but there was no water fallling and we thought things were starting to look a little stagnant, so we elected not to swim.

Prousts Crossing towards the end of the drive gave us the biggest challenge although the creek itself was not the problem. After the water was a jump up which was significantly eroded. I was the designated driver for the day and it is fair to say that both car and driver were at their limit. It took four runs to finally get up the embankment and included some wheel spinning, locked diff and bumping and sideways action. We were pretty happy to get up, as the prospect of retracing our steps on the track in the dark wasn’t that appealing.

This does not adequately show the awesomeness of the effort of the driver (me)!

We discovered the lovely swimming holes along Walker Creek, enjoyed the view from the platform overlooking Tolmer Falls and also managed an early swim at Buley the morning we left, sharing the rock holes with just a couple of other people.

While there was more we could have done, we left feeling as if we’d done enough and drove back to Darwin to take Mum to the airport for her return to Adelaide.

 

Kakadu & surrounds

I wasn’t sure what we’d make of Kakadu. Those who espouse “Kakadon’t” can be found in every campsite and scattered throughout Wikicamps too. They all have their reasons apparently; mosquitoes, dust, entrance fees, second cousin to Litchfield. The list goes on.

The Kakadon’ts made me wonder if we should even be going. But we’d driven all the way from Adelaide and who knew when we’d next be back.

As it happened we loved Kakadu right from the start. We took the time to experience as much of it as we could. Yes it was hot; we sucked it up. We took part in some of the cultural experiences offered in the park. We marched Mum up the easy walks and parked her in the shade so that we could tackle some of the tougher hikes. We enjoyed every lookout despite the smoke from the surrounding burn-offs. We swam in the pools to cool off at the end of the day and enjoyed a cold bevy at beer o’clock each evening.

We visited Kakadu early/mid September and this is why we loved it.

Day one – Darwin to Mary River

We stopped at Window on the Wetland Visitor Center. While the wetland was rapidly drying out it was still beautiful and the exhibits at the center were excellent. We watched a great video on the changing seasons at Kakadu which we found really informative.

We did an overnight stop at Mary River Wilderness Retreat and Caravan Park. This little park was a gem. We enjoyed a late afternoon swim and then a drink overlooking the pool. The children watched as the cook hand fed (tongs) a three month old salty in an aquarium. Even at that age it jumped out of the water aggressively to grab the food.

The next morning we did a walk along the Mary River. We passed a sign warning us that crocodiles sometimes could be found along the walking trails and we were no further than 100 meters from the caravan park when we came across huge drag marks across the path. We were surprised because the creature had clearly come up a very steep embankment and by the size of the drag marks it would have been a big effort. Fortunately we could also see its return marks back across the path so we were reasonably confident that it wasn’t going to ambush us.

As we walked, agile wallabies sprinted along in front of us. We could not believe how many there were. A sign to Big Bronzie’s Bar pointed to the river. We crept a little closer to the river to see what it was. We soon found out. The biggest live crocodile we’d ever seen lay sunning himself on a sandbar in the middle of the river. Presumably we’d just got a look at Big Bronzie himself. Unfortunately we spooked him and he slid into the water too quickly for me to get a photo. We watched in awe!

Day two – South Alligator and Jabiru

We stopped off at Mamukala Wetlands and spent some time in the bird hide. The temperature dropped by degrees as we left the carpark and walked into the hide facing the wetlands. This was a place of such incredible beauty it was jaw dropping. We talked to some bird experts from the UK who were holidaying here. The diversity of the bird life was amazing and the boys had fun using Oliver’s new bird handbook to try and identify some of the species.

We drove to Jabiru where we based ourselves at Kakadu Lodge and Caravan Park for the next three days.

We dropped into the Bowali Visitor Center to purchase our Park Pass and make enquiries about some of the roads. We had been told (obviously by the Kakadon’ters that the $100 family pass was only good for seven days. Not true; they actually allow a further seven day extension, so the ranger just wrote out the pass for 14 days from the outset. We took advantage of the air conditioned theatrette and watched a documentary on the Blue Winged Kookaburra and its life in Kakadu.

Day three and four – East Alligator region

We checked out the great Aboriginal rock art at Ubirr.

Just before sunset we climbed to the top of a rocky outlook with incredible views over the Nadab floodplain.

Afterwards we dashed back down the rocks to the car and dropped in to the Border Store where we ordered some delicious Thai food – what an amazing surprise.

We did several walks in the area. We wove our way through layered sandstone pillars on the Bardedjilidji walk, where Ollie found an old grinding hole used by Aboriginal peoples.

The children really enjoyed making bracelets using pandanas leaves when we attended a cultural activity run by Parks Australia and some local Arnhem Land ladies. Drew proved handy at the weaving but mine looked like a three year old’s effort. We also  learnt how to strip and colour the pandanas leaves.

We visited Cahill’s Crossing at high tide to watch the tide change and the crocodiles come in to feed. This was a thousand times better than watching some poor old crocodile in an enclosure or on a jumping crocodile tour. We stayed for a couple of hours watching the crocs grab fish out of the water, occasionally fighting with each other and also surfing across the crossing. While we picnicked we enjoyed watching brave souls drive over the crossing at high tide with the river running furiously and crocs almost on the causeway. We also saw several road trains go through.

When we walked the Manngarre rainforest walk we enjoyed the many fruit bats chatting noisily overhead, although I’m not sure that Mum thought too much of them. At one stage we came across crocodiles lined shoulder to shoulder sunning themselves along the banks of the East Alligator River. There were too many to count!

Day five – Nourlangie region

We took Mum up to see the main viewing area of Aboriginal art at Noarlangie. The artwork was is excellent condition and we got some great photos. We loved the one depicting the people dancing. It was shady so we left her here while we hiked further and saw more artwork and an Aboriginal shelter.

We also climbed Nawurlandja Lookout and enjoyed great views of the escarpment.

Afterwards we dropped in to see Anbangbang Billabong. Unfortunately it was drying out but we still saw a good number of birds including a couple we hadn’t seen before. I’m sure this place would be very impressive earlier in the season.

In the afternoon we braved the heat and climbed to the Mirrai Lookout. After a hot haul up to the top, it was lovely to sit in the shade of the lookout and admire the views from Mount Cahill. We laughed at the number of lazy tourists who drove into the car park, looked at the 1.6km return sign and then drove off – their loss!

We camped at Cooinda Lodge for the next three nights. The pool at the lodge was wonderful.

Day 6 & 7 – Yellow Water

One of the absolute highlights of our whole trip, let alone Kakadu was the Yellow Water Sunrise Cruise. Yellow Water is part of the South Alligator River floodplain and its beauty has to be seen to be believed.

Our guide was the hilarious and incredibly knowledgeable local, Ruben, who hardly stopped talking the whole two hours. We saw an amazing array of birds from the tiny Azure Kingfisher to the very large Brolgas and Spoonbills. We saw some White Belllied Sea Eagles nesting and a large Black Kite carrying a rat. A couple of large alpha male crocodiles were cruising their territory, a pig was trotting along in the grass and and buffalos were grazing.

The cruise included a full buffet breakfast which we all enjoyed.

After we recovered from our huge breakfast we drove the 4WD track to Jim Jim Falls. The walk to plunge pool was steep and quite difficult so we left Mum under the shade sails at the trailhead. Although the waterfall had stopped flowing, the pool was huge and very deep and we enjoyed a lovely refreshing dip after the hot slug in. Apparently Mum met lots of very friendly people who stopped for a chat while she was waiting the two hours for us to return.

After we left Jim Jim we took a detour in to Twin Falls Creek. We didn’t attempt the crossing as it was still at 80cm and our car didn’t have a snorkel. We didn’t fancy stalling in the middle of a wide crossing full of crocs. The picnic area in the day use area was lovely.

The next morning we drove to Mardugal and took Mum down the Mardugal Billabong Walk. The short little walk followed was often covered overhead with bamboo and other foliage making for a cooler walk. Due to the dry, the billabong was receding and you could see into some of the bank areas which would have otherwise been underwater.

Next we visited the Warradjan Aboriginal Cultural Centre, a large and informative display about Aboriginal culture in Kakadu. We really enjoyed this centre and there was a lot to learn. Oliver read each and every signboard throughout the building and Chase spent a lot of time recording Bininj language and the English translation. I love how the boys are so interested in Aboriginal culture.

We returned to Yellow Water just before sunset and spent some time walking along the boardwalk, watching the sun set and the odd crocodile cruise past. The boys have gone bird-mad and bailed up a bird watcher they found down near the boat ramp. We love how people are prepared to share their knowledge when the children show an interest.

Day 7 & 8 – Mary River Region

We drove the easy 4WD track to Maguk. What a find this place was! A bit of rock hopping and 1km later we walked in to one of the best waterholes we’ve found so far. Of course there is always the slight concern about Salty’s and apparently they pull a number out every year, but several people passed us on their way out, so we figured we’d be safe this time around.

The water was warm and beautifully clear with big jumping ledges which the boys enjoyed leaping from; it was described as a plunge pool after all. There was plenty of water flowing down the waterfall and we swam from one end to the other which was a pretty decent effort. We weren’t in a hurry to leave and you could easily spend a lot of time here.

On the way to Gunlom we stopped at Bukbukluk to take in the surrounding views. It was easily accessible and gave Mum an opportunity to enjoy the skyline. Gunlom camping and day use area was green and provided some respite from the 37 degree heat. We ate lunch here and then left mum in the shade while we climbed up to the natural infinity pools. What an amazing experience. Not only did the hike provide great views over southern Kakadu, the pools themselves were incredible. We swam upstream all the way to a small waterfall and dead end.

After we dragged ourselves away from the infinity pools we hiked back down to the picnic area and took mum over to the plunge pool. We were hot from the walk down, so it was great to have another opportunity for a swim. We convinced Mum to paddle but I think she was a bit worried about crocodiles!

We spent an amazing eight days in Kakadu and are very much lookin forward to coming another time to explore all of the areas we didn’t see. You don’t get a world heritage listing for nothing!

 

Darwin

I’ve visited a lot of cities in my life and it’s true to say that I’m normally pretty happy to get out of them; a city is just another city. But as far as cities go, I really like Darwin. Maybe it’s because it’s small enough not to feel like a city. It’s lack of shopping plazas are a good thing in my book. – okay, its got one and perhaps a few more shops in the city center would be a good thing but there certainly is no shortage of things to do in Darwin if you are a tourist.

Attractions center around World War II, the bombing of Darwin harbour, crocodiles and fishing so if they don’t float your boat then perhaps best to skip Darwin and go straight to the beautiful national parks. Also, don’t expect deregulated shopping hours; Darwinians seem to take their evenings and weekends seriously, and that’s probably a good thing.

While there is a lot to do and see in Darwin, just like in other cities it comes at a cost. Accomodation, tours, sites and attractions are all expensive and it doesn’t take long for a family to run up a fairly hefty bill. That’s the sort of thing that normally sends me running; I just get sick of continuously handing over the plastic.

We spent 7 nights in Darwin and really enjoyed it. The Esplanade is as beautiful as it was over twenty years ago when I last visited, but many of the old buildings have been replaced with new apartments.

We visited the Parap Fresh Produce Market which was absolutely jammed packed with traders and full of beautiful fresh produce. It felt like we had been transported back to Japan or elsewhere in Asia and we bought the children Japanese pancake filled with panko (sweet red bean) and some sticky coconut balls. We came away with fresh mango, paw paw and guava, all treats that we would rarely buy at home. We very cheaply jammed our fridges full of enough salad vegetables to last us the week.

Mum came to visit us for a couple of weeks and we picked her up from the airport before going to Stokes Hill Wharf for a casual dinner. The navy were running some exercises and there were a number of warships visiting from other countries, so there was a lot of activity around. The vegetarian options were a bit thin (this has been our experience across the Territory to date) but luckily we found some great pad thai.

The next day we visited the RFDS Darwin Tourist Facility where they used amazing technology including VR (virtual reality) goggles and holographs to tell the story of the bombing of Darwin Harbour and also the establishment of the RFDS. In the afternoon we visited the Aviation Museum which housed an enormous B52 Bomber Darwin’s Pride and a lot of other interesting aviation memorabilia.

We got into the swing of tourism central and visited Crocosaurus Cove, where we watched people pay huge amounts of money to get into a cage within a croc enclosure to get an up close and personal look at a large croc. Crocs showing no interest in the caged humans were enticed closer with a measly piece of chicken meat. I found the whole experience slightly disturbing and was left wondering about the ethics of such an activity. However we did enjoy the reptile display and learnt a lot about pythons. The kids also got to hold a child’s python and a small salt water crocodile.

We swam at Berry Springs, coaxing Mum into the water as well. What a lovely relaxing way to spend a couple of hours. We drove out to Dudley Point where we saw some of the decommissioned military structures including the largest gun in the southern hemisphere, which ironically was not finished in time for use during WW2 and decommissioned with the assistance of the Japanese. We also visited the Mindil Beach Market where we spent too much money on clothes and other trinkets.

The exhibitions in the Northern Territory Museum and Art Gallery were well worth seeing and we enjoyed lunch at the cafe which overlooked the beach.

Bouquets to the local councils for putting in the fantastic free water parks for families, despite Chase going on so many water slides at Leanyer that he threw up (consequently shutting them down for a subsequent chlorination treatment)!

Drew and I shared a wonderful dinner at Pee Wee’s at the East Point Recreation Reserve, our first date night for five months (thanks for the baby sitting Mum). It was a great way to finish off our time in Darwin, open air dining looking straight out into the inky black bay. The Fifty Shades of Chocolate dessert was to die for. We elected to share it and save the potentially nasty death that could have resulted from such an indulgence.

In short, we enjoyed Darwin but reflected that the majority of its claim to fame centered around war, destruction (Cyclone Tracy) and crocodiles. Although there was still much we hadn’t seen, we were ready to head back to the countryside.

Next stop, Kakadu.

 

 

 

 

 

Robin Falls & Adelaide River

We continued along Dorat Road towards Darwin, stopping along the way at Robin Falls and Adelaide River.

Robin Falls is a lovely free-camp alongside a creek leading up to the falls.

After setting up we hiked to what remained of the falls. They were quite small and a bit murky, but the kids happily swam in them anyway.

On the way back to the campsite we found a 2.5m python swimming along the creek. It was huge, beautiful and amazing to see.

The mosquitos and others flying insects were also equally amazing to behold, but not in a good way, so we decided that one night was enough and after banging out a batch of muffins the next morning, pulled up stumps and headed to Adelaide River.

We like Adelaide River a lot and stayed for two nights at the show grounds. Amazingly they had a nice little pool which kept the kids happy; they are basically swimming their way around the top end of Australia!

We visited the beautiful Adelaide War Cemetary, enjoyed barramundi at the pub (definitely the best we’ve had so far), waved to Charlie the (now stuffed) buffalo (ex Crocodile Dundee), spent time at the Railway Museum, and took a drive through the abandoned Snake Creek armament depot.

 

Daly River

Another one of our favourite stays, this one was a doozy!

I happened upon the Daly River Wildlife and Adventure Lodge by complete accident. We were looking for the “where next” place to stay, which is about as planned as we get. Of course I’d heard of Daly River before and knew of its reputation for barrumundi and salty’s. There were a lot of places that we could have stayed but the reviews on this place really stood out and they were clearly very good with the family market.

We coincided our arrival with the host kids’ presence (weekends). The kids were similar ages to ours and Ollie in particular has been missing the company of children his age. It couldn’t have worked out better.

We stopped on a roadside stop along the Adelaide River for lunch which was quite lovely but we didn’t see any crocs.

To our absolute delight we were the only ones visiting, and we had the pick of a lovely grassed area under the trees. The boys were soon introduced to the dorper sheep and told to stay well away from the new and very cranky bull that was down in the yards.

I helped to exercise one of the horses in work, the first time I have actually worked a horse in around 15 years. Took a little while but I soon remembered where the buttons were!

I was happy already, but from here things just got better.

The boys helped the host kids pick vegetables out of the gardens.  Very soon they came running back asking if they could go out on the ATVs with the host kids to exercise the hunting dogs. We nervously agreed but went around to check it out first.

We found some very happy dogs in protective suits with radio tracking collars, eager to go. Fortunately for our kids no pigs were found. They are very anti feral animals and completely understand the amount of damage they can do, but I’m not sure how they would have coped with killing a pig.

I was able to give Ollie a bit of a horse riding lesson in the round yard and he improved quite a lot. Chase had a little ride too, but he was a bit scared and was ready to get off pretty quickly.

During the day the kids swam in the pool and played with some puppies. Actually three of them packed into the dog crates with the bitch and ten pups. They also learnt to use bow and arrows, shooting them into hay bales just in front of the cranky bull. I’m very glad they didn’t hit him.

That evening we went out on the hosts’ barge down the Daly River. We spotted fresh and salt water crocodiles and some wild buffalo. It was a lovely way to spend a couple of hours at the end of the day.

Our children loved playing with the host kids and were certainly introduced to a whole range of activities they’d never done before. The next day they messed around with one of the old 4WDs and in the afternoon we went out with the family on the back of the cut down 4WD and ATV’s. We were driven around the back country by twelve year old Sam and he did a really good job. The boys took turns to ride on the back of the ATV that was being driven by 9 year old Zeb.

We spent a couple of hours driving enjoying our surroundings. Along the way we drove the old track that once serviced as the Darwin Road. We visited the site of the Daly River Copper Mine, pretty much a few holes in the ground and an old boiler. Pete, our host told us that you could often spot rock wallabies in the quarry and we did see one when we first arrived. What we didn’t expect to find was an olive python barely able to move, its sides bulging presumably with an unlucky wallaby. We were all amazed at the size of its meal.

We also saw a large group of kangaroos and a healthy looking mob of brumbies.

We finished the night with a dip in the pool, country music blaring with the kids using the ATV as a diving board into the water. We’d had a great day and the boys were sorry that the host kids were back off to Darwin for school early Monday morning.

We managed to have one quiet day where we mainly hung around the pool and did some work on the caravan and our ailing bikes. We drove into Nauiyu (Daly River) community to buy a few supplies. We visited the Merrepen Art Gallery and the kids both bought a small piece of Aboriginal artwork. We walked over the new Daly River bridge and croc spotted along the banks. We saw a lot of sea life including stingray, gummy shark, small barramundi and other fish and much to our amazement a sawfish. We later found a sign telling us the the sawfish were disappearing in alarming numbers and our host was also very surprised that we’d seen one.

We enjoyed a drink at the Daly River pub which gave us a great outlook over the river including three large salt water crocodiles and the old causeway. We could see lots of children on the causeway and we were sure we could hear them also playing in the water. We crossed the causeway in our car and stopped to watch the local Aboriginal kids swimming in the rapids through the culverts under the crossing, just three hundred meters away from those very large crocs. I wondered about how close the ones we couldn’t see might be. Concern us back at the Lodge was that a child would get eaten one day.

Our last full day in Daly River was also a good one. Pete invited us to have a go at working the poddy cows. We had to move six cows from the large yard into a small holding area. He taught us how to move the cows by putting pressure on their comfort zones and when to walk away. It was difficult but patience was the name of the game and Pete was a good teacher The boys managed to get 4 out of 6 of the cows away. Drew and I managed to get them all away. We learnt a lot about cow psychology and training that day.

We drove out to the large billabong on the property, hoping to see some of the big crocs that live there. We didn’t see anything and it was a beautiful place filled with bird life, but the thought of what lay beneath the waters kept us well back from the edge.

We cycled up to the top of honeymoon hill to watch the sunset; it seemed a fitting way to end our stay.

We feel so privileged to have been able to stay here for a few days and are truly thankful for the hospitality of our hosts.

 

 

 

Edith Falls

After we left Timber Creek we intended to stay at the Victoria River Roadhouse and do the escarpment walk in the Fitzroy Range. This didn’t eventuate due to the burning in the area. The amount of smoke obscured the views almost totally and it was already very hot when we drove past so we kept going and stayed overnight at a roadside stop at Manbulloo instead.

We travelled on to Katherine and restocked before continuing up Highway One. We diverted at Pine Creek for fuel and a couple of supplies and discovered, but did not try, the vegemite and bacon home-made ice creams. Not sure what to say about that except what a waste of good ice cream.

We stayed at the Edith Falls camp site which was lovely and would have been nice to stay for a couple more nights if we didn’t have a date up the road. Unfortunately the bottom pool was closed as the police were conducting a search and rescue for a camper that had gone missing a few days prior.

We hiked our way up the side of the hill and found some lovely swimming areas and a flowing waterfall. The water was a lot warmer than what we’d become acoustomed to and we really enjoyed swimming here.

Sunset came too quickly and we made out way back to the campsite where the boys met some other children to play with.

 

Victoria River Region and beyond

In need of a dust respite we decided to stay at the Timber Creek Roadhouse and Caravan Park. It was old and the amenities left a bit to be desired but it was wonderfully shady and had a pool. One night turned into three.

Happy red flying foxes (fruit bats) hung in the trees over the creek, chattering away. There was a little bridge over the creek which we tentatively crossed, a little worried about salties, but we later learnt that the owners hadn’t seen a salty in twenty years and the freshy’s were so full they weren’t even interested in being hand fed.

We visited Policeman’s Point for a great view of the Victoria River and took a 4WD track up to a lookout for a view of the town and escarpments.

We got up close and personal with some of the burning that was working its way along the roadside; sure burns slower than a bushfire in South Australia.

We spent a day driving through the Judbarra/Gregory National Parks, visiting the old Bullita Homestead which had been turned into a great little museum and included a help-yourself tea and coffee station on the back verandah. We were amazed to see how much water was still in the East Baines River just behind the homestead.

We did a bit more 4WDing which included driving along a long section of creek filled with boulders and a couple of short hikes with views. We took another 20km 4WD track on the way home, which included some pretty nasty limestone areas and took us almost 3 hours to negotiate. The steep jump up through the creek at the end of the track had us thinking that we might have to turn around and go back the way we’d come, but the Pajero got us through once again – love that car!

On our last evening in Timber Creek the kids fed the resident kites with buffalo meat. The speed and agility of these birds was incredible to see, catching the meat mid-air with ease. The kids have become mad-keen birdwatchers on this trip, so this was a pretty special treat for them.

 

 

 

Keep River National Park

We crossed the border almost four months to the date of leaving home. What a huge place Western Australia turned out to be. Despite how big it looked on a map, the sheer size of even our route has been amazing.

Keep River was one of those unplanned stop overs. We found it at the last minute and decided to make a detour. More corrugations and bull dust; why did we ever think we’d left it back on the Gibb? Our new vacuum cleaner has been a godsend!

We spent two nights in the National Park. What a gem of a place. We did a ranger guided walk on a 2km loop around our campsite, Gurrandalng, and learnt a lot about the geography and species of the area. There were a couple of big boulders in the middle of the campsite and the kids spent a lot of time traversing around and climbing over the rocks.

We loved the Jarnem 7km lookout walk which gave us more Bungle Bungle type formations, some Aboriginal rock art and some incredible views from the Escarpment.

The landscape is very dry now and it would be wonderful to experience this place earlier in the season when the water is still flowing.

Onwards to Timber Creek.