Days 70 - 77 of trip with no particular destination: Kakadu - Katherine

 Day 70: Jabiru, Djarrajin and out to Jim Jim Falls area

Although it was a far trek backwards, we needed a laundry and a top-up of supplies so we headed to Jabiru.  Silly idea.  It was a Sunday and Jabiru is shut.  Well, almost everything is shut except for a servo and a coffee shop / art gallery.  We went to both in the hope of getting some supplies. We managed to get a loaf of bread at the servo. However, coffee at the coffee shop was welcome and we had time there to make a few phone calls to check on family.  

There is little around Jabiru to see so after morning tea we headed off down the road towards Jim Jim Falls. On the way we ducked in to Djarrajin where there is another billabong walk that looked interesting. Unfortunately, we could only walk part way round as signs indicating that the walk was not open stopped us from proceeding.  A pity, since the part of the walk we did was probably the least interesting bit.  As in many parts of Kakadu, signage could have been improved. It would have been nice for the closed bit of the walk to have been indicated on the map at the start of the walk.  Nevertheless, I did see two types of pygmy geese and a wonderful stand of Melaleuca.

   

After lunch we headed out to Jim Jim and set up camp in one of the managed campgrounds of Kakadu.

Day 71: Jim Jim and Twin Falls

21 years ago when we visited Kakadu with our children, we were unable to get to Jim Jim and Twin Falls because we were too early for them to be opened.  We had better luck this time and although the water was only trickling down Jim Jim Falls and you couldn't see a waterfall at Twin Falls, these two places are truly special and worth every bit of effort getting to them.

We started with the steep climb up to the top of Twin Falls. We started around morning tea time and it was fine, but when we came down for a late lunch, there were people just starting, even families with young children.  It was hot then, and the steepest part of the walk was directly in the sun.  Those poor little kids with their red faces were not looking happy.  I made that mistake only once ... I wonder whether my boys remember.  There are so many warnings in Kakadu about overheating that I can't believe how many people start walks like these in the heat of the day.

Anyway, we had a perfect time.  From the top of the falls you see down into the gorge - one which you are not allowed to enter from below. Then the walk continues for a while along a series of pools along the creek above. Magical even though you can't swim in them and we were lucky to be there with no other people around. Photos don't do this place justice.

  

Around the pools were all sorts of sundews, flowering herbs and sedge-like plants. So pretty.

   

 

After our late lunch we headed to Jim Jim Falls.  The last part of this walk requires a bit of boulder hopping so my little legs had a bit of stretching out to do.  We had had a tip-off about timing our visit to these falls and as a result again we had chosen the best time of the day to do this because many people were heading out as we were heading in. Thus, when we arrived at the end of the walk there were far fewer people than there would have been an hour earlier. There was a welcome plunge pool just a little bit away from the falls that was COLD. A swim through this and a bit more of a boulder climb brought us to the pool beneath the falls proper.  Wow!  Awe-inspiring is the only word to describe this place.  Too special to swim in - somehow that felt wrong even though theoretically you are allowed. Just gazing up at the walls of rock around you was wonderful.

 This really doesn't do the place justice. However, just look for the tiny human about 1/6 of the way across the photo from the left just above the water.  You might just get an idea of the scale.

One bit of a calamity at the Jim Jim Falls camp though was that the charger for my camera battery burnt itself out after 7 years of hard work. As my camera batteries cannot be charged by usb, I have almost no camera shots left ...

Day 72: Yellow Water and Maguk Plunge Pool

All those years ago when we visited Kakadu with our boys, we enjoyed a wonderful cruise on Yellow Water but we decided against it this time. Instead we visited the Warradjan Cultural Centre which was well worth the visit. Whereas the Bowali Visitor Centre in the north of Kakadu tells the history of the area, Warradjan tells more of the culture of the people here. It is really well set out and very interesting. I have been reading a book called "Singing Saltwater Country" (by John Bradley) about Aboriginal stories/songs in the Borrooloola region. The information in this book combined with the information in the Warradjan Cultural Centre gives me a slightly better understanding of how Aboriginal view country/life/relationships.  Their worldview is sooo different to our western worldview and it is totally understandable why young Aboriginals living in remote communities feel so torn between what is their traditional culture and the modern culture that they are being brought up in and fed through school, media and so on.  It is also understandable why older Aboriginal people are so sad about young people not being interested in the old stories/songs even though they provide the full understanding of an Aboriginal's place in the old world. The clash between old and new is today's reality and it is interesting how people are trying to negotiate a life between both worlds.

We then walked along a boardwalk and spotted ourselves a large crocodile sunning him/herself not far away (but on the opposite side of the creek).  So silent!  When we came back, it opened its mouth, closed it, then slid into the water. Hardly a ripple, with eyes and tail just visible above the water. Not long after that it just sank under the surface and goodness knows where it went.  No ripples to give it away.  A crocodile would win everyday at hide-and-seek!

We spoilt ourselves and had lunch at Cooinda, a resort style place at Yellow Water. We tried to find supplies there but ended up getting 2 tomatoes, some yoghurt, some orange juice, a few tinned vegetables and a loaf of frozen bread. Enough to keep us going until Katherine. I was also able to contact the Camera House in Darwin who happened to have, in stock, the camera battery charger I needed and new batteries!  How lucky.  They are sending it down to Katherine where we should be able to pick it up on Friday.  Yay!!

Our next destination was Maguk Plunge Pool, one of the few swimming spots in Kakadu. We decided to select our campsite before heading out to the pool and just as well.  It was crowded!  We finally found somewhere, 'claimed' our spot with chairs and groundsheet and headed back out to the pool. Our timing was perfect (again!), arriving when most people were leaving.  An easy walk followed by a bit of a rock hop brought us to a beautiful swimming hole with a small waterfall.  The water temperature was perfect, cool enough to be refreshing but not cold-cold. We stayed for a while to enjoy the spot then headed back to camp.

Fortunately, the site we had chosen looked out onto the bush and so although others were close by we barely noticed them, recluses that we are.

I did a small moth watch due to my dying camera battery, which came up with some interesting critters (as usual). This link will send you to my moth and other insect photos from here. Maguk Moth Watch

Day 73: Maguk

Today we spent a quiet day, reading, walking, sewing. It was lovely watching the birds after everyone else had left camp. At about 10am the birds seemed to wake up and be very active.  The wind from the previous night took until about midday to quieten.  Weird how it springs up at around midnight.  Pete wonders if it might be to do with air temperature differences between the top of the Arnhem escarpment and down here in the lowlands of Kakadu.

Not much is flowering at this time of the year, but I managed to find a few little hidden gems in some wandering I did around the campground. Here are a couple.

   

     

              

In this area there are again quite a number of the cathedral termite mounds.  One, just near where we are camped must be at least three, if not three and a half times taller than Pete.  It is obviously still being built upon by termites, with some quite fresh-looking termite dirt.

Day 74: Not Gunlom but Motor Car Falls and Kambolgie campground

We had intended to spend our last night at Gunlom Falls, but the area has been closed since 2019 because of a dispute between the Aboriginal owners and the non-aboriginal park management. Apparently a walking path was built too close to a very culturally sensitive area and there is an ongoing dispute about the future of the walking path. I have some recollection of hearing about this saga but had no idea that the problem was still ongoing.  This was a little disappointing but no matter, because a walk to Motor Car Falls on the road out to Gunlom looked promising and there was a campground nearby at Kambolgie.

Both alternatives proved more than acceptable.  I love how a bit of an effort in walking can lead you to places that you then really appreciate.  Although it is a 7.5km round trip, the walk out to Motor Car Falls is easy except for a bit of boulder hopping at the end and the falls are pretty and the swimming you can do there in the plunge pool is good. On the way there, there were kapok and kurrajong trees flowering and we were accompanied along one section of the track by a flock of red-tailed black cockatoos. For about a 200m section of the track they kept flying from tree to tree, just ahead of us until they wheeled and went back to where they had started. It felt as if they were guiding us along the path.  There was an escarpment outlook for much of the track so we were able to enjoy the colours of the sandstone cliffs as we walked.

   

   

The falls at the end of the walk were dribbles, but the swim was wonderful.  The water was perfect temperature and the place was very pretty.  As in other falls, the pools at the based of them are lined with rocks that have fallen off the cliffs at some stage in the last millenium or two (or more).  Sometimes, little surprises appear in these rocks. One example was the perfect egg-like pebble half-buried within one of the rocks where we sat as we dried out.

    

Our last night in Kakadu was spent at Kambolgie campground. This is a small campground but it does have a permanent setup of tents for tour groups and sure enough a tour group did eventually arrive there. We enjoyed a campfire and toasted marshmallows - yum.

Days 75-77: Katherine (Jawoyn-Dagoman-Wardaman country)

Day 75: Farewell to Kakadu and onwards to Katherine and beyond.  Or so we thought. Once again our plans in this trip have had to change.  We were expecting to get supplies in Katherine, pick up my camera charger at the PO and head on towards Limmen National Park in the east of the NT.  Unfortunately, what we hadn't realised is that the 15th and 16th of July are the dates of the Katherine Show, the biggest event of the year.  Therefore, today, Friday is a public holiday and the PO is closed!!!  This means we need to stay until Monday when the PO reopens.  

Finding accommodation was no mean feat with the town's caravan parks full for the show.  We did eventually find a space in an overflow area of Manbulloo Station Caravan Park set up on a small (300 ha) working cattle station 13km out of town.  There are so many caravans here. I think all of the caravanning grey nomads have converged in Katherine for the annual show. Our little spot is right at the entrance and although we have no neighbours we do get a very close view of everyone heading in and out of the place!

We did manage to get a few fresh supplies in town which was good since our fresh fruit and vegie supply was down to zero. I was actually impressed with how I managed to eke out our meagre supplies and cook some relatively healthy food while we were in Kakadu. Nice to have fresh stuff though.  Our struggle now is to find non-bore, town drinking water to fill up our camper before we head off east. No doubt we'll find some before we head out of town on Monday.

It was quite interesting to read, while we were waiting for laundry to dry, about the history of Manbulloo Station. It is part of a much larger station which was originally owned by the Vesteys of 'From Little Things Big Things Grow' fame. The conditions under which the Aboriginal workers lived here was pretty disgraceful and the problems (and yes, there are major problems) in Katherine are, in part, due to the history of the treatment of Aboriginal people here by the white station bosses.

Day 76: We began our day very slowly, unusually for us.  Nice to have a morning to catchup on reading, writing and rrr...ringing. It wasn't until just before lunchtime that we headed out to the Low-level Katherine River Nature Reserve, a lovely park along the river. The opposite bank from we we sat for lunch was home to lots of flying foxes, Black and Little Red ones, squawking their way through their 'rest time' in the trees on the banks of the river. Australian trees have to be strong and the trees along this riverbank are no exception.  The wet season floods mean that the soil around their roots is constantly being eroded.  Somehow they manage to survive.

                                     

    

We then took a round route to get back into town and then out to the show.  Some interesting signage on people's front gates ...

    

Showtime!  It was great to absorb the atmosphere of a small country town show. Everyone who was participating was here for a good time and hopefully a ribbon. We watched show-jumping, the dress-up dog agility course, side-show alley, a father-son V8 ute driving team who raced round the arena 6 times in various configurations throughout the day (Holden vs Ford - Holden (dad) won out). We were hoping for a passenger spot in the final 'relay' race of the night but missed out. There were quite a few interesting rural displays, including one about grasses.  Dad would be impressed.

    

 

We watched a small part of the rodeo, a big attraction in a country show.  The barrel-racing was fun to watch. It is truly amazing to see the riding skills of kids as young as 8 on the back of a bucking steer. While we watched only one man managed to last the 8 required seconds on the back of the bucking horses. While I am very uncomfortable about the use of bucking steers and horses for rodeos, I can't help but appreciate the horseback skills of the riders but more importantly the people rounding up the horses after they have bucked off their riders.  They could so easily fall off their own horses while they catch the riderless horse and they are very careful with the creatures - we saw one refusing to be led, so they just let it go and rounded it up to where it was meant to go. It is obviously a big event and drawcard for a country show and easy for urban-dwellers to be judgmental.  Even so, I can't help feeling that the days of the rodeo may be numbered.  

Another big event was the auction of chainsaw carvings that had been done in the two days of the show. The favourite, a cow, went for a whopping $4300!!! and a black cockatoo for $1700.  Wow! There were certainly a few bidders who were used to spending up big at auctions.

    

The day, for us, ended with the fireworks - a good display and we quite literally had ringside seats, so much ringside that some of the firework debris fell down around us.  A good day, all in all.

   

We came back to camp to a family wedding going on in the paddock opposite us.  While it wasn't too bad, the noise of the party didn't really quieten down till after 1am and it was at least 2am before the noise properly stopped.  

Day 77: Another quiet morning, washing, writing, reading and pottering about.  In the afternoon we headed to the river to see what the Katherine Hot Springs were like.  They looked promising, so we headed back to camp to have lunch and get our swimmers for a late afternoon dip.  Before going out there, we headed back to the Katherine River Nature Reserve and dipped our toes in the water - just to get a taste of the normal river temperature before we went in the hot springs. We then parked the car near the myriad of bats but far enough away that their poop etc wouldn't damage the car, then walked close on 1km along the river to get to the hot springs.  A lovely walk.

                   

The hot springs are really thermal pools I think. The water is warm from having been in the ground rather than hot because it comes from deep artesian wells.  It was delightful though to see all kinds of people, local and tourists, enjoying playing in the pools and floating downstream.  It felt quite refreshing when we got out as it was not such a hot part of the day and there was a little bit of a breeze, quite enough for the walk back to the car to be pleasant.

Back at the Manbulloo Station Campground, we were treated to evening entertainment by a solo singer/songwriter, Jessey Jackson. Good fun and a good rollup from the campers.