So, we left Darwin & headed for Kakadu. On the way we stopped at the Adelaide River & did a Jumping Croc's Cruise. We did it with a small company owned by 2 brothers, not the other company that has the big double decker boats!!!
Harry was our boat driver, he was fantastic. He really looked after everyone, making sure we all got good up-close photos & he even let the kids have a drive of the boat on the way back. It was a great hour and a half & we saw some massive croc's! Highly recommend this of you are ever up that way.
It was quite a journey getting the rest of the way, it seemed to take a long time. We stopped at the BarkHut roadhouse for lunch, but we did make our own in the van. Finally we made it to Jabiru in the late afternoon & it was warm. We got unhitched & then it was straight to the pool. After a lovely swim we cooked up some dinner & then it was showers & bed!
Day 2! First of all I did some washing & then it was time to explore for the rest of the day! We went to the Info. Centre to get some maps & pay our fee for being in the National Park. The first place we headed to was Yellow Water Region. Here we took a boat cruise on the wetlands & it also went along a part of the South Alligator River. It was good & we got to see lots of birds & crocs too of course!
Next we went & had some lunch at Coolinda at the Gagudju Lodge. Phe once again had Pizza so she was happy! After lunch we visited the Warradjan Aboriginal Cultural Centre. This was great, full of history, the Aboriginal culture & the way of life for them & we spent quite a bit of time there reading & looking at pictures.
From here we headed to the Nourlangie Region. Here we did a Ranger Guided Walk/ Talk. There was lots of Aboriginal Rock Art work that all had stories attached to them which the ranger explained. Christian was our ranger here & he was so great at trying to explain everything to us. There is so much information to take in about the country & the land & the culture & how it all works together, but you know, it all makes sence when its explained.
It was then back to the van for dinner. Pheobe & Trent then went over to the pool area for talk/presentation about Kakadu. The other 2 were quite puffed so I did the dishes & they relaxed & watched a DVD. After that Maurice phoned his mate Tom who had been missing him & likewise Maurice. Then we had a shower & got into bed.
Day 3 came & went very quickly too. We headed off early as we had decided to do the 4WD track to the Twin Falls. The track was good fun. Corrigated Road to begin with & then a sandy & rocky track to follow with a few creek crossings & a river crossing into the Twin Falls Gorge. It took us about 2 hours to get to the car park where we then had to walk a track to where a boat took us up the river, to a place where it drops you off to walk a really rocky track into the base of the falls. It was all worth the effort & we spent about an hour looking around & taking photos. We then had to walk the rocky track back to the boat pick up point. Along the way we came across a snake which Phe would have stood on if Trent hadn't have been close by! Anyway, we got back to the boat, took our small ride back down the gorge & Dallas our driver was great. He pointed out the Fresh Water Crocs for the kids to see along the way. Another walk & we were back at the car! Back along the track & we came across a wild Dingo. Kids & us thought this was pretty good, we took the best pic we could as it was some distance away.
We finally got back to the township of Jabiru & had to pump up the car tyres after being on the track. It was getting on in the afternoon but the next place we headed to was the East Alligator Region. The area of Ubirr. We did another series of Ranger Guided Walk/Talks at 3 different sites. 2 sites were of more Aboriginal Art Rock & the other was at the Nadab Lookout over the floodplains. Annie was the ranger here & she also knew her stuff. She was very good at also explaining how the land & the people work together to make it work for all. She also told us of some of her experiences with Aboriginal clans that she has spent time with. The view over the floodplains was amazing! We watched most of the sun go down over the floodplains but to beat the crowd back down to the carpark (as Trent had Flick on his shoulders) we left just a little before everyone else. It was about a 50km drive back to the van & a late dinner, showers & bed.
Today we were up reasonably early, packed & ready to make a move. We only missed on 2 regions whilst at Kakadu, but there wasn't anything that we could do there with our kids being so little. One day Trent & I would like to go back & see Kakadu in the wet season too, especially from the air!
We have now made our way today back to Katherine. Stopped at Pine Creek for a quick bite to eat. We were in Katherine just after lunchtime & I went & did some washing whilst Trent & the kids un hitched. Then I joined them over at the pool. Once we were all refreshed from swimming we had a shower & headed into town. We did some grocery shopping & got fuel. Back at the van we went to the cafe at the caravan park for dinner & there was a man singing country music, so we all had a lovely dinner & had entertainment as well.
Tomorrow we are heading west. Not exactly sure that we will cross the border but thats where we are headed.
Hope everyone is well & keeping as warm as they can. Love the Guye Gang!
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