LAWN HILL NATIONAL PARK

A young couple we met over in W.A. 2 years ago told us that Lawn Hill National Park is the most beautiful place they've ever seen. Gee, that's a big call to make. A few other people have also told us it's beautiful. Well, we're now there & we agree; it's beautiful but we wouldn't say the MOST beautiful . I don't think either of us can actually point at any one place we've seen & say that it's the MOST beautiful. But, in saying that, it's definitely one place we're glad we came to & one we'd recommend to others.

Before we left Bourketown we went for a drive up to the river (the Albert) which is the only means of getting to the gulf from there so you'd need a boat. (No, we weren't about to jump into a crocodile infested river in our little blow-up). 
I liked this sign near the boat ramp; couldn't resist it! There's not a lot to see in Bourketown so after a quick drive around we headed back down the 'track' to Gregory Downs where you turn towards Lawn Hill. It's probably the worst road we've been on yet. As you can imagine it gets pretty wet up there & when the dirt roads are driven on when they're wet, they become very rutted. Bits of the Savannah Way had been graded but not all & definitely not the road up to Bourketown.

Lawn Hill is beautiful in parts & ugly in others. During the wet the creek is flooded & now, in the dry there are the remnants of the floods; huge piles of dead palm leaves & trees that have been knocked over & many others with no soil left around them & are only holding on by their roots. You could almost make a horror movie in one part of the lower gorge; it's kind of eerie. It's full of tufa formations which are a form of limestone & apparently very significant in geology but they're really ugly! It's something to do with the fact that it's all spring fed.

Then there are the other parts; the middle gorge is beautiful. The only way to get all the way up the creek is to paddle so that's what we did. You paddle up the first part of the gorge to the Indarri Falls which are also made up of tufa but they're beautiful. There are about four drops. You can swim there but it was way too cold today; the sun had a bit of a problem coming out. (We've left the beautiful weather back in the Northern Territory.) When you get to the falls, you have to carry your canoe to the top gorge & you can then row up to a part where there must be springs all over the place; there's water coming from every direction & it's pretty warm but I still only had a paddle.

This afternoon we did a couple of the walks. One was to a sacred Aboriginal site and then we went on to the lower gorge. Then we went for a walk to the lookout over the falls & then on to the walk around the cliffs overlooking the middle gorge. The views are beautiful. 

We were booked in here for another night but it's really not necessary; we've seen all there is to see & there's supposed to be rain coming.

I was in the front of the canoe today & wanted to get a photo of Phill rowing & of us together in the boat so I took a couple over my back & then a few self portraits. What do you think?????

THE SAVANNAH WAY

We ended up doing the Savannah Way! We got to the turnoff & just couldn't resist it. We knew that if it got too bad on the first section, we could head back down to the highway via another way & we've had no problems; it's not as bad as we were told & we've had the best times. We've finally got away from the mozzies & it's cooled down enough that we can sit outside of an evening and cook dinner over an open fire. What more could you want than to be out in the bush sitting beside an open fire with a good glass of red?

And the stars are amazing!

This is what we've been waiting for; there's only so much highway you can drive, it's so much more interesting doing the dirt roads & river & creek crossings. None of the rivers have been very deep but a couple of them are really wide. The Gregory River would be getting on for a kilometre wide when it's full, but there's a concrete causeway to drive over. There aren't many rest areas & not many places to stop along the way so this is how we had coffee! On the road. There's not much traffic either!

The whole of the Savannah Way is very remote. There are just a few towns along the way; Borroloola is very small, Wollogorang used to be at the N.T./Qld border but it's closed now. Hells Gate Roadhouse (good name hey?) is next. It has an interesting history; back in the 1800's there was no law west of there so very few people were game to travel past there. It's just a cattle station, roadhouse & some dongers now.

The next town was Doomadjee which is a quite large aboriginal
settlement. We saw a heap of the local kids behind a really high wire fence & when we waved they started to throw rocks at us! Tonight we're in Burketown; the first part of the road into here wasn't too good! Burketown is the 'Barramundi Capital of Australia'. It's on the Albert River & it's only about 25k's from the Gulf of Carpentaria but there's no road up to the water worse luck. We had to come up here to get fuel so we decided to stay for the night. We'll have a bit of a look around the town in the morning before we head down to Lawn Hill National Park. We've been wanting to get to Lawn Hill for years so we're really looking forward to it.

EDITH FALLS & KATHERINE GORGE

From Kakadu we headed on to an old gold mining town called Pine Creek where we found a lovely cafe called Mayses Cafe & had one of the biggest & best steak sandwiches ever. Next, on to Edith Falls which is in the top part of Nitmiluk National Park where we set up camp for the night. Normally you can swim at the base of the falls where there's a really big pool which runs into the river but they're still getting over the floods from the wet season so that section was still closed.

We walked up to the top of the falls where there's quite a large area to swim in & a really good view down the river. After a dip we did the round trip to the other side of the falls where there's a stunning view then back down to the other side to the river. That walk was very worthwhile!

We headed into Katherine the next morning & set up camp for a few days at Springvale Homestead where we'd stayed on our way up. They have a little restaurant here so Phill thought it would be nice to have a night off cooking & go out to dinner. I had the most beautiful lamb rack with red wine jus & vegies; yum. We went home & to bed after that & about 4am the next morning  I woke up suddenly & said to Phill that I felt sick. Well, put it this way; the next 10 hours or so weren't very nice. Put a bit of a damper on that lamb rack it did.

By that afternoon I felt well enough to go to the Katherine Hot Springs (which aren't really hot; just warmish). They're not in their natural state; they've made them into a sort of swimming pool with steps & rails but they're very nice.  We'd been booked in for the Katherine Gorge cruise that day but had to postpone. We had originally thought about canoeing up it but they're still waiting for the water to go down another couple of metres  before they're letting anyone canoe or swim in it.  Besides, we're not very good at canoeing; we'd probably never have got anywhere!

 

We had to grab a few groceries this avo so in to town we went. The shopping centre consists of Target Country, a chemist, a bakery, a newsagent, a cafe & Woolies. I started to get hungry & felt pretty weak after being sick so I bought a custard tart then looked around to find somewhere to sit down. There was nowhere! They have 'No Loitering' signs everywhere. They don't have even one seat in the centre; they really don't want anyone staying. Get your shopping & get out of here is what they're saying! (Of course, it's because a lot of the 'locals' have nothing to do all day so just hang around). After we finished the shopping we headed for the car & next thing a woman & little girl (indigenous) came running up to us & the woman asked if the girl could have our trolley. I had trouble understanding her so I said 'pardon?'. She said "Yes, I understand you. Can she have your trolley?" so I said yes, I guess so. Then Phill pipes up that he'd had to pay $2 for it! Well, these guys had a scheme going. I gave them mine as I didn't think it worth arguing over $2 & next thing they go to the woman in the next car & get hers! They were making a mint on shopping trolleys! I thought it was so funny; I couldn't help but laugh!

We finally got to do our lovely Katherine Gorge cruise today & it was definitely worthwhile. The Katherine River winds it's way through 13 gorges for about 12 kilometres from the tablelands down to Katherine. We cruised up the first gorge which was lovely thengot off that boat, walked about 900 metres then got on another boat in the second gorge.

That was probably the nicest one we saw; the walls of the gorge getting up to about 70 metres high with such beautiful colours & contours lining each wall. The commentary our driver/guide gave along the way was really informative & interesting too. He knew a lot about the history & the plant & animal life in the gorge. When we came to the end of that gorge we walked up to the 3rd gorge & changed boats once again.

After a lovely cruise down the river we turned around & on the way back we pulled into the bank about half way along & jumped off the boat & went for a walk. We were very impressed with the lovely plunge pool we came across at the bottom of a waterfall. It was totally hidden from view, you would never know it was there when you're making your way down the river. Just beautiful.
 

Well, we've basically finished our tour of the top end of N.T.  We've seen all we're gonna see & it's time to move on. We've phoned ahead to see what the roads are like along the Savannah Way as we'd like to go across to Lawn Hill National Park via Borroloola to Bourketown but we've been told they've had too much rain & it's impassable. So, it seems we have to head through Cloncurry once again. Lawn Hill is closed at the moment but as long as there's no more rain we should be right by the time we get there. As usual, we'll just take it one day at a time.

Yellow Waters is a well known part of Kakadu because of its wetlands, plant life & bird life. It's one of those places everyone talks about so we thought we'd better go. You couldn't drive in as even the carpark is still covered with water so the only way to see it is to do a cruise. We paid way more than we thought reasonable but didn't have a choice. So we jumped on the boat & drifted along the South Alligator Creek where we saw exactly what they'd said. 



We chose the early cruise so we could watch the sunrise. We saw water lilies & other water plants but not many flowers, a few crocs & heaps of birds; that's it. It's a very pretty area & we feel lucky to have seen it, but after two hours we were both very glad to get off.

We headed out to Gunlom falls after that. It's about 25kms of corrugated dirt road but it's worth it; the falls are lovely & of course I had to have a swim.

Then Phill wanted to go for a walk to the 'billabong'. As soon as I saw what the 'track' was like I said I didn't think it'd be worth it. But 'you never know if you never go' is our motto so we headed off.

What do you think?
 

The next morning we got up & headed to the Yurmikmik walks which we'd been told at the Info centre we really should do. We're certainly learning not to listen to many people. It's really hot up here; about 33 degrees. So, if you do these walks that are several k's long you want them to be worthwhile.
 

This walk had to be the worst we've come across. First you go over a rickety suspension bridge with a big red sign on it that says only 1 person at a time; scary.
Then you trek 2k's up through bush & rock to Boulder Creek which is a very small creek with lots of boulders in it! Exciting hey? Then you walk another 5 k's to the lookout. Well, the path was about a foot wide hidden amongst very prickly long dried up grass & I did not enjoy one step of it. We got to the lookout & really, it was the same as any other lookout. We had been going to go to Motor Car Falls which is further along again. (so named because a guy drove through the bush in 1946 & came to the falls & couldn't go any further). 

After what we'd already seen we decided not to go there, only to find later that we should have gone as they're very nice. You win some, you lose some. We ended up walking back up another track to the road & walked several k's down the road back to the car to avoid the 'pathway' again.

Anyway, that's Kakadu for us. Time to pack up the van & head back down the highway. Some say Kakadon't & some say Litchfield is much better but we wouldn't say either. Both are lovely but they're also very different to each other. Our favourite was Florence Falls & the creek walk there (in Litchfield) but Kakadu certainly is very interesting & also has some beautiful spots.

An early start & off to Jabiru Airport for our flight over Kakadu. We jumped into a 6 seater fixed wing plane that we later found out is about 35 years old, but we felt safe & I guess the pilot wouldn't seem so confident if it wasn't! We flew out over Jabiru to see the Crocodile Inn (a motel shaped like a crocodile) then over creeks, roads & wetlands on our way to Jim Jim Falls.

 

 

We did several loops over Jim Jim & Twin Falls so both sides could see. Jim Jim Falls are about 150mtrs high, Twin Falls are even higher & it has a lovely looking sandy beach at the bottom. The photos we've seen of the bottom of the gorges are absolutely beautiful; pity we couldn't drive out there.

From there we flew out over the  Arnhem Land escarpment and past some more smaller falls & up Deaf Adder Valley (yes deaf... not death; don't ask me why) which contains sacred Aboriginal sites so you're not allowed in.  We returned to Jabiru over the Ranger Uranium Mine before landing.  How they can allow uranium mining in Kakadu, a World Heritage Listed area, is hard to comprehend. There's been a lot of controversy about it over the years.

We had a lovely hour flying all over Kakadu & it really helps you appreciate the vastness of the area. It was great.

We drove out to Nourlangie Rock after that to see rock art dating back about 60,000 years & it was probably some of the best rock art we've ever seen. Each painting tells a story & it's so much more meaningful when you know what they mean. We came across a ranger telling dreamtime stories about magic siblings who turned into crocodiles, walked the outdoor lounge room 1000's of years old & heard about all the trouble you got into if you did the wrong thing by your tribe. Life was pretty tough back then.
 

We went for a drive down to the Warradjon Aboriginal Cultural Centre for a look & took about an hour to go through; it was so well done. It's amazing to see & hear how the aboriginals lived all those years ago & how some still do. I really think we both have a better appreciation of them now.

KAKADU NATIONAL PARK

We headed into Palmerston to see a dentist but he said there wasn’t enough time to fix JJ’s tooth & to come back Thursday. She said no; we’re going to Kakadu! So off to Woolies to buy some supplies then a real cup of coffee (not like that crap in Singapore) and then to Kakadu.
 

We stopped at a freebie about 30k’s along the Kakadu highway for the night and when we pulled up, a bloke from Wynnum came over & gave us 2 Kakadu passes that had been given to him. Saved us $50! It’s normally $25 each for a park pass & $10 per person at most campgrounds; unpowered – not a cheap park to visit. We exchanged info on Darwin & Litchfield while he told us about Kakadu then sat & watched the sunset before we killed a few thousand mozzies & off to bed.

Today we go to Kakadu but first a cruise up the Adelaide River to see the Jumping Crocodiles. Sounds a bit corny  I know but it was a really good morning. As soon as we left the jetty there was a croc swimming by. There were heaps of crocs; big ones & little ones, even a baby one and these are salties. Most of the crocs we've seen before were freshies which don't harm you unless they're cornered but salties are nasty. There was a woman at the front of the boat holding a pole over the water & she’d get them to jump for meat tied to a rope at the end of the pole. They can jump up to 2 metres & boy did she have them jumping! It was pretty impressive.

 

They’re all wild but they see some of them regularly & there’s this one croc they call Stumpy & he’s got no lower back leg. The guy was telling us how scientists are testing crocodile’s blood because they can lose a limb & they don’t bleed to death; they can shut off the flow & they also never get infections. They’re hoping to find out how & then use the knowledge on humans. Pretty amazing hey? He gave a really interesting commentary all the way; he was almost as enthusiastic as Steve Irwin! Then we came across a white bellied sea eagle sitting in a tree & she threw meat up & it caught it. Do you know that you’re not allowed to call birds white ‘breasted’ anymore? It offensive! They have to be called ‘bellied’ now. How ridiculous is being politically correct getting? As we cruised along there were dozens of whistling kites flying around and the woman threw meat up in the air for them to catch. It was a very enjoyable cruise & well worth the cost.

 

From there we went to the Wetlands Centre where we saw a buffalo farm then watched a video on Kakadu, had another crap cup of coffee & headed off into the ‘wild’.
 

We decided to turn off the highway & head to a lookout overlooking the Mary River wetlands. After 45kms of pretty rough gravel we ended up at an overgrown area where if we stood on top of the car we could see some of the wetlands. A bit of a waste of time & fuel. But if you never never go, you never never know. This was one of those. Plus the van filled with dust. It wasn’t until we stopped that we realised the front window wasn’t closed properly. What a mess!
 

Back to the highway where we finally entered Kakadu National Park. First stop the Mamukala Wetlands centre which is built over a billabong full of water lilies & other plants. Very pretty.
 

We headed out to Ubirr where we stopped at the campground for the night. Ubirr is right on the border of Kakadu & Arnhem Land. The drive out was beautiful with lots of creek crossings. There were indigenous families playing in the water along the way. Dad would be standing there fishing while Mum sits & watches the kids. My only thought was 'What about the crocs?' but it doesn't seem to worry them; I guess they're used to them.

What a night; mosquitoes by the millions. It was like sleeping next to a jet engine; it didn’t stop all night and as we packed up the van to leave this morning it was completely covered with mozzies. I left the roof up as we drove off to try & blow the little buggers off the top.
 

Next we did the walk around Ubirr to see some ancient rock art & then climbed up onto the top of Ubirr rock to look out over the wetlands & Arnhem Land. What a view; absolutely beautiful.

There was a ranger telling an Aboriginal dreamtime story that was really interesting too.

 After that we did a walk around  some ancient sandstone formations & then we headed into Jabiru to ask about scenic flights. Jabiru is the only town in Kakadu & it's pretty small; mostly accommodation & a few shops. There's also a Uranium mine on the outskirts.  Jim Jim falls still aren’t open after the wet & you can’t get to Twin Falls & we'd really like to see them both so we've booked a flight for tomorrow.

LITCHFIELD NATIONAL PARK

Sunday 13^th May, Mothers Day. Before leaving Palmerston we went to the shops & they were handing out orchids & chocolates to the women for Mothers Day & two boxes of maltesers to all the guys (they got that right!).  (I think by now you’ve worked out that Phill’s narrated this post!) Shopping done & it’s time to leave city life and head to the bush. 70k’s south of Palmerston we turned right & into Batchelor & had coffee & bikkies while watching the locals at the Mothers Day markets.

Then after a quick check with the information centre we head for Wangi Falls camping grounds; the only campsite you can take caravans to in Litchfield National Park. Litchfield is only about 130kms south of Darwin & it’s really accessible. A lot of Darwin residents go there for day or weekend trips; lucky them! On the way in we stopped at the Magnetic Termite Mounds for a gander. They're pretty big!

After a few photos we moved on to Wangi Falls to set up camp for a couple of days. We were pretty impressed by the campgrounds. In a lot of national parks they have the very minimum of facilities but most of the N.T. ones have 'real' toilets (not drops), hot showers & bbq's; they're pretty good. We headed down to the falls to find a fantastic swimming hole at the base of the falls but 'no swimming’ signs & barriers up everywhere. Still closed for the wet season; there might be crocs. Bugger. So we headed off on a 3.6km walk up over the top of the falls & back down where we sat & talked to a couple who were sitting there relaxing while enjoying the falls.  They're only 50 & already retired! Jealous!

Top spot but pity about the swimming, so back to the van and happy hour then dinner & sleep.

Up bright & early and off to see some more of Litchfield N.P. First up we went to Walker Creek. It has 8 little campsites along the creek but you’re only supposed to swim at no.6 ‘cos you might disturb the campers. On the way up we went to them all  to have a look & they were all really nice; right on the creek & only one had someone camping at it.

 

It was pretty hot so we were glad to reach no.6 where we could finally get wet. The waterfall was only  small but you can't beat swimming at the base of a waterfall. After cooling off we finished off the walk up to the last campsite then headed back & stopped in at no.3 for another dip as there wasn’t anyone there.

Back to the truck to move on up to Bamboo Creek Tin Mine. Something different; a look back in time at how life was in the 40’s & 50’s. All that’s left are relics of broken machinery but it was very interesting indeed. There were little bits of tin all over the ground & in the rocks but it isn’t viable to mine it anymore. Pretty sad story; most of the people who worked there died from tin poisoning.  

From there we drove back to the Cascades. As we walked in we decided to take the short 700mtr walk as the longer walk didn’t look worth it. It was really nice walking through the rainforest along the creek,   but we met up with an older couple who told us we should have taken the 1.2km walk up the other side & then done the short walk back. So then we got to Curtain Falls where the water was crystal clear & jumped in to cool down again.

Then we headed up the cascades to the top where we found a sign saying ‘Carpark 2km’ so we did what they'd suggested & headed off for a lovely walk through more rainforest. Wrong again and we cursed that old couple for the next 1 ½ kms of hard slog up & down the hill on slippery rocks in the midday sun before we made it back to the creek & some shade.  As much as I'm showing the beautiful photos of all the waterfalls & plunge pools & that, the thing I'm not showing is all of the bush we have to walk through to get to them! It's not all fun & games you know!

We decided to go down to Blyth Homestead & Sandy Creek Falls this afternoon but low & behold the road is closed due to late summer rains. Most of Litchfield is bitumen but there are these side tracks that are 4wd only & they’re all still shut. So we headed on up to Greenant Creek and a 2.7km walk up the creek to the top of Tjaetaba Falls. They’re quite amazing; about an 80mtr drop but because of it being an indigenous sacred sight; no swimming was allowed so we threw our clothes in the water instead & put them back on wet to cool off before starting our walk back to the truck. Wonder if they'd complain about that?

From there we went to Tolmer Falls, about 2 k’s up the road from Greenant Creek. It was only an 800mtr walk down a concrete path to a lookout across from the falls (it would have been great to get down into the gorge & walk it). You could see across to where the water has gouged its’ way through the rock before falling a long way to a pool below. But, again no swimming. After admiring the falls we headed back to the van for drinks & a yummy pork roast cooked on our new barbie.

Rise & shine, brekky finished & packed up, it was time to move on back towards Palmerston because JJ couldn’t resist the crackling from last night’s dinner and she broke one of her teeth. So off to a dentist.

On the way out of Litchfield there were two falls left to do. First we went to Florence Falls, parked the van and headed down the 1.2km walk via the carpark to the falls.

We were commenting on the pathways as we walked  & how good they were then we came across some steps and we couldn’t believe them. They went all the way down to the bottom of the gorge; they were pretty impressive. Unlike Western Australia where we had to scramble down rocks & trees to get down, here we had steps to walk down to a magnificent plunge pool at the bottom of the falls.

 There were dozens & dozens of people young & old swimming & sightseeing. JJ had to go for a swim so I thought I would as well but when I got to the water’s edge JJ had returned & announced the water was freezing so I back paddled & got dressed & watched everyone else turn purple. After many photos of the falls we headed down the creek walk back to the van.

The shady creek walk was the highlight of Litchfield for us;  breathtakingly beautiful palm trees, ferns, little waterfalls. Money couldn’t buy the beauty of that walk along the creek. It was just the sort of surrounds you’d love to live in; just about what we've always dreamed of for our backyard. Look at the reflections in the water; it's all spring fed from the tablelands & so clean & clear you can drink it.

As we returned to the van, one to go; Buley Rockhole. Definitely not for caravans, signs everywhere as you drive in, ‘No Caravans’, but we went in anyway and we found out why; nowhere for busses or caravans to park so we drove back about 1 km before we found a place to park off the side of the road and walked back. Very pretty cascading falls; about 10 or so different drops down the side of a hill with little swimming holes after each drop. Again, dozens of people scattered up & down the rockpools. Again, JJ swam while I watched (I don’t like cold water). (neither do I but how can you resist when it's about 33 degrees & there's this beautiful natural pool in front of you? It doesn't matter how cold it is!)

After her swim we walked back to the van and headed into Batchelor for lunch. That’s Litchfield National Park finished. We certainly saved the best for last with Florence Falls. Nature at it’s finest.