Gumbat and Edith.

A great night at Cooinda, in and out of the pool to cool off, (so busy I forgot to take a photo!), and in again in the morning before we set off down the road to Gunlom. We had not reckoned with the climb though- a half mile hike up a very steep and rocky track to the top, where we found some rock pools awaiting enticingly for us to dip into.
I think I have said before that it is extremely hot here at this time, we had expected spring weather, somewhere in between, but it is already 35 Celsius ( 95 Fahrenheit). So any dip in the water is very welcome, particularly after the long climb, but of course by the time we have climbed back down, (which is worse as we are struggling over the rocks!) we are sweating profusely again. It is good to get back into the aircon in Betty, but even she is struggling with it!

.A few miles down the road we turned off onto a track which we followed into the bush for around 50k. Set up in a bush camp with basic facilities ( quite a change from last night), but close to a waterfall with a rock pool at its base. Its a tough life but someone has to test the water at these places, and it was our turn. I can confidently report that the water is absolutely bl**** beautiful!
The nights are so hot we have all the vents in our little roof bedroom open, but the nets have to stay closed because of the mossies, so the ocassional breeze
which passes through is so welcome. As is the cool which comes in about three in the morning, just enough to encourage the pulling up of the sheet

Back in in the morning after we have packed and ready to move on, by the time 9am comes it is 35 again, and getting hotter. This time a quite short journey down to Edith Falls- we have been here twice before so we know how good it is. Just another waterfall with just another pool at its base, boring really....

In and out several times, then we watched a movie on our dvd player, good one- the Hoax.

Another dip in the morning after we have packed up to cool off, a long journey ahead today, and a bit of shopping in Katherine.On the road we met up with Noel and Betty, and later when we camped at Timber creek they parked their big wagon right next to us. Its what they call a fifth wheeler, a trailer with four wheels at the back which is linked to their large utillity wagon like a artic truck. It expands widthways, making it a huge area inside, seperate bedroom and shower and toilet, rather luxurious compared with Betty!

They feed the crocs here- at 5 every evening. They are freshwater types, fairly non agressive compared with the salties, it caused a bit of interest. Can you spot the difference between these and the salties I showed the other day?

A dip in the pool, followed by dinner chez nous, and an invite into Noel and Betty's van. A great day was had by all......

Kakadu

is an anglicised version of Gagadju, which is Aborigine for language. The Aboriginals are the raditional  owners of the land round here, they have been around for about 50,000 years. Nowadays it is a sort of reserve as well as being a national park, so we have to pay $25 each to enter, which helps to support them and the park. Not that we see many of them. When we do come across  them they always have a story to tell, as I will relate later.
The park itself covers over 20,000 square kilometres,and is one of very few places that is World heritage listed for both its cultural and natural values. The park is home to 68 mammals, although we didn't see them, and 290 bird species, which we did see a lot of. The reptiles are all about us, the crocs, lizards, snakes, as well as thousands of insects which can be a damned nuisance!
We have a great campsite- it is good to get back to our roof tent etc again after a long rest, the site is very private and quiet, with great facilities.

It is situated near Jabiru, (presumably names after the bird I showed in the last entry) in a place called Ubirr. Famous for its rock art, we took a walk through the many galleries. Most of this art has suvived 20,000 years or more, usually under rock overhangs where the heavy rainfall of the wet cannot erase it. Having been painted over so many years there are a great range of different styles, but stories about behaviour and law tend to predominate.
They are not easy to see on photos, in fact not always easy to see on the rocks themselves!

Fish and animal drawings abound, as do figures hunting. This area was a large village for many years, and we are told that the aboriginals had civilisation and law for thousands of years before Europe.

Later we went on a cruise on the East Aligator river, with an aboriginal guide. He told us how they used the local trees for most of their needs, indeed the Hibiscus tree seemed to provide them with rope, spears, food, medicine and much more. Every plant and tree seemed to give them something. He also told of their laws, the transgression of some of which meant brutal punishments such as spearing in the leg. It appears they still do this.

He told many tales of the past, very interesting, and demonstrated his skill with the spear and the throwing stick. 

We had decided today to move on to Jim Jim falls, and twin falls, but on checking we found that Jim Jim has dried up till the wet, and the ford is too deep for Betty to get to Twin Falls. Big Disappointment! However we came across a great campsite at Cooinda, a few miles down the road, with a super swimming pool- so we are not too unhappy.....

Here we are again.... Happy as can be.....

Well- almost. It has taken us a few days to recover, but we are just about there now. We arrived at 5am on Tuesday, dog tired, having been travelling for about 30 hours. 8.5 hours time difference doesn't help either, throws the internal clock right out. Next time we really must stop over somewhere.

However we haven't let it stop us- we attended Darwin South Rotary club on Tuesday evening, where I gave my Tall Ships talk which seemed to go down well. And we picked up Betty from Joanne and Percy, we are lucky to have such good friends here.

Wednesday  was spent sorting Betty out and putting her back into travelling mode, when we leave her everything has to be packed differently to clear the roof rack off, so all that has to be sorted, as well as all the clothes that we left behind and carried over with us.

Anne wasn't too good on Thursday, maybe a touch of the sun, she had been sick overnight. The temperature being 34celsius, (94 Fahrenheit!) it is not pleasant working out in the sun, it takes a little time to get acclimatised.  So she had to miss a planned trip out fishing with Percy, and I had to go alone.

Percy picked me up at 6am, and towing his boat we took off to the Mary river billabong, an hour and a half away. A billabong is permanent water which forms after a river partly dries at the end of the wet, leaving large areas of water stranded in the wetlands. And  this one is huge, possbly ten miles long, with many side shoots.

A few minutes saw the boat on the water, and we motored to one of Percy's favourite fishing spots, a long straight stretch of the lake about one to two hundred metres wide. Tackled up with 3 inch lures, we trailed the lure out about 50mtrs, and slowly made our way along the water.

Within 15 minutes I had a hit- a 13 inch catfish. Not the one I wanted- I was after barramundi! Within another 15 minutes I had another- this time over 2ft long, a nice fish but hardly edible, and I had promised Anne a couple of fillets. So back it went, and half an hour later I took another, a smaller one this time, but still not a barra.

That was it, no more in the next four hours, although we were close, we saw the barra turning in the water near the lures, but they wouldn't take it.

Compensation however was many sightings of very large crocodiles,maybe 30 of them, and as Percy says, for every one you see there are 6 you don't.  Jabiru birds which stand about 3ft high and which are only seen in this region, are in evidence everywhere, and we spot pairs of them flying overhead. Along with Brolgas, a similar large bird of different colouring, we saw eagles, ospreys and fish eagles, so there was plenty to keep us busy while we waited in vain for the big barra.

Never mind- it was a great day out with super company

But today, Friday, we are all prepared and ready to take off into Kakadu, a national park about 200k to the east. We'll set off in the morning early, and get there by lunchtime. Once again in the rooftent- it's been a while.....