Australia part III, The Top End ( map | part I | part II | JJJ Radio )
This is the last part of our Australia traveling diary and it covers the tropical North of the NT, commonly known as the Top End. Starting from the Devils Marbles it goes North to
Katherine Gorge NP, Kakadu NP, and finally Darwin. Please note that all photos are
copyrighted and may not be reproduced in any way without prior permission.
© 2001 danny@ricin.com
Into the tropics again
To Nitmiluk NP
To Kakadu NP
Kakadu day 2
Kakadu day 3 and to Darwin
Central Darwin
Around Darwin
The last day
July 31 2001: Into the tropics again
We were up at 7.30 and an hour later we were on our way further North along Stuart Hwy, the second part of a long and rather boring drive to the North. The first stop we made around 8.45 was at the Devils Marbles, which are a bunch of scattered piles of rocks of varying sizes - some are as big as a house while others are as small as a football. They must have originated from a mountain that collapsed thousands of years ago and have since then been eroded by water and wind. Aboriginal folklore says that they're the eggs of a giant serpent. They looked very scenic in the early morning sun and we took 3 pictures as shown below. While at the Marbles site we also had breakfast.
Around 9.30 we were back on the highway again and just 20 minutes later we arrived at a monument put up because of the completion of some bridge. Half of it seemed to be missing and the descriptive plate was vandalised with tar. We've seen that more often unfortunately, often those monuments along the highway are either ugly or vandalised or both. There was however a large bore tower next to it and this gave us the opportunity to finally get one of those typical outback scenes on a photo (pic 4).
Then around 11.00 we passed through Tennant Creek. Just North of the town there's a historical site, the old telegraph station and surrounding buildings. Quite interesting. As you might imagine, the telegraph was the most important and fastest means of communication over long distances back in the 1870 and it has been used quite far into the 20th century. This also made Tennant Creek an important haven for travelers as the station was being run self-sufficiently by several people which meant food and water was available. Apart from the station itself (on the left in pic 5), there were buildings for the men living there which apart from operating the telegraph and relaying messages also grew crops, held cattle and took care of guests. Pic 6 shows the inside of the blacksmith's building.
Around 11.45 we passed Threeways were the North-South connection (Stuart Hwy) meets Barkly Hwy which goes East. Half an hour later we saw Stuart Memorial near Attack Creek. So ugly a photo would be a waste of electrons. At Renner Springs roadhouse we had a cup of coffee and refilled our cooking gas, which proved to be unnescessary because it was still almost full. Just past 15.00 we passed the Sir Charles Todo monument which was built in honour of everyone participating in the great North-South telegraph line. Starting in Adelaide all the way South on one end, and underseas from Java to Darwin on the other, the lines were connected near this spot in 1872. The last photo shows this memorial.
By then it was also getting pretty hot, warmer then in North Queensland. This is not unlogical because we're now closer to the equator then we've been when traveling along the East coast. There were also some large bush fires, and we assume that they were lit intentionally to burn down the ever rising spinifix (desert grass) so that nicer vegetation doesn't become overwhelmed by it - a trick they've learnt from Aboriginal people who have been doing this for centuries. Also, controlled scorching of destined areas prevents large bush fires from burning up the entire land. The snappy gum (eucalyptus) trees seem to survive this burning as do the ever present termite towers.
We didn't want to drive all the way to Katherine today as we wanted to be on a camping site before dark. We had chosen the Thermal Pool site (which has a resort with camping) just South of Mataranka. It also has a national park next to the hot springs site. We arrived there around 17.30 and on the road towards it we saw a funny little black pig crossing the road just before us. We went for a short but lovely swim in the 34 degrees warm water. The only backdraw was that the swimming area is rather small and it was quite crowded. Tomorrow we'll go up there early for a morning walk in the surrounding patch of rainforest and a dive.
We got up at 7.15 and an hour later we were ready to do the walk to Stevies Hole (with some small rapids, pic 1) which took us about an hour return. Then I swam for half an hour in the warm pool (pic 2). At 10.00 we were on our way again heading for Nitmiluk (Katherine Gorge) National Park.
Just before Katherine, at 11.00 we took an interesting guided tour through the Cutta Cutta Caves, which took some 45 minutes. We were lucky because when we arrived a new tour had just started so we ran to the cave entrance and caught up with the group. Unfortunately we didn't bring our camera with us so we have no pics. It was very impressive and fascinating. The caves have been formed some 20 million years ago and inside live some 3000 bats (large ghost bats and also the rare small orange horseshoe bats). We didn't see any though because they were all in the back of the cave where there's water and where it's very hot and moist. This part is not included in the tour because this would take away their habitat. There's also a dozen of brown tree snakes who feed on the bats, and the water holds blind shrimps. The large limestone walls and stalagtites and stalagmites were very beautiful.
Around noon we drove on and in Katherine we took the turnoff to Nitmiluk NP (Katherine Gorge). An hour later we had our camping spot. Katherine Gorge is actually a dozen gorges along Katherine river, the first river when coming from the South that never dries up. Thus it's always been very important for both humans and wildlife. It also has its negative aspects: During the wet flooding is very common. In 1998 Katherine got 2 metres of water! We took a nice walk along the first gorge which then looped back to the camping ground (pic 4 and 5). It took us about 2 hours and after that we took a dive in the river (swimming area is just before the first gorge, near it the trees are filled with bats who don't seem to stop screaming at each other, see pic 3). Since it must have been near 30 degrees it was nice to cool off.
In the evening while sat at my laptop (just now in fact) we were talking with an Australian couple when were paid a visit by a cute kangaroo or a wallaby (I never know the difference). Very nearby and not scared at all, likely looking for something to eat. This afternoon while walking we also saw one which is in pic 6. I think we might see more tonight. Well, it's been another lovely day. Unfortunately the end of our holidays is quickly approaching now, but first we're heading for Kakadu tomorrow where we'll spend three days before our final stop which is Darwin.
We were up at 7.00 and it wasn't very cold. We had coffee and got ready for our drive to Kakadu National Park via Pine Creek and Kakadu Hwy (South entrance). We left around 8.30. On the way back to Katherine I took a photograph of a small plane that had crashed and that was still lying there. Outback humor? Or maybe all the jokes about the meaning of NT contain some truth (Not Today, Not Tomorrow, Not The next day, Not Tuesday, Not Thursday, etc). In fact I'm sure they do ;-)
We had breakfast alongside Kakadu Hwy, before the park entrance where you pay your $16.25 fee. Around 11.15 we were inside and we drove to Cooinda, in the centre of the area (at Yellow Water). We wanted the same (centrally located) campingsite for the two nights we're about to stay. We arrived there an hour later and we also booked a boat tour for Saturday early morning, before we're leaving for Darwin. Everything needs to be booked for in advance here and it's expensive as well.
Kakadu has several different habitats and vegetation. Most prominent are Savanna style woodlands, but it also has sandstone lands, floodplains and billabongs, salt- and freshwater wetlands, and some patches of rainforest. Now we're in the midst of the dry season and there are always controlled bushfires going on somewhere. The landscape seems less spectacular than we'd expected although in the wet this will probably be very different, but then the heat and humidity is almost unbearable - not to mention the insects - and floods prevent access to large parts of the park.
Anyway, at 13.30 we drove to the NE tip of the park, just next to Aboriginal Arnhem Land. This region is known as the East Alligator area, as the East Alligator River is the border between Kakadu and Arnhem Land. To enter Arnhem Land you need to apply for a permit months before, so it can effectively be considered closed to independant travellers which is really a shame. And if you get to be one of the lucky 15 (!) vehicles allowed to enter per week you also need to pay well over $200,- for your permit. The only way to go there basically is an organised tour which I detest. I think this is a VERY wrong way of handling tourism and it just seems that the folks over there don't want us in their land at all, especially not roaming around and seriously exploring nature and culture. They only want the white man's money if you ask me and that stinks.
Some 45 minutes later, along the road, pic 2 was taken. All the way North is Ubirr which has rock paintings (pic 3 and 4). Some of these paintings are up to 20,000 years old while others (notably the "x-ray style" ones) are much more recent. Also - and this is very different from the Western viewpoint towards art - it's very common for rock art to be touched up or even totally replaced by more contemporary Aboriginal artists. To them maintaining the stories to be told through their art is apparently more relevant than the historical value of the original work. We also took a pic from the lookout that lies on the short walking track along Ubirr (pic 5).
A few kilometres to the South there are some walking tracks next to the East Alligator river. In case you're wondering, there are no actual alligators (an American croc variety) in Australia. We never saw any freshwater or saltwater crocodiles. There were warning signs everywhere discouraging people from swimming in billabongs and rockholes because apparently there have been and might be saltwater crocs there and occasionally they have been known to kill people. We took the 1.5 km Mangarre walk through some rainforest (disappointing) which took us about half an hour to finish (pic 6) and we also did the Bardedjilidji walk which is 2.5 km or less if you take the "wet season" shortcut back. Pics 7 and 8 were made there. You'll see many birds and numerous little skinks (lizards). The flies, mosquitos and red ants will like your sweaty body a lot by the way. It was quite hot, easily into the low 30s, and even though it's the dry now I was glad I took some insect repellent with me. It works... somewhat.
Finally, at 17.30, we had a brief look at the Ranger uranium mine, which lies East of Jabani. The mining area itself is only accessible by organised tour, but from a distance we could see the mining pits (pic 9). The ERA mining company acts as if their mines are a true blessing for the environment and for the local economy, notably the Aboriginal people's. It would be interesting to know how many Aboriginal engineers work there ;-) Hmm, well, if you know the slightest bit about me you know my opinion on these matters and I'm not going to argue: both are plain lies or merely stupidity. Period.
We were up at 7, just after sunrise. We took off at 8.45 and first drove a few kilometres to Jim Jim Billabong which wasn't worth taking a picture. Just 15 minutes further North along Kakadu Hwy there's the turnoff to Jim Jim Falls (and Twin Falls). The first part is just an unsealed gravel road for about 50 km. The last 10 km to Jim Jim Falls is a 4WD track, mostly loose sand. It might be classified level 1 and we were a little disappointed. However, the scenery was pretty nice. "Jim Jim" is the Aboriginal word for the typical palm trees that can be seen in this area.
We arrived at the end of the track at about 10.30 from where the last kilometre to the actual falls is a rough walking track. Halfway you can walk to the water's edge where there's a nice view of the gorge (pic 1). It took us some 75 minutes altogether to reach the actual plungehole. The second half of the track was merely climbing over rocks - very hard. There's a beach area (pic 2) just before the the falls (pic 3 - as you can see they are almost dry at this time of the year) and the plungehole (pic 4). There were many butterflies in all sorts of colours and sizes. After a short rest we climbed back towards the track. Pic 5 was taken along the walking track which was easier but still quite rough. We encountered a man with a baby in a pouch in front of his chest. I warned him not to climb all the way to the plungehole carrying a baby because I found it totally irresponsible, but he just shrugged his shoulders. What a first class prick. At noon we were back at our verhicle and around 13.30 we had some lunch at our camping site.
Later in the afternoon we drove to the Nourlangie Rock Art site. As pic 6 shows, different parts of the rock palettes can have paintings of very different ages. The kangaroo is much older than the more colourful x-ray style drawings. The next photo shows a scene of dance and celebration (I first assumed it was an orgy ;-). The figure in pic 8 depicts Namondjok, a dangerous spirit. The same can be seen in the next painting which also shows the lightning man Namarrgon, his wife and and below some men and women on their way to a ceremony. These paintings were made in a rock shelter where Aboriginal people have been seeking refuge from the heat and the monsoon rain for some 20,000 years. Archeologists have also found stone tools at the site. This may be the oldest documented and researched culture still alive. You can also climb on one part of the rock to a lookout providing a great view some of which can be seen in pic 10.
We then drove to Muirella Park close to Nourlangie. We arrived there at 16.30 but as it was really quite hot we reckoned the 5 km loop walk there was a bit too long. Instead we went to the Mirrai Lookout and just 15 minutes later we started walking the 1 km moderately steep track leading to the top of the hill and we took a photo there while resting on the lookout tower. There was no one else around except for numerous flies so it was nice and quiet up there. Pic 12 was taken on the way back and as you can see I was sweating like a pig even though by then it was a bit cooler.
The last pic was taken at our camping site at 17.45. One of our tyres had gone flat after being low on pressure for several days already. We had to change it because only an hour or so after we pumped it to 40 psi it was back at 12 psi, which is much too low. Surprisingly it only took us half an hour. That night we went out to the restaurant for dinner where I ate kangaroo steak while we consumed a bottle of lovely (and pricey) wine. Later we had a couple of beers while sitting outside and just before I went to sleep (Jan already was) I saw a funny little animal rushing around which I think was some sort of possum but since it was dark I'm not sure. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera ready.
August 4 2001: Kakadu day 3, and heading for Darwin
We were already up at 6.00 because for our last hours in Kakadu we had planned a guided boat cruise on Yellow Water billabong and into the South Alligator River, considered one of the highlights of Kakadu. The boat left at 6.45 sharp and the trip took two hours. It was quite cold and because the air was colder than the water it was very misty (pic 1). After the sunrays broke through the fog, the view got better and we saw hundreds of birds in and around the water and wetlands. It doesn't take much imagination to see why this is such an important living and breeding area for all sorts of waterbirds, including sea birds. The next three photos show some of them and pic 5 and 6 give you an impression of the beautiful scenery.
We also saw a few dozen of saltwater crocodiles, one of which is shown in pic 7. Their diet consists mostly of dingos and wallabies who come to the waters edge to drink, and occasionally a careless tourist. Like snakes, they only feed once a week or so and they don't eat many birds because these are often gone too fast to actually grab them. Besides most birds are likely to be too small to fill a croc's stomach anyway. We didn't see any freshwater crocs by the way. Maybe that's because they're much more shy compared to their more agressive salty cousins.
Around 9.00 we went back to our campsite for some coffee and before 10 we were on our way following Kakadu Hwy for the last time before turning East on Arnhem Hwy. Around 10.30 we stopped at the Mamukala lookout over the wetlands, where many bird spotters can be found. We saw a large goanna, easily a metre long. I slowly walked towards it and even though it started hissing at me while backing up a bit, it was friendly enough to pose for me (pic 8). At 11.00 we left again and after a short stop at the Kakadu Resort for lunch we drove out of Kakadu NP around noon, heading for Darwin. We took a photo of a huge termite mound (pic 9) and as you can see these can get over 3 metres high.
At about 14.00 we arrived in Darwin. We had a very hard time finding a hotel as it is the high season right now. Eventually, two hours later, we found one. Half an hour later we had collected all our stuff from the campervan and we were rewarded with a lovely bath. We didn't do anything anymore that evening except organising our luggage (piles of dirty clothes). We had dinner at the hotel's grill restauraunt. After updating the website it was well past 1.00 am and I slept like a baby in a more than queensize bed.
We didn't do much today. We slept rather late and around noon we cleaned out our camper (the inside that is) and we returned it to Britz/Maui. Everything was in order and it only took us half an hour. We were told we had driven 6475 km with it (which was not bad ;-), and together with the 2125 km we drove along the East coast the total distance we traveled amounts to 8600 km. We also made arrangements at Hertz to hire a car for Monday and Tuesday. We can conveniently leave it at the airport on Tuesday night. This will give us the chance to see some more of Darwin's suburbs and coast. It's rather hot here and one doesn't cover much distance on foot. We walked back into central Darwin and after a late lunch we did a little sightseeing.
We did a small walk mainly along the Esplanade and saw the Parliament House (pic 1). Pic 2 shows the old police station, hidden behind the palm trees. This is also the area where you'll find some memorials about the arrival of the underseas telegraph line (from Java) and the completion of the big North-South line which finally connected Australia with the rest of the world in 1872. There are also several war memorials, one of which is shown in pic 3. Darwin is a young city, which was partially destroyed by the WWII bombings in 1942 and 1943, and almost entirely flattened by cyclone Tracy in 1974. Some of the older architecture has been restored but most buildings are very recent. The center has a park along the Esplanade (pic 4) and a few small rocky and unattractive beaches (there are more beaches to the North). The tidal changes in sea level are up to 8 metres. We went out for dinner in the evening and then headed back to our hotel for a long sleep.
In the morning after another bath we took it easy and had a nice breakfast before heading out to Hertz to get our rental car for the next two days. We were done around noon and we were mobile again, a nice and brand new white Toyota (most cars are white here obviously because of the sun and the warm climate). We drove around the suburbs a bit. I think I could get used to living here :-) We decided to have a closer look at the East Point peninsula.
We parked our car at the beginning of the East Point Road and did the rest by foot. It was hot but not too bad as the sea wind cooled us off a bit. I must say that we didn't meet much other folks walking. Some cyclists but not many on foot - whimps ;-) We walked up North along the beach. There were some carved out holes which showed us just how high the water can rise here (low tide at that moment - see pic 1). Pic 2 was taken a while further along the beach which we followed all the way up to the NE tip. We were in fact walking on coral there (not sure if that's allowed by the way). Pic 3 was taken at the very tip of the peninsula where we could see open sea for the first time and where two streams from the north and west collide. Just two hours later all this was under water again as the tide rose. On both pics you can see the Darwin city centre in the background.
The East Point Reserve has some interesting remains of WWII, notably at one site where there is an old gun bunker you can climb upto, but the gun had been taken out. We did see two old 9.2 mm guns outside the war museum (pic 4) which we did not enter because we thought $10,- was a little too much for a 15 minute stroll. I also posed at a (watch?) tower as can be seen in pic 5. It was not totally accessible for obvious reasons and covered with rust but still in historical terms it shows that Darwin has been a city under siege in WWII and of course also a city of defense against the Japanese who were foolish enough to join Hitler's fascism. Oh well, I reckon that by now they have paid their dues as have the Germans. We must never forget the past - too many people do - but it's more important to look at the future isn't it? By now Japan is one of the most important trading partners for Australia. Just consider the fact that maybe up to 90% of people here drive a Toyota and who can blame them, they have excellent cruising cars and great 4WDs.
All in all we must have walked an estimated 8 km in some 2.5 hours or so and we both got a little bit sunburnt. Apart from aftersun lotion there's one way to solve that and that's drinking, which we did as is shown abundantly in pics 6 and 7. If you want to know what people in Darwin mostly do, especially on public holidays - one of which it was today - then its drinking and of course that preferably means beer. Hmm, I think I like these people ;-)
After checking out of our hotel and having breakfast we walked around the Botanic Gardens. This was around noon. It wasn't all that beautiful, mainly because there was a lot of work and maintenance going on at the time. We also walked along Fannie Bay's beaches and visited the Museum and Art Gallery of the NT, which also had an exposition on cyclone Tracy and some very nice artwork. Pic 1 was taken en route along Mindil Beach and pic 2 on the Botanic Garden track.
Then we had a brief look at Charles Darwin NP. There were warning signs about biting insects, notably a little blood sucking critter smaller than 1 mm. We applied some DEED insect repellent on our legs and had a short circuit walk. Pic 3 was taken there, and in the background you can see Central Darwin and its wharf. The scenery wasn't very spectacular, but it seems to be important because of the mangrove wetlands stretching out to the coast. It was also very hot today and the sun seemed to burn a lot harder than yesterday.
Finally we drove to the Beagle Gulf region in the NE (Casuarina). We had a drink at Nightcliff Foreshore and then we drove further North to the Casuarina Coastal Reserve. We had a nice stroll along the beach as the tide was rising and the sun was dropping. We took a few nice photos there and waited for sunset (pic 4-7). Finally, in pic 8, we captured our very last Australian sunset and afterwards went into town for dinner.
Just after 21.00 we already arrived at the airport. We returned our car to Hertz and luckily we could already get our boarding cards and get rid of most of our luggage. We don't have to worry about it until we're back in Amsterdam. Now it's 22.30 and we're sat here waiting for our 1.25 flight to Sydney. We'll land at Sydney airport at about 5.00 local time and then we'll have to wait until 16.00 for the rest of our flight. At about 10.00 local time the next day we expect to arrive in Holland.
OK, so this is the end of a trip I'll remember for the rest of my life. Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed my diary and maybe it can helpful when planning your own trip to Australia. It's really worthwhile going there!!
(c) 2001-2005, Danny Pansters <danny@ricin.com>. All rights reserved.