The Gulf of Carpentaria

From Katherine we travelled south on the Stuart Highway to Mataranka. Close to here there are a couple of thermal springs where we spent a few nights. Bitter Springs was by far the highlight- a crystal clear stream which runs through a natural water way at about 32 degrees. You float down stream on your noodle (or inflated wine cask bladder), through woodland, and get out at the other end. Then repeat if desired. The kids had a great time and spent plenty of time snorkelling. 

Crystal clear and warm waters of Bitter Springs

From Mataranka we turned left and headed east on the Savannah Way. We stayed on this path for 2,139 km to Cairns, with detours to King Ash Bay, Lorella Springs, Lawn Hill National Park and Karumba. It's been a busy couple of weeks.

Some of the highlights and lowlights of this section of our journey:

-feeling like a complete remote travel amateur by not stocking up when on the highway and assuming one could get supplies in Roper Bar. One could get said supplies but the freshest milk available was already 7 days past it's use by date! We drank it anyway.

-Hugo landing this Queenie on a lure in Limmen National Park. Limmen NP is flat, dusty, with plenty of rivers for fishing. It contains a rough 338km section of the Savannah way going through it. The domain of fisher people. Not recommended for cycling, a memo which a disgruntled group of older people on bikes failed to get..... we came across them about 5km off the bitumen coming from Borroloola. They asked us "is it like this the whole way?" Yes mate, this is a pretty good section. It gets worse. For 330km. "well we're in the shit then" was his reply. I suspect they didn't complete their intended journey. 

Towns River, Limmen National Park

Hugo landing a Queenie on the Towns River, Limmen National Park

-Hanging with the fisher people in King Ash Bay. We stopped at KAB for a night as an alternative to staying in Borroloola. As we pulled up in the unpowered camping area, aptly named "Gennie Flats", we were slightly apprehensive about the beer swilling young people we had camped next to. People come from all over to camp here for weeks or months at a time and go fishing. The campers here were the friendliest, most generous people we have come across yet..... one couple lent Tim their boat 10 minutes after first meeting, and the young guys next door took Hugo out on his boat with him. The fishing however is a bit rubbish this season and we caught nothing.

View from our campsite at King Ash Bay Fishing Club, on the McArthur River.
No swimming here... lots of big crocs and sharks.

-In Lorella Springs we lost the plug to the kitchen sink and around the same time we lost our Mojo. Suddenly I desperately wanted to be at home, sitting on the couch, drinking tea from a china cup. I'd completely had enough of latches, zips and catches, acrylic wine glasses and melamine plates. Of doing the dishes and cooking and living in dust. Of showering in thongs and walking to the toilet in the middle of the night. The kids mirrored my despair. Tim had to hold the ship together. Eventually, things got better. Happy hour helped. 

-Also in Lorella Springs we visited this fantastic swamp..... but we never did find the plug.

Flying Fox Billabong, Lorella Springs Station.  

Flying Fox Billabong, Lorella Springs Station. The last 2 years it has been completely dry.

Monarch Rock, Lorella Springs Station

Some of the 1 million acres of Lorella Springs Station

Crocodile Billabong, Lorella Springs Station

--Spectacular green waters and gorge of Boojamulla (Lawn Hill Gorge) National Park

Lawn Hill Gorge

Indarri Falls, Lawn Hill Gorge

Lawn Hill Gorge

Hike to Indarri Falls, Lawn Hill National Park

Camp at Adels Grove

-The lava tubes of Undara Volcano.....huge underground tunnels left by lava flows from a volcanic eruption 190 million years ago

Lave tube, Undara National Park

Undara was our last stop before getting to Cairns where suddenly everything is different. Dusty bush has suddenly been replaced by lush rainforest and, after not seeing hardly a cloud for 3 months it is overcast and actually raining! The last time we saw rain we were in South Australia. Wide open flat roads and tiny towns are replaced by shopping centres, and traffic. Another difference is we now have company- my parents have joined us again for our assault on Cape York. 

Hugo and Zoe training the Archer fish in Lawn Hill.

Darwin to Katherine

We arrived back from Indonesia before the crack of dawn, grumpy from sleep deprivation. We spent a couple of nights in Darwin, re-organising the trailer and washing clothes whilst trying to catch up on sleep. The school holidays were now keenly upon us, and we were a little worried as to the impact this would have on the busyness of campsites. It was coming up to the weekend, which was another reason not to hit the major attractions straight away. As an interim measure we decided to explore the Mary River National Park, which is on the Darwin side of Kakadu. 

Camp at Mary River

The draw cards of the area are wet lands and barramundi fishing. We headed up there, checking out shady camp, which was anything but shady, and settled on camping at the Point Stuart Wilderness Lodge. Nice grassy campsite, we were the only ones there. No problems with school holiday crowds here. We had suspected that up this way the mosquitoes would be plentiful and had invested in a super strength DEET preparation in anticipation. As dusk fell we were attacked by mozzies in numbers we had never seen before. They were only mildly deterred by the sticky 40% DEET all over our bodies. It was almost impossible to cook, or eat..... one could eat whilst standing immediately by the fire but this also entailed being so hot one was in serious danger of ignition of clothing. Children were driven to distraction and disappeared into bed, the only place to get free of the assault.  We followed soon after. The only positive about this abundance of insects the abundance of frogs they supported. Frogs banged into your legs as you walked around and we had to remove them from the folds of the trailer canvas as we packed up the next day.

We didn't go Barramundi fishing, or cruise the wetlands. We left, forced out by those biting critters, the reason we were the only ones camped there plainly obvious. Interestingly a staff member at the lodge said the mozzies were much better than they had been previously in the season! Maybe we are soft!

So despite our concern over heaving holiday crowds, we found ourselves heading into Litchfield National Park on a Friday afternoon. The crowds did not fail to materialise. We passed through 3 full campsites before finding a free place to camp, admittedly down a four wheel drive track and through a water crossing. 

Camp at Litchfield National Park

river crossing on route to campsite

Hugo in tree

Crowds in Buley Rockhole, Litchfield NP

It turned out to be a very pleasant place to stay, and we bunked down there for 3 nights. It's not hard to see why Litchfield is so popular. Spectacular waterfalls, with great swimming, all easily accessible from a short drive on bitumen from Darwin. We really enjoyed exploring the more remote areas of the park. Similar waterfalls and swimming opportunities without the huge crowds. 

Magnetic termite mounds, southern end of Litchfield NP

Tjaynera Falls, Litchfield NP

Florence falls, Litchfield NP

The Lost City, Litchfield NP

The wildlife in Litchfield (and come to mention it Kakdu), is disappointing to say the least. As we left South Australia we were amazed at the abundance of wildlife and we were expecting it to just continue as we journeyed north. But as we have spent time in the top end we have seen hardly anything except birds and the occasional wallaby. No large lizards or pythons, just lots of little skinks. Perhaps this is all secondary to the arrival of cane toads 6-7 years ago?

From Litchfield we headed south for an overnighter at Tjuwaliyn (Douglas) Hot Springs. This pleasant little place has a hot spring which feeds into the Douglas River, creating patches of very hot, cool and in-between water. 

Zoe in search of the perfect temperature

The campsite is evidently popular with Territorians for a camping holiday. We spent a pleasant afternoon lolling around, the kids befriending other children also camped there. To Hugo's dismay (he had found some fishing mates) we left the next day. Again we were ready for a break from campfire smoke and dust and in need of a hot shower. We spent 5 nights in Katherine under a big shady tree with grass, clean facilities and a good chance to  clean clothes, restock the pantry and rejuvenate ourselves. From here we head a short way down the road for a couple of nights at Mataranka Hot Springs, then start to head eastwards for the trip along the Savannah way bound for Cairns.

Camp at Katherine, home for 5 nights

Katherine Gorge 

Edith Falls, Nitmiluk NP

Edith River, Nitmiluk NP

Cutta Cutta Caves Nature Park

Trailer Treason- A Trip to Indonesia

Whilst it may seem idyllic travelling around Australia, there are times it seems less so. Day to day living can be quite a challenge. The most basic activities of living are slightly more complicated- going to the toilet in the middle of the night, making a cup of tea, opening the fridge. Not to mention the frequent set ups and breaking of camp. It was starting to wear a bit thin, so we decided to take a holiday from the holiday and head from Darwin to Indonesia. It sounded like a good idea, but there were some practical difficulties with pulling it off........ researching and booking a trip was difficult with intermittent internet availability, and we had no luggage to take with us, not to mention lack of resort wear. As we travel in the trailer everything we have with us has a very particular place, and taking a plane somewhere meant reorganising a lot of stuff!  We purchased a couple of large storage bags with the hope they would last the distance, and crossed our fingers.

Flight times between Darwin and Denpasar are anti-social to say the least, a 2.5 hour flight departing at around midnight is guaranteed to produce a cranky family the next day. Admittedly on the day of our departure we were still in Kakadu, so the day started with packing up camp, followed by a 3 hour drive before we got to Darwin, did 4 loads of washing, last minute shopping and stored the trailer and car before heading to the airport for our middle of the night flight. Perhaps we should not have been so ambitious.

We had a lay day in Bali prior to hopping on a fast boat to Lombok. We had booked the trip not 2 weeks prior to leaving, so accommodation options were limited to none. When we arrived at the resort we had booked, we soon discovered that is was an Islamic run establishment which served no alcohol whatsoever! Once we had recovered from this initial shock, the place began to grow on us. There were no Aussies lying by the pool swilling beer whilst ignoring their badly behaving children, and the place was quiet and relaxing. Sun loungers were readily available, and there were plenty of restaurants nearby where Bintang and great food could be sourced.

We took it pretty easy in Lombok, since the whole point of the trip was to have break from travelling rather than do a lot of travelling in a different place. One day we went on a day trip to Gili Nanggu and Gili Lomkong, for some snorkelling and a lunch of BBQ fish on the beach.

Another day we introduced Hugo and Zoe to risk taking, hiring a couple of motor bikes and taking them for a cruise around the place, through lush rice paddies and up the mountain through the rain forest to the monkey forest.

We thoroughly enjoyed Lombok. Previously we have found Bali just a bit too hectic for our liking, but Lombok is a bit quieter, with tourism being only a minor part of the island's economy. The people are friendly and welcoming. We like to think the trip was satisfying some geography and Indonesian language education the kids are missing at school.

Soon enough it was time to make the return journey back to our trailer. Unfortunately it was clear that our storage bags were not fit to make the return journey, and we had to purchase some (very cheap) luggage. Life back in the trailer had not changed..... but having someone make the bed, do the laundry, clean the bathroom and cook meals for a week was a welcome and enjoyable change.

Kakadu

Kakadu, the iconic national park in the Northern Territory, is mandatory visiting for anyone travelling through. I visited in 1985, and I was expecting the place to be rather touristy and a little crowded, although the (much dreaded) schools holidays had not yet begun. Our trip to Kakadu was complicated with the most happy prospect- we were having friends join us! Along the road you meet plenty of people, but the conversation is generally the same..... where are you from, where are you going, where have you been, so the depths of our social interaction have been almost exclusively within the four of us and the prospect of spending time with people we have a connection with was something we had been looking forward to.

The original plan was to meet John and Claire at the Big Boxing Crocodile in Humpty Doo, because it just seemed appropriate, but things got in the way and we met them late in the afternoon, further down the road. The next day we tackled Kakadu proper, taking in the wetlands wildlife hide, the visitor's centre, the rock art and lookout at Ubirr, and the river crossing into Arnhem land which is great for croc spotting/fishing/losing your car off the crossing.

Aboriginal Rock art at Ubirr

The Kakadu crew

Cahill's Crossing- hold on to your car!

Then followed another jam-packed day which started pre-dawn for a sunrise cruise on Yellow Water. We were treated to a fantastic few hours of crocodiles and birds in the breathtaking wetland. The crocodiles were so good even the guide was getting excited. The birds did disappoint, because of the 4 species of kingfisher in Kakadu we only saw 3, the little kingfisher being sadly absent. We did however see brolga, black necked storks, thousands of ibis and huge flocks of whistling ducks. 

Yellow Water at Sunrise

ibis at Yellow Water

4 Forest Kingfishers sitting in a tree

Salty swimming, Yellow Water

Yellow Water sunrise

In the afternoon we tackled Jim Jim falls. After a little 4WD track the falls are accessed by a 45 minute walk, the last half of which is climbing over boulders. It was a tough walk, there were children crying (not ours this time). At the end was the magnificent waterfall, which falls into an icy pool where only the brave (everyone except Zoe), go swimming. The nearby campsite offered welcome hot showers, a good campfire courtesy of John, a good meal and Taswegian neighbours we had met in Kununurra.

Walk into Jim Jim

Jim Jim on approach

Hugo at the base of Jim Jim

Heading south the next day we expanded on the waterfall/swim theme at Maguk in the middle of the day. After we embarked on the walk we noticed many people wearing reef shoes and we soon learnt why..... sections of the track were underwater. The pool at Maguk was one of the most pleasant we have visited and we spent an enjoyable few hours there. 

Hugo helping his mother keep her shoes dry

Swimming at Maguk

Many of the rock pools at the base of waterfalls are deep and dark..... usually pleasant swimming but sometimes a bit of floatation is desired. Some people carry noodles to this effect but where does one stash a pool noodle or two in the car for six months? That evening after a few wines we had a laugh getting creative with the wine cask bladders and some gaffer tape and made the ideal floatation device, providing the same floatation as a noodle, easily stashed in the day pack and inflated in 2 breaths!

We headed further south to Gunlom from Maguk. When I visited in 1985 it was known as UDP falls, and a couple of years later it was one of the locations featured in Crocodile Dundee. Early Saturday we climbed to the top of the falls where there are a series of beautiful rock pools and a magnificent view from the edge. Hugo and Zoe trailed the floatation device which got the thumbs up, and now we need one for both kids (only need to drink another 4 litres of wine for the materials). 

Top of Gunlom falls

Rock pools at the top of Gunlom

Zoe taking in the view

Hugo demonstrating floatation device

Gunlom is one of the most popular campsites in Kakadu, with many Darwin locals making the trip for a weekend. We arrived on Friday night, it was pretty busy, but nothing compared to Saturday night, which was a bit like camping in Victor Harbour for schoolies. Having sadly said goodbye to John and Claire, we bunkered down for a couple of nights of not doing much at all, enjoying the peace and quiet as the weekend crowds headed home...During which time Zoe, inspired by the recipe on one our Australiana tea-towels, tried her hand at baking damper in a hole using coals from the fire- a very respectable first attempt. Well done Zoe!