Devil's Marbles

This morning we packed up early, said sayonara to the Sydney crew and set off. We stopped just a little ways down the road at Larrimah, home of the big stubbie and the pink panther, and also a free zoo that had heaps of birds, some wallies, emus and a couple of crocs. It was an interesting place! 

A little further down the road we stopped at the Daly Waters pub. This was too an interesting place with its walls covered in all sorts of memorabilia. There were all different currency notes and coins, clothes, thongs, police badges and an array of other things. We were a bit early for a Barra and beef meal so we set off once again. 

We drove through Tennant Creek and made it all the way to the Devil's Marbles. Luckily despite arriving so late we managed to get a site here and set up camp before going off to explore these giant boulders they also call cheese rounds!! They were quite amazing and seeing them as the sun was setting was very special. 

When we got back from our hike our next door neighbour Des had noticed our tyres weren't looking so flash, and on further inspection Troy saw we down to the treads, so he set about changing the tyre, while I got comfy watching with Des and Bronwyn from the Sunshine Coast. They were lovely, and saved us from a potential drama on the road! Once done, we had a few more drinks before retiring for dinner and bed. 

Mataranka's Bitter Springs

This morning we set off for Barra feeding at the Territory Manor in Mataranka. The poor guy, tipping it was his first day on the job, was standing in knee deep water trying to coerce the Barra out of hiding for a fish. They were very reluctant, and we left here soon after arriving! 

We then arrived at Bitter Springs. This place was amazing, with crystal blue water at 33C, it was so lovely. We swam in here all morning enjoying the big spiders that have spun their webs from one side of the stream to the other so that you swim right underneath them! 

The gentle current takes you all the way downstream, then you can walk back or try to swim back. 

We did the latter, and it was a bit of hard work, so we rewarded ourselves to a Devonshire tea back at the manor on our way back into town. 

While looking around town the Sydney crew arrived in Mataranka, and we nearly lost the kids as they ran straight across the Stuart Highway to greet them!! We had a quick look through town, the gem store was closed and the talking termite mound was mute!, so we set off back to camp. After a light lunch we all set off back to Bitter Springs, this time armed with snorkel gear, and the water was so clear you could see about 30m. We all had a great time once again. 

On our way back to camp we stopped at 4 Mile for a fish. Sadly no Barra took the bait, but all the kids had great fun casting the lure into the water anyway!

Once back at camp we ate Troy's Barra for dinner. It was divine! We then set the kids up with a movie while we went to the Mataranka Homestead to watch the Rugby. Who would've thought! There was a huge crowd at the homestead and as we were with Sydney folk it was great to see NSW get up and have a win!! 

Mataranka

This morning after a cruisie pack up we left Cooinda bound for Mataranka. As Troy had had such a strenuous day yesterday catching his big Barra he had a day off driving, and I took the reins!! It was pretty much smooth sailing all the way. I was even able to manovre Yeti and Oz in to the petrol station at Pine Creek!! We arrived in Mataranka by early afternoon and set up camp at Jalmurark campground in the Elsey National Park. The road in was a little hairy for me, a few kangas and a small water crossing, but we made it with no casualties! It was a great campsite with flushing toilets and warm showers. Once established we headed down the road to the Mataranka homestead and Rainbow Springs. The water in these springs is 34C and the palm trees made for a lovely setting. 

We swam around here until it was nearly dark, then made for home for dinner and 500 with the kids!

The Big Barramundi

This morning Troy was up with the sparrows and off for a session of Barramundi fishing.  He was fishing on the East Alligator river where someone was taken by a croc a couple of days ago, so I was a little nervous! 

The kids and I participated in a guided walk, with Ranger Annie once again. This time she mainly talked about the plants in the region, and the things the traditional owners used them for and what they learned from them. It was very interesting, and we got some much needed exercise! We arrived back later than expected, but still beat Troy back. He was due at 11am, so I was very pleased to see him when he arrived home at about 1pm! 

Troy had a marvellous day. His caught his first barramundi, and many more after that. 

Apparently it wasn't only the crocs they had to be weary of but the fresh water bull sharks that also frequent the river! But the boat was a good sturdy one, and all returned unscathed, and with a great supply of Barra fillets! 

We packed up camp and made our way just down the road to Cooinda. Unfortunately Jim Jim Billabong was still closed but we went and had a look at the Warradjan cultural centre. This had great displays of the region and the evolution of the way of life for the traditional owners. We then went to Yellow Water billabong and walked along the boardwalk. This was a very serene place, but had lots of mozzies, so we quickly absorbed the atmosphere before the mozzies absorbed all of our blood. 

The market Mozzie cream is not working too well!!! 

Nourlangie

This morning we made our way to Nourlangie for another ranger guided information session about the region. We hiked to a look out for the first session where Ranger Annie told us about Kakadu, it's Traditional Owners and a bit about how the landscape came about. The escarpments here are spectacular. 

We saw some more rock art, this time explained with much more clarity than yesterday. We learned a little about Narrmagon, the lightning legend, and the rainbow serpent legend. We went to a shelter that had previously had an archaeological dig prove life to more than 5000 years ago, and that was just from a few rocks!! It was quite fascinating!

After this we went to Anbangbang (just love saying that name) billabong, otherwise known as a traditional owners supermarket! All types of food could be found here depending on the season. It was very serene and picturesque, and what my idea of what Kakadu was going to look like! 

We then went to the Bowali cultural centre, where we received even more information about the traditional owners, and their way of life. There was a little theatre here also and I popped in to watch, right at the moment the rangers were catching, shooting and dissecting a crocodile. Nice! Popped back out of there.

We went to check out the uranium mine. This was a horrible stark contrast compared to the landscape we have been seeing. After all we have learned about this region, it will be interesting to watch the future of Kakadu, given that there is only one traditional owner of the land left, and while the current government does not allow mining in National Parks, that's not to say the next government won't change legislation.

We made our way back to camp for a swim and relax before dinner. We set all the kids up with dinner and a movie, then us grown ups headed out to the resort's restaurant for date night! Graeme, Sue, Troy and I were also joined by Harry and Mel who also arrived here today. Great night!

Ubirr Rock Art and Cahill's Crossing

This morning we arrived at Ubirr for a ranger guided tour of the Aboriginal artwork of this area. Our guide was a "traditional owner" but very softly spoken, so it could have been very interesting but a lot of the time we missed what he was saying. 

Also sometimes what he did say contradicted with what was written on the sign in front of the rock art! Also, according to Stella, he wasn't very enthusiastic, accentuated by the fact that close behind us was another group with a really engaging and enthusiastic guide. Despite all this, the rock art was quite impressive. 

The view from Ubirr rock was also amazing, I almost felt like I was looking over the flood plains of Africa. Ronan did a great Lion King impression too! 

From here we went to Cahill's crossing, which is basically just a road that crosses the East Alligator River, you know the one where that guy was taken just the other day! The problem is the river goes over the road, and if you try and cross while the river is running too quickly, your car ends up in the river surrounded by crocs, as what happened yesterday! Sadly we missed that action, but while we were there we did see a few crocs. 

Apparently the barramundi run with the rushing tide, and the crocs are there to scoop them up, or a silly fisherman that gets too close!! Troy did have a crack, but lost his lure fairly quickly and had to stop! 

The tide changed in about five minutes, from rushing to our right, to still, then rushing back to our left. Cars only had that five minute window to cross the road and all made it easily! 

We returned to Jabiru and had a look around town, before returning to the park for a swim. The Sydney crew arrived, so it was 500 for the rest of the night! 

The Jumping Crocs in Adelaide River

This morning our pack up was a little slow, as we missed the boat, literally. We rocked up to the Jumping Croc cruise at 8:55 only to watch the boat pulling away from the jetty. So we went to the Window to the Wetlands information centre just down the road to pass time until the next cruise. This was quite interesting and we got to watch a documentary about Kakadu, so that made Troy happy! We also saw our first water buffalo. 

We arrived back with plenty of time before the next cruise, and were kept amused with snakes. Yes, they had pet snakes that you were able to hold! Yay!! Ronan and Stella were straight up there again to hold Tiger the carpet python. 

Missing the first cruise was a blessing in disguise as it had been very full with two big bus loads of people and they went on the bigger boat the company have. We ended up in a smaller group and went out on a smaller boat, allowing us to get much closer to the action!! As the Captain of the boat, Tamara, said, we were like an ice cream truck and the kids came running when they heard the music. As soon as the boat meandered past a croc it started swimming right for us. They looked quite friendly really, especially one they had affectionately named Stumpy, as he had one leg missing. He was a big 5m male salty and a bit of a poser really. 

He even sat on the bank and had his head scratched by a rod one of the staff were using to hold out the food. We saw quite a few crocs despite the murky water. The staff had them jumping out of the water for a piece of meat. Apparently they looked after the welfare of the crocs by ensuring they weren't fed too often. 

Another great part of this cruise was when they fed the brown kites. These amazing birds would soar above the back of the boat and would then fly to the front and catch a piece of meat the staff threw into the air. They never missed. It was very impressive! 

We then made our way along the Arnhem highway toward Kakadu National Park, stopping at the Bark Hut Inn for lunch. We made it to Jabiru by early afternoon and set up camp at the Kakadu Lodge. Tonight while Troy and the kids watched the footy I went to a ranger talk about what it takes to be a ranger in the Top End. She showed a heap of photos as well of the rangers catching crocs to ensure the swimming holes are safe, rescuing cars that thought they could make it across a water crossing but forgetting about the tide and getting stuck, weed and feral animal management, among other things. It was very interesting!