Darwin and Kakadu - Aug 7 - 10, 2009

This past weekend I spend three full days back in the Northern Territory.  Last time I was there was back in January when I went to Alice Springs, Uluru, and Kings Canyon.  This visit was dedicated to Kakadu and Darwin.  Darwin is up near the top of Australia which means it's always warm.  During summer it's warm and very wet, but during winter it's just warm and wonderful.  Needless to say I was excited to be in 30+ degree heat.

I arrived safely (at 1:00 am on Saturday morning after a four hour flight) and quickly got settled into my hostel.  I figured the rest of the room was asleep so I was extra quiet.  Little did I know that at the time I was the only one in the room and I was rudely awakened at 3:30 in the morning to the return of two drunk girls.  Obviously being drunk they could have cared less that I was actually trying to sleep so the conversations continued at full volume with all the lights on.  Since I only had the opportunity for a maximum of five hours of sleep this made me angry.  So a few hours later when it was my turn to get up I wasn't my curtious self and I too turned on the lights and didn't take any extra care to be quiet.  It's not my style of course but I must say I felt great doing it.  

Anyhow back to my adventures.  I met up with my group at 6 am but we waited around for about another hour because three guys from the tour were coming in from Thailand and their plane was delayed.  By 7 am ish we were off in our four wheel drive vehicle. Our first stop was at Humpty Doo for coffee and breakfast.  From there we headed to a Billabong.  A billabong is like a big puddle of water that is left over from the wet season.  As the dry season passes the billabong gets smaller and smaller until there is no water left.  Kakadu has many billabongs and most (if not all) are filled with CROCODILES!  

At this particular billabong we were greeted by an aboriginal family.  The father made sure that we would not be bothered by the spirits on the land by taking water from the billabong and spitting it on our heads.  Apparently that's a good thing.  We all thought it was pretty gross but went along with it of course.  We also went through three  stations where we learned about aboriginal weaving,  didgeridoos, and spears.  We took part in all three activities and to be honest I wasn't all that great at any of them.  But it was still a great experience (the best aboriginal one I've had so far) and I learned a ton.

Aboriginal Weaving

Me playing the Didgeridoo

From the Billabong we headed for a Crocodile Cruise.  There are crocodiles in all the waters up in the Northern Territory.  The billabongs are also home to many different types of birds.  But the coolest part of the boat ride was seeing a Jabiru mother bird and her two very young babies.  If you look in the picture you'll see they are all so small that they can walk on lily pads.  But what was the coolest was that because the mother felt her babies were in danger she actually hid them under her wings.

I don't remember the name of this bird but it wasn't the smartest bird.  It can swim under the water but only for 30 min.  After 30 minutes has passed its wings become water logged and it must get out of the water and open its wings to allow them to dry. It can only stay out of the water for 30 min too and then it has to go back in.  This entire process is repeated ALL DAY LONG!  The poor bird.

The mother and two baby Jabiru birds 

(the babies are to the left and right of the mother -

you might want to double click on it to see them better)

The mother protecting her babies.

(If you look closely you can see four extra legs hanging down from her tummy).

From the boat cruise we travelled to Ubirr to check out some Aboriginal rock painting.  Rock painting is a very seacred thing but the aboriginals have allowed us to see some of the paintings from their young.  I learned that we will never be allowed to see the more complicated paintings.  They ones we saw were impressive enough.

Aboriginal Rock Paintings

More Paintings

A billabong at the Ubirr sight in Kakadu National Park

Me, on the lookout at Ubirr

After Ubirr we headed to our campsite in Kakadu national park for the night. The night sky was incredible with so many stars.  Sheldon our guided told us a bit about the stars.  It's too bad I couldn't get a photo of the night's sky.

The next morning we were up REAL early (5 am) and on the road by 6 am.  We headed along a  dirt road until we came to a point in the road where four while drive was required to continue.  Once our hubs were locked we kept on going toward Twin Falls.  The drive there was pretty crazy. It was either super bumpy, super sandy, or super wet.  You'll see in one of the photos below that we actually drove through a river!

Driving through the river!

A picture taken out the window while driving THROUGH the river!

(Notice how stunning Kakadu is!)

After a lot more four wheeling adventurous driving we arrived at Twin Falls.  In order to access the falls you have to take a small boat down a crocodile infested river.  Thankfully we arrived safely and after a short hike we were at Twin Falls.  Since it's the dry season right now the water was not running as wildly as it can in the wet season.  We also found out that the river was five meters higher at the end of the wet season then what it was when we were on it.  The wet season is one very very wet season.

Scenes from the boat ride.

(Thankfully we didn't see any crocs but we were warned to keep our hands INSIDE the boat)

Twin Falls 

(the twin fall is the small one to the right of the bigger one)

After a short stop at Twin Falls we headed back onto the four wheel drive road and made our way to Jim Jim Falls.  Unfortunately Jim Jim falls is complete dry at this time of year so we didn't actually see any falls.  However it was excellent being their because we could SWIM in the water with out fear of crocodiles.  At this point it was probably 35 degrees or warmer so swimming was wonderful.  We stayed there for about 90 minutes and we even enjoyed our lunch there which was wonderful.  As we hiked out of the falls we came across a snake, which I was brave enough to hold.  Unfortunately I look too fat to post the picture but I've posted one of the snake being held by the guide for you to see all the same.  

A small glimps of Jim Jim Gorge/Falls with out the Falls

The Snake I held!  REALLY!

From Jim Jim Falls we started to make our way back to Darwin (over 200 km away).  Sheldon took back dirty roads so we could see more of Kakadu. We stopped at another billabong and I took and I took a few pictures of other aspects of Kakada.  Here's one to enjoy.

One of the many sides of Kakadu

We arrived back in Darwin around 6:15 pm. I quickly checked back into my hostel, had a REAL shower (we were filthy from Kakadu), and headed down to Mindil Market.  Mindil Market takes place at sunset Thursday and Sunday nights.  It's a market with local crafts and many food vendors.  I walked to the market with two girls I met in the hostel.   It was a great place to pick up a souvenir necklace and dinner.  We also listened to a man play several digeridoos.  It was a nice way to end a weekend.

Mindil Market

The multiple digeridoo playing man 

(He was excellent!)

The next morning I was up early and out for breakfast.  I walked around the city section of Darwin. It's not a particularly big city (maybe around 100,000 people) and so I was able to cover a fair bit in just a few hours.  What I liked was that I found the gallery that I loved in  Alice Springs in Darwin so I was able to pick up a few more things that I wanted.  I was hoping to maybe buy a piece of aboriginal art to ship home but what I loved wasn't in my budget.  I'll keep looking but I know the Northern Territory is the place to buy it.  While in Darwin I visited the new wharf/water front area.  I walked all day only stopping for food and coffee (yes Tracey I did get to your friend's coffee place but I didn't say hello).  Oh and did I mention it was HOT!  Oh, I loved the heat.

Wharf/Water Area in Darwin

Well, my time in Darwin quickly came to an end as I headed back to the airport for my four hour flight back to Melbourne.  When I left Darwin around 6 pm it was still over 30 degrees. When I landed in Melbourne around 11 pm it was 8 degrees and raining.  I'm so glad I had the opportunity to visit the top end of Australia.  I wish I could have stayed longer though as I would loved to have gone to Litchfield, and Kimberly.  I hope there will be another trip to Australia in my future.  Heck Darwin in July/August would be a great place to be.

Anyhow before I end this post I need to thank KAY from work for lending me her camera for the weekend.  As I mentioned in my previous post my NEW camera is no longer working.  Tomorrow it's heading back to the store (only four weeks after I purchased it).  Hopefully I'll get a replacement camera because I need to keep this blog running with PHOTOS!  Next weekend I'm heading to Ocean Grove with Julie from work.  Ocean Grove is right on a surf beach and I've heard the area is just stunning.  It also been rumored to be 20 degrees and SUNNY this weekend in MELBOURNE!!  I can't wait!!

Until next time...