Kakadu to Darwin,Litchfield and back to Katherine

From Jabiru we travelled to Ubirr.It has arguably the most historic art galleries in the world painted by aboriginals.The views from the sandstone escarpments over the wetlands and beyond were a sight to behold.

"...somewhere Ubirr the rainbow!...." (No musical notes on my keypad

Stone fish???

The walk was tiring and unbelievably hot, so we treated ourselves to a magnum and cold drink at the Border store....the border is between Kakadu and Arnhem land and is divided by the East Alligator river.Spotted estuarine croc's gliding through the river and sunning themselves along the banks.You don't have to go on a cruise to see croc's here...every river has them and not little fellas!
Decided to head for Darwin for the night...got there after dark.Big mistake! No room at any of the Inn's...Ended up doing a' night tour 'of Darwin and finally finding 'accommodation' in a dilapidated donger 40kms south of Darwin.
We named it the 'Darwin Hilton'...she was rough.. but we did appreciate the accommodation as we had no where else to lay our heads.The alternative would've been hanging in our hammocks along the highway!...

The Darwin Hilton!

Next morning we decided to see Darwin by daylight!...but first we booked into a cabin to ensure we had a decent bed to sleep in that night..there's a total fire ban in and around Darwin so camping with a campfire was out of the question.
I would describe Darwin as hot, very dry and brown, flat, with a well laid out road system that is easy to navigate, friendly helpful people, and where tourism is staring to boom.It has an atmosphere of its own..laid back...a 'shes right mate' sort of a feel to it.

Bought two new back tyres for Suzy...those should see us through the rest of the journey.
Checked out the shopping arcade in the centre of town...reminded me of the centre of Brisbane but on a smaller scale, the Botanical gardens and wanted to check out the Museum at Fannie Bay (cool name ah?) but Hans was refused entry because he had his mono pod with his two cameras attached....the guy argued that it was a tripod...but Hans explained it was a mono pod because it only had one leg...the guy reckoned he could still use it as a weapon so Hans told the man very calmly that he could stick his museum up his arse.

Bought a watertight/waterproof sealable bag meant to keep your stuff dry when boating...we figured if it was meant to keep water out...it will keep water in...hence we now have our own 'washing machine'....we fill it with water,add soap powder and clothes, seal, and tie onto roof rack....travel on for the day...take clothes out and rinse,squeeze and hang on line..brilliant!
It even heats the water for a warm wash as its black and absorbs the heat as we travel.
It now also doubles up as a spare container (collapsible and can be folded away when not in use) for spare water for our evening camp shower.

So after a good nights sleep and having restocked the pantry we made our way into Litchfield National park from the northern end via 4wd road.
Litchfield National Park is heaps smaller in size to Kakadu being only 1500 square kms but it does boast many beautiful waterfalls and plunge pools that are safe to swim in.....hence busloads of tourists also tour through the area, plus your self drives, and day trippers from Darwin.
Every feature you visit you have to share with thousands of visitors.Realised after visiting and looking for a place to camp, that you would have to get there at 0700 hrs just to claim a spot!....so we booked into a 'tourist park' so we could be assured to have a place to camp....it turned out to be a very relaxed camp and the guy running it, Don, a likeable rouge.

The second night was certainly entertaining... watching the German tourists of various ages doing the 'camping thing' in their Britz vans...they speak very loud and have no real consideration for their fellow campers.Observing our close neighbours erecting a tent with one reading the instructions was hilarious...and they have no understanding of personal space...they erected the bloody thing on our doorstep! (Sorry to any Germans reading this blog...this is not a slight on you!) One thing we know for sure...they don't run a camping shop in Germany!

Blizkreig negotiations!.

Checked out Wangi Falls...absolutely beautiful...had a refreshing swim in the cool water that flows from the magnificent waterfall.

Wangi Falls.

Next day went to Florence falls

Florence falls.

Buley Rock pools

Buley rock pools.

Will be glad to move on tomorrow and find a camp of our own, because as I sit here writing this draft, with the Germans still arguing about how to erect the tent not 10 metres away..(they've been at it for over half an hour now and still not one pole up!...I reckon Germans must have problems with erections!)....a van load of 'fresh backpackers' have decided to pitch their tent less than 20 metres from our camp...the rest of the camp area is empty by the way....feeling hemmed in...they will wish they had camped at the other end of the camp once Hans starts snoring tonight!
Our peace is gone...it's going to be an interesting night!

Moved out the next morning and took the 4wd track south that leads out of the park.

Just as we were going onto the track bumped into a couple of familiar faces....John and Di!...the couple we had had dinner with when we met up with Dean and Anja in Katherine the previous week!...Amazing whom you meet in the bush!

Crossed the Reynolds creek which was running at 0.7 metres high....Suzy did us proud as usual

Did several more dodgy creek crossings on our way through but these were not as high, although they were interesting as where you went into the water you couldn't see the track out again!...

Then came across a sign pointing to Surprise Creek Falls.....had to check them out.

All I can say is Wow!....

A series of small waterfalls cascading into plunge pools...the largest being very deep...and only a few people around...It was like heaven...the temps here all around the NT are in the mid 30's all day...so when you see water of any kind, it attracts you like a magnet...or maybe its just me ...being a water sign!

Delighted in the cooling water....it also gave us repose from the flies...

I haven't mentioned the Flies have I?

They are in plague proportion out in the bush....they favour your nostrils, mouth and ear orifices...we have taken on the famous Aussie wave without any practice!....If you are a mouth breather, you soon learn to breathe through your nose, else you will be taking on board extra protein you hadn't counted on!

From daybreak to sunset they are on a mission....to explore any area you have exposed!...

They love sores you have created due to scratching from your allergic response to the mosquito's.

Then at Dusk they go back to from whence they came and a new breed of insects come on duty....the good old Mozzie....totally immune to any aerosol spray man has come up with....I reckon they just laugh when they see us spraying every inch of exposed skin!...I think they just lick it off and go for the good stuff found underneath...my healthy blood!

Anyway I digress....

A couple of other interesting facts about NT.

The speed limit on the open road here is 130kms per hour!

You can still have a cigarette with your coffee/food at any place providing you are outside...Love it!

Decided to camp at Surprise creek falls camp...there was no one in the camp area when we arrived at 1400hrs.....so we picked the spot that suited us...the one with the most shade and trees to hang the hammocks.....There were 7 possible camp spots there and by 1700 hours 6 of the 7 were occupied...

Went for another session at the plunge pools and rinsed the clothes washed during our travel that day in our washing machine with water from the creek.

Had a shocker of a night that night....despite Hans having hung a mozzie net over our 2 hammocks, the little shits still found a way in....they buzzed incessantly around our ears and faces all night....It was a hot night and me still having hot flushes....found it more than uncomfortable to completely enshroud myself with my sleeping bag for any length of time before having to throw it off to cool myself!....thats when they attacked....exposed skin!!!...

We were glad to move on the next morning...

Our destination that day was Katherine again...a) to pick up our mail that my dear friend Robyn had forwarded on there for us, and b) because you can't travel west to Broome etc from any further north than Katherine.Thought we'd get a cabin or whatever for the night ...wash up and restock the pantry before heading west...it was not meant to be!...

Firstly we could not get accommodation...and I couldn't understand why until I went to the PO to pick up the mail...it was closed...it was friday and it was closed!...then I noticed a sign on the door...Friday, was a public holiday cause it was Show day!....and a long weekend!

Finally found an unpowered campsite in a camp ground a few kms out of town.

Decided if we had to stay here till monday we would set up the big tarp and make ourselves comfortable.

We get some strange looks from people within the park who sit in their $100,000 rigs parked not far from us...but you get that....our camp is breezy and very colourful with it's sarongs which capture the breeze and its the biggest space we've had to live in since we left....

Oh we get comments all the time about Suzy!...especially at creek crossings when they doubt we will get through...but they don't know our little Suzy!.....

Day 2 in Katherine....

Went to the Cycad gardens....amazing specimens there...

Then decided to join in the fun of the fair at the Katherine Show...

Katherine show

Round em up! ...Katherine show.

Thats all folks for now!...thanks to all who have left comments....its great to get feedback...

Love to all x x x