Kakadu
National Park covers
almost 20,000 square kilometres and is a place of contrasting landscapes. We
visited the rock art galleries at Ubirr and Nourlangie Rock which date back
many thousands of years
The steep 250m climb/rock scramble to the top at Ubirr was
worth the view across the floodplains below:
Gunlom
Falls was only accessible
via a 4WD road – the ute was rather orange afterwards from going through a
number of water crossings along gravel roads.
It rained quite heavily for about 5 hours the last night we
were in Kakadu, but the temperature didn't fall below 30C and the humidity was
astonishing. We had to abandon watching a film outside as we couldn't hear the
soundtrack for the rain on the van and awning and we realised we were sitting
in 2 inches of water! Time to turn off the generator! In the morning, the tidemark around the awning showed
that it had reached 4 inches – we were in a swamp. A new batch of mozzies was
also waiting for us as we started packing up to move on. We often wonder what they eat when we're not there.
We continued south for a few days through Pine Creek,
Katherine and on to Elsey National Park, home of the hot springs at Mataranka. The thermal springs
were fringed by paperbark and palm forest and bubble at a constant temperature
of 34C. It’s also amazing the difference a few hundred kilometres makes on the
overnight temperature as by this time, the nights were a lot cooler so there
was still a chill in the air when we went swimming first thing in the morning.
It was lovely – first bath I've had since Sydney
J
Next, on to Daly Waters and the home of Australia’s first international
airfield. From the 1930s to the late 1950s it was used for flying mail into the
Northern Territory from Queensland. It then became a staging and
refueling point for Qantas international flights flying through Darwin and on to Singapore and other domestic
services. In those days, the trip cost £275 and took 8 days. During
WWII, Daly Waters played a large part in the protection of the Northern
Australian coastline. The Australian and American air forces were based here
along with Mitchell Bombers, Kitty Hawks and a fighter squadron.
We walked around the original Qantas hangar, reading about the place and how it
all began. The old drover’s store in the township is now the Daly Waters Pub
and people come from miles around (including us) to experience the bush
hospitality. At least 100 caravans plus tents and swags were in the field
adjacent to the pub, so we didn't have far to stagger! ‘Beef and Barra’ on the
BBQ is a must (barramundi is a tasty, meaty white fish – yummy!), washed down
with a few beers and accompanied by a couple of guys on guitars and later in
the evening, a typical bush comic. A great night was had by all.
From Daly Waters it took us two days to leave the Territory
and cross the border into Queensland.
Now we’re visiting other places we didn't the first time around.
