Days 277-281- Alice Springs to Kakadu Park

Day 277- Beginning a New Journey

Alice Springs to Banka Banka Cattle Station- Friday, September 28, 2007

Photos of this part of our journey through the Northern Territory can be seen at our new Photocast by clicking here: http://photocast.mac.com/rod.murray/iPhoto/northern-photocast/index.rss

Our new journey began early when my alarm went off at 3:30 a.m. after a very short sleep. We were to be picked up at 4:45 a.m. by our Australia Adventure Tours bus. They operate three tour companies that offer slightly different styles of travel, depending on what you are doing. Colleen’s sister, Mary Ellen, and partner Sean, also traveled with them. Since we are actually enroute from Alice to Darwin, they operate The Wayward Tour bus service, which makes frequent stops, provides self-contained tent accommodation, meals and activities along the route. The alternative is to travel straight through and see nothing. A 1500 km journey straight through would be unbearable so this was the best option, and we could combine the trip with a 3 day Kakadu National Park 4WD tour to save money.
Our driver and tour leader, Jayme, from Vancouver, picked up our travel companions at a nearby hostel: 4 young Japanese, 1 Dane and an Australian, and headed north, making morning stops at The Tropic of Capricorn, Ti Tree (population 50 but with great coffee and Aboriginal art), Barrow Creek (site of an Aboriginal massacre), Wycliffe Wells (the UFO Capital of Australia), stopping at Wauchope for lunch (the pub was owned by the father of our tour company trainee, Megan).
Our afternoon stop was longer, at Devil’s Marbles, where we spent an hour exploring the granite rocks that have been eroded into round shapes. Warning: Geography lesson follow- you may proceed to the next paragraph and skip the test. An igneous intrusion of liquid rock millions of years ago into the sandstone crust has slowly emerged from below as the sandstone above has worn down. “Onion peel” weathering, where water seeps into the surface of the rock, causes layers of the granite to break off, and creates the round shapes.
We carried on through Tennant Creek and stopped for just long enough to refuel and get an iced coffee. We did see the school and paid homage to our friend back in Oakville, George Brett, who spent a year here while on Teacher Exchange. There appeared to be a mix of those who benefited from the local gold mine here as well as many who did not. Such is the paradox of the Northern Territory, where Aboriginal Australians do not seem to have the same opportunities and quality of life as others. Others we met disagreed with this observation. The debate continues.
Our stop for the evening was at Banka Banka Station Caravan Park where the tour company has its own permanent tents and camp kitchen. The Station is a working cattle station with 58,000 head of cattle on 400,000 hectare. Farm animals and kangaroos wander the campsite, and the kiosk has the cheapest beer in the Territory. We sat under the verandah, drank a cold one and watched the proprietor bottle-feed a joey kangaroo that had been orphaned on the Stuart Highway.
Dinner was taken on the kitchen deck as the sun set over the hills. The stars were wonderful, but it had been a long day and we all settled into bed before 9 p.m. Almost 600 of the over 1500 km between “The Alice” and Darwin had been covered, with almost the same distance to be done tomorrow.



Day 278- Is Katherine Burning?

Banka Banka Station to Katherine via Renner, Daly Waters Pub and Mataranka Thermal Pool- Saturday, September 29, 2007 (AFL Grand Final Day)

Just a short time into our drive and we came across a local farmer and his road train that had lost his load of cattle feed when the third trailer swung off the road and rolled over. A crew of farm hands had been deployed already to gather the undamaged 40 kilo bags and load them into another truck. We stopped to help. They thanked us for our assistance and we were off again, barreling north as the sun rose over the eastern horizon.
The dry desert of The Red Centre finally gives way at a town called Renner as you drive north on the Stuart Highway. It is here that the trees become taller, the termite mounds bigger and the tropical sunshine brighter. The tropical savannah of the Northern Territory is vast, and we traveled through it for hour upon hour.
Detouring at Daly Waters, we first checked out the aerodrome, which had been used in the early days on the Sydney to London flights for a refueling stop. It was also used in WWII as an Australian Air Force Base. Jayme drove around the runway and made us put our arms out the window like wings.
Near the aerodrome was the Stuart Tree. It is claimed that William Stuart, who explored this area 4 times in attempts to cross the country from south to north (only the 4th was successful), carved an “S” into the tree. It was a popular place to visit during the war. However, Stuart never wrote about it in his diary so there is speculation about its authenticity. We also visited the old jail and the original Post Office, relics of more active time period in the town’s history.
The real highlight was having lunch at the Daly Waters Pub, one of the oldest in the country. It is customary to place a personal item on the wall, and every square inch of the place has such items as shoes, currency shirts, bras, student cards…you name it, stapled to the wall. Colleen’s sandal had ripped in two pieces earlier in the day and so she labeled it and nailed it in the shoe section. Matheson placed his Holy Trinity Secondary School student card on the front of the bar, just in case you ever get there and want to see it.
Now, it was only 11:30 in the morning, but I must confess that Colleen and I both ordered a beer with our lunch, just to say we coiffed a draught at Daly Waters Pub. It surely must be the earliest I have ever done that in my life, but it was in keeping with the +35°C temperatures here and the highest per capita beer consumption in the country.
Our stop was not over, and we also set up bowling pins on the main street and had a few games before we hopped back on the bus. There was something silly about watching the 4 Japanese throwing bowling balls down a deserted street in the middle of the Outback. I must confess I laughed at them, and Matheson too.
It was a long drive towards Mataranka, but well worth it the diversion off the highway. This place is know for its Thermal Pools, but today, it was also a popular place since the pub was also showing the Grand Final of the Australian Rules Football from the MCG in Melbourne. The score was already lopsided in favour of the Geelong Cats over Port Adelaide, so we went to the thermal pool instead. The water bubbles up from the earth at a constant 34°C with a steady flow of 16,000 litres per minute. The water is clear with only a hint of sulphur. It was a lovely swim!
Onward towards Katherine, where we noticed huge plumes of smoke as we pulled into town. Jayme joked that this was where our campsite was. The flames of bushfires were actually visible in the town. It was not a joke when we arrived at our camp near the Kathryn Gorge to find that another fire had swept by just hours ago, and that there were still flames visible on our side of the road. Apparently, a burn had leapt the road and threatened both our camp and the helicopter business next door. It was a smoky night, and the orange glow on the horizon was a continual reminder of the fires that were burning not too far away.




Day 279- Paddling Katherine Gorge

Katherine to Darwin- Sunday, September 30, 2007

We began the day with a paddle up the Katherine Gorge. It was already hot (over +30°C) when we set off heading towards the second of the thirteen gorges. The paddle up the gorge is quite incredible. It was already so hot you wanted to hop out of the canoe and swim, but the regularly placed crocodile traps are a constant reminder of the risk of doing so. The crocs make their way here in the wet season, when the water level rises 18 metres, or more.
However, there are no crocs (we hoped) in the second gorge, and Kevin and I jumped off the cliffs into the clear, cool water. It was refreshing! It was so hot that even Colleen went into the water back at the first gorge, apparently unfazed by the prospect of being eaten. It was that hot!
We paddled back to the Aboriginal Culture Centre and drank iced coffee, a regular choice in the heat here. (The big question is whether one chooses Farmer’s Union or Paul’s brand, lite, regular or strong…it’s a daily decision that one is forced to make here in the Northern Territory).
Onward towards the heat and humidity of Darwin we went. It was really hard to believe that a city of such size is so far away from the rest of the country, but it is. Darwin is closer to Jakarta, Indonesia than it is to Canberra, the Australian capital. We checked into the Cavanagh Backpackers (an old converted hotel), in a 6-share dorm (just us 4) over the bar with the band playing full volume. Yikes!
It was a Thursday, we realized, so the Mendil Beach Market was on and we grabbed a taxi out front, leaving the noise behind. The market is full of crafts, food, music and artisans. We enjoyed cheap food, great buskers and musical performances with many of our Wayward Bus traveling companions who had also made their way over.
Fortunately, the bar under our room at the Cavanagh shut down precisely at 10 p.m. as we needed to be back on tour at 6:20 a.m.

Day 280- Kakadu National Park- World Heritage Site

Darwin to Kakadu- Monday, October 1, 2007

It’s the end of the dry season here (May to October) and people are trying to get into the parks before the wet season arrives and closes off access roads as more than a metre or 2 of rain is measured here. So there were 3 groups of 4WD Kakadu tours leaving this morning which means that you may have to wait in line at important sites. Our guide Adam decided we would do most of our driving today so we headed east off the Stuart Highway heading towards the NE corner of Kakadu Park towards the Ubirr rock art site. This place is one of 3 aboriginal art sites in the park accessible to visitors. There are, perhaps, thousands more known sites, and many more that are only known to the Aboriginal custodians.
It was a long drive (3 hours) but worth the views. The rock art is quite detailed and the rocks themselves are just as breathtaking. Consider that up to 40,000 years of occupation of this land is in evidence, the art links the beginning of human existence here until the contact period with white explorers less than 200 years ago. The art of Arnhem Land is done in a unique “x-ray” style, where the insides of animals are drawn into the designs.
Under the stifling heat, the view across the wetlands towards Arnhem Land (the area between Kakadu and the Gulf of Carpentaria that is generally off limits to travelers) and the escarpment was equally awe-inspiring. It was here that author and friend Elizabeth Honey placed the fictitious community of Wakwak in her children’s book “Remote Man.”
After lunch we headed to the southwestern part of the park and headed away from the sealed road along a 4 wheel drive track. The large Mitsubishi 4WD bus we were in does well at 80 km/h on these corrugated rough dirt roads. Any slower and the shaking would knock the wheel nuts off…any faster and you would not make the turns and creek crossings.
We stopped in the middle of a raging grass fire that surrounded us. The Park Rangers burn off the grasses during this time of year. Wildlife escape in large numbers ahead of the fires, and Black Kites have figured out how to catch the snakes that are displaced by the fire. They even pick up burning sticks and fly ahead of the fire line, drop the stick, and wait for the fires coming in 2 directions to trap more prey.
We hiked into the Barramundie Gorge past 2 billabongs where crocs are known to have entered during the wet season. When we had climbed into the gorge past a number of waterfalls, we were given the great pleasure of an afternoon swim in the cool waters. It was refreshing, to say the least!
We hiked back out as dusk settled, and headed back to the centre of the park to the Coolinda campground, making full contact with a wallaby crossing the road in the process. The force bent the steel steps under the front tire. The boys were amazed that other evidence of the roadkill had already been erased when we stopped to set up camp.


Day 281- “As Falls Wichita, So Falls Wichita Falls”

Kakadu Park to Point Stuart- Tuesday, October 2, 2007

Adam, our tour guide had asked us to rise well before dark so that we would have a good chance of being the first tour into Twin Falls. We ate, packed and departed by 6 am, and started out along a very narrow, winding 4WD track towards 2 of the best sights in Kakadu National Park.
The previous wet season had wiped out the ford along Jim Jim Creek and the Park had set up a footbridge and shuttle at the other side. If we did not arrive first, the line up would prevent us from seeing the Falls. Our timing was perfect, arriving just ahead of a second group. We hiked to the boat tour dock that crosses the billabong to the base of the Falls.
Water was still flowing over the 2 precipices and views were magnificent. The rocks rise 150 metres around you and the water flowing down the faces cannot be adequately captured on camera. We wanted to swim, but Tony, the boat driver told us of the 4 crocs that had been taken from here this season. Wisely, we stood a few metres away from the water’s edge.
It was on to Jim Jim Falls where we would have time to swim. The walk into it is rugged and difficult as one has to scramble around car sized boulders. I wondered how my gimpy knee would fare. The falls were not flowing but the water was wonderful. The sand and rocks burnt our feet as the canyon was now in full sun. We made our way from one swimming hole to another. The final pool, at the base of the falls, was cool and clear. We did not want to leave!
Returning to the interior campground for lunch in the heat of the day, we feasted on hotdogs that had been cooked for us by the campground manager. I could not imagine that I could eat 2 foot-longs, but I did!
It was in the afternoon and a few naps later that we arrived at Point Stuart Lodge, a fishing camp where we would spend the evening. The pool was inviting and we all headed over for a cool-off swim. We had been joined on this tour by a sixty-ish German couple and it was the birthday of the woman, Teresa. Mannfred, her husband, bought us all drinks and we ate supper in the presence of geckos and spiders. Apparently this camp needed upgrading, but the work had not yet been completed.
Our tent had a St. Andrew’s Cross spider and web guarding the front door. This unusual spider weaves an intricate web that includes a large “X” pattern where the spider sits, creating an effect where the spider appears much larger than it really is.