Exploring The Top End (For people interested in me)

Well I guess it's pretty safe to say I'm not back into the swing of things back in Balgo but I must admit, it took me a while to get out of holiday mode this time.

So where I left you last time, I was actually being hurried as I uploaded all the photos by Nola who was in by the car eager to get away. That's right. I upset a nun to please you people. I hope you're happy!
Anyway, we got away earlier than expected and made great time driving up to Kununurra in around 7 hours with only one stop in Halls Creek but when we arrived in Kunners, I met all the nuns at the convent where I was staying who were all lovely ladies. We then went for a fun night at the Kununurra Agricultural Show before heading home to watch a game of AFL with some of the most passionate fans I have been present with.




Near Argyle Diamond Mines


The next morning my alarm went off at 1:30am to give me time to grab some breakfast before being picked up by Robert, Louise and baby Anne-Marie from school at 2am to drive up to Darwin. Unfortunately they didn't come until 3:30 so there was a long wait where I couldn't make any noise and was setting 3 minute alarms to give me some power naps. The drive to Darwin in the end took about 12 hours, Anne-Marie providing most of my entertainment. The highlight was probably when she basically emptied a whole pump water bottle down her front over the period of about 45mins by taking big sips then letting 97% of it dribble back out.

On my first day in Darwin I didn't really know what to do so I went out to the main beach and was quite disappointed that it was much like Broome's Cable beach in that the tides went out a thousand meters and there were no waves but this time the 'sand' where the water is is more of a mud. I don’t know why but I was expecting some tropical paradise.
The next day I headed out back to Mindle beach for the Annual Beer Can Regatta which was good fun and after a few hours of wandering the beach all by my lonesome before a lovely group of semi-locals (only go back to Darwin for 'the season') invited me to hang out with them.

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Pure Blonde Croc



Coke-adile



Mindle Beach

That afternoon, Roy, me big old brother turned up which was great to see a familiar face again for basically the first time in months. In the following days, we went to the Darwin Military Museum, got the school bus window fixed and then two very nice road trips.
The first was out to the Territory Wildlife Park which was like a massive zoo/animal sanctuary. A childhood dream was made reality with our first encounter with an Archer Fish (a fish that spits water at its prey). Oh and the awesome bird! You'll see in the video.

Me being artsy :)

Zac look-alike

There was also a very nice kangaroo having a nap in the shade of a tree and he made for a very nice picture... little did we know that he wasn't too fond of us for waking him up so a part of me was thinking, "This is awesome! Boxing kangaroo!", then there was the other part of me thinking, "I think I'm just about to get my ass kicked by a kangaroo..." so we decided to leave him be. Although it was a bit of a disappointment when I was subtly filming a family of tourists approaching the same roo, in some hope I would have a winning entry to Australia's Funniest Home Videos, fortunately for the family, they walked away safe.

Kangaroo Sleeping

Tourist Wakes Kangaroo



Kangaroo Fights Back!



Suprise Attack!!!

On the way home we stopped off at a hot mineral spring I had read of which turned out to be a lot of fun! A little weird with some girls covering themself in mud and telling everyone how amazing the exfoliation was and how much you pay in a salon for this but besides from that, very nice.

When we saw the croc's at the wildlife park, it was then that I knew I wanted to go on one of the many 'Jumping Croc Cruses' where basically, they dangle meat above the water and 3-6m crocs jump up beside the boat to get it. It is actually a genius idea because although the feed they get could last them a few days or weeks even, they make them use up so much energy jumping that they need daily feeding, therefore, guaranteed business.

So basically, that was insanely awesome! I feel as though I could have a future in croc cruises considering I spotted the first croc before the guide. My greatest achievement of the trip at that point.

lol

6+ meter croc

Could have been an awesome shot...

Shows a big croc but no jump :(

Actually jumps here :)

It was then time to begin our tour of the top end beginning very early in the morning and when we first met our tour guide, he said "Hey guys, I'm Henry." and when I replied "Henry" he sort of just stared at me so that was the start of a lovely relationship. The first drive out towards Litchfield National Park was a little awkward with most people just sitting silently with a few brave people asking where the person next to them is from.
Our first stop was Florence Falls which was our first experience of beautiful freshwater waterfalls. The water was just ridiculously clear and a beautiful temperature! Little did we know that this would be the standard activity of the following 5 days.

 At the first lunch, we just had hot dogs but out tour group of Germans, French, Japanese, South African and Dutch were in awe of the Australian's of the group's abilities of 'cooking a barbie' in the words of Astrid, our German friend.
We then went to Bluey Rockholes which wasn’t quite massive waterfalls but it was here that we realised the beauty of the water holes up north and how a tiny hole can be over 5 meters deep so perfect for rock jumping!

Next was a cultural experience with the local Wulna people where we were treated to a traditional welcome to country before lessons in bush tucker, basket weaving, didgeridoo making and spear throwing.

We then headed off to see some giant termite mounds before we went to Mary River where we went on a cruise. Unfortunately it was a little overcast so crocs weren't EVERYWHERE but we still saw about 5 or 6. We also saw a few wallabies, eagles, brolgas, egrets and a whole lot more wildlife.

That night out permanent camp site was right at the back of a big caravan park so that night, we went up to the pub and got involved with the locals in a game of Trivia. Our team came in 3rd but due to one team being made completely out of staff members and another not really fancied by the adjudicator, we went home with a bag full of 'Pale Ale' merchandise.

The next day was a very early start which started the trend for the following few days. Drive an hour or more, swim at an amazing waterfall, lunch, drive another hour, go to another amazing waterfall, then another drive to the campsite. Today's stops took us into Kakadu for the first time, firstly to Twin falls which required a walk, then a boat ride through a gorge, then another walk before we came out an a perfect white sand beach under two huge waterfalls. Unfortunately, a croc had been caught there 2 weeks before so that meant that no swimming was allowed for at least a month after that.

Henry leads the way

We then made our way to Jim Jim Falls, which I think was the most spectacular of them all. It was 20km 4x4 down some very rough terrain and then a long walk over big rocks which Roy and I loved thinking back to the old days of doing the same along the central coast beaches. The water was a tad chilly so I was pretty happy to just look from a distance and sit on the beach but eventually when we decided to actually go to the falls, they weren't just on the other side of this big rock like I originally thought, it was a good 150m swim away and surrounded by towering cliffs at least 70 meters high, the water there was freezing because the sun had not hit the water at all that day but when we got out there, it was definitely worth it!

We then went to the Warradjan Cultural Centre but were only there for about 5 minutes before closing. It was amazing how quickly they kicked us out of the centre, yet were so friendly in the gift shop.
After that we went to a Gunlom where we enjoyed the Kakadu sunset. It was pretty spectacular but let’s just says, the pound sets a VERY high standard.

The next day we set out to Ubirr, a large rocky area where there was layer upon layer of amazing rock art which was completely different to anything I have seen around Balgo. There were some ridiculous things like paintings some how painted on the bottom side of a cliff roof over 20 meters high but I think the most amazing things were firstly a painting of a Tasmanian Tiger which was proof that it once existed in Kakadu, and secondly, a painting of a gun which was obviously done after first contact with white settlers.

Spot the rock art

Tasmanian Tiger (just right of the water dripping mark (finger is blocking the sun))

Spot the gun

War scene

We then headed to Maguk, another awesome waterfall which once you swam out to the falls, there was an awesome ledge you could sit on right next to the falls. It also quite possibly had the best rock jumping spots which we just had to take advantage of considering basically about half a meter out from the cliff faces were waters possibly over 10 meters deep (I couldn't touch it despite diving off about 7m cliff and almost killing myself of oxygen deprivation). We then went to the top of the falls where there were more swimming holes were the highlight was a deep hole about the size of a spa bath that you pretty much could only get out of by swimming under a small opening about 2 meters under the water which made me even more claustrophobic than the small cave we climbed through at the Balgo rock art.

That night we got the swags out for the first time which were actually genius because unlike camping out in the pound (mostly) mozzies are ever present in Kakadu so they were just giant mosquito nets with a small mattress in it.

Swag Up.

**Note: Waterfall names may not be correct after this point... I got a little confused**

The next morning we had a quick dip in the very quiet Waterfall which I look back now and at the time, was quite disappointing but it's still an amazing place, just the previous two days had set an unrealistic standard! Although in all fairness, it had an awesome jumping rock as well.

Henry jumping

We then went to Gunlom which was an even longer swim than Jim Jim, probably about 200-250m but it had a neat little ledge right in front of the falls which not only made for a nice back massage but not a bad photo either.

The final falls we visited were Edith Falls which were well and truly in the running for my top location! It was a decent walk but you came out to a nice clearing with big rocks to sit in the sun, then in front of you was a nice big waterfall and nice water temp. Thinking now, this impression could well be influenced by the fact that that day was possibly the best weather we had that late in the day but still it was awesome!
There were some obviously seasoned visitors because these two guys seemed to know all the places to jump and knew about this ledge right under the falls which you had to swim at underwater from about 5m away, come up and immediately find the ledge with your eyes closed, find a possible rock to grip onto and then try to fight against the water and get up onto the ledge. It took me about 45secs of swallowing water and slipping but luckily the water was some of the best water I had ever tasted and I was a little dehydrated so everything was coming up Henry! Once I finally got up there, it was probably one of the coolest part of the tour because you could sort of open your eyes and look up at the water going over you. Only one problem but... the water was so strong that it basically pummelled all the dirt out of my hair so it was all fluffy like I had washed it. Not cool.

Little dingo friend

I felt it was appropriate.

The next day we headed to Katherine where we went early on we went to some thermal springs, which Hans, our Dutch friend really was not impressed with. "Ziss isn't hawt. Zey say it iz hawt springz but ziss is only a little warm! Don't you sink?" (Apologies for the bad Dutch accent).

We then went to Katherine Gorge where unfortunately an estuarine croc (not 'salt water' because they can survive in both salt and fresh waters, just a little fun fact) was found there a few weeks before so canoeing was no longer an option so it was really going on a 2 hour cruise or nothing so we went on the cruise. It turned out to be the best option easily because not only was the cruise amazing, but while we left the canoe starting point, I realised how far we would have had to paddle before the sights really got spectacular. I think pictures can talk for me here.

Oh Hans..

That night we arrived back in Darwin and had a nice dinner together with most of the tour group. It was nice that night to finish the 5 day challenge (basically, no showers for 5 days but its not that bad, we were swimming twice a day. Don't judge me.)
The next morning, I had an early start to hop on the Greyhound bus from Darwin to Halls creek which took over 16 hours but when I arrived in Halls Creek, I was met by the smiling Sri Lankan, Mindy and we caught up with a few guys from Balgo who were there for a drink before starting our drive to either Broome or Fitzroy Crossing, depending on how we were feeling. We were driving along at a good pace with not many roos around but then one small roo jumps out onto the road, hops away from us so we slow down. It then decides to turn around and jump right into the front left headlight. We stopped and checked it and it definitely wasn't moving so we checked the car. Just before taking off, it started breathing. Then about a minute later, it put its head up and then slowly and awkwardly gets up, stands there for a while before hopping off, firstly on the spot and then sort of side to side into the darkness.
At about 2am, we decided to make a quick stop so we quietly pulled into a caravan park, I jumped on the roof with a swag and Mindy got in his in the bottom and We would have been in swags and going to sleep within about 2 minutes. I was rather impressed with our efforts!
The next morning we woke at about 7 and I was met by some very happy camper who was sitting outside his caravan and said "Morning mate, want a cup of tea?" But we headed off and made it into Broome mid morning, met the new prac teachers and then went to Cable beach for that day's bathing. That night since our accommodation still wasn't ready, we pulled the same manoeuvrer at the Broome Caravan Park with expert precision. Over the next few days, we went to the beach a few times, did some shopping and one day Mindy and I tried to find a place called Coconut Grove or something and we still don't actually know if we found it or not... we went where we were told, went down a really thin sand road for a good half hour expecting something amazing on the other side of every hill, eventually we ended up at this sort of swampy mangrove place. We went back and tried somewhere else and possibly found it. It wasn't exactly the beach paradise we had described to us but it was nice.

This might have been it?

We left very early on Saturday morning and Mindy and I shared the driving duties back to Balgo with Steph and the prac students squashed in the back.

It a truly amazing trip and I am definitely going to try and come back in my life and I strongly advise all of you to do that same. Just don’t make any impact on the places or I will hunt you down and give you a slap on the wrist because these places are so untouched and beautiful!

Plus with winter weather like this, who could complain!