Yes folks, it’s been about 6 weeks since our last blog and we have covered some serious ground in that time!
Our expedition to the tip of Australia and the Cape York Penninsula was incredible and a huge accomplishment in more ways than one. I am in the process of creating a page on this blog purely for the “Cape York Expedition”. It was such an awesome trip and we have so many stories and photos to share that i’m going to need a bit of time to collect everything before posting. Feel free to annoy me until I get it done though, it’s well worth it!
Us at the tip of Cape York Penninsula
So it’s now been about a month since we left Cape York Penninsula and Wade, Sarah and Monty continued on their Aussie Adventure! We started by heading West along the Savannah Way which is a highway that goes all the way from Cairns (in QLD) to Broome (in WA). Our first stop along the way was Undara Lava Tubes and Kalkani Crater. The Undara Lava Tubes were created some 190,000 years ago when Undara Volcano in North-Western QLD, erupted and lava burned its way across 160km of savannah plains. Over time the lava cooled and left a huge network of tunnels beneath the ground, some of which have collapsed in places leaving an entry into these awesome caves.
Undara Lava Tubes
We woke up at sparrow fart the next morning to do the2.5km walk up to the top of and around the rim of Kalkani Crater. The view was incredible from the top, especially when we read that all of the surrounding mountains are actually extinct or dormant volcanos.
Us at the top of Kalkani Crater
Kalkani Crater from the top (we didn’t see it from this view I got the photo from a website)
Upon leaving Undara, the real lengthy driving began. Long stretches of red dusty highways, ant hills and cattle as far as the eye can see and petrol prices of $1.70 (on a good day) and we knew we’d hit the real Aussie Outback!
Gotta watch those cows!
We arrived at our first stop along the Savannah Way, Normanton, where we took our photo with the “Big Crocodile” (See the BIG Things page). The only problem is that Krys, the 8.63m croc, is actually a replica of the biggest croc ever killed and recorded. It was shot on the Norman River, Normanton in the 1960’s and had an estimated weight of 2 tonne.
Normanton is also home to the World Biggest Steak (that’s my claim anyway!). For $18, this thing was about 800g of meat and the best steak of my life.... unfortunately I couldn't hold up my end of the deal by finishing it, would’ve taken me about 3 days to eat it all!
We spent the night in Karumba on the Gulf of Carpentaria and did a fishing charter the next day. Four baby bronze whaler sharks later and we came home empty handed... once again! At least this time the owner of the company gave us a nice big King Salmon fillet to make up for the lack of fish.
We arrived at our first stop along the Savannah Way, Normanton, where we took our photo with the “Big Crocodile” (See the BIG Things page). The only problem is that Krys, the 8.63m croc, is actually a replica of the biggest croc ever killed and recorded. It was shot on the Norman River, Normanton in the 1960’s and had an estimated weight of 2 tonne.
Normanton is also home to the World Biggest Steak (that’s my claim anyway!). For $18, this thing was about 800g of meat and the best steak of my life.... unfortunately I couldn't hold up my end of the deal by finishing it, would’ve taken me about 3 days to eat it all!
We spent the night in Karumba on the Gulf of Carpentaria and did a fishing charter the next day. Four baby bronze whaler sharks later and we came home empty handed... once again! At least this time the owner of the company gave us a nice big King Salmon fillet to make up for the lack of fish.
Monty watching the sunset over Karumba
We spent the night camping on the banks of the Norman River (the same river where Krys the croc was shot!) and in the morning after sending Wade downstairs with a knife to check for crocs, we made our way back to the Savannah Way and headed south to Lawn Hill National Park.
Although the name might sound more like a cemetery than a National Park, this place is home to Lawn Hill Gorge which is a beautiful gorge with a crystal clear blue/green river running through it some 30m below the walls of the gorge. The natural limestone and calcium in the water give it the incredible water colour. When we heard that the river is croc-free, we couldn’t pass up an opportunity to canoe our way up the gorge and back. After ironing out a few paddling/coordination issues and me trusting that Wade wasn’t going to whack me in the back of the head with the oar, we took off upstream.
We also did a walk to look at some Aboriginal rock paintings which were pretty cool but unfortunately they ask that you don’t take photos – superstition got the better of us when we heard stories about photos turning out strange so we stuck to the rules.
After such a great day at Lawn Hill National Park, we hit the road slightly later than planned but thought nothing of it as we had our next few legs of the trip all mapped out. After driving for 2 hours on a corrugated and pot-holed dusty road and crossing one rather deep river, we found ourselves driving into a somewhat dodgy Aboriginal community and also running low on fuel. We still had another 100km to drive before arriving at a roadhouse along the Savannah Way called “Hell’s Gate” where we had planned to stay and fill up with petrol but suddenly we began doubting whether or not this place actually existed. Our trusty HEMA Map, didn't have Hells Gate listed in it and we passed a sign that said “LAST FUEL FOR 500KM” but was closed for the night! This servo also had steel roller doors covering the bowsers at night so we thought it was best not to wait here til morning!
After a very nervous hour and a half of driving and not passing a single car, truck or person, lights appeared in the distance and we finally pulled up out the front of Hell’s Gate! It turned out, the place was closed for about two years up until 12 months ago so our up to date guide books still had it listed as closed. Either way we were both very relieved to see human life and hit the hay before another long day of driving ahead of us.
First thing in the morning and we had another momentous occasion. We crossed the border from QLD into the Northern Territory!
Overall, the drive from Hell’s Gate to Daly Waters was pretty uneventful. We drove through some ridiculously HUGE cattle stations where you constantly have to get out of the car to shoo cattle off the road and open and close gates to these massive properties. We also saw two choppers who were mustering cattle on the station we were driving through.... and then spent the next 2 hours talking about how we were going to buy some ridiculous amount of land and run a cattle station. A totally reasonable plan for our future of course!
After staying at a roadhouse in Daly Waters we continued our journey and headed north to Katherine via Mataranka. We went for a swim in some natural Thermal Pools in Mataranka, did some grocery shopping in Katherine (bit of an eye-opening place!) and before we knew it another day had gone.
Monday morning arrived as we entered Kakadu National Park. Now no matter how many times we’ve heard the term “Kaka-don’t” nothing was going to ruin “Kaka-DO” for me! We followed some instructions from our Moreton Island pals Tim and Michelle and went straight to a waterfall and camping site known as Gunlom Falls. After the last few days of non-stop driving, Gunlom was a sight for sore eyes. The main waterfall cascades down a rock face that stands about 100m above the pool below it, but that is only the start of it.
There are also smaller pools at the top of the falls that feed the main waterfall and in some ways these small pools are even more spectacular. We had planned to walk up at sunrise on Tuesday morning but decided to do it on Monday arvo as well just to check it out so we knew where to go in the dark of the morning. Yeah, it my awesome idea to do the 1km walk directly up the cliff face TWICE. Let’s just say it’s a good thing that there are pools at the top cause the walk up was a BITCH of a climb! But good golly was it worth it!
That afternoon we had an awesome fire raging so we could cook a roast lamb and vegies for dinner in the camp oven. I don’t know if it was the hard work that went into the fire and the preparation but that roast was amazing! We finished it off with a glass of wine and decided that overall we’d had a pretty unreal day. We went to bed dreading the 5am alarm that I’d set so we’d be up to do the 30min walk to the top of the waterfall in time for sunrise. It was good fun and we got some great photos but the best part was that there was only one other couple up there compared to the 30 odd people the afternoon before.
We eventually left Gunlom Falls and headed deeper into Kakadu National Park. We spoke to a ranger at an info centre who told us that unfortunately, Jim Jim and Twin Falls (two of the most popular waterfalls within Kakadu), are actually still closed because of the conditions of the road. It wasn’t til a day later that we also found out that the two 3-4metre crocs in the falls (where swimming is usually permitted) also had something to do with the closure!
Although we were a bit disappointed about the closure, we thought we’d make the most of what we could see by doing a cruise on Yellow Water, one of the major waterways in Kakadu. Once the guide had satisfied all of the loser bird watchers on the cruise, we finally had some time to do some croc spotting.
We saw a few crocs both on land and in the water but still haven’t spotted any huge ones just yet. After the cruise, we stopped in at a Cultural Centre where we read all about the Aboriginal Clans who once lived in the area, some of whom now own Kakadu as the Traditional Owners and lease it to the Australian Government... sweet deal hey?!
Now our whole trip to Kakadu revolved around being at Jabiru (the random town in the middle of Kakadu) by Wednesday so we could watch the State of Origin.... wow, wasn’t that well worth it! We visited an amazing Aboriginal Art site where we could also see the rock escarpment that is basically the border between Kakadu and Arnhem Land. It’s quite cool the way this HUGE cliff face of rock that goes for about 200km separates the two areas. At the same time, not so cool cause you need a permit to enter Arnhem Land and the huge cliff means it’s pretty bloody hard to get in unless you do the right thing and enter via the proper crossing. That night we watched the State of Origin at the Jabiru Sports Club where Wade won a hat in a lucky draw and I think it almost took his mind off the pathetic game!
Now, you might be wondering why I haven’t written too much about our nights out here on our Great Aussie Adventure. Well, there’s a simple explanation. The mozzies up here are on bloody steroids! These things can bite through clothing and just the other day I woke up with a third butt cheek cause it turns out I’m slightly allergic to one of the types of mozzies. Wade’s been going mental slapping at them like a mad man. It’s better entertainment than TV! Needless to say, we’ve been having some pretty early nights, cooped up in our Shipp Shape escaping from the evil little bloodsuckers!
For our final day sightseeing in Kakadu, we had a cruisy morning laying by the pool in our awesome caravan park in Jabiru, because we were going to a rock “art gallery” on the border of Arnhem Land and Kakadu for sunset that night.
We left after lunch and headed to Cahill’s Crossing which is the river crossing from Kakadu to Arnhem Land. We’d heard a few days earlier that some guy was trying to cross the river during the night to get booze and drugs, but the river is tidal and being high tide at the time, it swept his grandfathers new Triton straight off the crossing and into croc infested waters! The lucky bugger managed to live but I doubt he’s learnt a lesson from it!
The new Grant Kenny and Lisa Curry-Kenny
Before long we were making Iron Men look like amateurs but we still managed to take time out of our strict canoeing rhythm to take in the incredible gorge we were paddling through.
Lawn Hill Gorge
We also did a walk to look at some Aboriginal rock paintings which were pretty cool but unfortunately they ask that you don’t take photos – superstition got the better of us when we heard stories about photos turning out strange so we stuck to the rules.
After such a great day at Lawn Hill National Park, we hit the road slightly later than planned but thought nothing of it as we had our next few legs of the trip all mapped out. After driving for 2 hours on a corrugated and pot-holed dusty road and crossing one rather deep river, we found ourselves driving into a somewhat dodgy Aboriginal community and also running low on fuel. We still had another 100km to drive before arriving at a roadhouse along the Savannah Way called “Hell’s Gate” where we had planned to stay and fill up with petrol but suddenly we began doubting whether or not this place actually existed. Our trusty HEMA Map, didn't have Hells Gate listed in it and we passed a sign that said “LAST FUEL FOR 500KM” but was closed for the night! This servo also had steel roller doors covering the bowsers at night so we thought it was best not to wait here til morning!
After a very nervous hour and a half of driving and not passing a single car, truck or person, lights appeared in the distance and we finally pulled up out the front of Hell’s Gate! It turned out, the place was closed for about two years up until 12 months ago so our up to date guide books still had it listed as closed. Either way we were both very relieved to see human life and hit the hay before another long day of driving ahead of us.
First thing in the morning and we had another momentous occasion. We crossed the border from QLD into the Northern Territory!
Wade, Sarah and Monty at the QLD/NT border!
Overall, the drive from Hell’s Gate to Daly Waters was pretty uneventful. We drove through some ridiculously HUGE cattle stations where you constantly have to get out of the car to shoo cattle off the road and open and close gates to these massive properties. We also saw two choppers who were mustering cattle on the station we were driving through.... and then spent the next 2 hours talking about how we were going to buy some ridiculous amount of land and run a cattle station. A totally reasonable plan for our future of course!
After staying at a roadhouse in Daly Waters we continued our journey and headed north to Katherine via Mataranka. We went for a swim in some natural Thermal Pools in Mataranka, did some grocery shopping in Katherine (bit of an eye-opening place!) and before we knew it another day had gone.
Monday morning arrived as we entered Kakadu National Park. Now no matter how many times we’ve heard the term “Kaka-don’t” nothing was going to ruin “Kaka-DO” for me! We followed some instructions from our Moreton Island pals Tim and Michelle and went straight to a waterfall and camping site known as Gunlom Falls. After the last few days of non-stop driving, Gunlom was a sight for sore eyes. The main waterfall cascades down a rock face that stands about 100m above the pool below it, but that is only the start of it.
Gunlom Falls from the plunge pool
There are also smaller pools at the top of the falls that feed the main waterfall and in some ways these small pools are even more spectacular. We had planned to walk up at sunrise on Tuesday morning but decided to do it on Monday arvo as well just to check it out so we knew where to go in the dark of the morning. Yeah, it my awesome idea to do the 1km walk directly up the cliff face TWICE. Let’s just say it’s a good thing that there are pools at the top cause the walk up was a BITCH of a climb! But good golly was it worth it!
Pools at the top of Gunlom Falls - Natures version of an Infinity Pool!
That afternoon we had an awesome fire raging so we could cook a roast lamb and vegies for dinner in the camp oven. I don’t know if it was the hard work that went into the fire and the preparation but that roast was amazing! We finished it off with a glass of wine and decided that overall we’d had a pretty unreal day. We went to bed dreading the 5am alarm that I’d set so we’d be up to do the 30min walk to the top of the waterfall in time for sunrise. It was good fun and we got some great photos but the best part was that there was only one other couple up there compared to the 30 odd people the afternoon before.
Sunrise at Gunlom Falls looking out over Kakadu
Gunlom Upper Pools at sunrise
We eventually left Gunlom Falls and headed deeper into Kakadu National Park. We spoke to a ranger at an info centre who told us that unfortunately, Jim Jim and Twin Falls (two of the most popular waterfalls within Kakadu), are actually still closed because of the conditions of the road. It wasn’t til a day later that we also found out that the two 3-4metre crocs in the falls (where swimming is usually permitted) also had something to do with the closure!
Although we were a bit disappointed about the closure, we thought we’d make the most of what we could see by doing a cruise on Yellow Water, one of the major waterways in Kakadu. Once the guide had satisfied all of the loser bird watchers on the cruise, we finally had some time to do some croc spotting.
Croc at Yellow Water
Lillies on Yellow Water
We saw a few crocs both on land and in the water but still haven’t spotted any huge ones just yet. After the cruise, we stopped in at a Cultural Centre where we read all about the Aboriginal Clans who once lived in the area, some of whom now own Kakadu as the Traditional Owners and lease it to the Australian Government... sweet deal hey?!
Now our whole trip to Kakadu revolved around being at Jabiru (the random town in the middle of Kakadu) by Wednesday so we could watch the State of Origin.... wow, wasn’t that well worth it! We visited an amazing Aboriginal Art site where we could also see the rock escarpment that is basically the border between Kakadu and Arnhem Land. It’s quite cool the way this HUGE cliff face of rock that goes for about 200km separates the two areas. At the same time, not so cool cause you need a permit to enter Arnhem Land and the huge cliff means it’s pretty bloody hard to get in unless you do the right thing and enter via the proper crossing. That night we watched the State of Origin at the Jabiru Sports Club where Wade won a hat in a lucky draw and I think it almost took his mind off the pathetic game!
Now, you might be wondering why I haven’t written too much about our nights out here on our Great Aussie Adventure. Well, there’s a simple explanation. The mozzies up here are on bloody steroids! These things can bite through clothing and just the other day I woke up with a third butt cheek cause it turns out I’m slightly allergic to one of the types of mozzies. Wade’s been going mental slapping at them like a mad man. It’s better entertainment than TV! Needless to say, we’ve been having some pretty early nights, cooped up in our Shipp Shape escaping from the evil little bloodsuckers!
For our final day sightseeing in Kakadu, we had a cruisy morning laying by the pool in our awesome caravan park in Jabiru, because we were going to a rock “art gallery” on the border of Arnhem Land and Kakadu for sunset that night.
We left after lunch and headed to Cahill’s Crossing which is the river crossing from Kakadu to Arnhem Land. We’d heard a few days earlier that some guy was trying to cross the river during the night to get booze and drugs, but the river is tidal and being high tide at the time, it swept his grandfathers new Triton straight off the crossing and into croc infested waters! The lucky bugger managed to live but I doubt he’s learnt a lesson from it!
We went to Ubirr where we were watching the sunset and saw some incredible Aboriginal Art (we were allowed to take photos of these ones... although i reckon i would’ve anyway, i loved it!)
Aboriginal Art at Ubirr Rock Art Gallery
View from Ubirr Rock looking out to Arnhem Land
Apparently people other than us had heard that the sunset from Ubirr was worth seeing (maybe cause it’s in the visitor guide!?), cause there were about 50 other people vying for a spot on this huge rock for the sunset!
It was worth it though and Wade was pretty good to me by minding a good spot for about half an hour before sunset!
Sunset from Ubirr rock
The next morning we were pretty excited about arriving at our next destination – Shady Camp. Shady Camp is known to have the largest saltwater crocodile population per square metre.... IN THE WORLD! Now who wouldn’t want to camp on the river bank of a place like that!?
Within 10mins of arriving at Shady Camp we had seen 2 crocs. The second of the two popped his head out of the water and his head alone was about the length of the body of the previous croc!
There is a croc at the front of this photo (see arrow). We were waiting just in case he decided to attack.... would’ve been a good start to my photography career! What??
We spent the arvo fishing. Might sound stupid with all those crocs around, but shady camp is also known for its great barra fishing. In true style we caught nothing. After a good day, Shady Camp became hell at night. The campground is on the river banks behind some mangroves so the mozzies were beyond belief. They were HUGE and absolutely everywhere. Wade and I were literally fighting over the ladder to get up to the Shipp Shape and get away from the damn mozzies. Of course that wasn’t before going down to the river in the dark with just a mag light, so we could do some croc spotting. The minute the light hit the water we saw about 6 pairs of red eyes looking back at us! It was pretty awesome until paranoia struck and I started thinking of all the horror stories we’d been told about crocs and decided it was time to get into the safety of the Shipp Shape!
We left Shady Camp first thing in the morning because we woke up with mozzies covering the outside of our windows starting at us like an army..... and they wanted blood!
Without even realising it, we ended up in Darwin on Saturday night which also just happened to also be the weekend of the V8 races in Darwin! Great planning on our behalf. The first caravan park we pulled into was charging $40 a night for an unpowered campsite which was on a huge slope, so we thought we’d keep looking. Yeah, like that helped. Hotels that were usually around $150/night were charging $350/night! We decided to worry where we’d sleep later so we went to Sky City (Darwin casino on the waterfront at Mindil Beach) for lunch. I think Wade was also hoping to get the “Midas touch” and earn us some cash for a hotel room.... always a good plan! Needless to say, that afternoon we drove out to the highway and slept at a rest stop for the night, surrounded by Britz and Wicked campervans..... and about 10 million mozzies!!
The first thing we did the next morning was go to a camping store and spend $200 on a nice big fly screen tent so we could escape the bloody mozzies if they continued to be as bad as they were.
Darwin is a market-lovers paradise so understandably, Wade was thrilled to be there on a Sunday! We started the day by heading to Nightcliff Markets which were good but nothing extraordinary. The extraordinary part of the day was that we then took Monty to the carwash! It had been about 8 weeks since Monty’s last shower and he was looking slightly worse for wear!
The best markets in Darwin are supposed to be Mindil Beach Sunset Markets. We went there and realised that these awesome markets were not only famous for the sunset and the local art and craft, but for the food! We were bummed cause we had decided to treat ourselves to dinner at a restaurant we’d been recommended, The Jetty, but at least we got to smell it! One of the food stalls is called Road Kill Cafe. They serve croc, emu, roo, camel and buffalo.... it all looked good to me!
We left the markets and went to The Jetty for dinner. After a good feed in a great restaurant overlooking the water, Wade treated me to a lovely place to stay for the night. It’s known as Truck City and is a big carpark out the back of a Shell servo that’s for road train truckies to stop in at for a rest.... niiiiice place. After an awesome night filled with the blinding lights of road trains streaming through the tent and the orchestra of engines churning all night, we decided to say goodbye to Darwin. We did some quick souvenir and grocery shopping then hit the road again for Litchfield National Park. Litchfield actually gets more visitors every year than Kakadu but we reckon they both have some awesome scenery. We stayed just outside the National Park at a nice caravan park and for the first time in about 2 weeks we set up camp for more than just a meal and bed. We booked in for 3 nights and even set up our new tent! Wade gave it a test run by falling asleep on the floor of it within about 5 mins so I think it passes.
In the morning we went into Litchfield National Park. Our first stop was the Magnetic Termite mounds. These termites build mounds up to around 3m tall but the cool part is that the mound is virtually flat and it’s flat sides point east and west with the points facing north and south! Can’t really explain it but it has something to do with regulating the temperature inside the mound by having the sun on its flat sides.
Magnetic Termite mounds, Litchfield NP
We then visited Florence Falls where we had a great swim in the pool at the base of the falls. It was an awesome way to start a 35 degree day!
Florence Falls
The “Lost City” – huge sandstone boulders that look like the ruins of an ancient city (yeah a good imagination helps!)
That night we met a cool guy from the Gold Coast at our campsite and chatted to him all night over a few cans. It was a nice change to the Grey Army we’ve been surrounded by for weeks!
Finally, I’m almost up to date...... So, yesterday, we drove from Litchfield back up the Stuart Highway to Berry Springs which we passed on our way to Litchfield. Berry Springs is a natural spring, again with amazing blue/green crystal clear water! We swam there for ages and let the current take us from the top pools all the way through narrow sections of the springs and down to the bottom pools.
Berry Springs
After Berry Springs, we drove back to Litchfield to see an old historic tin mine and the last of the waterfalls, Wangi Falls.
Bamboo Creek Tin Mine
Wangi Falls
AND FINALLY....... TODAY!! Today we packed everything up at Litchfield and headed South to Nitmiluk National Park where you will find Edith Falls and Katherine Gorge. We did another great walk up the falls at Edith Falls to the huge rock pools at the top. It was hot work walking up this hill but the pools were amazing!
Top Pools at Edith Falls
After leaving Edith Falls, we went through the town of Katherine (one of Wade’s not-so favourite places). We watched as an Aboriginal woman reached into a bunch of trees on the median strip and pulled out a goon bag before walking off with it. Interesting place. I wonder where they get these trees.
Tonight we’re staying at Katherine Gorge Campground. It’s been the first time in a long time that we’ve had power AND internet at the same time! Sorry it has been such a long time since my last blog but I promise they’ll be coming hard and fast now that I’m back up to date! Sorry also about the extreme length of this blog and/or congratulations for getting this far reading it!
Well that’s about it up until now. I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to update and I promise I’ll try to have the Cape York Expedition up asap, but for now I hope all is well back home and hope I haven’t bored you with this ridiculously long blog!
Wade and Sarah
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