Newsomes' Dash

By Craig: Arriving in Kakadu, well that’s what the sign said but the surroundings were anything but what was expected. Dry open lands abound and we were asking if we were on the right road.

We arrived at our chosen camp sight a little disappointed but still with an open mind and the hope that the wild wilderness was just over the next hill or around the next bend. With time to set up a little later we took a wander around the camping area and Sam was on kid alert as usual and it didn’t take him long to locate some playmates.

Many camp sites in NT have on-site caretakers and as Louise and I strolled over to say Hi it was quickly established that I knew Peter back in the days (early 80’s) when I worked at the Queensland Times QT in good old Ipswich. As we chatted we recalled the many Friday afternoons that were spent at the Caledonian Pub and where some of the people we partied with had ventured in life. One such person was Tracey Cox who after leaving the QT to become associate editor of Cosmopolitan, then went on to become an international sex, body language and relationships expert, well go figure. We agreed that had we had an inkling we would have been a little more attentive.

Peter’s wife Paula has also taken on the task of being a wildlife carer and whilst we were there we were able to share some time with a young wallaroo who by chance had been found by passersby after his mother had been killed on the roadside.

The camp site was 100 meters from a boat ramp on a large lagoon and it was time to get the tinny wet and do some fishing.

First thing in the morning and what a beautiful sight, water like glass with tranquil surrounds almost made it a pity to start the 2 stroke. With a puff of smoke I was off and trolling the pristine water ways and was happy catching a Barra or two always under the watchful eye of a waiting croc.

Louise was a little disappointed she hadn’t caught a glimpse of the Kakadu as shown in all the glossy pamphlets so Sam and I took her out to explore the water ways and creek that connected to large billabongs in the Jim Jim Creek area.

We ventured over to Yellow Water and got as close as one can to seeing the wet lands of Kakadu unless you fly over it.

As we came to the end of a board walk just at the start of a swampy area a croc was sunning itself, you couldn't help but think that park rangers fed this croc daily as it was the only one we saw sun baking so close to a human presence.

By Lou: I have to admit I’d been looking forward to visiting Kakadu as part of this trip but the word on the street was that Litchfield National Park (just south of Darwin) was better. How could that be, I asked myself.

Kakadu is a World Heritage Area. Well, I must say I was very underwhelmed by Kakadu. I think I had expected to see crocodile infested river after crocodile infested river, and lily pad after lily pad, and jabiru after jabiru and well, just wetland, wetland and more wetland…and all from the bitumen.

But it turns out that the bulk of the biodiversity that gives Kakadu its world class reputation is actually impossible to find by road. So it was more woodland that we experienced but to my layman eye it didn’t look particularly unique. Vegetation disappointments aside, the park infrastructure just looked tired. We had to pay an entry fee of $50 and I would hereby formally like to suggest that that money go toward some replacement track markers (the fluorescent arrows have dulled to the colour of the rock that bears them) or a tin of paint to spruce up some railings. I’m sure all the international visitors chattering away in their native languages weren’t just discussing lunch options as they gathered in the car parks after the walks.

On the first day we stopped for a picnic lunch at Mary River Roadhouse and picked up our park entry permits. Two police officers from Katherine were also having their lunch and we had a great hour-long chat about life in NT. They loved it so much they encouraged Craig to check out the NT Police recruitment website. “You get 7 weeks holidays and free housing” they boasted. Hmm, no mention of the shift work and road accidents and domestic assaults which are part and parcel of remote community life.

On day 2 we had a walk up Mirrai Lookout and then later visited Nourlangie for its rock art.

That afternoon we headed into the township of Jabiru which was hosting the 2010 Mahbilil Festival, celebrating indigenous music and art.

Sam was entertained by a quiz at the local Parks and Wildlife stand and and although he enjoyed looking through the infrared binoculars on display at the Army’s stand he was most dissatisfied that they didn’t have any artillery on hand. We watched some local kids performing gymnastics and listened to some rock bands belt out some great music. Sam also had a go at spear throwing which went better than his first solo stint in the dodgem cars. He unintentionally kept turning the wrong way and getting told off by the operator and was quite miffed by the experience.

For me the highlight of our trip to Kakadu was an hour’s run in Craig’s tinny up the billabong near our campsite at Mardugal.

We headed off not long after sunrise and it was peaceful and beautiful. Although crocs were known to be in the water, we only saw a small one power away from the bank to catch a fish in the water. It will be this hour that in good faith I will hold onto in my mind as the showpiece for a World Heritage Area.

On Day 3 we headed up to Ubirr in the north west of the park which is renowned for a great vista and lots of rock art. On the way back to camp we stopped at Cahill’s Crossing, a river which marks the border of Kakadu and Arnhem Land (permit required) and is a great spot to view dozens of big crocs at high tide swarming to catch fish which are swept into the river. We got there about an hour after high tide so it wasn’t too manic but we spotted enough to be questioning the sanity of the local fishermen, although not their opportunistic reasoning.

Driving from Kakadu to Darwin we witnessed one of the many regular grass burns conducted during the dry season. The ferocity of the fire is controlled by how late in the day the fire is started – sometimes if it is started too late in the day the cool of the evening actually puts it out. We saw several large stretches of fire roadside and not a single human supervisor in attendance.

By Craig: I picked up a good looking Sheila heading to Katherine, our trip was back into the Northern Territory and we were heading north.

The trip to Katerine reminded me that speed wasn't an issue in NT but keeping the cruiser and trailer on the road at 130kmh could be a problem. Quite often I found I was doing 40kmh under the speed limit (I'm so old).

Katherine was a reasonably sized town but our stay was to be short. ‘Will we do the gorge’ I heard Louise say. ‘Not another bloody gorge’ ‘How about a hot spring?’ ‘OK’
Although the ‘Hot’ springs were not hot at all with outside temperatures at 45deg the water was crystal clear and in all a pleasant surrounding.

By Lou: Before we started this trip the only gorges in NT that I knew about were King’s Canyon and Katherine Gorge. We were impressed with King’s Canyon and I was looking forward to Katherine Gorge. However by the time we got to Katherine we were gorged out and when we found out you couldn’t actually drive to the gorge unless you were prepared to do a 7 hour hike, we wearily shrugged our shoulders and said, Oh Well, let’s move on to Kakadu.

I think it’s fair to say that Samuel is getting far more treats on the road than he would in an average week at home. Despite that, he is forever asking for a drink/ice-cream/chocolate bar as if 7 times a week wasn’t enough. So we decided to give him $10 pocket money on the condition he stops asking us for treats, and instead buys his own. He thinks he is a millionaire but now instead of hounding us for a treat he’s hounding us for price estimates of every treat imaginable. I think he’s going to find that a week is a looooooong time to wait for the next pay day.