Darwin 29.08.12 to 10.09.2012

After our hard slog (lol) at Litchfield National Park we head north to the lovely city of Darwin where we decide to base ourselves for about a week to make sure we explore all of the surrounds. Darwin offers some great things to do and see, but an easy city to get around and see the sights. It is getting quite warm now with most days getting up to 38 degrees and just a touch of humidity in the air. If you start doing stuff the sweat just starts pissing out of you, good for the skin though. Midgies have been an eye opener for us here. Those tiny little insects that you can't see and feel, bite you all the time until you wake up in the middle of the night and want to scratch the hell out of those itchy bites. We soon wisened up to them, covering up, spraying everything imaginable on them and not becoming complacent even in the mornings.

One of our first "must do" things in Darwin was the Mindle Beach Markets, which happen every Thursday and Sunday evenings. It is hear where the locals and tourists all gather and not only enjoy the many market stalls of arts, crafts and food but also to sit on the beach and watch the sun go down with some beautiful sunsets to photograph or just sit back and munch on a satay stick, prawn stick or whatever grabs your fancy. We actually went to this market a couple of times during our stay, mostly for the atmosphere, cheap food and a lovely way to watch the sunset, with the sunsets coming in all sorts of colours.

Mmmmmmmm, what will I have??

action at Mindil Markets

 

Amongst our other activities in Darwin were a visit to the Darwin Defence Military Museum  where it told the story of Darwin's role in World War 2. The  Art and Museum of NT showcased some excellent birdlife, wildlife and butterfly exhibits and a tribute to Cyclone Tracy where you could go in a soundproof booth and listen to the sound of what this cyclone sounded like. In 1974 this Cyclone absolutely destroyed Darwin and the exhibition displays some great photos of the ruins.

Back in Katherine Crowey and I had attended a campdraft and we must say that we are getting very much into the cowboy scene (it is amazing what your mind is open to when you travel). It was in Darwin that we decided to indulge ourselves and went and bought ourselves a true dinky di akubra hat. We also found out that there was a Rodeo on that Saturday night, so of course we had to go.

cowboy and cowgirl

Rodeo action

Does he bite?

The boxing Tent

Another of the must do things to go and see, just out of Darwin about an hours drive, is Berry Springs. An absolute delight with swimming pools, waterfall and stunning clear spring water. It was here that we tried out Crowey's new underwater camera and ended up with some interesting shots (and a lot of duds, it will take some getting used to I guess).We actually had a snorkel under the water and we were surprised to see so many fish species here.

beautiful berry springs

Crowey getting in the action



check oout the fish behind Crowey

Reflection of Crowey and a fish swimming past

Crowey in action

Catfish

Over our travels in WA we kept on running into a couple from Canberra, who seemed to travel to all the places we were. Our first sighting of Jeff and Sandra (lovingly called "the pommies") was in Busselton, south WA and many other towns along the way. Darwin was no exception and we were only parked about 4 vans away from them and had a good time socialising with them. All in all we had a good time in Darwin and soaked in the casual feeling of this city.

Jeff and Sandra (The pommies) with Rach

Litchfield National Park - 27.08.2012 to 29.08.2012

Litchfield was scarcely known until it was proclaimed a National Park in 1986.

When we first got to Wangi Falls we couldn't believe how many people were here. I guess we had been spoilt with previous national parks we had visited as being only amoungst a few at most times. It was sort of like rocking up to one of those theme parks in QLD, perhaps a little like wet and wild? It was something we couldn't quite apprehend at first with a carpark full of buses, a kiosk and what looks like the beginning of a restaurant being built. We had heard so much about visiting Litchfield and our first impression was not the best, only due to the crowds. However we soon found that if you are up for a swim later in the day or first thing in the morning, Wangi Falls is a serene, beautiful picturesqe place. The water was as clear as glass, a great temperature and the falls a must to swim under to have your head beaten against the force of the falling water.

There is quite alot to do at Litchfield, many of it being visiting different spots to view beautiful waterfalls, rock pools and rainforest. So we took every opportunity to explore as much as we could in the next couple of days.

The Lost City is a complex of freestanding sandstone block and pillar formations that suggest the ruins of a long forgotten civilisation. 

armless man?

Bamboo Creek there is an abondoned small scale mining operation that operated between 1906 to 1955 with tin being the mineral mined. There is an old building where the miners used as living quarters. The old tin mill where even the old engine remains. Very hard lifestyle.  

miner's living quarters ruins

tin mill

interesting ferns nearby

   
Next we headed off to Walker Creek, which provides campgrounds for tents/camper trailers but also a great little spot to have a dip in clear prestine water. Our first dip of the day.

clear prestine water

too irrisistable not to take a dip

love this shot, one butterfly is about to land

Pethericks rainforest reserve lead us to another beautiful little spot where after about 1km walk you came across a pool with water cascading down, then lead you up to another pool and stream. Another dip was a must. 

        
Magnetic Termite Mounds is another attraction. Imagine thousands of termite mounds standing up to two metres high. The mounds' thin edges point north-south while their broad backs and fronts face east-west. It's really a built-in temperature control mechanism, allowing only the smallest possible area to ever be exposed to the sun. There was also the cathedral termite mounds which one of them was over 5 metres tall and estimated at about 50 years old. 

magnetic termite mounds

cathedral termite mound

Buley Rockhole is a series of pretty waterfalls and rockholes, where you can find your own spot to swim and relax.

Florence Falls, which is just past Buley Rockhole is a spectacular double waterfall set amid the monsoon forest cascading into a swimming hole. 135 steps leads down to the crystal clear pool at the base of Florence Falls. Absolutely gorgeous spot.

The last on the list of spectacular falls, Tolmer Falls, which cascades over two high escarpments into a distant deep, plunge pool. This long narrow waterfall is at its best at the height of the wet season but still interesting to see though the gorge is closed due to the ecology of the area home to the rare ghost bats and orange horseshoe bats.

Back at camp at Wangi Falls we decided to have one last swim for the day, as waterlogged as we were, but it was just too beautiful to refuse especially that there was no one else around. We really enjoyed Litchfield National Park afterall.

Douglas Hot Springs and Butterfly Gorge 26.08.2012 to 27.08.2012

Douglas (Tjuwaliyn) Hot springs is about 130 km north of Katherine. There is a campground so we decided to stay for a night to enable us to explore Butterfly Gorge and have a dip in the springs.

Butterfly Gorge is about 17km from Douglas Springs. It is named due to the common crow butterfly which takes shelter here, though we were here at the wrong time to see them in their masses, only inside finding the odd one or two. You can either swim to the main pool or take a track that winds up and gives you a view of the main pool. We decided to walk and what we found was a big pool surrounded by limestone cliffs but on the other side of the pool we could see a chasm with water cascading down and we decided to swim the main pool over to this chasm, climb the rocks and what we found was another little pool, climb some more rocks and another pool, and another and another. So in effect it was like layer upon layer of pools, it was quite a unique thing, when we reached to top pool it was actually as warm as bath water. We were the only ones there and the serenity was absolutely amazing. This gorge had been recommended to us by a passing traveller we met at one of the free camps we were at. We were not disappointed and so wished we had wet water camera. The photos would have been amazing.

The main pool

tion

creek crossing on the way back

Getting back to camp we decided to go and check out the Douglas Hot springs, only about 100 metres walk from our campground. You can't actually swim in the hot springs as they reach temperatures of up to 60 degrees, but instead about 200 metres downstream you can still feel the warmth in the little pools and it is a lovely way to end the day.

Northern Territory here we come - Katherine 22.08.2012 to 26.08.2012

It has taken us about four months to travel the coast of Western Australia and every place was an absolute delight. After leaving Lake Argyle it was only a hop, skip and a jump into the Northern Territory, the only state (or territory) that I have not been to. Of course had to take the opportunity to get a pic by the border sign.

on the border



I had to laugh at this..........only NT

Along the road to Katherine, just before Timber Creek, we came across a tourist heritage sign for Gregory's Tree, so thought we had better check it out. Augustus Gregory was an explorer responsible to explore the top end of Australia. A large boab tree stands at the campsite of the expedition which was undertaken between October 1855 and July 1856. Inscribed in the tree by Augustus Gregory are the expedition dates. The tree also has special significance to the local Ngaringman Aboriginal people and is a registered sacred sitie. 

It was getting a little late in the day so we decided to free camp that night and head off to Katherine the next morning.

Katherine is 320kms south of Darwin with a population of about 5,500. The main industry is pastoral industry, mining, defence and tourism.  The town is quite neat with a selection of shops and conveniences at hand for the local and traveller. We decided to check in at the Big 4 caravan park, which was nice and shady and had a huge pool (something that is getting to be a must with temperatures of 38) and they had free entertainment at happy hour and into the night, the food was good and it was nice not to have to cook or worry about dinner. 

Katherine Gorge is meant to be a must see and Crowey and I wanted to canoe down the gorge however it was booked out for the days that we were there, but never mind as we will probably stop by on our way back from Darwin and do it then. In Northern WA, especially the Kimberley, Crowey and I have wanted to go to a Rodeo, but we would either be too late, missed it by a week or a week too early. After speaking to one of the local shop assistants she advised us that there was a Campdraft on the Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. We had to go, so off we went on the Friday to see what the Campdraft is all about.

Well talk about cowboy/girl heaven. The akubra hats, the wrangler jeans, the colourful shirts, boots and belts were a sight to behold. Everyone dressed and on display in their finery, even the girls chose to wear pearl earrings or even the odd pearl necklace or two could be found, which was a nice girlie touch. Crowey and I stuck out like a sore thumb with our shorts, sandals and caps.

So what is campdrafting? ;

A rider on horseback must "cut out" one beast from the mob of cattle in the yard or "camp" and block and turn that beast at least two or three times to prove to the judge that they have the beast under control; then take it out of the yard and through a course around pegs involving right and left hand turns in a figure eight, before guiding it through two pegs known as "the gate". The outside course must be completed in less than 40 seconds. Up to a total of 100 points are scored by horse and rider: "Cut out" is worth a total of 26 points; horse work up to a further 70 points; and 4 points for the course.

We loved the day and had an absolute ball watching these talented horsemen/women.That night they even had a talent quest (Crowey was disappointed he didn't bring his Uke) and then a band after that. One of the hightlights in the talent quest was a old cowboy getting up and singing Rawhide, it was a crowd favorite and he only did it to raise money for charity ending up with $1000 of donations for his efforts. What a great day, we will definately be on the lookout for more of these events as we travel along, loving the casual, country atmosphere of this event. Mark, who we met at Parry's Creek actually won a national title in this sport, which we found out from Jazz his wife.

The boys look on

I think I lost them??

the day ends, off to the hay....yippee

Crowey enjoying the day

The next day we decided to go to the Cutta Cutta Caves, about 27km south of Katherine.Cutta Cutta Caves Nature Park covers 1,499 hectares of Tropical Karst (limestone) landscape, which is limited to only a few isolated locations in Northern Australia.
           
The caves themselves consist of a series of limestone caverns connected by narrow passages with tower like masses of limestone with supporting large boulders. Going down about 15m underground you can feel the air getting thinner and the humidity higher as you venture along to the end.  The caves are also home for a variety of wildlife including the Brown Tree Snake and the rare Orange Horseshoe Bat and Ghost Bat. However we didn't get to see any of these creatures. We found the caves to be quite interesting and something a little different to do for a an hour or so.

The next day we decided to head off, as pleasant as it was staying in the caravan park with that great pool. Our next destination was Douglas hot springs and Butterfly Gorge.