Kakadu Yellow Waters & Darwin

I thoroughly enjoyed my stay in Kakadu and could stay a few more nights. Before I departed, I went on the sunrise Yellow Water cruise. It was expensive for $99, but you got a full breakfast and it came highly recommended by others.

What a magical place. Every few hundred metres, "Hey theres another croc" and the bird wild life is just amazing.Birds of all typres, eagret, herons (few different types), Whistling ducks (they do not quack, just whistle), magpie duck, magpie geese, sea eagles, spoon bill, jabiru, pelican, whild horses, buffalow and so much more. Add to that the different plant life.

Our driver stopped the boat where two rivers met. 2 smaller crocs stalking small fish, and so many different species of bird life all trying to have a meal of small fish / crustanceons or inspects. Watching a spoon bill stick its head in the water / dirt and then do circle work trying to find food. I could have stayed there all day just watching. So tranquil.

The crocs have no fear. Don't care about boats or people near them. They are the true top of the tree predator in this area.

I took over 100 pics and with about 20 min left, my camera batery ran out. It was fully charged when we left home so after all this time, loosing only 50% power, I thought it would be fine for a 2hr trip. Obviously not. I will not be making that mistake again.

What pics did I miss out on? A jabiru caught a snake and was beating/ tenderising it, then gulping it down. We watched for about 3-4 minutes. Would have made spectacular film footage.... oh well.

Croc did not care a big boat and 20 people looking at him was only a few metres away.

Pictures don't do this justice. He was a big fellow about 40 years old.

Water lilies everywhere. I love the clear water droplets on them. And this bird (forget name) had such large feet he could almost walk on water.

Pics below is the area where two rivers met. Feeding frenzy for the various animals.

I had intended on staying at a town called Batchelor. It's at the start of the Lichfield National park. I refuled at Adelaide River and noticed a horrible sound coming from the bike. Bugger!! What to do? It was only 99km to Berrimah (suburb in Darwin) where there is a Yamaha dealer. So I headed there, fingers crossed nothing broke and holding on tight in case the engine/gearbox siezed which would cause the rear wheel to lock. I made it and am staying at the Hidden Valley Tourist Park.

It's only (wait for it) $50 per night camping ($49 for unpowered $50 for powered). Gulp, but it is only 750 mtrs from the yamaha dealer. I have Total Care with RACV and I decided to call them. Glad I did as I will be getting my accomodation paid for and a hire car until the bike is repaired.The only catch was the bike needs to be towed the 750 mtrs from caravan park to Yamaha dealer and in NT, it's a public holiday today. So they will be doing the tow first thing in the morning.

The public holiday in NT is called Picnic Day. The day commerorates the freeing of the Chinese Coolie indentured labourers who built the Darwin to Larrimah North Australia Railway. In a reversal of the existing policy, the Chinese workers were given the right to stay in Australia as free settlers, and provided sufficient money for a steamer fare to Hong Kong. Instead they chose to go to Adelaide River for a picnic.

4 of the 6 campsites are waiting for car / motorcycle / pushbike stores to open to either service or fix 4wd's. Behind my camp area is Gary and mate. They are from Sunshine / Gold coast and are best mates. They are on a 6 week trip and are both avid gamblers. So when  heard they were going to the casino after having a feed at the Mindil Beach sunset market, two activities on my Darwin bucket list, I asked could I get a lift and join them. The market is great and so multicultural. So many different nationalities here visiting Darwin. Plus most of the aboriginals dressed up and looked the goods.

Gary plays the pokies and he walked away $3000 richer at 4am. I left around 10:30 after walking around the tables. No bets so no win or loss. Cab back to the caravan park.

There is a huge contigent of RAAF personnel here with a base in Darwin and Katherine. As it is a long weekend, the RAAF are conducting live fire exercises in the desert, departing from Darwin. We are only 2-3 kms from the airport and this morning we had about 25-30 fighter jets take off and fly over, over a 2-3 hr period. The noise was great.....LOUD!! Reminded me of the air force demonstrations at car races etc.

Whilst the cost of the caravan park is extorsion, I must admit, this is the best caravan park I have stayed in.

Due to my bike issues, RACV total care have kicked in for a tow, rental vehicle and paid accommodation. I'm happy!! Below is my stead for the next day or few.

After picking up the red corolla, with all excess removed!! I went into the wharf area of Darwin. Huge customs boat and nice bay area.

I thought this was a navy vessel, but no, just the customs boat. Massive!!

Jim Jim Falls

The off road adventure began today. Heading off to Jim Jim Falls meant 50 km's of dirt road and then 10 km's of 4wd tracks. No probs!!!!

Well, it did not go as I had hoped and I did not make it. The 50 km's dirt road was in poor condition. Corrugations like I have never encountered. The only speed that "glided" over the corrugations was over 100 km's per hr. Typically not a problem (hey I like speed), but given the high risk and no support, this was mostly a bone jarring ride and when I got jack of the jarring, the speed crept up. Whilst it was sign marked a 60 km dirt road, no one was doing that speed. 

There was another driver on the road who forgot to turn left. His obviously loved, but now written off Landcruiser and I assume the winch, lights and interior will be all gone and then it will be a burnt out wreck in the next few days. It had over 390K km's on the clock. Sad to see, but in this case, it is a write off. 

The last 10 km 4wd section had sand. As a biker, sand is the worst. Having effectively street tyres meant it was going to be a challenge. I had 3-4 almost offs on the sand, but kept it going. I have overcome my fear of sand and quite enjoy it. But today was a challenge.

After conquering the sand :) I hit a river bed and these stones appeared (obviously not river stones). After the river bed, still stones. After a few hundred metres I pulled the pin. I wasn't going to damage the bike or myself before tackling the Kimberley's in a week's time. I can here Mike - Go to Bunnings!!!! It was tactical retreat to adventure ride another day. And.... if anyone knows that the stones ended a few hundred metres and it was ok from there - I DON"T want to know!!! :)

On my way back to camp I meandered into the Cooinda Billabong. The van below was in the car park. It's not part of "Wicked", it's just that some van drivers think very little of the "heap" they are driving. Cop magnets I assume.

Below are some pics of the billabong.

Fly fishermen. Trying to catch Barramudi. Watch out for the crocs!!!!

A dragon fly had an interest in this branch, so I took a photo. Came out better than I thought :)

My campsite at Cooinda.

Using my bike as a rather dirty clothes horse. As it's 33-35 degrees C, my clothes dry quickly. In fact this arvo, I had a shower and forgot my towel. No probs - dry in a few minutes

Kakadu - Ubirr

I think today's adventure is best left to the photo's and maybe some commentary.

If you do your homework, you can get free guided tours in Kakadu. They are usually pretty good as the original land owners typically do the tour. I don't know the guides name, but I know it was Gary's uncle. I had a really long chat with his nephew and appreciated the chat. Both of us, a little uncomfortable at first, but by the end shaking hands and getting on like old mates.

One thing tho - nephew and uncle could use a dose of Norska. At 9am, the stench almost bowled me over. Apart from that, great to chat to.

The guide took us to some rock art which was followed by a walk up to the famous Ubirr lookout. Pronounced oo bir  this site is a must see. It's a hike up to the top and some of the oldies didn't give it  go, but they really did miss out. This view and the lands below were used in the filming of Crocodile Dundee. Just breathtaking and the photos whilst nice, don't do this place justice.

Remember - click on the pics for a big pic

Every Aussie has seen our guide. During the "men's" business dance in Crocodile Dundee, Gary's uncle was in the front row dancing.

Also another tit bit - in the movie, they originally had Hog's say to Linda, in one of the scenes overlooking the land, "This is my land".  The local tribe found out and cracked the sads. It's not his land, it belongs to the specific aboriginal community. They forced a change to the dialog.

The pic below depicts an aboriginal from a distant tribe being caught fishing and catching fish on their lands. He was captured and put in cave and a big stone put in the entrance, where he eventually died. At least now, they only fine you for not having a fishing license :)

I went to the lower Ubirr boat ramp. Previously owning a boat and seeing the mayhem that happens when inexperienced drivers try to launch and pick up, lets be honest is funny. Up stream I see guys fishing in the water. A few metres downstream, two crocs. What the f%^*? It was only when I went to the boat ramp at upper Ubirr did I realise, these guys were fishing on a dam wall which is used by 4wd to go across the river.

From the lower boat ramp, you can see the fisherman and if you look hard, the two cros. I'm sorry - but NO WAY!!!

Two crocs only 10-15 metres from the mini dam wall.

This is the lower boat ramp. It's concrete followed by mud. I stepped in the mud and it was sticky. If you truly stepped in this muck off the boat, your numbers up. The croc sunned itself just opposite the ramp. He / She aint stupid... easy food maybe coming!!

Some more art work..