Wednesday - Well the first two weeks are behind us and we seem to have covered a fair bit of Oz. Today we went to the Bowali Visitor / Cultural Centre at Jabaru which was really good, followed by a 2 km walk around Ubirr (close to the Arnhem Land Border)
On the way back we stopped at Cahill Crossing and watched barra being caught on the centre of the crossing. This was pretty dumb as crocs have fed on fishermen from this very spot!
On the way back we stopped at Cahill Crossing and watched barra being caught on the centre of the crossing. This was pretty dumb as crocs have fed on fishermen from this very spot!
Cahill Crossing
Ubirr Rock Art
Ubirr Lookout
We finished back at Cooinda around four o'clock and our new found friends Wayne & Gail from Newcastle joined us for a BBQ. After tea we went to the Cooinda Lodge to watch the State of Origin - Game 3. As you would expect Wayne & Gail were barracking for the Blues, whilst I was cheering for the Maroons (for my mate Kevin in Qld.)
Sadly the Blues were not good enough, but at least Wayne was brave enough to face the music;
Go the Maroons
Thursday – Today we left Cooinda – Yellow River and meandered past Jabiru and onto our next destination - Aurora Kakadu Resort near South Alligator River. We got there early so what could go wrong?
Due to a technical error (Roger & Nola had both sourced two (2) wrong phone numbers) we discovered that we had actually made our booking at Aurora Kakadu Lodge at Jabiru! No harm done though as we hadn’t paid a deposit and two wrongs make a right, don’t they?
We checked out a 4WD track to a couple of local billabongs, but the track was closed. Just down road we visited a wetlands area called Mamukala (Mar-Moo-Car-Lar) which had an enormous bird hide / viewing platform.
Nola's Favorite Lilly
Friday – Hunting & Gathering Day.
With lunch and fishing rods packed we went back to Cahills Crossing so that Roger could catch his first barramundi (stop laughing)
Barra Bradley
After losing three lures, but gaining another (that someone else had lost) I did end up catching my first Barra. Nola wasn’t quick enough with the camera, so I’m claiming it was over one metre in length . . . . . so I had to release it! (rules are rules)
Cahill Crossing Road Train
Saturday – With our last day at Aurora Kakadu (South Alligator River) we decided to explore the region around Mary and Adelaide Rivers. Although we will be passing this way tomorrow (with the caravan in tow) we wanted to take our time . . . . . exploring.
We called in at the ‘Jumping Crocodile Cruise’, but we had already decided not to go on this cruise.
Crocodile Wrestler
Apparently they had really BIG WET this year – in February the Adelaide River was ten kms wide!!!!
One place we stopped at was the Window on the Wetlands. Built in 1994 this ‘free’ interpretive centre is built on top of a hill overlooking the Adelaide River Wetlands.
Window on the Wetlands
On our way back to camp we had lunch at Corroboree Park Tavern (yummy).
Arriving back at South Alligator River we found the floodplains ablaze. Apparently bush fires are commonplace in the Territory and they just let them burn out!
Sunday - All packed up and we're off again to Darwin. We decided that we would book into the Howard Springs Caravan Park a day earlier, as we had covered a lot of places on our trip yesterday. After arriving around 11:00am in the morning we decided we would stay for a week.
However, after setting up our van and then checking the amenities we realised we had made a BIG mistake. We went back to the reception and complained that they hadn't warned us how good the park was!
The new shower and toilet facilities are setup like a HUGE en suite . . . . better than at home!!! We have extended our stay here for another week.
Monday - Washing, reconnaissance (bowling clubs) and shopping day.
Tuesday - The caravan and my Touareg got lucky - Nola & I gave them a well deserved clean. Late afternoon we drove to Darwin's Cullen Bay (for a look-see) and picked a Chinese restaurant on my GPS for tea. Only one problem . . . . it had burned down and the small shopping centre was now derelict! No matter, we settled with Fish & Chips before going bowling at the Nightscliff Bowls Club
Very nice synthetic greens (that don't scratch your bowls) our game of pairs was a draw 12 all after 14 ends. The second match played was between Roger and the sand flies! (Sand flies - 19 / Roger – Nil)
Sunday - All packed up and we're off again to Darwin. We decided that we would book into the Howard Springs Caravan Park a day earlier, as we had covered a lot of places on our trip yesterday. After arriving around 11:00am in the morning we decided we would stay for a week.
However, after setting up our van and then checking the amenities we realised we had made a BIG mistake. We went back to the reception and complained that they hadn't warned us how good the park was!
The new shower and toilet facilities are setup like a HUGE en suite . . . . better than at home!!! We have extended our stay here for another week.
Monday - Washing, reconnaissance (bowling clubs) and shopping day.
Tuesday - The caravan and my Touareg got lucky - Nola & I gave them a well deserved clean. Late afternoon we drove to Darwin's Cullen Bay (for a look-see) and picked a Chinese restaurant on my GPS for tea. Only one problem . . . . it had burned down and the small shopping centre was now derelict! No matter, we settled with Fish & Chips before going bowling at the Nightscliff Bowls Club
Very nice synthetic greens (that don't scratch your bowls) our game of pairs was a draw 12 all after 14 ends. The second match played was between Roger and the sand flies! (Sand flies - 19 / Roger – Nil)
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