1/08/2004 - Stage 2, Day 65 - Darwin to Katherine, NT

Crashed at the caravan park in Darwin on 26/7/2004 after spending the day doing our last website update. When we packed up the next morning and were about to leave, we noticed on of the locals wandering through the park.




After taking advantage of the photo opportunity we were heading into Darwin when I got a call from auntie Genna to say that one of my bestest buddies was in labour! Shortly after that we got the text message - It's a girl... Jessica Dale Catherine Carter had finally arrived at the reasonable weight of 6 pounds! What a clever girl Diana is! Big kisses to the both of them.

After such fabulous news we took off to Casuarina for a swim at the nudie beach to celebrate - sorry again Amanda, but no pics! Didn't do too much swimming though, because we're still a bit nervous about all those crocodiles. After this we went back to my cousin Nicki's house and spent the night sipping on cool drinks and telling lies...

Lazed around for most of the next morning (28/07/2007) before finally getting our shit together and setting off towards Kakadu National Park. We headed out there on the Arnhem Hwy and stopped at the wetland centre along the way that Nicki had recommended. It was free and pretty good for a look-see. After this we took another detour into the Rockhole at Wildman Sector National Park. Without a boat this stop off wasn't much chop, although if we had a boat it would have been great fun.

After this we finally entered Kakadu National Park ($16.50 each to enter). By this time it was getting rather late, so we took the first turnoff north to Two Mile Hole which is a free bush camp. In hindsight we should have looked more carefully at the name of this place - Two Mile HOLE... To minimise the ambiguity, they should have just named it Two Mile Shit Hole! There was a fair bit of stagnant water about for the mosquitos to breed in, and breed they had! The bastards were not only uniquitous, but ferocious and compeltely without mercy! Needless to say, that night we cooked up a lightening fast dinner and headed straight to bed. Next morning (Thursday 29th July) all of the fly screens on the car were COVERED in mozzies, so when we finally got up we packed up in record time and buggered off, never again to return to Two Mile HOLE...

The first stop for us today was Mamukala wetlands lookout. We took the short walk there out to the wetland viewing platform where the view was really pretty. We saw loads of Magpie Geese (Anseranas semipalmata) along with other water birds and frogs.

Next we took off up to Ubirr to see the aboriginal rock art and the lookout over Kakadu. Whilst we were there I took some pretty flower pictures for Freddo.








The rock art sites were great to look at and we even remembered to take a few pictures.








The climb up to the lookout was pretty short, and well worth the effort.




On the way down from the lookout I saw a tree that looked like it had bush tucker on it, but I don't have a bush tucker book so I'm not really sure. It looked delicous though, so I took some pics.








After Ubirr we headed south a little to the Bardedjilidgi walk, which was a 2.5km circuit thourgh some lovely sandstone rock formations.




Whilst we were on the walk I saw a really pretty little dragon fly, so I took some pictures.






After this we headed back into Jabiru. When we got there our mobile phones worked and I got the best news in the world!!! I GOT THE JOB!!! I will be flying to Paris on October 4th and will be training in Paris from 5th until the 15th, when I will most likely fly to Port Gentil in Gabon, west Africa where I will be stationed for up to 18 months. Holey Cow! How awesome is that! I'll be flying between Africa and France (Paris and Po) for training during that time too. You'd never have guessed, but I had trouble sleeping that night!

The job news was fabulous, but it meant we had to have a serious look at our holiday plans. We've decided that I really need to be back in Melbourne by mid September at the latest, so we'll only be away for about 6 more weeks! Also, we both think a party is in order. If the truth be known, the mother of all parties! A gala event of gargantuan proportions in now in the early planning stages, so be available and on call!

Next day (30/7/2004) we headed south through Kakadu on the Kakadu Hwy and stopped for a quick look at the Bowali Visotor Centre (park headquarters). Definately worth stopping at.

From there we continued south and stopped at Nourlangie Rock for lunch and a walk. There were a number of rock art sites there so we took some pictures.








The scenery here was really spectacular. Nourlangie Rock is HUGE and it has some stunning escarpments and shear cliffs of many beautiful colors. There's a 12km walk (6 to 8 hours) over the rock and back around the base, but we didn't have the time to do it, although I think it would be a real trip highlight if any of you guys are planning to come up this way and you like walking.

Headed out of Kakadu that day and camped up at Pine Creek which is located at the junction of the Stuart and Kakadu Highways. We stayed the night there at the Lazy Lizard which was a real scream! If you come up this way, definately stop in at the Lazy Lizard! It's got a great bar which is like an open mudbrick building with a tin roof, and it's got stacks of character. There's obviously a resident wood carver around as all of the supporting beams have native animals carved into them. Even the basins in the toilets at the bar have carved wooden basins - the mens is a crocodile and the ladies is a turtle.

On the wall at the Lazy Lizard bar was a notice advertising their Feral Pig and Pussy contest and ball which was on that weekend. There were heaps of cool prize winning events scheduled which we could have entered, such as the biggest feral pig, the biggest feral cat, the prettiest feral cat, the most cane toads, the knife chuck, the fastest eating dog and the ugliest dog - just to name a few. At the bottom of the notice was a note which proclaimed, "No pets allowed, but fresh road kill accepted." Sounded like an awesome contest, but we now had a time limit and couldn't afford to stick around.

Next day we headed down to Katherine and spent the afternoon on two hire canoes paddling about the gorge. It was really fabulous, and i think it may well be the best way to see the Katherine Gorge. We hired the canoes for half a day, and I wouldn't suggest you hire them for any less time, because there's heaps to see. It was also a fabulous place for a swim, as there's only freshwater crocodiles there and no salties.

Well that was yesterday and today (1/08/2004) we've done two thirds of bugger all, so there's nothing really to report. We're heading west from here, over towards Broome in a round about sort of fashion, so our next web update will be in about one to two weeks. Don't forget to polish up your party shoes for when we get home in mid September folks!