Sep 17, 2011 - Day 13 Gunlom to Cooinda

I am absolutely exhausted, but what a great day we have had! After the usual morning ritual of cleaning up and packing up, we hiked up to the top of the Gunlom waterfall, to the pristine plunge pools. It was a steep and rocky climb, Mick had Paddy in the backpack, India was like a mountain goat, and I just tried to hold my centre of gravity.  It was well worth the effort, we felt like we were in a place that was completely untouched. There were 3 separate pools, all with sandy bottoms and perfectly crystal clear waters. The rocks around the...

Oct 6, 2009 - Kakadu Days 87-88

Amid much fanfare and a ticker-tape parade made up from old chewing gum wrappers that Monique had dropped in the car, Kenny Kia and Ugly Betty with crew of seven, escaped Darwin's gravity and began the return journey to earth. Darwin is a relaxed and modern city and I have heard several tourist brochures describe the "delightful tropical climate". It is on this last point that I must take umbrage. I know that Darwin, by nature of its high latitude is closer to the sun, but I thought that was a scientific and metaphorical truth. In fact I...

May 22, 2007 - Aurora to Gagudju Lodge, Kakadu National Park Northern Territories 19.04.07

Jeff Bright and early; well it was early and the sun was quite bright. Sylvia had a number of good walks planned and our first was to be a two hour 2 ½ mile walk through monsoon forest and woodlands and along the margins of a billabong. At the Aurora shop we asked where the large banyan fig tree was where the walk would start from, and was told there were many walks in Kakadu which were under water and this was one of them. Cyclone George had visited Kakadu before us when it was just a pup. It deposited 35 inches of monsoon rain in ten...

Aug 20, 2006 - Side trip to Kakadu

The final leg of my trip began at 6:30 am. 13 people were on this trip to Kakadu and the weird part was that two of the people were from the Lake District in Edmonton and had never met previously. Anyways, as normal for Australia you drive for hours have a stop for breakfast and then reach somewhere by about 10:00. We arrived at a billabong on the Mary River where we did another river cruise. This one had tons of wildlife including Jabirus, Brolgahs, crocs, white bellied sea eagles, and cockatoos. It was really great. We then had a short...

Mar 8, 2005 - Kakadu Tour

The main reason for visiting Darwin was to go on an organised tour around the Lichfield and Kakadu National Parks. You can't reach most of it unless you have a four wheel drive - especially in the wet season so an organised trip is the only option. We used a company called Adventure Tours and are driven around in a 4WD minibus along with a dozen or so kids backpacking around Australia. They are roughing it in tents but we have paid for "proper" lodge accommodation with beds and aircon ! The parks are really scenic with varied habitats from...