Pictures

Arriving at the NP entrance

The view from Ubirr lookout

Barra fishing on the East Alligator

River near the border of Arnhem

Land. Lots of crocs here!

Taking off on the scenic flight

over Kakadu

One of the views from above

Edith Falls

In one of the spa plunge pools

formed by the rapids. We had

this whole area to ourselves

Watching the sunset after our swim

One of Luke's prize cane victims.

The biggest pest in QLD and NT.

This was caught among many others

at Katherine.

A Boab tree used as a holding cell

for travelling prisoners near the
town of Derby

We drove the car on to the beach,

watched the sunset and the camel
riding.

A Broome sunset

At Broome Port

Broome

Kakadu to Broome

We have travelled over 10,000 km in total now and we are in Broome. It was a long stretch from Katherine (NT) to here taking 3 days and averaging about 500- 600 km a day. Not much to see in between.

In kakadu, we enjoyed an hour scenic flight over the whole region including parts of Arnhem Land. So many winding muddy rivers with crocs and rock cliffs all around. We tried our hand at some more Barra fishing, fishing right on the border of kakadu and Arnhem at the East Alligator River (also full of crocs). It had been in the papers earlier that a big barra jumped right out of the water and landed in the lap of the river tour operator in an attempt to get away from one of the crocs. There were a few other people fishing there also and most locals said it was the right tide but a lot of us had no luck.

After a few days in Kakadu, we left to head down to Katherine, stopping for two nights before it at Edith Falls, a part of Katherine Gorge NP. Definately one of the nicest places we have been so far with a series of waterfalls that drop into giant freshwater plunge pools. It was good to be able to swim again but it really is hard to get those salties out of mind when there are freshies in the water. We walked up to the top of the falls in the arvo (the only time the temp would drop below 40) and had to ourselves more waterfalls, little spa pools (from the water flowing) and the gorgeous sunset over the hills.

One of the downsides of being in the Top end is finding it really hard to refreshingly cool off in the water ways and tourist park pools as the weather just warms them up so much.

After Edith we travelled to Katherine, did the whole gorge tour but again even at 9 in the morning it was 43 degrees. It was here we were looking forward to that coastal breeze again.

Heading to Broome we stopped at Kununurra for two nights (the start of the Kimberly region), travelled to Wydnham (a town in the gulf, with not much else) and on to Hall's Creek. The car had been sluggish for the last few days and we thought it was because of the heat and the km. In Hall's creek, a place you DON'T want to be stuck in, the car wouldn't start after we had fuelled up. We waited for a bit, but again no luck. It was getting later in the evening and noone was willing to help us out. Luckily, the NRMA guy was around the corner and after a new battery we were outa there. The amount of people coming in and out of the fuel station that were drunk and abusive was unreal. These outback towns have been a real eye opener for how a lot of the Indigenous really live.

Finishing up, Broome is quite nice. The colours of the red dirt running into the white sand leading in to the aqua blue ocean makes for a great picture. Will do some more fishing tonight . Luke's gone into town to buy a gaff as last night's fishing proved there are some big fish.

Until the next blog, keep well.

Loz xo

Some pics finally

Hey,

We are now in Kakadu, Jabiru to be exact. Very nice caravan park. Going on a one hour scenic flight tomorrow morning to get a better view of the area.

Still quite hot and heavy down falls of an arvo with the Top end starting its wet season.

Loz n Luke


Daly Water Pub

Luke and Lorraine at Buley's
Rock hole @Litchfield NP

This rockhole was 5m deep

One of Darwin's nice sunsets

A jumping croc at Adelaide River

Baby bull shark caught in

Darwin harbour by Luke

Lorraine hooks on to a reef shark

The catch of the day goes to Graham

with this nice Bluebone. Great eating!


Kicking back on the sunset cruise

@Darwin harbour

Just before the sun goes down

Happy moment

Got here yesterday!

Computers are f*@#!*$

Trying to load pictures on and every time we seem to have trouble with the computers that we are on. Will try later!

L n L

some pics

In front of Lisa & Ryan's house @Mt Isa

Crossing over QLD/NT border


Our little companion poses for a photo (under sign)

Relieved after the croc jumping cruise

Mt Isa to Darwin

It's been a while since our last entry on the site. We have been up to a lot of interesting things. From leaving Mt Isa along the road to Darwin has been a most adventurous part of the trip. From Cammoweal where we had our last beer in QLD and crossing over to the NT, there were long strtetches of driving and overnight stops at various roadhouses which catered for caravans. A few to name include Barkley Homestead, Renner Springs, Mataranka and finally to Darwin.

Mataranka was certainly a highlight with the Bitter Springs crystal clear water at a constant 32 degrees proved great for snorkelling and relaxing. At Mataranka thermal pools, we enjoyed swimming and playing with Aboriginal kids who were from Arnhem Land visiting family here. The little ones some as young as three were trying to swim and hanging off us.

At the caravan park up the road, Luke caught a Barramundi with his hands by feeding it a pilchard. The park is renowned for hand feeding the Barra and with a little practice, Luke was successful. Me on the other hand, could not overcome the speed at which the fish would take the bait.

Getting to Darwin was just as we expected. Bloody hot and humid. Picked up Graham and Lorraine (Luke's folks) from the airport and enjoyed 5 days with them. We visited Litchfield NP where we swam in various waterholes and waterfall areas. Went fishing in the Darwin harbour where Graham caught a blue bone fish, one of the hardest fish to not only hook, but to land is a great feat. Up there with the best eating fish around and we enjoyed every bit that night.
Lorraine and Luke caught a shark each.

Saw some great sunsets of an evening and enjoyed some nice dinners in the balmy nights. We also enjoyed a trip out to the Adselaide River where we experienced seeing crocodiles in the wild on a boat. The crocs would jump out of the water to retrieve the meat that the tour operators would hang out on a string.
Going to the movies that night was quite ironic as we saw the movie Rogue, which features a man eating jumping crocodile set in the NT. Definatley an added motivator to be wary when swimming anywhere in the top end.

Going on a sunset cruise tonight and a spot of fishing at fishermans wharf to round off what has been a great stay in Darwin. We will head off tomorrow to the Kakadu NP.

Will post the next blog a little sooner.

Stay well, Loz n Luke

P.S. Kaz, no more turtles but does Toni's reptile licence allow for her to have a croc?