The Top End

On leaving the Douglas Daly area we called in at Fenton Airfield, which was built in 1942 and was used by US and Australian air forces until 1945. In the area used as an aircraft graveyard we viewed a few small relics from the planes that were consigned there, some as a result of two Japanese attacks on the airfield in 1943. As we travel the highways in this part of NT we have seen signs to many old airfields and realise how involved Australia was during WWII.

We spent 3 fantastic days in Kakadu National Park. We went on a sunset boat cruise at Yellow Water. The Yellow Water wetland is part of the South Alligator River floodplain and the boat trip was on both of these. At this time of year many of the waterholes are drying out and the wildlife is becoming concentrated around the remaining water. During the boat cruise we saw thousands of water birds, some other birds and many crocodiles. As the trip finished we watched a red sunset over the water.

The next day we drove to Jim Jim falls, down 50km of corrugated gravel road then 10km of 4WD track. After this it was a 1km walk through forest and over big boulders to get to the plunge pool at the base of the falls. Only a mere smudge of water was coming over the falls but with the cliffs rising to 150 metres it was impressive. Al braved the cool waters of the plunge pool and took a dip before we walked back to the truck.
On our last day we visited two Aboriginal rock art sites, Nourlangie and Ubirr. Both sites have interesting rock art and at Nourlangie there was a huge rock shelter, big enough for several families to live in. Near Nourlangie we went to a billabong that had lots of birds and water lilies. We timed our visit to Ubirr to see the sunset over the nearby floodplain. At Cahills Crossing on the East Alligator River we went crocodile spotting, it wasn’t hard to spot them and we saw several of a reasonable size.

After Kakadu we drove to Litchfield National Park, which is very different. It is greener with more trees and has several easily accessible waterfalls. We spent a lovely afternoon at the Buley Rockhole, which is a stream with about 10 small cascading waterfalls each running into a lovely rock hole. The rock holes are 5 metres across and some are more than 2 metres deep. The water temperature is perfect. We found a nice pool and spent the afternoon swimming and relaxing in the shade. While we were sitting on the rocks we saw two water monitors climb out of our pool. They must have been under the bank while we were swimming.

We spent a couple of days in Darwin before Nicky caught a plane to return to Christchurch, our month with her passed very quickly. We are now camped at Manbulloo cattle station camp ground, about 10km west of Katherine, so are poised to head west to the border into Western Australia.

We are noticing the steady increase in daytime temperatures as the summer season approaches. For the last 3 weeks daytime max has been into the 30's. Yesterday it hit 36 deg, and at the moment it is about 35 deg. It's pleasing that the truck copes with pulling the caravan in these temperatures. The temperature gauge never moves from its normal position (maybe it's jammed) even with the aircon going full blast for our benefit, although the radiator fan cuts in and out periodically. We have had no rain since 2 June with clear blue skies since the end of June until about a week ago. The pattern now seems to be clear skies in the morning with a few clouds building up during the day, providing some welcome shade. Needless to say, sunsets and the night sky are amazing.

During our foray into Northern Territory we have done significantly more driving than in previous weeks. It is really starting to come home to us how big this country is. We have now been on the road for 19 weeks, travelled 16500km, of which 11600km has been with the caravan on.