Becoming acclimatised

Oh - and as a happy birthday present to myself I decided to get a little something to remember the territory by :)

Corroboree Billabong

Sorry about the recent lack of posts (nothing much to report) BUT to make up for it we spent this weekend out on a houseboat on Corroboree Billabong.

Ryan's parents and some family friends lined it all up as part of their visit to Darwin, and we didn't take much convincing once there was an offer to tag along :) (Despite horrified looks from colleagues whenever I mentioned that we were going to be sleeping out there with the crocs).

(If Verelle is reading this - please note that we stayed a good safe distance away from all the crocs, and no one was ever in any danger)(and you should probably stop reading now)

The houseboat was pretty much a giant pontoon with a deck stuck on top. It had six beds (two doubles and two bunks), was two stories high (which made it perfect for catching the wind and blowing off course), had a nice big deck out the front (good for enjoying the breeze), what became "the fishing deck" out the back, and a nice BIG fence all the way around.

We pretty much spent the entire weekend puttering up and down the river, enjoying the scenery and trying to catch fish. The river was very scenic - a wide channel lined by pandanus palms and giant lillypads, and sporting an abundance of wildlife (including the repitilian kind).

On our first night out, I think we might have accidentally tied up right where a big male croc had his favourite mudslide (we only saw the footprints in the mud after we had tied up). He lurked constantly around the boat, and during the evening surfaced just a few metres off our rear deck to check us out. No one got much sleep that night...

Despite much fishing, we really didn't have that much success with the barra. Ryan did manage one keeper (in the post below), and the final tally stood at 2 barra, 2 saratoga and 4 catfish. Despite high hopes with my two favourite lures (George and Not-George), I failed miserably.

Ryan's fish was caught trawling off the back deck (actually hit while he was reeling in his other line and not paying much attention). Unfortunately, at the same time he called out for us to stop, the boat also ran out of petrol, the motor died and we proceeded to drift into a nice big stand of pandanus palms. There were people running everywhere and shouting orders all over the place. Luckily, with a changeover to another tank, some judicious pushing and expert wielding of the net, disaster was averted and the fish was safely on board :)

Overall, it was a very pleasant weekend amongst some very beautiful scenery. AND no one got eaten (which is always a bonus up here).

The Barra has been caught

I caught a fish ;-)

Gunn Point

Well - we're moving up in the world.

The hospital randomly called a week ago and offered us a two-bedroom flat on the proviso that we could move in over the weekend. We managed to truck all of our stuff over on Saturday, dodging rain showers and wilting in the heat and humidity. Worth it though - this place is much bigger, nicer and has carpet :). AND we made it just in time for Ryan's parents to be able to stay with us (much to the chagrin of my Mum and Dad)(left out of the blog AND had to fork out for their own accommodation...)

This weekend we decided to drive out to Gunn Point, with a detour along the way to the wreckage of an old Kittyhawk plane. This ended up being slightly more challenging than we predicted - initially turning off the main road a bit too early. What started out looking like a well-driven track rapidly deteriorated into barely perceptible wheel marks twisting through tightly spaced scrub (with and abundance of scratchy branches...)(I think Ryan nearly cried at least twice)(kidding - I dodged all the trees). As the symbol indicating the Kittyhawk on the GPS gradually started getting further and further away we finally decided to turn around - finding after we made it back to the main road that we had really only traveled a couple of km's (felt much longer)(especially to Ryan who jogged a chunk of it in order to clear the larger obstacles out of the way).

We finally found the correct track in - this one being in a much more drivable condition. It also twisted its way through the scrub, eventually brining us alongside a huge tract of marshland (looking very croc-friendly)(the requisite photos were taken well back from the water's edge). The track lead on a bit further before coming right alongside a depression in the bush strewn with pieces of twisted fuselage (and multiple other bits of unidentifiable wreckage). The Kittyhawk had been shot down by a Japanese bomber during WWII - apparently the pilot bailed out over Gunn Point and managed to survive. His plane definitely wasn't so lucky, and the crater left where it had hit, even all this time later, was still impressive. I also snagged another geocache at the site :)

The road continued on past the wreckage, and we thought (buoyed by our track-finding experience earlier in the day)(ie. we learned nothing) that we could follow it out as a shortcut back to the main road. Sure enough, although it headed in the right direction, it too rapidly deteriorated (with the trees getting closer and closer to the side mirrors) and eventually petered out completely to leave us stuck in a patch of impenetrable scrub. According to the GPS it was only a tantalizing 700m back to the main track in, but we had to turn around (no easy task in itself) and backtrack the whole 10-ish km's back out again. Sigh.

After finally coming back out onto Gunn Point Road, we drove the rest of the way up to the coast. The tide was well out, leaving a vast expanse of muddy sand (criss-crossed with multiple tracks from the quadbikes hooning up and down the beach). We scoffed a much-awaited lunch under the only tree along the sandy bank.

We also had a quick stop at the boat ramp. This turned out to be a pretty unexciting spot to visit unless you were actually intending to launch a boat there. Although with the tide out, we were wondering how anyone managed the task of launching into the narrow creek, which ran exactly perpendicular to the ramp, and was only a couple of metres wide at the time of our visit. Obviously high tide makes a huge difference.

The day was rounded off (after a couple of hours rest under the aircon at home) with another trip to Mindil Beach markets. And yet another spectacular Darwin sunset.

(Oh - and looking at the photos below, just remembered that we also paid a quick visit to Howard Springs. Very nice, but all fenced off. Did see a couple of turtles though, and plenty of little fish)

I'm in trouble...

I have just committed (what I now understand to be) the ultimate crime.

Mum and Dad came up last week for a visit and I updated the blog without mentioning them at all (and have just been informed that I am going to be written out of the will...).

I'm sorry.

We managed to catch up a few times while they were here (unfortunately the timing meant that I was working every day during their visit)(stupid work :( ). They got Ryan to themselves on Saturday, and that was all the excuse Dad needed to visit the aviation and military museums (which were apparently pretty cool - the highlight being the B52 on display). The blokiness was balanced out by a trip out to Fogg Dam to photograph the birdlife (and ponder the source of a mysterious splashing from under their feet as they stood on the boardwalk at the water's edge)(I don't think I would have been standing there very long, personally...)

We also managed a trip to the Mindil Beach Markets with them, dinner at the Festival Park in the center of Darwin and a couple of reciprocal evening visits (they were staying in a caravan park down on the highway)(which had electric palm-trees)(what further advertisement would you need?)

They have inspired us to take a guided trip out into Arnhem Land sometime while we are here - sounds like it was by far and away the highlight of their trip. Anyway, I hope they enjoyed their visit (and appreciate being immortalized on the internet)(can I go back into the will???)

* * * * *

We finished off this weekend by seeing a few more sights around Darwin itself. We were initially planning to visit the Indo-Pacific marine display, but after turning up and finding an empty foyer with some relatively uninspiring advertisements, we decided to give it a miss and went for a walk on the wharf instead.

We followed this by a trip into the WWII oil-storage tunnels, which were pretty interesting (with a gallery of old WWII photos along the wall of the longest tunnel). It was a short visit with only a couple of the tunnels open to the public, but I had been itching to explore them since seeing the entranceway on our first weekend here (some kind of weird addiction to dark, narrow holes underground).

And (mostly because by then it was stinking hot) we decided to see Crocosaurus Cove in the city. The entranceway is right in the middle of an ordinary city street, and is like a big fake cave with prominent advertisements out the front for "The Cage of Death". We weren't really expecting much, but it turned out to be actually very good (started off on a good note when we found out that as NT residents, after visiting once, we could have free entry for the rest of the year)(guess where we'll be taking everyone who comes to visit :)

One of the highlights was seeing a huge aquarium full of barra (now I'm not sure at all what I would do if I actually caught one of the brutes)(despite all of Ryan's assurances that my line/rod/arms are not going to snap). There was also an excellent reptile display (with a huge albino python), plenty of giant crocs, the biggest croc skull I've ever seen and the chance to watch feeding time. Actually loved the whole thing :)

And one more try at fishing Buffalo Creek - where we didn't land any fish, but I managed to score about a dozen sandfly bites (Ryan has one - and likes to smugly sit back and tell me not to scratch)(just thinking about them is making me itchy)(aaarrrggghhhh...)

Jumping Crocs

After catching up with my Aunt and Uncle and being regaled with stories of crocs wandering across backyards and being locked in paddy wagons by local police (what else would you do with a rogue croc after you had caught it?)(wouldn't want to be the next criminal to be busted) we both decided that we needed to search out some of the beasties ourselves.

So we went on one of the jumping croc cruises (apparently something that everyone needs to do while up in the Top End). We chose the Adelaide River Queen (based on an annoyingly catchy internet jingle, the recommendation of my parents and the quirky jumping croc statue on the roadside nearby).

We weren't disappointed.

Seconds after pulling away from the jetty, a little boy on-board shouted out "I can see a real live croc..." We were all thinking "sure, kid - we haven't even properly started the cruise yet", but sure enough there was an ominous looking reptilian body cruising past one of the other jetties. This was shortly followed by half a dozen more sightings as we drifted upstream. If we ever needed more convincing to stay away from NT waterways, this was definitely it - the river was chockers with crocs. Each stretch was owned by a big dominant male with 5 or 6 of his girlfriends hanging around - we stopped and fed each male as they recognized the sound of the boat and swam out to claim an easy meal. At each stop, a chunk of pork was dangled above the water and the crocs would sidle up and eye it off (along with the tasty passengers just on the other side of the glass), then line it up and propel itself out of the water to claim its prize (some of the smaller ones managing to get airborne all the way to having their back legs out of the water)(makes you re-consider how safe you'd be fishing out of a tinnie...). The biggest, oldest male deigned only to bring his head up out of the water (at 5m and 700kg we weren't going to argue).

The boat also stopped along the way to feed a flock of kites. These guys were well used to the boat and swooped in by the dozens to catch scraps of meat thrown out from the top deck (often swooping close enough to feel the rush of air from their wings)(and hoping not to get an over-enthusiastic peck or grab). The guide mentioned that the birds would often fly in front of a bushfire and snap up all the fleeing insects and grasshoppers - and that if they weren't satisfied with their meal, they would pick up embers and spread the fire over a broader front to rustle up some more bugs. Pretty clever!

Anyway, we loved the whole thing (who wouldn't enjoy seeing a 500kg croc launch itself out of the water for a snack??). We rounded the day off by heading out to Buffalo Creek to see if we could finally snare an elusive barra (keeping a wary eye on the water the whole time...). Despite the water seething with baitfish as the tide came in, nothing could be tempted to bite. Maybe tomorrow...

Kakadu - Nourlangie

We planned a couple of stops on the way out of Kakadu the next day based on a few geocaches I wanted to retrieve (I am not addicted, I don't know what you're talking about). My excuse is that its a way to see some parts of the countryside we might not otherwise visit...

Our first stop was Mirrai lookout. This was another hot, steep scramble to a viewing platform on top. Unfortunately, the view was mostly obscured by a thick haze of smoke from burn-offs, but it did make for some nice photos of the distant hills (first photo below).

We then headed a bit further north to Anbangbang Billabong and Nawurlandja Lookout. The billabong was covered in flowering waterlillies with a multitude of birdlife enjoying the water (and who knows what else lurking beneath) - needless to say, we didn't go anywhere near the edge. It was a beautiful, tranquil spot (which we didn't really appreciate till we experienced hordes of tourists further on).

The lookout was at the top of a huge, sloping conglomerate stone face and gave impressive views over the nearby sandstone outcrop as well as the billabong and an expanse of greenery leading off to the horizon (the smoke must have cleared a bit). This one is highly recommended (just do it in the morning before it gets too hot).

After venturing that far into the Nourlangie region, we decided to finish off our trip by visiting the rock art galleries at the end of the road. This is where we finally ran into the tourist trade in all its glory (the place was PACKED). We joined the throng for a walk through the main rock-art shelters, which, despite somewhat lacking in ambience due to the crowds, were some of the most detailed and impressive examples of Aboriginal painting either of us had seen. The walk wound up and between massive slabs of rock (which also made it nice and shady and cool) and included viewing platforms alongside maybe 4 or 5 rock shelters filled with art. We were glad we made the last-minute decision to come!

After that, though, we were out of time and had to high-tail it back to Darwin. We think we could easily spend several more weekends exploring Kakadu (and we will). Just a question of what to see next...

(POST-SCRIPT: Just came back to the computer to investigate a cry of distress from Ryan. Was he hurt? Did he just remember some important job that had been overlooked from the weekend? Was the internet broken? The truth was in fact much worse than all that - he just remembered that in his quest to be an efficient and well-organised camper this morning her had accidentally rolled up his pyjamas inside his sleeping bag (but decided to leave them there because in his own words "I've never managed to roll it up that good before"). He has now just realized that he can't go to bed until he unrolls the whole thing and retrieves his one pair of boxers... I probably could have been slightly more sympathetic :)