Gumlom Plunge Pool. Kakadu National Park.

Now we are at Gunlom plunge pool and Waterfalls. This is at the southern end of Kakadon't National Park and is a magical combination of waterfalls and serene plunge pools. It is a steep climb to the plunge pools, however it is well worth the climb and provides sweeping views of the southern end of Kakadon't park. So we head up to spend a very relaxing day at the plunge pools and enjoy the spectacular view.

                                                  Steve at the bottom of Gunlom Falls.

                                                   Me at the bottom of Gunlom Falls.

                                       Steve at the bottom of his falls after his croc swim!!!

                                                      Don't worry I didn't go in far!!!!

Kakadu National Park - Flight.

We have booked to go on a flight over Kakadu in a light aircraft for 30 mins. Oh my word I have done a lot of flights of various kinds, this was the roughest I have ever been on. Steve & I both felt sick for some time afterwards. Never  mind we really did enjoy the scenery it is spectacular from the air.  We saw Tributaries, Rivers that wind, Magela Flood plain water, Magela wetlands permanent waterholes, Gagudju Crocodile Holiday Inn, Ranger Mine, Dinosaur Valley, The Archway, East Alligator River & upper East Alligator Valley. It was fabulous!!!!! We felt if we hadn’t done the flight we would not have seen anything as most things in the park are still closed.

Next we head to Bowali Visitor’s centre which was nice. Onwards to Nourlangie Rock Art Sites, this site has been used as a shelter & canvas for thousands of years. The rock art here was very interesting, however sometimes I felt that the art had faded and a park ranger had added bits here and there.  Steve thought our Grandsons  could have done a better job. 

Onwards we go and everything seems to be closed Still….. We decide to take the 4WD track out to Gunlom Plunge Pool, which is 37klms down a corrugated track –will it be open when we get there, because I feel if it’s not Steve’s going to punch the first ranger he sees!!!!!  Gunlom is a magical combination of waterfalls and serene plunge pools. A steep climb to the top of the falls provides sweeping views of the Southern most parts of Kakadu  park. Yes it’s open !!!!! We park up and go for a swim in the pool at the bottom of the falls. The Ranger came round at 8pm to collect camp fees and advised that swimming at the bottom is at your own risk, as there are fresh water crocs in there and possibly salt water crocs!!! Well wouldn’t  you think they would put a sign up!!! Steve swam right over to the waterfalls before this and even he found it creepy as he couldn’t  see the bottom it was very deep.

The steep climb to the top of the falls is stunning. It’s hard to explain  the natural beauty, of the vast landscape we could see and all the plunge pools and water falls. The water was very fresh and so clear-stunning. We had a lazy day at the top of the falls- fabulous!!!! 

                                                        Steve with our 8 seater Aircraft.

                                                                             The Archway.

                                                              East Alligator River.

                                                                    Magela Wetlands.

Rock Art. 

                                                                        Rock Art .

Kakadu National Park.

We left Darwin and headed south towards Kakadu National Park, we stopped off at the Window of the Wetlands Visitor Centre. The centre is great if you are aged between 5 and 12 years old. However the viewing platform was a great place to get a fantastic view of the wetlands area, Crocs & Water Buffalo. A ranger at the centre did a free talk about the area, Crocs & Cain Toads, this was interesting.
Next we moved on to Bark Hut Pub, a very pleasant place indeed and we decided that we would camp here for the evening. Steve had his first Barramundi supper. The pub food was very good and it had a TV which was a bit of a novelty for 5 mins. This place is old, very well kept and very clean. We had a huge area all to ourselves. The only thing that woke us in the night was Birds, Donkeys & Dingo's. We actually had a very good nights sleep.
We also tried to get on a boat trip at Corroboree, however they had cancelled some and we had to wait a few days - No thanks!!
We find we have a slight problem with the bearings on the camper trailer and decide to go back 40k to a garage we saw and get them checked out, all good and off we go again. We had decided that we would go to West Alligator head (North & camp here or at 2 mile waterhole or 4 mile waterhole, well Surprise they were all closed!!!
Travelling into the park so far it is not pretty like Litchfield, it's very dry with lots of long brown grass and nothing really to see. Next came Red Lilly Billabong and Surprise it is closed!!! Next we go to Mamukala lookout and have lunch here. How disappointing a huge lake and half a dozen birds, nothing to see unless you are a twitchier. (sorry Andy)
Onwards we go to Jabiru, here we decide we will book a flight for tomorrow as it may be the only way we see anything. We are camped at Jabiru for tonight.
Now we know we have some new followers of the blog (girls) and you were thinking of coming out here for the day, well its a long way so far with nothing to see. 

                                                                    The Wetlands.

                                                                Mamukala Wetlands.

Darwin Fishing Charter.

Steve went on a fishing charter in Darwin Harbour. I stayed at base camp and had some wonderful visitors to keep me company, kerri & Abbey. We had a lovely afternoon in the pool and below is what Steve got up to...............
Steve caught a Salmon, a Grunter, a Parrot fish and had a fantastic day out, he had prawn skewers and crocodile burgers for dinner. Still a bad days fishing is better than a good days work.

                                         A view of the Harbour where the poor people live.

                                        Steve on his fishing charter with a lovely sunset!!!!

                                                         The sunset from the boat.

                The moon rises over the city in the East, the same time as the sun set's in the West.

Mindil Surf Life saving club.

Mindil Surf Life Saving Club -NT
Today was is our first Surf life saving patrol, since we left SA. We went on patrol at 1330 until 6.30pm at Mindil Beach. It's  a lovely beach, Steve and one of the other young lads did a box jelly fish check first, they pull a net through the water and see if they find any, they warn the public there may still be some around. On this occasion no Box jelly fish were found. The box Jelly Fish season ends April to May and they declare the beach open from 01st June. Next Steve did the Croc check, looking for signs of croc's anywhere on the beach or bank!!!! We did a lot of swimming here, the water is so warm.
Mindil Beach Club have about 30 members and approximately 10 are nippers. At present they have no surf club and just work out of containers, they hope to get a club built in the future, however it is Aboriginal  land, so will take some time. We had a great time with a friendly club,

                                       Steve doing the drag net -checking for Box Jellyfish.

                                                         Steve & Andy on Patrol.

                                               Nippers & SRC's doing warm up exercises.

                                       Nipper's having a team race - near the end of the day.

Every Thursday & Sunday night they have The Mindil Markets, it's a very large market, with lots of arts, crafts and a huge amount of food stalls, Japanese, Vietnamese, Chinese, India etc etc, Now this is advertised as a big tourist attraction and what happens is, people take their chairs & booze, do some shopping, buy their dinner and sit on the beach and watch the stunning sunset, and guess what as we were on patrol when the sun was setting, the crowd applauded as the sun went down!!! 
Now as Surf life savers we have to think of preventive action's and what would have happened if the Sun had not set? Could we have had a riot on our hands? Could we have had hundred's of people with depression and throwing themselves into the sea?
If anyone has any thoughts on this (remember they only get these stunning sunsets on a Thursday & Sunday) please could you let me know.

                                     Our Patrol Captain and the twins coming off the beach.

                                               The crowds of people watching the sunset

                                                    The Thurs & Sunday sunset!!!!!

I have to say we had a great day on patrol, it was very different as hardly anybody go's in the water, it was to cold for a lot of them!!!! They made us very welcome and are a very friendly bunch We had a great laugh about the Thursday/Sunday sunsets!!!!!!!   

Berry Springs - Darwin.

Off to Berry Springs. Well, these are 3 large pools, with a waterfall on the top one, they are all connected, so some good swimming and strong currants- where the pools connect. The water is crystal clear, a lot of shade from the trees, just the place to take a picnic and cool off on a hot day. Temp most days 30, a lot of people arriving seem to think it's very hot and sit in there caravans all the time with the air conditioner's on!!!!! We however find it very pleasant!!!!!
Oh - yes Berry Springs, had lots of green tree snakes, water Monitors, Long Tom fish,
common Archer Fish & Cat Fish.

                                                               Me by the water fall.

                                                     Steve at the waterfall - top pool.

                                                                  Long Tom Fish.

                                                                      4 Cat Fish.

                                                      Common Spotted Archer Fish.

                                            The palms we swam under to get to all 3 pools.
                                      

Darwin.

Off to the Australian Aviation Heritage Centre, an impressive presentation of aircraft & displays depicting the Territory's involvement in aviation both civil & military, from early aviation pioneers, record breakers through to WWII & the jet age.

Today we went to the Waterfront Precinct and Wave Lagoon, and later onto the Palmerston Markets-Excellent!!!

                                                                     The Waterfront.

                                                           Can anyone see Steve?

                                               The convention centre on the water front.

                           Look who we bumped into at the wave pool, Kerri, Abbey & Kieran.
                                                         
I have to say it was great fun at the wave pool, excellent to catch up with Kerri & Kieran. Abbey was just such a joy to play with, and made the day very special!!!