Tunnel Creek

A few hours drive from Fitzroy Crossing is tunnel creek. Dad, jess and I were brave enough to do the tunnel creek walk. The dirt road was corrugated and there were about six river crossings. The dirt road was in the middle of a cattle station so we saw lots of big bulls cows and calves. Dad loves boabs probably a bit more than he should so you could imagine how exited he was when we found a forest of them. He was out taking photos while Jesse and I stayed in the car playing D.S.



The walk was 1.7 k under a huge rock hill and we had to walk through knee deep water with a torch because it was completely dark at times. We also saw one ghost bat hanging from the roof of the tunnel.





At the end of the tunnel Jesse and I had a swim in a billabong.

Bungle bungles

So we continued to make our way west across the Great Northern Highway. Destination: Bungle Bungles. It went something like this.

We dropped our van in Turkey Creek and packed a tent and some rations for our overnight stay in the Purnululu National park. We then drove 50km on bitumen followed by 53km on dirt and rock. The state of the road into the bungles is a shocker – metaphor intended. The drive was like sitting on a jack hammer looking at nice things for 3 hours.



Lots of water crossings.



So we arrive at our campsite mid afternoon reasonably exhausted after the pounding and setup tent alongside a dry creek bed. Stars were out in their trillions, pack of dingoes cased out the site, freezing cold night, Grace boycotting use of drop down toilet and we all smelt.



Carved over 350 million years, the bungles were inhabited by the Kija Aboriginal people for over 20,000 years, calling the area Purnululu.

The area was only discovered about 30 years ago by white man. In that time the Purnululu National park has earnt a worldwide reputation as one of the most striking sandstone formations going around.



Next day we drove 30 mins into Picaninny Creek.

We did the dome walk. The maze of curious orange and black striped beehive shaped domes was the most striking rock form I had seen so far.





Then of course Cathedral gorge. This circular gorge is a result of a giant wet season whirl pool.





Ambled through Picaninny creek.



And that was the guts of a night and day that no photo will ever accurately portray.

As for the weird name – it is guessed that the Bungle Bungles is a mangled version of Purnululu, or maybe it stems from the name of the bundle bundle grass that grows in the region. The facts are light on this subject.

The best drive in the world

If you are into dramatic rocky escarpments then take the 200km drive from Katherine west to Turkey Creek. This forms the early part of the Kimberleys and hits you in the guts from start to finish. Hard to trump the Great Ocean Road, but this one is the boss!



By day they are a craggy uncompromising tough guy and when the lights go down at about 5pm, they take on a soft glow, the bravado slinks away and all they want to do is talk about their feelings.



Baz and his movie sure got this part very right.

Katherine

Our next stop after Darwin was a shady caravan park in Katherine. We were told there was hot springs just behind the back gate of the park. Our first attempt failed because we took the wrong turn and ended up on the banks of a river with crocs. The second attempt lead us to a beautiful hot spring. We all agreed that Katherine springs were our favourite of all.
By Sophie

Kakadu safari

With Peta and kids catching their breath in Darwin, I split ranks for a couple of days and travelled 300 kms east to check out Kakadu.

The main aim to learn more about aboriginal bush craft and to get a better understanding of how to live from the land, without the convenience of safeway.

First stop was several 1000 year old rock art. Rock art provide visual evidience of aboriginal ‘dreaming’.

Dreaming is a myth based on ancient heroes who once roamed the land. They carried out the tasks that the present Aborigines do today including camping, making fires, digging for water, fighting each other, and performing ceremonies. When these heroes became tired Dreamtime came to an end.

Sure Dreamtime was in the past, but it is the Aborigines present religion and culture. It dominates all aspects of aboriginal behaviour. Because of their beliefs in 'the dreaming,' ceremonies and rituals are held, stories are told, pictures are drawn, and daily life is defined.

Safari

Next a day/night animal tracks safari from Cooinda in the southern end of Kakadu. We set off in a 4WD into a large tract of land owned by an aboriginal community. Meet one of their pets. This guy was caged as days earlier he nearly ate someone.

We dug up bush carrots, discovered that aborigines cover themselves in mud when they hunt to shut down body odour, so that animals can’t detect the hunters scent. We ate a fist full of green ants – these have a citrus flavour and boost the immune system (our version of a cough and cold tablet) We ate a few berries that tasted like olives.

We learnt they drop this tree sap into small waterholes to poison fish. The sap when mixed with water takes on a soapy consistency, clogs the fish gills and they float to the surface. Hey presto barramundi for many.

Check out this traditional granite mortise and pestle. This is not only used for grinding berries etc but also animal bones.

Warning Ruth, Anna and other vegos – this gets quite ugly.

Next operation eat magpie goose following traditional cooking methods. This is how it went.

Goose was plucked.

Fire made – coals resulted – clearly.

A thick sheet of moistened stringy bark was placed over the coals. This was then lined with damp gum leaves for extra flavour. The goose, the bush carrots and a few spuds (from a spud bag) were thrown in.

Another sheet of stringy bark, coals on top, followed by an inch of soil. Cooking begins.

Then we waited and watched the sun go down. Millions of magpie geese circled and squawked. In fact, one flew low and gestured to the doomed one ‘You will never be remembered for being lucky Gordon’.

An hour later. We folded back the stringy bark oven, turned up the heat on the goose with some direct coal exposure.

The goose was portioned. Then we ate.

The flavour…well after reading this massive buildup it would seem wasteful if I said it tasted like rancid seagull. Good thing it didn’t – tasted smoked and ducky. I should know cause no body else ate any! Vegies good too.

Followed up with some damper and billy tea. Beat that.

The next morning at 6pm i took the yellow water cruise in Cooinda. From the freezing deck of a boat i checked out egrets, spoon bills, sea eagles, kingfishers, darts, crocs, pigs, brumbies, water buffalo, water monitors and more, as they sprang to life in the midst of the mist..

Darwin

Good news. Jesse managed to shake off the alien curse and get us to Darwin.

After 4045 kms travelled, our half way point was reached without one ‘are we there yet’. That for me carries the same 'ohhhh thats remarkable' status of the sights seen along the way.

Praise the electronic gods responsible for making Ipods, Nintendo DS’s and of course those portable DVD players donated by the ‘Crows.

Being a very annoying gluten free person has at times been difficult during our journey and ‘hunger anger’ has raised its ugly head on occasions when the BP roadhouse does not meet my needs.

With this in mind I was very excited to reach Darwin as many travellers along the way had spoken of the amazing markets at Mindil Beach.

These markets have the most amazing array of Asian food stalls with the backdrop of the sun setting on the beach. The trick, as i soon discovered, is to wait until the red ball is on its way down as at this point swarms of people leave the market and head to get the best possie on the beach. I am then left with a plethora of culinary options and no queues, brilliant!
Peta

The next day....Jumping crocodile cruise

When we were in Darwin we decided that it would be cool to see some saltwater crocs. These are the ones that eat people. The whole family went on a boat trip on the Adelaide river where there are heaps of them.

While we were waiting I held a python. This snake is so big it can eat a sheep. But they don’t eat people.

Before the boat left the man freaked us out with some croc stories. This man lived he said. But he was teasing the croc. One thing you never do.

The man held out some meat on a big rope to make them jump high in the air. Dad and I went to the top of the boat to get the best view. It was awesome. The biggest croc was 6 metres long and his name was ‘Hannibal’.

Did you know that the only way to tell the true age of a croc is to saw off his leg. This is because they have age rings just like a tree. Probably best just to guess.These animals have lived for over many million years even when the dinosaurs lived.

By Jess

Litchfield episode 2

The next day we ventured off-road in pursuit of Tjaynera falls.

Getting there involved a deep river crossing and lots of corrugations in the road.

Jesse didn’t think he was going to make it through the river crossing alive and made this comment shortly after:

‘Its good to have a pen and paper with you when you think you’re going to
die for 2 reasons:
1. You can write your bucket list (things you want to do
before you die)
2. You can invite your friends to your funeral.’

But he made it and after a 2 km walk we had the whole waterfall to ourselves. Jesse was one happy fella.

Later on we ran into an old Danish bloke travelling alone. We got talking and he mentioned he just spent 10 days in the desert with his wife. He went on to say:

‘She’s decided to swap a 1000 star accommodation with 5 star in Darwin.’

We found this man most hilarious.

Litchfield National Park

After a short drive from Mataranka we pulled into a caravan park in the town of Batchelor. This town is known as the “gateway to Litchfield National Park”, which usually means it has nothing to offer other than being close to something better, but we were pleasantly surprised with our lush green surrounds and spacious sites.

The next day we were on tour.

We checked out some massive termite mounds. These cleverly constructed mounds provide respite from the heat and a well protected base to breed.

Interesting fact for you. The aborigines used the termite mound soil and water as a stool hardener when they had diarrhoea.

We then had a stroll down a canyon and swam in the beautiful Florence falls.

Followed by Wangi falls.

As a rule I am not keen on swimming in any water this far north as only the slightest mention of crocs sends me running, however we were assured by people in the know that this time of year we were completely safe. But in the wet season that they can make their way into the pools when the water level is high. Still, I kept an eye out just in case.

Peta

Mataranka

Mataranka 120 k south of Katherine was one of the best places we’d been to so far. Here we swam in beautiful natural thermal pools just a short stroll from out caravan park. They were beautiful and clear and also warm at around 32 degrees! Because of the strong currents we were able to float down stream for about 100 metres. Mum was not convinced about the sign that said it was a crocodile free area.

After the thermal springs we went down to the Mataranka oval to celebrate northern territory day with the locals. There were fireworks and food.

The moon appeared over a beautiful ghost gum.

And out came the crackers.

To our surprise the fireworks were quite impressive though not so when dad decided to buy fireworks of his own and light them after the main event.

It’s the only legal public use of fireworks in Australia and dad took advantage of it. Although it may not last long given 10 people were admitted to hospital for burns.

On our last day we went for a walk to Mataranka (which was an 8 k walk) falls which was extremely tiring because most of the walk was on soft sand. There wasn’t much of a reward as the water falls were only 3 inches tall! Dad was told that no one ever goes there and by the end we could understand why. The highlight of that walk was probably seeing a wild freshwater crocodile! (they generally don't eat people) It certainly wasn’t mums favourite part, she wasn’t keen on touching the water after what she saw what was swimming below.
By Grace