Mardugal Kakadu 21th July

We arrived here just after 11:30 yesterday, after having lunch decided to have a look around the Warradjan Aboriginal Cultural Centre,very interesting.then on to Gagudju Lodge Cooinda booked for a Yellow water cruise,ended up booking the 6:45 am which meant we had a early rise at 5:30, to begin the two hour cruise which in the end was will worth it. Initially it was very cold as the sun crept over the eastern horizon but after seeing plenty of crocodiles, numerous bird life, and even some Wild
Brumbies (horses) we warmed To
The task You might say and we ended up with plenty of photos which are below. Arriving back at the lodge after the bus pick we had a continual breakfast waiting for us which was very yummy. After breakfast we to drove to Jim Jim Billabong but not much to see there other than the kites standing on the road waiting for insects to crawl out of the fire. The local people burn all
The long grass on the roadsides this time of The year so fresh new
Growth in spring. They say it's good fishing if you have a boat but with the cool Weather the Fish are not really one the bite. Back at camp this afternoon we chilled out for a while. After dinner the national parks presented A power point presentation and talk on Kakadu which we thoroughly enjoyed, all about the wetlands, all birdlife, birdlife, crocodiles, snakes, the monsoon forests, the rocky areas, feral animals etc, it was very interesting. So much to see and learn about the Aboriginal ways,different plants they use for drying or for medicine. Tomorrow is another day and moving onto Malabanjbanjdju camping area only about 30k up east from where we are now and close To Jabiru.

Kakadu 19th July.

Temperatures. Min overnight 18, midday 40c and it's winter!
Good morning all,it's been a very hot night. Arose early as we are heading off to Maguk a local swimming hole and bush walk. Did our jobs then unhooked the van so we could use the 4wd and Roy parked his motor home in front of the van so that way no one could try and take off with it. We drove about 5km east along the Kakadu highway then 10km inland on a rough gravel badly corrugated access road and it was like driving 10ks of corrugated iron, in the territories defense they said it was 4WD only we sure found out why. We then walked along a goat track for about 30 minutes to find a most stunning water falls and plunge rock pool. We had a morning snack and as there were fish swimming around Warren decided to put the fishing line in and it didn't take long to hook a fish which he released as it was illegal to fish there we think! (got it on video)Warren & I went for a swim and managed to swim the length of the pool which was around 100 meters up to the end where the waterfall cascades in from up high. We could not get close as the force of the water drove us back. After the swim we then headed up to the top pools which took us another 30 minutes as about 200m high it was so relaxing just looking and decided to have our lunch up there. Warren scrambled down to the pool and took some photos of bikini clad girls sunbaking on the rocks below. We headed back to camp at 2pm, at camp we then decided to late to pack up and move onto the next camp so staying where we are tonight and heading off tomorrow future East into Kakadu.

Mataranka to Kakadu 17th July

Decided to go into the mataranka hot springs for a dip. These are Natural hot bores that flow all the way from kakadu to WA. Set in natural bushland the hot creek flows into several pools that are used for swimming and relaxing in. They also have a camping ground and the usual shop and Restaurant etc. Water temp was around 35c so quite relaxing. After an hour or so we left and went Looking for a camp site.
We stopped at king river rest area next to the highway and had a restless sleep due to the heavy vehicles all night.
18th July
Next Morning headed the 30 ks into Katherine to stock up on supplies and visit the information centre. Refueled at woolies with diesel at $1.54 then headed north again into pinecreek to top up with water before we turned off the Darwin highway right into Kakadu. Found a camp at Harriet creek where we stayed for the night. No noise only the birds singing in the morning. Today we head further east into the rangers station to get a permit to camp which costs $25 per person for 14 days in Kakadu. Nothing is for nothing these
Days! Mary River Roadhouse,Cooinda.$5:00pp.waiting for the rancher to turn up.found a camp spot at Gungural,went for a walk to the river South Alligator which was devided into two rivers,first one dry,second one running and we found a few fish. The boys will go back later to try their luck. hot and sticky 41 and that's at 3:30pm.
Warren went for a walk up to the look out which was posted at 1 hour return. The boys went back down the river to try for a fish and caught one which they released as only 350mm in length. Uneasy feeling Warren standing in the water up to his ankles fishing with croc signs all Around him.

WW11 Airstrip Daley Water and the pub

Sorry I made a mistake by posting without the photo's.In a hurry before losing phone coverage. As we are heading into the Kakadu National Park
The photo are off Airstrip and Daley Waters Pub.you name it and they have it hanging from the roof
The photo is Steve doing his gig

WW11 air strip 15th July

We Arrived at the air strip set up camp only 2 other campers here which was a real surprise considering all free camps were packed with grey nomads. If you didn't arrive early you missed out.We decided to walk the 1k to the Daley waters pub. We had a look around at all the memorabilia on the walls, bras, panties, different types of currencies, men's jocks, caps, and any thing they could hang on the walls.there was entertainment as well as our nomad
Friend "Steve" singing again, the one were shared our dinner with. The meals were expensive with the beef and barra $27.50 plus the salad and extra$12.00 so we decided to get a bowl of chips instead and listen to the music for a while. When it was timeTo walk home it was Black as ink so Warren was able to download the flashlight apps on his iPhone and we were able to stagger home.The next morning after Breakie Peta cut Warren hair,then it was back on the road.We stop at Mataranka

Daly waters aviation complex 15th July

Heading north again and we stopped at Banka Banka homestead for morning tea. Not much to see other than the rusty old Holden in the front yard. Stopped at Elliot for fuel ( diesel $1.99) Elliot was a staging camp during WW2 and up to 1500 men were camped here. This was used a a luncheon point for north bound convoys travelling on their third day from Alice springs and it was an overnight stop for south bound convoys travelling from larrimah.
Further on we went into Newcastle waters where Kerry Packer had a
massive property and there is a town still intact at the junction of the cattle droving junction. Drovers would arrive and leave from here sometimes with 1600 cattle heading to qld or Alice springs and they would take around 10 weeks which is a feat in it's self especially in those days.
They were issued permits that recorded
The ear tags, number, route to be taken and start and expected finish date. These documents are still up on the wall for all to See.
All buildings are still intact including the junction hotel that opened in 1930 and closed in 1955 are in good condition. We travelled on to the daly waters WW2 airport and camped for the night.After setting up camp,decided to have a look around the old WW2 air base.