Kakadu

My faith in humanity has been restored, despite some more annoying setbacks and some plain dumb people the charm of this place is really starting to get me in. Let me deal with the negatives first. I called in at one of the visitor info centres here for some day trip advice. Much of what they told me was good except they sent me to two places that were actually closed. Not closed for the day or a few hours but had permanent signs up saying this part of the park is closed. When you drive to these places, which are often not just round the corner only to have to turn around and backtrack, it is more than a bit annoying and quite unprofessional. The second setback is my reading glasses that were sent to me in Tasmania  I think are now at the bottom of the Yellow River. Oh well I know I have my snorkel and flippers with me but unless I go and get them with a tungsten reinforced crocodile cage they can stay where they are. 

I changed accommodation and am now staying at Cooinda Lodge, it is much closer to the action and while being operated by the same company as the crocodile hotel it is a far better run establishment. I did a sunset cruise which was hosted by one of traditional custodians of the region. He was bloody brilliant. Reuben kept up the chatter non stop for two hours, I mean this guy could talk underwater with a mouthful of marbles. He covered all sorts of things that would normally bore be senseless, made it entertaining and showed me some truly spectacular wildlife. Plus he knows how to drink red wine, I kicked him out of my room at about 2.00am after we had demolished some serious amount of the stuff. Get a load of this monster salty that we drove past in his boat.

This guy is boss of this part of the river, as far as I'm concerned he can be boss of where ever he wants to be boss of. He was just short of 5 metres long and while be barely moved he oozed power and menace.

This morning I bounded out of bed at 6.15am to go on my adventure tour (cursing Reuben in a variety of ways). We headed out to check out the two most spectacular waterfalls in this part of the world. Twin Falls and Jim Jim Falls. Both of these were amazing and in themselves took a whole lot of effort to get to. Firstly you do about 40 kilometres of corrugated dirt road, then you engage 4WD and do another 19 kilometres to get you to the point where you walk to the Twin Falls. Once you get there you realise it was all worth it, look at these pics.

We had to take a short boat trip to get to the start of our walk. The water was silky smooth, crystal clear and a serious health hazard. The falls themselves had a pristine sand beach just inviting you to go swimming. Not really an option. This device was not far away and put paid to any stupid idea you might have that you might actually go anywhere near the water.

Not being there for decoration this crocodile trap had been used recently and they were still chasing a 4 metre salty that they believed was still in the area. I didn't offer to help.

From there we headed to Jim Jim Falls which are almost 200 metres high. To get there however we had to cross a swollen river (depth .7 metres). Then we did a quite arduous 900 metre walk. The first 500 metres was an up and down sand path that had a few rocks in it. The next 200 metres was scrambling over small rocks. It was the last 200 metres that took its toll. Basically you scramble over huge boulders and hang on like mad. The whole walk took maybe 45 minutes, with the last couple of hundred metres taking up most of it. Have a look the at the pictures below and you will get an idea of how nice this area is. We also went swimming once we got there. Have a look at the safe swimming sign that you pass at the start of the walk.

Basically it says we think we caught all the salties at the start of the dry season, there are still fresh water crocs here so swim at your own risk. However its not likely that they will kill you. Anyway the water is freezing and they should have a sign about sudden scrotum contraction, especially for the men. 

All in all it was a sensational day and certainly made me appreciate this part of the world. I was fearing that I may pass through here absolutely hating it. Tomorrow I head out to Katherine where I will be cruising the gorge, staying just the one night and then heading out for Tennant Creek and the Devil's Marbles.