Escaping the northern heat

Our time in NT was hot, dry and dusty. Temperatures have been over 35 degrees, but the relentless sun makes it feel closer to 40+. Much of the bush is still black and charred from the annual patch burning. It’s a traditional Aboriginal practice adopted by government and land holders to prevent bush fires and encourage biodiversity and the black trees and grass just intensifies the heat.

Thankfully the Territory has a myriad of gorges and rock formations filled with fresh water creating natural swimming pools which are inaccessible at other times of the year. I’ve learnt water in the top end is always approached with caution and the tourist literature says assume crocs are present everywhere. There is a saying in Kakadu that the only safe place to swim is in the public pool at Jabiru.

Most swimming areas have larger lower pools and upper plunge pools. In the dry, lower rock pools are still home to fresh water crocs, fish eaters who are safe if left alone. In the National Parks pools are monitored by the Rangers for salties before they’re opened for swimming. The camp manager at Gunlom in Kakadu told us he warns 22,000 people a year not to swim in the lower pool but most can’t be bothered with the walk up the hill. As a result in the dry season, they keep a 20 foot trap in the creek below the lower pool containing a large pig leg just in case. We did the climb!

The safest place to swim is in upper pools – often accessed by difficult steep, rocky walk or climb but the reward of a refreshing swim is worth it. Also, beyond what you can initially see are often more hidden pools so we watch where the water flows from and always climb and explore.

three of my favourite places to swim...

Butterfly Gorge in the Douglas/Daly region

Just north of Pine Creek the main attraction in the area are hot springs, but as we discovered it’s worth the 17 km drive, on one of the worst roads we’ve encountered, past them to Butterfly Gorge.

Luckily we met a couple on the track who advised skipping the lower pool and taking the poorly marked track over the rocks to the upper pool.

We then swam 50-60 m across the pool and climbed between the rocks to find a series of private, hidden rock pools.

Surprise Creek Falls in Litchfield NP

Maybe one of the Park’s least visited camp sites as it is accessible only by 4WD and the road is not always open.

We practically had the place to ourselves for a whole day which was divine. The walk in along a sandy, flat track is easy. Again skip the lower pool and climb over the rocks to the upper pools and waterfall.

They’re deep enough to jump into from a decent height, and the further you climb the more pools there are to discover.

Leliyn (Edith Falls) in Nitmiluk National Park (Katherine Gorge)

Not only does it have great swimming but also lovely shady grassy campsites so we stayed for three nights.

The main lower pool is the largest I’ve seen and nice for a quick dip but the best swimming is a 1 km walk up a steep hill to the upper pools and waterfall.

A climb and explore to the outer edges of the pool also uncovered a picturesque rock pool complete with a single water lily growing in the middle.

Unfortunately there aren’t more photos as I don’t have a waterproof cover for my phone/camera…

Eye spy with my little eye something starting with… S

We've driven over 6,000 km in the past month.  It’s a lot of time in the car on boring roads looking at endless bitumen, brown grass, sparse trees and red dirt with the occasional hoparoo (my generic term for anything smaller than a kangaroo) and feral cats or large predatory birds eating road kill – which curiously we haven’t seen much of since entering NT.

A combination of Eye Spy and 20 Questions is the driving game of choice. Eye Spy on its own can take forever so we allow other questions to be asked like ‘is it inside the car or outside the car?’ and ‘can I see it now?’.  

Best object so far has been ‘sunglasses’ – it took Jeff forever to guess (extra clues included it’s inside the car, there are five in the car and you can see two all the time. It was genius, he thinks it was cheating. Pfft.

Missing Google

I miss being connected to the world 24/7. You’d think I’d be happy for a break from it seeing I used to spend 10+ hours a day, five days a week on a screen – before work to check the weather and news, all day at work, then after work on social media and email. 

I’m particularly missing Google and being able to get the answer to any random question day or night. What do I do now? Keep a list of things to Google next time we have phone/internet service. 

E.g. why do flies land on us, what are the rates of Ross River and Dengue fever in Australia, find a flapjack recipe that could be made in the camp oven, and where have I seen Lyndsy Fonseca & Clark Duke (actors in Kick Ass) before – turns out Desperate Housewives and Hot Tub Time Machine respectively??? 

Three week update!

Greetings from the Northern Territory

Intrepid travellers Jeff & Maddy

Where are we? After three weeks on the road we are in Darwin where I'm finally getting the time and adequate internet connection to update my blog! Warning up front - this will be a bit longer than usual. I've embedded my Instagram feed into my homepage so non Instagram users can keep up with the photos!

Where have we been? We've been everywhere man, we've been to Pomona, Gympie, Biggenden, Coringa, Gin Gin, Rockhampton, Notch Point, Sarina, Mackay, Ollera Beach, Bowen, Ayr, Townsville, Alva Beach, Ingham, Cardwell, Innisfail, Millaa Millaa, Ravenshoe, Archer Creek, Atherton, Cairns, Mareeba, Undara, Georgetown, Croydon, Normanton, Karumba, Leichhardt River, Burketown, Gregory Downs, Adel's Grove, Boodjamulla NP, Doomagee, Hell's Gate, Seven Emu Station, Borroloola, Cape Crawford, Katherine, Douglas Daly, Surprise Creek, Litchfield NP, Dundee Beach, Crab Claw Island... and Darwin!

What a whirl wind trip so far, we've done about 5,500 km, only stopping for two nights four times in three weeks at Adel's Grove, Cape Crawford (not by choice - mechanical issues), Crab Claw Island and Darwin (partly due again to mechanical issues).

It's incredible how many Australians are out travelling at this time of year. We've rocked up to free camp sites to find them full of caravans and camper trailers. The grey nomads are out in force. We've met some lovely people and now have invitations to visit Port Augusta in SA and Echuca in VIC. Most travellers are on short holidays (4 - 6 weeks) or their annual escaping the Winter holiday (4 - 6  months). We haven't met anyone younger than us yet and only one other couple so far have been on an extended trip. Jeff did meet one man who has been on the road for 18 years and reckons he will go for another two and stop when he's 77.

SuzieQ our GQ Nissan Patrol has been challenged by the corrugations and rough, rocky roads - and we haven't even reached the Gibb River Rd in WA yet. At one point it was like a Country & Western song. "We're outta beer, outta water, outta spares, outta food, outta brakes, the diffs leakin' oil and there’s a strange new flapping sound... but we have our love and a sense of humour". 

A few observations from the journey so far:

• Water is precious. I know it's an obvious one but until you don't have clean drinkable water on tap 24/7 its hard to understand. When you do it's a luxury - appreciate it.
  
• Phone reception in rural Australia sucks balls (one for Mandy Downs). Come on Telstra, give everyone in Australia phone reception, please, and then Optus can follow.
  
• There is no recycling out here (until you are in Darwin). WTF? I'm having to come to terms with throwing cardboard and glass into normal bins. It hurts each time I do it.
  
• My fingernails are never clean. I don't know how but they are constantly filthy. My feet are also filthy and I'm getting a thong tan.
  
• They only way to cope with red dirt is to make friends with it. It covers everything including the first six feet of vegetation on each side of an unsealed road. It also does not come out of clothes in a normal wash cycle and sticks to every surface of every item in the car.
  
• Caravan parks, as well as being a great place to have a long shower, are a wealth of information. Most conversations centre around three topics - the price of fuel (farking expensive), the state of roads and the price of beer (also expensive). I was horrified to pay $39 for a carton of XXXXGold in Innisfail. Should have stocked up as it was $70 at Cape Crawford and we've been told up to $85 in some more remote areas.
  
  

• The smell of the ocean after weeks in the bush is incredible. But it's heartbreaking when you can't just run and dive right in for swim because of crocs. 

• Fresh water, crystal clear, deep swimming holes are hidden throughout this dusty, rugged country and they are incredible when you find them. Many are only accessible at this time of year and exploring them has been one of the highlights so far.
  
  
  One of the best we found was Butterfly Gorge in the Douglas Daly area of NT. It was a 17 km drive from the main road on an unsealed 4WD only track (one of the worst we have been on). Then a long walk on a poorly marked track over rocks up a steep hill and then a steep scramble down to a sandy beach and large swimming hole. We met a couple walking out as we came in who advised swimming across the gorge and climbing up between the high rock walls. A 50-60m swim and we climbed through to find an amazing series of deep plunge pools. No photos due to the swim and lack of ways to keep the phone/camera dry. Memories only.

• I do not love sand flies, mozzies or march flies. I never did but I also haven't seen one living in Melbourne for 20 months. I currently have somewhere around 90 bites and have been using every pharmaceutical and natural remedy I can find to stop the itching. Luckily one of them is working.
  
• Watching the sun go down over the water is magical as is the afterglow that continues for the next 20 mins - even if you do share it with several hundred other people.

Farewell Darwin, you're an interesting city. A massive thank you to our hosts for the last two nights Gay, Henry and Shirley, and Petra. Thank you for your hospitality and welcoming us into your beautiful house. Next stop Kakadu...