A couple of days later we were parked up in the Boab Caravan Park, having crossed the border and travelled the scenic Victoria Highway into Katherine.
Katherine provided our first opportunity for decent shopping for some time and also an opportunity for an approved Jayco repairer to have a look at our awning which had been dodgy since Broome and was only functional due to some ‘MacGyver’ type modifications.
Russell and I made an early start on our first morning to visit the Katherine Hot Springs and were able to have them to ourselves for a little while until the rest of the tourists started to wake up.
We had also purchased tickets to the Katherine Outback Experience, just out of town and which turned out to be a very enjoyable evening.
“Owned by multiple Golden Guitar winner and horseman extraordinaire, Tom Curtain, Katherine Outback Experience celebrates the Northern Territory’s rich pastoral culture and history through real horse training and working dog demonstrations ….. “
We saw great examples of working dogs and horses, dogs on horses, goats on horses, dogs herding goats and horses herding cattle all accompanied by Tom’s original country music (from horseback most of the time) and humorous tales from his life. I highly recommend going if you are in the area particularly if you are a city slicker who would like to learn about this fascinating aspect of Australian culture.
The next morning we received bad news when the Jayco service centre confirmed that the control module in our awning was faulty but a replacement wouldn’t be available for at least two weeks 😢
We decided to soldier on with the MacGyer arrangement (which continued to work for the rest of the trip) and so saying our goodbyes to Steph and John we headed north along the Stuart Highway toward Darwin where we were going to catch up with some of Russell’s family.
We had heard lots of good things about the Adelaide River Inn and Resort along the way and as they don’t take reservations we were happy that we managed to secure one of the last two sites at about 2.30 pm.
The large pool provided welcome relief from the heat and after cooling down we settled in early for a good spot to enjoy some live entertainment and later, dinner. We were watched by ‘Charlie’ the water buffalo, famous for his starring role in Crocodile Dundee but now somewhat stuffed…
Adelaide River’s other ‘not to be missed’ spot is the Adelaide River War Cemetery.
During the Second World War, Adelaide River was the headquarters of a large base, and the war cemetery was created especially for the burial of servicemen who died in this part of Australia….. After the war, the Army Graves Service moved other graves into the site from isolated sites, temporary military burial grounds and various civil cemeteries in the area – these included: Bagot Hospital Cemetery; Berriman Hospital and War Cemeteries; Daly Waters Civil Cemetery; Darwin Public Cemetery; Gove War Cemetery; Hughes Cemetery, Darwin; Katharine Civil and War Cemeteries; Larrimah War Cemetery; Millingimbi War Cemetery; Mount Isa Cemetery, Queensland – just over the border, where No. 74 camp Hospital was set up; South Goulburn Island Mission Cemetery and Truscott War Cemetery.
It now contains 435 Commonwealth burials of the Second World War. We enjoyed the very informative video about the Japanese bombing of Darwin, (containing many first hand accounts,) and then spent some time wandering the immaculate grounds and reflecting on the horrors of war.
The next night we checked in to the Humpty Doo CMCA park in time for happy hour with an assortment of people from all over the country. As this was the closest we had been to ‘civilisation’ for a while we drove in to Casuarina Shopping Centre the next day for some essentials and a hair cut before spending a lovely evening with Russell’s son and his family.
Moving on from Humpty Doo we were excited to get to Kakadu National Park and the Yellow Water Campground where we had a two night booking. On the way though we visited the more northern section of the park including the infamous Cahill’s Crossing where you can view hordes of crocs (actually the collective noun is ‘bask’ but they aren’t basking in this situation) at the Alligator River. They gather in large numbers around this causeway to feed on mullet and barramundi as the tide pushes in and over the road that leads into Arnhem Land but we were not there at the right time of the year to witness large numbers, being satisfied with seeing a few from the safety of the viewing area.
This part of the park is also where to find the Ubirr rock art which is seen on a circular walk that also affords great views from a rocky lookout over the flood plains below.
Kakadu’s rock art represents one of the longest historical records of any group of people in the world and it was well worth the warm afternoon walk.
It was quite late by the time we arrived at the campground which is further south, in the central part of the park, but we were happy with our spacious site, less so with the mozzies 😉
On John and Steph’s recommendation we had booked the sunrise Yellow Water cruise the following morning and so whilst still dark we made our way over to the bus departure point for the short transfer to the billabong where we boarded the boat.
Witnessing the sun breaking the horizon was just breathtaking and the photo opportunities only got better.
One third of Australia’s bird species can be see in Kakadu and the Yellow Water Wetlands contain at least 60 species of birds and a huge array of flora as well as the requisite crocs, water buffalo, wild horses, snakes, fish and frogs. We had an excellent guide for our morning cruise and the camera was working over time!
I’ll let the pictures tell the story….
And then the less frightening ones 😍
We loved this cruise so much that we immediately signed up for the sunset version which didn’t disappoint.
And that, my friends, was our take on Kakadu.
Despite the better known waterfalls and water holes not yet being open ( for funding or cultural reasons depending on who you spoke to) we were extremely happy that we had included Kakadu in our travels.