Kakadu and Katherine Gorge

Hi again

Am having a few formatting challenges so pics are a little out of sync. First one is canoeing on Katherine gorge. Second is sunset over Yellow Waters in Kakdu. Third is at the top of Gunlom Falls in Kakdu and the last is a big croc in the East Alligator River, Kakadu. See below for Tess's blog :) Em x

G’day
Its Tess, Charlie and Harry here, reporting from Daintree rainforest. Sorry for not writing for ages, but we have been out of range. I have a lot to write about, so to fill you in on our news-
After Darwin we drove to Kakadu.
On our first day we went on a cruise down Yellow Waters and the East Crocodile River. Our tour guide, Michael, told us all about some of the different species of birds that inhabit the area and also about the salt water crocodiles.
Our (Harry and Charlie’s) favourite bird was the kingfisher. It grows up to 5cm and has a blue tummy with orange back feathers. It was a good thing that it was Michael’s favourite bird, because they are very hard to spot as they are little and like to hide amongst the leaves of the trees.
Estuarine crocodiles are very dangerous. They have attacked and killed people.
That is the opening sentence of every sign warning of crocodiles in every lake, creek or billabong in Kakadu National Park.
On our cruise we saw more than 20 estuarine (or saltwater) crocodiles, but only few of them were in the water. The largest crocodile in the East Alligator River was 3.5m long, and some crocodiles grow up to double that size. He swam along side us in the boat and we got some really good photos of him. My (Harry speaking) favourite crocodile was hauled up on the bank. The vibration of the boat scared him so he jumped up and dived into the water. I think he was showing off. When we got back, we watched the sunset and the smoke from all the fires glowed red in the evening light. That night, we lathered our selves in Bushman’s mosquito repellent as the mozzies were horrendous.

The next day we went on an Aboriginal rock art walk. The colours of the paintings were red orange yellow, white and brown. The sandstone overhangs were layered with animals, handprints and spirits of the dreamtime. We liked the barramundi and the turtle. They were so detailed they almost looked alive. Then we did some rock climbing up a hill and over looked floodplains, wetlands and Arnhem Land, where Aborigines still live traditionally today. We did 2 more short walks including one where mum and I (Tess) explored the tree tops of a rainforest – a women’s sacred site.
We swam in the cool and silky waters of Gunlom falls- the only place in Kakadu without crocodiles. We climbed a mountain to the top of the falls and looked down over the bottom pools, it was a bit scary.

At Katherine we canoed down the Gorge. Mum and I (Tess) shared a kayak and Harry and dad had a canoe. Charlie paddled by himself but Mum and I had to tow him most of the time. I think he couldn’t admit he had no muscles! We pulled up at many beaches and had swims in the crystal clear water. We also paddled into some caves. They were dark and scary and we kept hearing freaky sounds.
All the cruises we passed were staring in jealousy out the sides. It looked like they wanted to canoe!!!! We hired the canoes for 4 hours and paddled 6.5km. The next morning we went on a walk to a lookout over the gorge. We saw some other people canoeing and we were waving and screaming at them “Hello!!!” This time I felt jealous!


The next 4 days we drove non-stop until we finally reached the Daintree, but I’ll tell you about that in our next blog. Bye for now, Tess and Harry

West MacDonnell Ranges and Litchfield Nat Park

Hi all!

It's Em here. Tess has written blog below but I thought I'd tell you about the photos on the left. The first one is of Tess and Charlie jumping into the rock pools at Buley Rock Holes. The second is taken near Florence Falls. The third is the view through our tent of Glen Helen Gorge and the last was taken in Ormiston Gorge.

G’day
This is Tess here!
Recently we have been to the West MacDonnell Ranges.
On the way, driving there, we stopped off at Standley Chasm (or as Charlie and I call it, Standley Spasm). We did the Gorge walk. The sun was shining on the dusty brown rocks, causing them to look red; the walk was fun, especially when we did the last rock climbing bit. Once we got to Glen Helen Station we went on another walk, the Redbank Gorge walk. There were lots of rocks made of quartz and granite. At the end of the walk there was a huge water hole, but it was a bit nippy so we didn’t swim.
We also hiked Ormiston Pound/Gorge -7.5ks. The first two hours was really tiring, and it got really hot, but when we all started singing the song ‘100 bottles of beer on the wall’ it cheered us up. At the end of the walk, there were lots of little water holes, and some of them had ducks in them. The best part of the hike though, would have to be the amazing look out, boasting views of Ormiston Pound and the Gorge.

We stayed at dad’s friend’s retreat at Bond Springs and dined like the Royals in their house for breakfast and dinner. We didn’t do much at Alice Springs excepting the Desert Park. Our audio guide told us about the many different flora and fauna in the desert, and about the desert itself. Unfortunately we didn’t allow much time to spend there but we did get to see a dramatic slideshow called ‘A Changing Heart’, a nocturnal animal exhibit and a ranger talk on how to find water in the desert as well as having a little wander.

At Edith Falls it started to heat up to 32 degrees. And what flies!!! (Or so I thought……)
There was a waterhole at the bottom of a waterfall that was 150m wide. Although it was cold, we still swam. Terrified by the crocodile safety signs posted up, I was very cautious of the depth and darkness of the water but mum and dad reassured me that they are only around in the wet season, and even if they were, signs would be up telling us not to swim.
We spent three days at Litchfield enjoying their pools and waterfalls nonstop. Florence Falls was within an easy walking distance from our site and we visited those pools three times. The water was crystal clear and quite warm. Charlie and I had great fun clambering down the creek over rocks and cascades occasionally losing our crocs because of the strong currents. We were surrounded by lush rainforest the whole way down, it was really beautiful We also swam over to the waterfalls and through to the other side. The water hurt a bit because it was pelting down really fast and hard.

A 3km walk in 33 degrees tired us out but luckily it was to the Buley Rockholes which turned out to be the most fantastic place ever (according to me).It started with one deep pool up the top which went sideways into another pool and there were lots more water holes all connected by mini waterfalls and cascades. Charlie and I had heaps of fun doing bombs off the rock until I slipped nearly hit the rock. This gave me a huge fright! My bombing off rock days are over.

We are now in Darwin. Last night we went to the Mindil Beach markets. After a scrumptious dinner the boys and girls split and Mum and I spent a lot of time perusing the stalls with hippy clothes, jewellery and gifts. I bought a pair of turquoise fisherman ¾ pants and an aboriginal painting book mark. The boys got wooden animals that made different sounds when you blow into them or stroke their corrugated backs. Mum bought some fisherman pants too. Dad bought a kangaroo leather wrist band. He thinks he looks really cool. We watched the sun set over the beach and saw a fire show (which freaked me out a bit!). The boys also watched the Amazing Drumming Monkeys which was a puppet show with monkeys that played the bongos. Harry thought it was hilarious. Today we went to the NT Museum and Art Gallery. There was an exhibition on Cyclone Tracey which hit Darwin on Christmas Day in 1974. There was a room where you could listen to a recording of the noise that the cyclone made. Daddy, Charlie and Harrison went in but the noise was too loud for me. Harry was a bit freaked out.

Tomorrow we go to Kakadu to visit the mozzies and crocodiles. Sorry, we’ll be out of range again for a week or so but will fill you in on lots of news when we can.

Bye!
Tess