Michael and I returned to Darwin, eagerly awaiting the
arrival of my parents who had decided Darwin (and of course visiting us) was a
must do! Unfortunately their flight
didn’t arrive until some ungodly hour of the night/morning, however fortunately
for us they had booked a room at the Novotel and we were able to book in and
enjoy the luxury. We did feel a little awkward pulling up to such a fancy hotel in boardies and singlets with the
Hulk covered from top to tyre in dust, however all of that soon abated when we
realised what an awesome place we’d be
staying in. The main foyer and subsequent atrium within were decorated in
plants, water features and all things outdoors. We excitedly explored the hotel and our room
and declared the evening a date night, which absolutely called for a bottle of
bubbles, being a Sunday and with grog laws up north not always catering for
those on holidays this proved more difficult than we had imagined, however with
Google, a GPS and some patience we eventually found ourselves enjoying a decadent
happy hour of bubbles and cheese whilst overlooking Darwin’s esplanade. We then
set off for the well renowned Mindil Beach Markets.
 |
| The Hulk meeting the Novotel. |
The markets provided a feast for not only our eyes but for
our bellies as well! There were numerous food stalls and shops ranging from
crafts to clothes and beyond, not to mention a jam packed evening of
entertainers. Most notable was by far the fire show with a man performing all
sorts of tricks and skits involving fire. There was also Emdee, a band
comprised of a drummer with every drum imaginable - including pot lids, and a
bloke playing 4 didgeridoos and using a repeater to create amazing beats whilst
several locals showed off their dancing skills. We couldn’t believe that
markets could be so entertaining. We then returned to the hotel, said goodbye
to the Hulk and finished our bubbles whilst waiting for mum and dad to arrive.
Eventually the day’s excitement took its toll, so it was bedtime, but the alarm
was set for when the folks would arrive. It wasn’t long before we were once
again sitting around the table playing catch ups and excitedly talking about
what lay ahead, before heading off to sleep again.
For once we were not up with the sun, instead choosing to
enjoy the comfort the hotel beds provided. The folks had hired a car for the
day, considering that Brucie only has two and a half seats this proved to be a
fantastic move! We drove around Darwin, the docks and the waterfront. We also
made a stopover to buy a couple of leather hats, now mum and dad were fit to
travel! That evening provided a decadent happy hour as we watched the sun slip
over the horizon, followed by a delicious dinner at The Precinct down by the
water. It was almost like being at home again, a feeling we hadn’t had in 5
months.
 |
| Darwin City from across the bay. |
The next morning we meandered down to the waterfront at
Doctors Gully where an old tradition has evolved into much more. Starting in the 1960’s a local would throw
bread into the water at high tide, now resulting in all manner of fish
presenting themselves in the hope of bread at high tide each day. We stood in
water up to our knees and threw bits of bread to the fish swarming round our
legs. There was mullet, milkfish, batfish, catfish, a couple of barra, a groper
and a few more things with gills and fins. The sheer volume of fish attending
was unbelievable, but also made for a ridiculously fun time – especially the
bat fish who would gulp at the water’s surface hoping for a crust.
 |
| Hungry Mullet and a gulping Bat Fish. |
 |
| Dad and his 'small' group of fishies! |
After an hour or so it was time to move on as today would be
a busy day! We booked out of the Novotel, returned the hire car then picked up
the pièce de
résistance – a Maui motorhome! Thanks to
the friendly staff (or maybe a vehicle shortage?) a massive upgrade found us in
one of the best in the line-up, providing plenty of space. The plan was to
convoy for the next few days, exposing the folks to our day to day ventures.
Getting straight into the spirit of it, mum went straight to the freebie bin
and had a ball! After the transfer of luggage and paperwork/intro it was
time for a mad dash out to the Adelaide River, where we had booked a jumping
croc cruise.
We literally just made it in time, barrelling down the
corrugated driveway (noisy in the motorhome – ceramic plates, really?!?). We
hopped on the boat and were immediately greeted by a friendly 2 metre croc. The
folks were immediately impressed – “This is better than the Daintree Croc
Cruise already!” (which had lacked the main attraction). Adelaide River Cruises
ended up being a great choice (out of the 6+ companies), being a family run
operation meant they were always close to the action and the guys were great.
The weapon of choice was a ~20ft tinny with a small guard rail separating us
from the beasts. Our host cruised up the river looking for a likely candidate –
all of which he knows by name – before throwing a buffalo steak on the end of a
pole to entice a crocodile into the air. These shows varied from an amazing
jump from a 3 metre croc – the jump saw even her hind legs out of the water, to
the show stopping Brutus – a 5+ metre alpha male whose monstrous leap had the
boat shaking as his head landed on the top of the guard rail – right in front
of our faces! It was amazing watching these ancient hunters at play, their
sheer strength and agility is something to behold and not to mention be wary
of!
 |
| Turns out crocs can really jump! |
 |
| Brutus - A monster of a croc at around 5.5 metres!! |
After about an hour all of the “big names” in the area had
been fed, including Michael Jackson (a visiting male with a white patch on his
head), and also a whistling kite and sea eagle (who caught bits of buffalo from
the air/water) and thus spelt the end of this adventure. Time to hit the road
and head to Berry Springs, with an ice-cream stop off on the way at Humpty Doo.
Love that name. The Hot Springs at Berry Springs were just what the doctor
ordered as the day was coming to an end. There was a large swimming area to
hang around in for a while, and a quick jaunt upstream saw us at a fork in the
creek, one being ice cold water, the other being a small waterfall where the
warm water entered. The nearby van park proved a great first night for us; it
had everything from hot showers and power through to a crocodile enclosure (as
you do)! All in all not a bad stop over.
 |
| Playing under the hot waterfall at Berry Springs. |
For the length of time we had with the folks Litchfield
National Park promised to provide the best mix of things to do and time to do
nothing, located close to Darwin but with plenty of attractions – namely
swimming holes. We had some great little walkie talkies for the convoy which
really helped in keeping us both on track, hearing “ten-four Rubber Ducky”
several times a trip also provided a bit of a laugh (thanks dad). The first
attraction on the road however was the amazing magnetic termite mounds – an
entire field of 1-2 metre high mounds aligned in an east-west orientation.
These little guys can’t survive the oppressive heat of the northern sun, and so
have designed their homes with only a small area facing direct sunlight. A
different species of termite have built cathedral mounds on the other side of
the car-park, and have instead opted for sheer size for their homes – easily
reaching the 5 metre mark. Turns out there are lots of different termites, not
just the kind that eat houses.
 |
| A Cathedral Termite mound. |
Wangi Falls is the big name of the park, providing easy
access to an excellent swimming hole throughout the dry season (as soon as those
pesky people- own eating crocs are removed after the wet season deluge).The
falls are absolutely spectacular, there was one raging to the right and a
smaller fall to the left complete with a natural spa, only catch is you have to
climb along a rocky ridge to get there. The waterhole itself is nothing to balk
at either, with a huge area full of
clean, clear water to splash about in. We made sure we made it to the adjacent
camping area by lunchtime – good thing as we wanted two spaces and the place
fills up fast. The rest of the day involved lunch, swimming (including using
some blow up floaties to frolic around) , snacking, watching the wild-life
(wallabies, parrots and greater bower birds), happy hour, dinner, then a ranger
talk and presentation on Litchfield, which proved to be great fun.
 |
| Wangi Falls. |
Litchfield provides some great visitor information, with
heaps of signs at the major attractions, however the ranger talks are something
more altogether. The ranger had some great knowledge and stories of the area,
including one about the agile wallabies who evolved with an erratic method of
jumping from side to side to avoid predators such as eagles who cannot
manoeuvre so quickly. This skill has become a downfall near the highways, where
they will jump off the road just to hop back on again – not great for the front
bumper. Also note, national parks do not condone hitting cane toads with golf
clubs, however running them over is a-ok.
 |
| An Agile Wallaby and her joey. |
The bird-call alarm clock had us up in the morning ready to
explore more of the park. The 2 km walking track took us through the canopy and
to the top of the Wangi Falls, then back down to the plunge pool for a
refreshing dip. It was time to move on, and after a night without power it was
time to plug the Maui in again, so we went and settled in at the Litchfield
Safari Park, where it was an open slather to choose from the shady, grassy
sites. We locked in our spots then all hopped in the motorhome to explore the
northern reaches of the park. First stop was the old tin mine, which was an
interesting stop over, where early miners struggled in the harsh climate to
earn a living. It was amazing to learn about what these fellow’s went through.
 |
| The Hulk, My Folks and The Maui - getting ready for an adventure. |
Feeling as though we were drying out fast, we stopped in at
Walker Creek for a beautiful swim, venturing up the river to find some deeper
patches – again in beautiful crystal clear water. Thoughts of staying here for
a night were put to rest when we found the camping was walk in only, varying
from 200 metres to over 1km to cart in your stuff! You do however get some
amazing seclusion and a waterfront site for yourself. That night we enjoyed
some stunning steak cooked on the open fire, followed by a brilliant game of
May-I that I have been craving for a long time. Sure I didn’t win, but there
was always next time!!
 |
| Walker Creek. |
Day 3 in the park started off with some sightseeing, going
to have a look at Tolmer Falls, tabletop Swamp. The falls provided a great view of the
surrounding valley, however lacked the swimming area due to protection of the
native bats, which was a good enough excuse for us considering the climb that
would be involved. We continued on, knowing our next swim would not be far away.
Once again we were staying in a national park campground, this time at Florence
Falls, so went there to leave our camper to reserve a spot while we ventured
off in the motorhome – good thing too as there wasn’t an endless supply of
sites. Buley Rockhole was just back down the road and is a stunning spot for a
swim, we met a few people who had ventured from Darwin for the day mainly for
this piece of luxury. The number of rockholes along the river/falls meant that
although there was quite a few people there, you could easily have a pool to
yourself and feel like you were all alone. After testing out a number of the
pools, it was time for a feed, so we moved on to Florence Falls where we had a
quick lunch in the car park before venturing to the falls.
 |
| Florence Falls - what a sight and swimming hole! |
The walk in to Florence Falls was not too bad, except for
the daunting thought of having to walk back up the 165 step staircase. The view
from the top was great, providing a complete picture of the falls, however it
was at the base of the pools we had the most fun – the floaties were back out
and we were loving it in the water. This was yet another spot of paradise, with
clear water and absolutely picturesque waterfalls. Although busy on the banks,
it was easy to find a spot to yourself to float around or sit/stand on some of
the submerged rocks. Some other tourists ended up finding out just how much the
fish in the water like Burger Rings, to the point of about 50 fish were
swarming around them, some as big as 20cm eating out of their hands.
 |
| Me and my precious floatie!! |
That evening we got a cooking fire going – it was a camp
oven casserole night! We saw an eagle hanging out nearby and decided to throw
some scraps his way and he caught it mid-air. He continued to do this a few
more times before heading for the sky. We enjoyed our last night out bush
together with some damper, fresh air and the bush sounds – tomorrow we were
headed back to civilisation.
The call of Buley Rockhole was too much to ignore on the way
out in the morning, so in we jumped again, spending another hour or so in the
water relishing the cool waters and beautiful landscape. Howard Springs was our
next attraction on the road back to town, which ended up proving our last swim
at Buley was a good move – it was the weekend, we were now close to Darwin, and
this place was more man-made than natural. Still, it provided some great shade
for lunch, and a large pond with heaps of wildlife. We took down some leftover
ham and were delighted to be feeding several turtles of variable size and three
big barramundi.
 |
| Feeding some turtles. |
The bush was now done, swapping the Maui back for the hire
car to hit the “big smoke” (relatively speaking). We booked back in to the
Novotel, and with proof that mum had been overcharged last week we received a
stunning price for a waterfront view as a token of good will. We eased back
into modern day living, with a hot shower and a couch and some TV. We started
happy hour in the room, but I was hanging out for some $8 cocktails that were
advertised so moved down to the atrium, then eventually returned to the room’s
balcony to watch a beautiful sunset from 4 stories up. We frocked up, had
dinner at the hotel restaurant and ordered another cocktail to wash it all down
– I love this place. Not feeling decadent enough, we finished the night off
with strawberry ice-cream, Rolo and Kit Kat – “Cold Rock” style. Did I mention
how awesome it is to have a family holiday from your holiday?
Lesson of the Week: Always make time for family (especially
if it’s at the Novotel <(^_^)>) !!!
No comments:
Post a Comment