Big drive today after the visit to the old Argyle Homestead. There were a few movies watched in the back seat. The scenery through the Victoria River area is pretty special – lots of escarpments, gorges and cliffs. The management at the Victoria River roadhouse seem to be having some issues…or maybe the issues are fixed now.
We made it to a free camp spot about 100kms short of Katherine.
Sunday 13 June
Into Katherine for a look around. First stop was the Katherine hot springs for a long overdue bath.
The water is a beautiful 32 degrees and crystal clear. We spent quite a while here relaxing before heading to the Low Level Recreation Reserve for a picnic lunch. Katherine looks like a nice town.
At the visitor info centre was an indigenous fella doing a great painting of the rainbow serpent. He explained to us how the rainbow serpent had created all the springs that are around the area – Katherine, Mataranka, Bitter, Douglas etc. Was very interesting.
We decided to do the other sights of Katherine on the way back down from Darwin, so hit the road heading north. Bridge Creek rest area was our camp for the night. Great spot for a game of cricket.
Monday 14 June
Our base for exploring the Darwin area was the Tumbling Waters Caravan Park near Berry Springs. This place is an oasis compared to the mostly dry, dusty places we have been since Perth.
The park has a real tropical feel with palm trees and shade everywhere. With a crocodile enclosure in the park, outdoor movies on Wednesday and Saturday nights, a pool and a didgeridoo show, this place is heaven for the kids. We arrived on Monday morning and checked in for nine nights. The rest of the day was spent at the pool.
Tuesday 15 June
Off to the Territory Wildlife Park just up the road. Great value at $65 for the family. There’s plenty to see – first we checked out the whipray feeding where Tarnia was able to have a go.
These rays are huge – very similar to a stingray but they only live in fresh water.
The kids were fascinated by the archer fish. These fish spit a jet of water at insects that they spy flying around or on leaves overhanging the water. They also love meal worms that are in little hands. This was great fun.
The huge birds at the flight deck were a real highlight. Check out this big Buzzard.
We also saw whistling kites, a wedge tailed eagle, and lots more. The barking owl was a real hoot – sounded like a dog.
In the aquarium was the endangered Sawfish – funny looking thing, but at least he’s smiling.
We were extremely lucky to be the only people at the crocodile enclosure when the keepers turned up to see if we wanted to watch him being fed. At this time of year he is only fed once a month.
As the keepers held a dead wallaby above the water, the huge salty propelled himself upwards – awesome sight. None of us are too keen to go within about 10 metres of any water up here after seeing that jump.
We also saw dingoes, heaps of reptiles and snakes, huge barramundi and more. It was a big day. We needed a cool off at Berry Springs to finish the day. What a beautiful spot! The tropical surrounds were like a movie scene.
Wednesday 16 June
Who says that holidays are relaxing? Off to explore Litchfield National Park today. The back road from the caravan park took us to Wangi Falls first.
No swimming here yet – bugger too because as usual it’s hot. After late wet season rain the pond at the bottom of the falls has not been cleared of saltwater crocs.
We asked the ranger if they knew for sure that there were saltwater crocs in there (not that we were going to risk a swim anyway). He said that even in a small area like this it can take many weeks to find the salty, but normally there are quite a few (relatively harmless) freshwater crocs living here – given that the salties are territorial and will drive other crocs out (or eat them), if there are no freshies then they assume there is a salty somewhere…and the freshies were gone.
Next on the itinerary was Tolmer Falls. A short walk to the lookout and we were standing above quite a high waterfall. A bit hard to access this one, so no swimming here either.
We headed to Buley Rock Holes for our picnic lunch and swims! What a top spot. A series of beautiful swimming holes with small waterfalls. This was the kids favourite.
The adults thought it was great too.
We tried out a few of the swimming holes as each one is a bit different.
Just down from Buley Rock Holes is Florence Falls – very nice with two falls into a stunning natural pool.
We descended the many stairs for another swim. Fantastic!
We decided to give the Lost City a miss - I had seen it before and we had all seen other similar formations. The kids really couldn’t have cared and the 30 minute, 10km drive down another corrugated gravel road was enough to end that drive before it started.
On the way out of the NP we stopped in at the termite mounds. The magnetic termites build their nests with the points facing north/south and the wider faces east/west so that they can control the internal temperature. Very clever. While we were there the rangers were burning off the scrub so that was also good to see.
The cathedral termites build pretty impressive nests too. Lots of these around NT.
Thursday 17 June
Mmmm…pancake breakfast before heading up to Darwin to look around. With the smaller population it’s so easy to get around here compared to Brisbane. After a drive through the city centre we picnicked in the very tropical botanical gardens – beautiful cool spot.
Look at the brother/sisterly love here!
A few games of hide and seek later, we drove to the wharf area to look around. Didn’t see any crocs in here…
It sure was hot though – the sun is burning like the middle of a Brisbane summer. There’s no motivation to walk too far. We did check out the memorial for the bombing of Darwin in WW2 which was really interesting – hard for the kids to comprehend what had happened here all those years ago.
Our main purpose for visiting Darwin on a Thursday was so that we could go to the Mindil Beach markets. The girls, especially Ashley, had been looking forward to this for a long time. Luckily for the boys, the V8 Supercar race is on this Sunday in Darwin and there just happened to be an autograph signing session next to the markets at the Sky City Casino. Luke was in boy heaven. Will have to look at getting tickets for the race.
Back to the markets. The many arts and craft stalls, the smells of exotic foods, and the music and shows had everyone excited. Great atmosphere! We had a meal (made up of food from about five different countries) on the beach and watched a very entertaining show. Ashley was very happy to purchase a souvenir necklace.
Friday 18 June
No days off yet. We are booked on the wetland cruise at Corroboree Park billabong, about 40 mins drive from Tumbling Waters.
Spectacular scenery…lots of wildlife and plants that we don’t get to see in Brisbane. The three hour cruise on the Mary River was in a comfortable boat that only took 28 passengers. Not too crowded! The very informative guide took us up a few different arms of the billabong and told us heaps about what we were seeing.
Luke wasn’t too impressed by some of the people who nearly had babies everytime they spotted a different type of bird…”bird nerds”. The rolling eyes and sideways look gave away his thoughts and he did ask us if some of those people were alright (that was questionable).
This whistling kite swooped down for a feed while we were having our lunch.
And on the subject of lunch, we were each served our own container of fresh salad – that was the best part of the trip as far as Ashley was concerned. She did enjoy nibbling on the seeds of the lotus lily too.
All of the kids (even Luke) licked the bums of the green ants that build nests in the trees here…they taste like warhead lollies.
There were plenty of big saltwater crocs around.
Look out birds!
Seeing the Jabiru up close was a highlight.
Saturday 19 June
Sleep in to recover from a huge week…holidays are tough. We spent the day bludging around the caravan park, catching up on journals, and ducked off for another swim at Berry Springs.
At five o’clock it’s croc feeding time at Tumbling Waters. The kids all had a go at throwing some chicken to the crocs. This fella was happy.
After the crocs it was time for the didgeridoo show. Very entertaining and informative. The man playing was able to make animal noises and talked into it. Luke especially was enthralled by the sounds that are possible.
That night after dinner we took our chairs and picnic rug to the park’s outdoor cinema and had a good laugh watching Charlie and Boots.
Sunday 20 June
Huge day! We did get those tickets to the V8 Supercars so after a good breakfast we were off to Hidden Valley raceway to watch the action. The atmosphere at the track was electric – lots of noise and heaps of activities. It’s a great day for the kids too with face painting, jumping castles and rides, most of which are free. There are quite a few lead up races before the main event. The kids in these cars are only 15 years old. Luke liked the sound of that.
The main race was great to watch – unreal roar at the start of the race.
The V8 Supercars have a few new fans.
After the race we hung around to watch the free rock concert. Playing tonight is Dr Elephant and Sneaky Sound System. It’s been a big day on the feet - good chance to rest the legs while waiting for the concert to start.
Dr Elephant were fantastic – the lead singer has a great voice. The kids were super excited about the main attraction though…Sneaky Sound System. At about 7pm they were on.
As soon as they started the kids leapt to their feet and didn’t stop dancing until the very end. The sound was awesome and we could feel every beat running through our bodies. We knew most of their songs so it was easy to get into it...UFO, I Love It, Pictures etc. A few of the other adults around us joined the kids dancing. One guy (who had downed a few) who was there with his mates seemed to really like the opportunity to dance with the kids - didn't make him so uncool to his mates. He thanked the kids at the end for such a great night.
I have never seen the kids buzzing with so much excitement and having so much fun as they did here – it was so good to see. Ashley described it as one of the most fun nights she’s ever had. All of us were drenched in sweat at the end of the night from so much jumping around.
Monday 21 June
Recovery day. We drove up to Mandorah (which is not a town, only a pub) for a look but it wasn’t very exciting so we went back to the van park. Spent the rest of the day by the pool and catching up on journals.
Tuesday 22 June
With the Jeep booked in for a service in Darwin, we decided to spend the day at the Leanyer water park. What a great facility run by the local council. There’s a water play area with a really big bucket that dumps water on everything…
…a big lagoon swimming pool, and three huge water slides…
…and all this is free. Come on Brisbane City Council – this would get the community active!
What an awesome day!
Wednesday 23 June
Unfortunately it’s time to move on from Tumbling Waters. We have had a great time here – very relaxing place. Before we hit the road we had to pick up one souvenir for our keen didge player. He’s pretty good at it too.
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