13) Northern Territory: Darwin - 1st January to 10 May 2014.

Seija, Amanda, Brian, Gayle, Peter, Denise and Greg.

The first half of 2014 was very busy as we were preparing for our trip to the Kimberley in May. Work continued for both of us but luckily it was heavily punctuated by social engagements with friends. A highlight being the sailing ‘stern chaser’ around Darwin Harbour on Australia Day with numerous other boats and then celebrations at the Dinah Beach Yacht Club in the evening. 

While we were still house sitting we took the opportunity to have the chain and anchor re-galvanised and the main sail and sail bag re-stitched. Repairs were significantly cheaper than buying new and it also saved us the problem of disposing of 80m of chain and metres of sail. Both these jobs were big headaches and we were pleased when they were finally completed. In the first week of February we returned from the house-sit to our life on the boat. Peter worked constantly on the freezer and the water maker to get both ready for our trip to the Kimberley.

Mid February our good friend Lynn from Melbourne came up to Darwin to see us and to check out the local sites. Lynn wanted to see as much as she could around Darwin but especially wanted to see Kakadu National Park. We were concerned about this as the roads to Kakadu had been closed for weeks due to flooding and we didn’t hold out much hope. As luck would have it the week before she arrived we had a reprieve in the rain and hence by the time she arrived, the Arnhem and Kakadu roads were just passable. So as soon as she arrived we whisked her down to Kakadu before the rain had a chance to start again. Kakadu was going to be an adventure for us too as we had not seen it in the wet before. Firstly, we did the Jumping Crocodile cruise on the Adelaide River, which is located just before the park itself. We had not done this before as it is heavily booked out in the dry season. Being the wet season there were only a handful of people on the boat allowing us to move around freely to get a better view. 

 
This tour was very different to the cruise we took in October on the East Alligator River. Here a pole line with a chicken attached, is lowered over the side of the boat, tempting the crocodiles to feed. The crocodiles were already around the boat as we were informed they recognise the ‘feeding boat’s’ engine as soon as it leaves the dock. The pole is moved higher as they jump out of the water to reach the chicken, enabling the tourists a great display of crocodile agility.






This is an amazing spectacle as they are able to launch themselves out of the water to just behind their hind legs. After a series of jumps the crocodile is allowed the chicken.

Look behind you Agro - a bigger feed awaits.

The largest male, ‘Agro’ eventually comes to the boat and all the others leave, lest they be on his menu. This huge 5m crocodile is enticed onto the nearby bank as he is not that keen about jumping and the boat is landed beside him. 






 

Something in the belly - and now for some rays.

He then tries to catch the moving chicken which he eventually gets. Our only thought at this time was we were in a boat less than 1m away from him. The boat had a small guard rail and was only about 1m above his head. You get the picture, it was very frightening to say the least. 






Back on the water we then ‘fed’ several other crocodiles before feeding the local kites, that aerobatically swooped around the boat catching food mid-flight. All in all a very enjoyable morning and highly recommended.

Denise, Lynn and Peter.

Finally onto Kakadu. All the sights we had seen last year in October were flooded but thankfully there were some other alternatives on offer. So we headed south along the Kakadu Highway to Nourlangie. The road was just a single lane in parts with the water lapping both shoulders, but we got through. 

 


Nourlangie is part of the extensive sandstone escarpment found in Kakadu and Arnhem Land. The 1.5 km track at the base of the escarpment takes you past an ancient Aboriginal shelter with some fantastic art works depicted on the cave walls. 

The dangerous spirit - Nabulwinjbulwin.

Aboriginal culture through art and dance.

 

The view from Gunwarddehwardde.

You can also climb the 600m rock to the Gunwarddehwardde lookout and see the floodplain below. Basically all the trees and folige you can see from here has been inundated by the flood waters at this time of year. When we were here last October it was bone dry. Only the very hardy and well adapted flora and fauna can withstand these two extremes on a yearly basis.

Trying to smille - 35 degrees and 90% humidity.

Much later we all went on the Yellow Water Billabong boat cruise. This cruise was again sensational and we would highly recommend doing it in the wet season. During the dry, the water has contracted to remain within the billabong and there is much life in (crocodiles) and around (birds and mammals) it.      

 

Yellow Water Billabong has pushed into the surrounding floodplain.

The car park.

But in the wet season the water is everywhere as the billabongs and floodplains have merged together. The water even crossed the road along the river and drowned the car park.









 
 

This does make seeing crocodiles hard as they are now spread out in such a huge area. Luckily one was spotted lying next to a tributary, with its mouth open catching unsuspecting fish as they swam into the jaws of death. 





Though it was the sheer amount of water that was the spectacle this time around and even the car park is well and truly under water.

Stunning.

Bluey's waterholes.

Two days later we also took off to Litchfield National Park. Luckily most of the sights and swimming holes were open.  

Wangi Falls.

Bluey’s waterholes were raging with the flood water and Wangi Falls were closed due to crocodiles. 

The Upper Cascades waterholes.

Peter and Lynn in the Florence Falls waterhole.

But luckily spectacular Florence Falls and the Upper Cascades were open for swimming and this time we had them all to ourselves, as there were no tourists around.

Peter, Lynn, Greg, Denise and Amanda,

Later in the week Lynn and I checked out the Art Gallery and the Territory Wildlife Park. Lastly Greg and Amanda took Lynn and both of us for a sunset sail around Darwin Harbour which was most enjoyable and we even managed to convince Lynn to have sailing lessons on her return to Melbourne.

Alan, more widely known as Nico, came up from Sydney the following week. He went Barra fishing on the Mary River near Kakadu for five days and spent the weekend either side of the week with us on the boat. It was great to see him as always. Much Barra was caught and he could not take it with him back to Sydney, so a quick rustle up of Darwin guests soon put paid to the Barra.

After Nico left we were running around madly trying to get everything done for the Kimberley trip. We also finally decided that we would our tour of the Kimberley would only take two months and would see us returning to Darwin by early July. This would allow us to get to Indonesia in 2014 rather than wait another full year in Darwin. 

The annual Sail Indonesia rally leaves for Indonesia on July 26^th and we had Brian and Gayle keen to join us for the trip. This event has over a 100 vessels participating yearly and is a fun, social and safer way of touring Indonesia than doing it on your own. Everything is organised by the Indonesians and it allows you an extended visa entry to travel anywhere in Indonesia. Most importantly you are spared the extra expense of forking out cash, for the various officialdom at each island. So we all ran around getting the Sail Indonesia rally entry form completed and having vaccinations.

We finally finished work in early May. The parts for the water maker and freezer had been ordered from the US and they would take about three weeks to get to Darwin. Peter was able to get the water maker fixed without too much hassle, the freezer however was another story. After two lots of ordered parts did not work we took the only option left to us and ordered a new freezer compressor. Even though it was expensive it luckily did the trick and we had the freezer re-gassed three days prior to our Kimberley departure, so it was a mad rush to get all the provisions we would need for the trip.

Sea Lynx.

Gayle and Brian were also madly running around trying to prepare their boat "Sea Lynx" as they were also joining us for a month or so, in the Kimberley.

Finally the day arrived and we left the safety of Tipperary Waters Marina and we were all on our merry way to our next adventure – The Kimberley.

Gayle and Brian prior to leaving for the Kimberley.