Day 103 – 110; 4th - 10th July; Kakadu National Park

We powered out of Darwin ready for our next adventure into Kakadu N.P. Whilst on the Arnhem Highway and before entering the National Park, we stopped at Adelaide River for the obligatory “Jumping Crocodile” Cruise, which everybody really enjoyed and where we managed to get our fair share of “croc excitement”. Further on saw a stop at “Window on the Wetlands” and lunch at the “Bark Hut Inn”, which is basically a hotel / wayside stop that resembles a 1960’s / early 70’s toilet block and which has camping facilities as well as food and drink etc.
Continuing on we entered the iconic park, took the regulation photos and arrived at Jabiru booking into the Kakadu Lodge Resort, which is just down the road from the famous crocodile shaped hotel, whose name escapes me at this moment.
Jabiru was a great kicking off point to visit places such as the East Alligator River, Ranger Uranium Mine, Ubirr Rock and the fabulous Aboriginal artwork that exists in the area. The park had great facilities with a big pool in the centre of it.
We ended up spending 3 nights there with our “new” friends Darren & Janine Green and their children James, Ben, Nicholas and Sarah!! From here they departed to Katherine and on to Alice Springs to catch the Ghan back to Adelaide so that they could then drive on to Melbourne.
We moved on to Cooinda Lodge Resort for another 3 nights. This was another very comfortable camping ground / resort, with a pool, bar, bistro, restaurant etc. Cooinda is around the corner from the Yellow Water cruises and is relatively central to areas such as Nourlangie Rock, Jim Jim Falls and Twin Falls. The camping area was also quite attractive and the area in which we were situated was quiet and bushy. The good thing about these places is that we always managed to meet great people who have plenty of good stories and experiences to share and advice to give you if you need it.
The Yellow Water cruise was terrific as was Nourlangie Rock. We took the Jim Jim Falls road out to see the Twin Falls and if time and young ones permitted, Jim Jim Falls. Very heavy corrugations for 60 or so km’s followed by a 10 – 12 km 4wd section with a reasonably deep river crossing across the Jim Jim Creek to the Twin Falls cark park. From here we walked to the river where we were transported via a boat upstream to another section of the river. Here we then disembarked to clamber over rocks and boulders to reach the falls. It was quite a test for the younger girls, but well worth the effort, even though we couldn’t swim in the pool at the base of the falls, due to the suspected presence of Saltwater Crocs. We decided to give the Jim Jim Falls a miss due to the difficulty of the walking track. After our 3 day stay we needed to move on.

From here we travelled to the southern section of the park to Gunlom Falls. This place is famous as the waterhole in which the scene from Crocodile Dundee was filmed where the female lead character gets attacked by a crocodile whilst she is bathing. The falls themselves descend over 100 metres off the Arnhem Land escarpment into an emerald green coloured pool. Above the falls is a series of crystal clear pools in which you can swim. Just magnificent!!!
The ranger was a local aboriginal fella who also gives evening talks and slide show presentations relating to the history of the area etc.
We stayed here for a further 2 nights. We were also able to have a campfire here so we were treated to one of Ruby’s damper creations cooked in the camp oven!!!!!!!
The time had come for us to push on back down towards Alice Springs and we were still in 2 minds as to whether we were going to go all the way down or turn right at Katherine and head across to W.A.