LEAPIN' LIZARDS

Reflective pool at Pine Creek

Water lilies at Pine Creek water gardens

Bird and Bat friendly flowers - please, what are they?

Our little batty mate - just hanging around!

Hi again, I’m sure you will be relieved to know that this is the last of this little ‘flurry’ of entries. Oh well, at least you have something to read over the next few days!
I am writing this from Katherine. We left Jabiru last Thursday the 5th and headed off to Yellow Waters, Cooinda. We arrived there at around 10am. This was, we were advised, 1 hour too early. If we would like to wait for an hour, the young lady behind the desk, felt she could find us a position. “What” she asked in very condescending tones, “were we in?” Hmm, well we thought that perhaps she was just having a bad day, so we went for a wander around. Cooinda is, we discovered, very much THE RESORT! Caravanners seem to come a rather sad second. The pool area was splendid, once again lagoon style, but this time very new and up-market. The caravan park however, was dusty and not particularly attractive. We spotted ‘the boss’ going around marking the available sites. We mentioned we were waiting to get in, and once again, received all the warmth and friendliness of a Grey Nurse Shark. Now, we were feeling decidedly unwelcome. We decided to keep going. We had really seen all that we felt we needed to see in the area, so onwards and upwards. Interestingly, we have since bumped into other mates, who had exactly the same experience, with exactly the same result, they too, ‘kept going’. We all felt that Cooinda has the opinion that they will fill the sites regardless, so why make anyone feel welcome. In addition to that, the place was very ‘yuppie’ and designed with the Young Upwardly Mobile Traveller in mind. (I suppose that would be a Yuttie!) Sorry! Not our cup of tea at all.
So we hit the road towards the Stuart Highway again, intending to find a spot to stop along the way. We did look at a couple of camping spots, but were uninspired. We had noticed a place called, of all things, Pussy Cat Flats (say it very carefully now), and thought we would check it out. By the time we reached this unusually named spot, we were almost at the Highway and so, thought we would keep going to Pine Creek. On arriving at Pine Creek, we stopped at the first Caravan Park we found, a nice little spot called The Lazy Lizard. Pine Creek and the Lizard both turned out to be little gems. It’s funny how obscure little places can sometimes turn out to be just delightful. The lady behind the counter was ‘just started’, or least I hope she was, as otherwise there was really no excuse for her appalling lack of knowledge. The camp boasts around 12 sites and when we asked if they were ‘drive-thru’, she assured us they were, and then proceeded to show us a map, which definitely sported no drive thru’ sites at all. Oh well, at least she was pleasant! The site she gave us was tiny and we had no room to put up the awning, but fortunately we were under some stunningly beautiful trees, so really had no need. Right next to my bedroom window was an exquisite bush covered in pale pink and white blossoms. The birds were abundant and just loved this bush. It was lovely to look out at them frolicking in the greenery. The Bower Birds in particular seemed to love the bush, actually eating the flowers. It was just lovely to sit on the bed watching their antics. I will inlude a photo of this bush and would love someone to tell me what it is.
As the sun set, we went for a little wander around. The pub at the front of the caravan park seemed pretty lively, with one particularly inebriated fellow serenading anyone who happened to be around at the time. We could hear him quite clearly from the rear at the Caravan Park. We decided not to visit the bar! As we were returning to our van, I noticed a small visitor in the pretty bush next to the van – a tiny flying fox had made himself at home there and was having a feast on those little pink and white flowers. As he was alone and very quiet, we were delighted to have him for company. Our pleasant evening was spoilt by the water hose under the basin in the bathroom coming adrift. As I was cleaning my teeth at the time, and as is my usual bad habit, had the water running for the whole time, before we realised what was happening, we had water literally from one end of the van to the other. The worst of it was the cupboard under the basin where all the towels are stored. They along with some spuds and other spare supplies were all soaked. This meant that any dry material had to be applied to the task of drying out the van. The water had gone right down alongside the bed. Just Lovely! We had trouble with this hose once before, so the lesson is to check it frequently, and of course, not to run the tap the whole time I am cleaning my teeth!
TBBITW went to sleep very quickly that evening (how very unusual!) while I lay awake for ages, listening to the ever increasing racket coming from the pub. Raised voices were happening and it seemed that someone was not happy. After a period of time, the voices moved to the Caravan Park and thru’ the park. It seemed that one rather unhappy man wanted one very reluctant woman to go with him. Where he wanted her to go, I shan’t divulge, for fear of hurling nasturtiums all over the parties involved. The lady in question was not going with him, even tho’ she declared that she would ‘feel safe’ with him. He became very desperate sounding indeed. It appeared that some other male had aggravated both him and the lady in question. I suspect that he was trying to convince her to leave the aggravating party and go with him. The more she declined, the more upset he became and the language deteriorated predictably with his sad dilemma. Eventually we were all graced with the private parts of women being shouted all over the park. It always amazes me that men, who find this body part so fascinating most of the time, can take such a dislike to it when in their cups and upset!! By this time, my beloved was also awake – also amazing! We were then both enthralled and not a little concerned when the ‘shouter’ with several more body parts being hurled into the dark night air, jumped into a vehicle of some kind, with trailor attached and shot off into the night with a great commotion. Speaking of shooting he did at one time suggest that he just might go and see this other bloke in the hopes that this character might shoot him! This seemed an odd requirement, until he added, "cause he wouldn't hit me anyway 'cause he's a shit shot"! He had only just left the Caravan Park proper, when we heard a loud bang. We were quite sure he had met his end, but the morning light showed where his wheelbarrow very sensibly had ‘jumped ship’ and was laying forlornly in the front car park. We did hear the next morning that he had been picked up by the local constabulary and been held overnight. The bloke he had been hurling abuse about, apparently had a very bruised and battered visage and was considerably the worse for wear. As is the way of Caravan Parks, we found out most of the story and learnt some of the nature of the blue and found out who some of the participants in the evening’s entertainment were.
Due to our overnight flood, we were compelled to do several loads of washing the next morning. Generally I would have used my own machine, but as they had thoughtfully installed a new machine in the park the previous day, I took advantage of the situation and used their machine. As a result of all of this, we decided to stay an extra night (not without some trepidation after the previous night’s activities). To pass the time, we went for a walk thru’ the ‘town’. Pine Creek is an old gold mining town and boasts much history and a railway museum. The town is pretty and very picturesque. They have created a little water-park in the middle of the town and in the early morning light, the lilies and the reflective pools were beautiful. We enjoyed a very pleasant and relaxing day there and the next evening passed without any recurrence of the previous trouble. Our little fruit bat came back again that evening to visit and all was good with the world.
The next morning we drove down to Katherine, stopping on the way to have a look at Edith Falls. This was a real treat – a very pretty spot, but a National Park, so TBBITW was rather peeved to find that one is not able to fish there. Surprisingly, and we really cannot work out why, but nor can you put a canoe to the water there. You can take your van into Edith and stay overnight – even tho’ the camping book says no big vans, we were confident we could have fitted in had we wished to stay. While looking at the ‘falls’ we were surprised (literally) by Peter and Judy, friends we had previously met in Darwin, creeping up behind us and nearly frightening Doug into the cold water there. After a chat and a look around, we continued on our way down to Katherine.
We had booked into the Big 4 Low Level in Katherine (and you do need to book) where we met up with old mates Peter and Fleur. We spent two idyllic days and nights discussing life, politics, caravan sites and travelling routes with these two fellow travellers before they moved on to Hayes Creek. We were able to exchange a great deal of useful information as we are actually travelling in opposite directions. They were able to give us lots of info about the West Coast and Kimberly regions – just wonderful. I don’t need to tell you, that one of the great benefits of being on the road, is catching up with old friends and making lots of new ones. It is without a doubt a very social lifestyle. Needless to say tho’ after two very long and liquid evenings I was looking forward to a nice quiet night. No such luck, we once again bumped into Peter and Judy (as at Edith Falls) and arranged to have them over for ‘sundowners’ that evening. Oh well, best laid plans – needless to say, we had a lovely evening with them and another couple who had pulled up next to us that day. TONIGHT I am having a very quiet night!!
While here we have to have our front windscreen replaced thanks to a chip that has now expanded across most of the windscreen. That task should be taken care of tomorrow and then we leave here on Thursday 12th and head towards Victoria River.
I will give you a nice long rest now, as there is no reception at Victoria River and I possibly won’t have the opportunity to ‘blog’ again until we reach Kununurra in a week or so. Until then, wishing you love and laughter – Stephanie.
CARAVAN PARKS
PINE CREEK – Lazy Lizard, good and interesting amenities (made from Termite Mud), pub, swimming pool and grassed sites. Generally a very pleasant stay (just watch out for leaping wheelbarrows).
KATHERINE – Big 4 Low Level – large caravan park with spacious grassed sites. Excellent amenities, swimming pool, bistro and entertainment 6 nights a week. (very good singer too). Not dog friendly. Strongly recommended.

Vast expanses of water Arnhem Land from the air. Stunning rock formations next to Ubirr Roc

Amazing Landscape from the top of Ubirr Rock

Tasmanian Tiger depicted on the rocks at Ubirr

Aboriginal Rock Art - Ubirr Rock.

Hi, just thought you might appreciate a few more photos.

JEALOUS JABIRU

Foreboding rock formations on the way to Ubirr

Vast expanses of water - Kakadu from the air!

East Alligator River wending it's way to the Gulf - Arnhem Land from the air.

Kakadu escarpment alongside Ranger Mine.

Pillow Pincher!!



Hello again! I hope that life is treating you well, and you are learning to be kind to yourselves.
Jabiru was wonderful. From Jabiru we explored parts of Kakadu and Arnhem Land. We also continued our acquaintance with new chums Anne and Trevor. This was a delightful couple we met in Darwin and who by now will be close to home in picturesque Tumby Bay. We spent a couple of lovely lazy evenings musing the ills of the world over some light libations. Anne and I spent a delectable hour or so in the glorious pool at the Caravan Park, discussing the forbidden subjects of politics and religion – scintillating conversation Anne – thanks so much for your company.
Well, I did go on my flight over Arnhem Land and Kakadu. The flight was excellent as was the pilot. We were handed some heavy duty head-phones and enjoyed a knowledgeable commentary (pre-recorded) with the occasional interjection from our pilot, Wade. The company I chose was Kakadu Air. The flight itself was a little bumpy, the aeroplane was cramped and the cooling device was air, filtered in from outside (quite effective). I was fortunate to share the plane with only 2 other passengers. The downside was the poor visibility. Due to the Territory’s policy on burning off, most of the scenery was jealously hidden behind a curtain of smoke. The traditional owners of the land here have throughout millennium, burned small patches of land, both to aid in hunting, and as a form of land-care. The Territory government continues that practice today. No doubt this is a very good form of bush-fire prevention, however, from Tenant Creek upward we have been encompassed in a pall of smoke. It must be hell for anyone with asthma. I have to say, it does impinge on the beauty of the place, seeing sooooo much burnt land. Admittedly, the re-growth is fast and verdant, but I can’t help but think that they are over-zealous in their approach and perhaps some of the less vigorous flora might suffer as a consequence of all this fire activity. Anyway, back to the plane – we swept over the wonderful and diverse kilometres of Arnhem Land, out towards the Cape. We flew over country that has possibly never felt the foot of man, be he black or white. The country is so rugged as to be largely impenetrable in many places. You have to wonder at what amazing things are still down there undiscovered. We soared above vast rocky outcrops, gigantic green rifts in the earth, left by ancient land movements, prehistoric cities of stone, jewel-like green valleys, green and brown rivers, vast waterways and lakes of the brightest green grasses decorated with watery veins. The sheer vastness of this wilderness was staggering. My only regrets are that the smoke veil didn’t lift to show a brighter perspective and my very unfit body is unable to see some of the wonders at closer range. I would love to repeat the experience in the wet – then we wouldn’t have the smoke to contend with, and the grass lakes would be water lakes.
Whilst in Jabiru, we took a tour of the Ranger Uranium Mine. This was, in our opinion over-priced to buggery. I found it interesting, as I had not been on a mine site before, and had heard so much about them from various friends and acquaintances. Without wishing to open a very contentious can of worms, I am not in favour of nuclear power. Having said that tho’, I am very willing to admit that my body of knowledge is sadly lacking, so perhaps I am not really in a position to judge. The ‘spiel’ that we were given was indeed very political. Even Doug, who is pro-nuclear was peed off with what could really only be described as propaganda. We were charged $30 each to hear what amounted to a very pro-uranium speech. As you are probably aware, the mine site is in a particularly sensitive place, from both an ecological and indigenous perspective. Having seen the mine site I can certainly see what all the hue & cry was about. The mine is right alongside the Kakadu escarpment. This very beautiful place is also one of the most sacred of the aboriginal sites in the country. Regardless of your personal thoughts on ‘sacred sites’ – there is no denying the outstanding beauty of the place and the existence of aboriginal art along those rocks. The speech was inclusive of praise for aboriginal art, this I felt was a rather polished attempt to be seen as ‘giving back’ something. We both felt quite incensed at the end of the tour. The mine itself, of course is impressive, as only something of that size can be. We were amused to see a small lizard sitting in front of our group, listening along with us, to all the interesting propaganda. I wonder what he made of it all.
From Jabiru we drove out to see and climb Ubirr Rock. The drive out there was stunning. The rock formations, are to say the least, amazing. As in other places we have seen, they are reminiscent of ancient ruins. With the morning sun behind them, the stony faces of the ranges were forbidding and mysterious. Ominous and blood red against the pale blue morning sky they trudged along beside the roadway, keeping pace with us all the way. To our left however, lay vast sun-drenched oceans of grasses and water-lilies, speckled with white egrets picking their way through their morning repast. The land here is just so alive – you cannot help but resonate to the extraordinary pulse of the country. Ubirr Rock is a living art gallery. The ‘walls’ of the hills there are liberally decorated with aboriginal stories. Some of them, sadly are deteriorating rapidly, and will one day become invisible to our eyes. I hope that before that happens, they find a way to preserve the work in a manner acceptable to all. The paintings are truly fascinating, as they are up to 5,000 years old and depict a lifestyle and countryside that is completely alien to most of us today. I was fascinated to see that one of the animals painted on the rocks was a ‘Tasmanian Tiger’, - I hadn’t realised that they would have been found so far north. Having just flown over so much wilderness the day before, I couldn’t help wondering if perhaps a few might still remain in those remote and prehistoric valleys I had spotted from the plane.
We stayed at Aurora Kakadu Lodge Jabiru (write up at the end of this entry). In the evening the dingos would wander into camp. As you would no doubt be aware, we are at the anniversary of the Azaria Chamberlain incident right now, so it was rather topical to have these beautiful wild creatures amongst us. To really support all that has evolved in that sad case, we saw a young dingo literally nosing around a small tent one evening. As I watched him, he shook the tent all around, nosed his way under it and wandered all around it, trying to gain access. What I didn’t realise initially, was that eventually in sheer frustration, he bit a large hole in the ‘fly-netting’ that formed one side of the tent. As I watched him, he poked his head inside the now open tent, and removed a pillow. From his general demeanour, I could see how immensely pleased he was with himself, as he ran towards the fence with the pillow held in his jaws and dragging between his front legs. Yes, I know! His excitement was to be dimmed however when he reached the fence/gate and just couldn’t work out how to get his ill-gotten bounty to the other side of this obstacle. I think given enough time, he would have succeeded in his quest, but sadly for him, another young camper and myself, chased him off, and he dropped the pillow and took off. We took the pillow back to damaged tent and placed it on top. I had a look at his handiwork, and saw that he had chewed a hole roughly 1 foot square through which he had pulled the pillow. I went back to camp to watch for the return of the tent-owners. They finally rocked up, I would say they were foreign uni-students, all travelling together in a beat-up old station wagon and having a wonderful. I strolled over and explained what had happened to their tent and pillow. Due to language differences, I am not sure they really understood the chain of events. Needless to say, when I quipped that they should write home and say “A dingo stole my pillow” they were somewhat nonplussed. Sorry, I know it is a far from funny subject, but at the end of the day I am Aussie, and do suffer from that same sick sense of humour that most of my countrymen are afflicted with. Of course, the other question, was why a pillow? We decided considering there was one car, one very small tent, 4 young men and one young woman and the somewhat dubious state of the pillow, we would rather not know what it was that appealed to the dingo. The story did have one more humorous twist, when the following night a couple of gentlemen sharing a caravan parked next to us. Now, we don’t really know what their personal persuasions were, but being an incurably curious woman (and Gemini) I was watching closely for hints as to their ‘inclinations’. TBBITW felt that my answers were answered when the older of the two gentlemen told us of his companion's hasty retreat when he appeared outdoors with a plate of meat which took the same dingo’s fancy. It seems that our young (French and very good looking) man beat a very hasty retreat back into the caravan with what he thought was the very hound of hell hot on his heels.
From Jabiru we intend to move on to Yellow Waters and stay at Cooinda Resort, so ‘stay tuned’ for the next instalment. Steph.
Caravan Park – Aurora Kakadu Lodge Jabiru – we found this to be an excellent park. We were going to book, but friends had tried to do this and had been told that there was no need as “they had never been full”. We took this as gospel and just turned up – we were told to pick any site that didn’t have a sprinkler on it. This was great and we had plenty of choices of nice grassed sites. The amenities were fine and the pool was brilliant. Admittedly not in the first blush of youth, but a huge lagoon style pool complete with spa. An absolute blessing after a hot day traipsing up and down rocks and water-falls etc. We would rate the park as ‘highly recommended’.

TIGERS, TUNES & TRAGEDY

Tunes to remember

Doug, unstressing

My beautiful friend (much better enclosure than this depicts)

Battery crocs?!

Starlight Dinner Party

Hello, how goes it? I figure you have had a big enough break from my meanderings and are ready for another onslaught. Well, we ended up staying at Darwin until the 1st August. The caravan park had some bad problems with power and we all suffered three days of on/off power supply. Some folk had major problems with this, one camper blew the Inverter in his lovely Winnebago. The park was very good with all of this, and paid for any out of pocket expenses caused by the power problems and offered those of us, most affected, one free day. We took up the offer and extended our stay again by that one day, hence leaving on the 1st August.
The last two weeks of our stay in Darwin were lazy and lovely. We did finally succumb and visit Crocodylus Park – we were pleasantly surprised by the park – extremely professionally run and a treat to stroll around. We saw my beloved tigers, one of which is a mascot to one of the local army battalions – apparently he joins them on marches – I would love to see that! I also finally saw a wombat. It’s hard to believe that as a born and bred Aussie, I have had to wait to turn 60 before seeing a wombat. He was a lovely little fella, but sadly his enclosure left a bit to be desired, as he really had nowhere to go to get out of the daylight. The park actually farms crocs and as a result has literally hundreds of them at all different stages of development. They told us that the farmed crocs develop and grow much faster than those in the wild. I guess this is really a form of battery farming. They did have the crocs jump for us, and it was quite fascinating. Some of my enjoyment was dampened when one particularly nasty and large fellow leapt out of the water and splashed lovely smelly crocodile pen water all over me, yuck! TBBITW tells me he fared even worse when some of the lovely water made its way into his mouth. The park sells all manner of crocodile products and ladies, you can forget about acquiring a nice little handbag, that is, unless you wish to divest yourself of a couple of grand. Beautiful and all that, but.............. Crocodile meat is also available from the park, and that too is fairly pricy at around $24 per kilo. We decided we didn’t really need to fill our freezer with croc meat.
We were again reminded of the fragility of the human body as one of our fellow campers suffered two strokes while at the Caravan Park. The second one had him in hospital for quite a spell and he and his wife were compelled to sell the caravan from the park in order to free themselves up to fly home where he could receive further treatment. This is the second caravanner we have seen experience a stroke in a caravan park and the 5th time we have seen an ambulance come to take someone away from a caravan park. The reality I guess is that most of us living the dream, are 60+ and many of us are unfit. Added to that is often unaccustomed physical exertion and probably more relevant, a tendency to overdo the sundowners. Over indulgence is a real problem – particularly alcohol, which many of us consume in copious quantities. With the alcohol come the nibblies, my particular demon. It is interesting to see too, that many of our fellow travellers just don’t seem to ‘get’ what this is all about. It amazes us to see how many people do everything the hard way, making their lives soo much more difficult and stressful than it need be. You would be amazed at how many travellers are pedantic about the appearance of their vehicles and their vans, spending an incredible amount of time washing and polishing something that will at the next step be at least as dirty all over again. I have to say, TBBITW is an extraordinarily sane type and certainly does not spend undue time in these mad pursuits. You will have gathered too, from earlier editions that he makes sure I don’t make the interior of the van any sort of shrine either. Although it does nettle me from time to time, I have to agree that it is a better approach than some. Sitting here this morning, sorting photos, we saw the man next door get some overspray on his neighbours car, whilst washing his own, his neighbour, fairly predictably emerged from his sparkling van to demand the car washer run a chamois over his now slightly damp vehicle. Amazing! The same sort of thing applies when parking the van – so many folk must have the van absolutely straight, and we watched in amazement yesterday as one particularly fastidious woman instructed her man exactly where she wished the car parked, right down to the last inch. The car had to line up completely with the van, it seemed. The old fella next to us spent no less than 5 hours trying to get his TV aerial perfect. To make it worse, he is only staying 4 nights – why bother?!! Why do people come out here to watch telly anyway?? With all this adopted stress, no wonder so many fall by the wayside.
We were as usual blessed with our neighbours, we made several lovely new friends while in FreeSpirit. One couple, who had been staying the full season in Darwin for the past 7 years were musos. Yvonne, who was a brilliant hairdresser, also made the most beautiful jewellery and played the organ. Have you ever met one of those people who make you feel drab and frowzy. This lady was one of those. Every morning she emerged from her van looking like she had just walked out of a beauty salon – what was even more annoying was that she continued to look like that all day and all night. This was despite a continuous line of 'hair' clients at her door. She and her hubby Hank threw a dinner party one night, and I was dismayed to find that she was able to throw a banquet without even raising a sweat (not an easy task in that humidity). The food, needless to say, was delicious and the whole event went off without a hitch. Hubby Hank played the guitar and sang – mostly country and western, and I am pleased to say, mainly Australian stuff. These two delightful folk would come along to sundowners with their musical instruments and many a pleasant hour was spent in musical harmony. Our old mate Hugh was even persuaded to bring along his guitar and then we really did have a treat, as Hugh’s playing is an absolute delight. Just before we left, we had a big get together with all and sundry, all of us whetting the vocal chords and getting involved – a great night was had by all – Thanks Yvonne and Hank.
Despite the wonderful time we had at FreeSpirit, I was actually glad to leave. Having a good time is all and well, BUT.............too much of a good thing and all that...............I felt it was time for a ‘dry-out’ and a few quiet nights. See you again at Jabiru! Steph.