From Darwin to Kununurra

We spent one week in Darwin, and I’m not sure why but I expected something different: a stylish city with interesting architecture in lush tropical surroundings. Not quite so. The blue ocean water and the beaches are nice, and the Wharf precinct with its artificial wave lagoon and little beach is a pleasant place to chill, but the city is mostly cement buildings. I hadn’t realized that cyclone Tracy in 1974 destroyed most of the place and as you all know the 70’s-80’s were not the glorious years of architecture. However it was nice to stroll by historical landmarks of colonial times and WWII bombings. Darwin received more bombs than Pearl Harbor and was virtually completely destroyed (poor Darwin twice in half a century!). The big white parliament building looked quite good, for a government building anyway. 

Parliament building

Artificial wave pool

The Endeavour caught up with us! 

Our favorite spot was Mindil beach during the sunset market. Dozens of food stalls with cuisine from around the globe (and oysters!) and sunset on the beach. We had a feast and enjoyed the sunset in probably one of the most crowded sunset-watching spots I have ever seen! I also got to work a little in Darwin, giving a few massages at the caravan park, and that way paying for the few extra nights accommodation we had to stay waiting for pieces for the car to arrive.

Sunset at Mindil Beach

Crowded spot!

Morwong

Pete went on a full day fishing charter really hoping to catch a barramundi this time (the only one he caught so far was the mini one on Carmila beach). Poor Pete is missing his boat so much and the opportunities to fish from the shore are rare and rarely successful. But unfortunately, despite spending 8 hours searching the estuaries, not one barra, only 2 morwong and 4 queenfish, all relatively small and no good for a feed. But he got a free shirt (well at $300 the day I’m not sure I’d called it free…)! Let’s hope he’ll be luckier in the Kimberley (north western Australia).

Proud of the fish or the shirt? 

The main highlight of our stay in Darwin however was the reunion with Graeme and Kim (and Jess, their rottie) that we had met during our extended stay in 1770. We know just the spot for our long awaited reunion, Mindil beach of course! A good excuse to eat oysters again (with soy sauce, wasabi and pickled ginger, Yummy!). 

With Kim and Graeme at Mindil Sunset Market

We were quick to make plans to do Litchfield together, even though they had to stay outside the national park because of Jess, they found a camp just outside. We camped at Wangi Falls in the park. It’s a bush camp with amenities, pretty average sites and no shade, so after setting up in the midday heat we were pouring sweat and very glad to cool down in the large plunge pool at the bottom of the Wangi falls. It’s really beautiful, clear water below the high red rock cliff and a mini (but very deep) rock pool slightly elevated on the rocky escarpment that provides a cozy warm spa. Only downside is the whole place is absolutely packed with people, busloads of day-trippers from Darwin continually coming and going. 

Wangi Falls

The gang at Wangi

With Kim and Graeme we spent 2 days exploring the various walking tacks, waterfalls and swimming holes in the park and enjoyed every moment of it. The walks took us through savannah woodland, cycads and patches of rainforest that feel like little oasis of luxuriant green. Each swimming spot was a delight. Another site we explored is called the Lost City, tall black sandstone boulders that time has left looking like the ruins of an ancient city with trees climbing up the rocks.

Florence Falls plunge pool

Florence Falls 

The Lost city 

                    

Aaaaahhhh!

         

Natural spa

Cycads 

Buley Rockholes

Rainforest near Wangi Falls

Tolmer Falls

Archway above Tolmer Falls

Back at our camp we enjoyed the company of a very cute little wallaby that came each morning to feed close to our tent, and the funny mating dance of a yet unidentified (by us anyway) grey bird. The evenings were spent at K&G camp, a much nicer one than ours, with grass and fireplaces. I successfully made another damper (getting good at it now ;-) to accompany Kim’s delicious Laksa one night. And Pete got everyone hooked on his favorite card game - no, not poker, asshole. Let’s rephrase that, the card game is called asshole or as renamed in order to soften the hurt of constantly loosing for Wassy (Graeme): “the chocolate starfish”.

Our laksa / damper dinner

The biggest grasshopper i've ever seen! The size of my hand

Unfortunately we had once more to say our goodbye to our friends who are taking a different road, for now anyway, we are still hoping to meet somewhere on the Gibb River road (WA). We left the park through the 4WD only Reynold track, bearing south and strongly recommend the drive. This is Litchfield off the beaten track: no tourist buses, rugged road, soft sand patches and river crossings, heaps of fun. Pete showed his driving skills once more by getting us out of a really tricky crossing with a sharp turn and a narrow exit point. We made a first stop at the Blyth Homestead, a 1928’s shack made of cypress wood and tin. In it a few furniture remain and a photo album describes the life of the family of 14 who lived there and at the main station homestead, working a tin mine and a cattle station for three decades. A great travel in time and what a hard life, between remoteness, non-stop work, drought and serious injuries!

Blyth Homestead

Then we passed along kilometres of magnetic termite mounds. It’s a type of termite that build high flattish sort of mounds facing north to minimize sun exposure and thus better regulate the inner temperature. With so many of these grey flat mounds together it looks like a graveyard! In some areas we also saw the mounds of the regular termites, they are more round and ochre in colour and huge,  as tall as 5-6 m! Surprise creek, another waterfall, was a good spot for a picnic and a refreshing swim and we were soon out of the Park.

Magnetic termite mounds

regular termite mound

Surprise Creek

We spent one night at the Douglas springs camp, where the hot (very hot) spring water merges with the cold river water creating patches of water of various temperature, from a very hot bath to a cold plunge. Nice place to relax after a day spent bouncing up and down on the track.

After a day in Katherine, we ended our Northern Territory adventure being back on the Savannah way, with the 450 km drive to Kununurra, a little town 40 km west of the NT/WA border. What we expected to be a boring long day of driving turned out quite pleasant with the amazing changes in the landscape. From the flat savannah scrubland leaving Katherine suddenly appeared long red rock and dirt plateau in the horizon. The land become very hilly and suddenly we were driving through the high red rock escarpment of the Gregory national park. Stunning!

Then the landscape progressively flattened again but now Boab trees (from the baobab genus) appeared on each side among the bush. What a strange tree! It looks as if it has been uprooted and replanted upside down. Some are very large, sometimes with 2 trunks! The bark is steely silver and it is hard as a rock to the touch. I love these Boabs. There are now part of my top 3 with Frangipanis and Jacarandas. We are now in western Australia and you will hear all about it very soon.