Crikey, It's a Croc!

First we wanted to say thanks for all of your comments. We didn't know if people were still as interested in the blog since we've been travelling for over a year now. We are always excited to read the comments - and we had five on the last post!

We just finished travelling through the Northern Territory. After touring the Red Centre, we hit the national parks in the north. On the way to Kakadu National Park (N.P.), we stayed at a cattle station that we had been told about. It was a unique experience but 'good fun' with a slideshow presentation about the station and a couple of cows roaming between the caravans and tents. It was only $12 so it was great for the budget.

We spent three days in Kakadu. This land is owned by the aborigines. We had a great camp site the first night, with beautiful rock pools to swim in nearby that you will see in the photos below. The second day involved more swimming, wetlands and aboriginal rock art that was thousands of years old. The night was awful with mosquitoes swarming us when we tried to cook outside and take a shower. I (Melissa) even got bitten on the bottom when I used the bathroom. The camp site was called Merl's Campground so you should avoid it at all costs. We took a boat tour on the third day with an aboriginal guide and lots of crocodiles. Finally we got to see crocodiles in the wild...and we're glad that we were safe inside the boat.

After a quick stop in Darwin, and much-needed haircuts, we stopped at Litchfield N.P. This mainly consisted of waterfalls and a patch of magnetic termite mounds that looked like a cemetery.

Finally, after much debate, we decided to add an extra day and visit Nitmiluk (Katherine Gorge) N.P. It ended up being a good decision even though I was so tired after walking 17 kms to various gorges. At night, our camp site was full of wallabies, which look like mini-kangaroos. It was really cool as they were very close.

We just crossed the border to Western Australia yesterday. It felt like we were entering another country as we had to go through a quarantine control point because fruit, vegetables and honey cannot be brought across the border. Luckily we knew about this ahead of time so all we lost was a little bit of honey.

Kakadu N.P.

First night at Gunlom


Day 2 - Maguk (Barramundi Gorge). We didn't bring our swimmers so we went in the water in our underwear. It was too beautiful not to swim.


Rock art at Nourlangie


Nourlangie


Ubirr


Arnhem Land


Day 3 - Crikey, it's a croc! East Alligator River


East Alligator River with views of Arnhem Land in the background

Litchfield N.P.

Klas swimming at Wangi Falls


Magnetic termite mounds


I might become a birdwatcher with these kinds of birds everywhere!

Nitmiluk (Katherine Gorge) N.P.