Some downs and some ups

We left Kakadu on a high note and headed towards Darwin. Now this wasn’t really the plan but Glynn’s electrics were beginning to play up and Vin Rouge needs a service. We headed towards Darwin to make arrangements with the local LR expert. Being Saturday of course we had to fill in a bit of time and an overnight stop at Mary River seemed to fit the bill. We also picked up a positive message on Glynn’s sat phone that Chuck was safely ensconced in hospital, had surgery on his spine and was chatting to anyone within earshot. That was a big up for all of us.

Between Kakadu and Darwin is an area known at the wetlands and we took the opportunity to spend time in a rather large and grand hide watching a variety of large and small birdlife feeding on the marshes. Then it was back to the crocodiles. We’d met several people who had recommended the ‘jumping crocodiles’ trip on the Adelaide River and these recommendations were well made. The tour was terrific. We saw a variety of crocodiles, from a massive grizzled old veteran nicknamed ‘Stumpy’ (due to a partly missing foot) to a really rather elegant young female with beautiful colourings on her back. We even managed a shot of them both together, a situation that could easily lead to a disaster for the younger croc.

Under certain circumstances crocs will ‘jump’, in reality swim upwards projecting themselves out of the water. We witnessed this several times as tempting bait was dangled from a pole. A spectacular sight and a real crocodile highlight. Chuck so wanted to see a real live croc and had of course missed this opportunity, but we sent him photos as a poor substitute.

By now we were all a bit crocodile out and wanted a place where we could actually enter with water with safety. Fortunately such a place was not too far away. Monday morning found us sorting out the Land Rovers. Glynn’s, being the more urgent, was fitted in for the following day and ours a week later. Glynn carried a spare alternator which was fitted but didn’t seem to be working too well. As it was old, the opinion was that it might bed in but that proved not to be the case and quite soon Glynn found himself stopped at the side of the road. With a combination of battery swopping, solar panel charging, reverting to the old alternator and the occasional bump start and jump start, Glynn kept his vehicle on the road. I guess that was a sort of a mixture of ups and downs. Then we heard that poor Chuck would require further surgery but remained his cheery self. This was definitely one of the ‘down’ times.

With a few days before Glynn’s return flight to the US and having provisioned in Darwin (more of Darwin later) we all trooped off to the Litchfield National Park where we found the glorious Florence Falls. At last we could cool off in the cool waters. Perhaps not quite so good was the bus tour that arrived just after us, disgorging a whole crowd of tourist into the waters. Is nothing sacred? Don’t these people know that the experience should be as remote as the land we are in?

After a bit of a drive and some wading through we found another, the Wangi Falls and these we good too. Refreshing but cold water in a temperature in the mid thirties centigrade. Have I mentioned that we’ve seen no sign of rain or chilly nights since we arrived in the far north. I’m not moaning, hot is good, even without air conditioning.

Next day we found the absolute pinnacle of rock pools. Mind you, we scrambled over rocks for nearly an hour to reach the Cascades but it was certainly worthwhile. Here’s Kim doing her Esther Williams impression!

This same routine kept us busy for a couple of days – get up, take a walk to some falls or a rock pool, laze around in the water until fingers became full of wrinkles, drip dry and slowly wander back before downing a couple of G&Ts before dinner. It’s a tough life but someone has to do it.