Darwin was pretty cool, but it was time to get rolling into the deepest Outback we’ll see. Sadly Humpty Doo did not greet us with any good slogans like “Whooptee do! You’re in Humpty Doo”, but immediately after entering Kakadu National Park, we were greeted us with this sign – I just cannot imagine any American government agency creating a sign this simple and clear.
Much of Kakadu is impassable in the wet season (as the two JimJim Creek photos may imply), but our visit got interesting at the Visitor Center in Jabiru. First, we were assaulted by the heat and insects you might imagine from a tropical nature park in the summer during the wet season. Then there was an introductory exhibition area with all the interesting plants and animals to look for – this was meant to encourage bushwalking. Instead of putting some items at eye level, they are built into the floor (with glass covers – flush with the floor). One in particular showed the Northern Death Adder (snake) in its natural environment, concealed in the leaves. Let me repeat that this exhibit and center are meant to encourage bushwalking. Perhaps a surfer’s center could have Jaws playing on a continuous loop in Conference Room B. Now, I already knew these snakes were in Kakadu, but seeing that display sealed the deal. I’m kidding – there was already nothing tempting about carrying a toddler (he was tired) in sticky hot weather (call it 95 degrees with easily 80% humidity) while being made a meal of by an infinite number of insects that a keg of deet could not deter. No thanks. Take a look at that woodsy photo – would you want to chase a toddler in that knowing what kinds of critters are there? The park has lots of cool things to do, like river cruises, but having just done one at Daintree, I did not want to do that. (Can you say “city person”?) Given my name, I wanted to visit something with the name JimJim. We could not get to JimJim Falls or JimJim Billabong without a 4 wheel drive or some sort of amphibious landing craft, but I did get to JimJim Creek, which is (ahem) slightly overflowed as the two water photos show. The sign next to one gives further warning about crocs. Getting back to the Visitor Center, they have answers to commonly asked questions on the board. The interesting part was that the same places that are best for “viewing crocodiles” are the best for fishing. Would you want to be on a little fishing boat when a 15 foot croc shows up? Then they list the places that are OK for swimming. Sorry, there are too many stories of crocodiles moving from one hole to another, especially when things are flooded. I just don’t trust the crocs to remember which billabongs to stay in, and Kakadu makes no promises for the same reason. The weather, the toddler, and my own aversion to being eaten kept us from being geared up to “dive in” here
Now that I’ve given you the “When Nature Attacks” Kakadu version, I’ve gotta say it was beautiful and would have been more beautiful had I stayed, explored, etc. It is also easier to visit in the dry season. The thing is the area I drove through West of Katherine – the Gregory National Park – was more beautiful from the road. My photos were no good because of the rain, but I’ll take some in the AM. In the absence of pictures, let me set the scene: a large, muddy river flows through a valley with dramatic red cliffs. Everything else is covered with trees. I had sweeping views across these valleys as the thunderheads approached, shooting lightning bolts into the canyons below. This is quite “big sky” country, so one gets to watch all this unfold ahead before driving through. The rain came and went, but it was a very nice drive through canyons along the Victoria River. Still the rain had that tropical downpour thing a few times, so we called it quits a little early at Timber Creek. We are staying at an old motor lodge that is half charming, half run down. There was a frog in the toilet (in case the photo below is hazy), but there are several campers and nice folks. One of the guys here is from our recurring theme of Gippsland. There is one of those Boab trees (very fat trunk with lots of water), a landing to get into the creek, and still more croc warning signs.
Much of Kakadu is impassable in the wet season (as the two JimJim Creek photos may imply), but our visit got interesting at the Visitor Center in Jabiru. First, we were assaulted by the heat and insects you might imagine from a tropical nature park in the summer during the wet season. Then there was an introductory exhibition area with all the interesting plants and animals to look for – this was meant to encourage bushwalking. Instead of putting some items at eye level, they are built into the floor (with glass covers – flush with the floor). One in particular showed the Northern Death Adder (snake) in its natural environment, concealed in the leaves. Let me repeat that this exhibit and center are meant to encourage bushwalking. Perhaps a surfer’s center could have Jaws playing on a continuous loop in Conference Room B. Now, I already knew these snakes were in Kakadu, but seeing that display sealed the deal. I’m kidding – there was already nothing tempting about carrying a toddler (he was tired) in sticky hot weather (call it 95 degrees with easily 80% humidity) while being made a meal of by an infinite number of insects that a keg of deet could not deter. No thanks. Take a look at that woodsy photo – would you want to chase a toddler in that knowing what kinds of critters are there? The park has lots of cool things to do, like river cruises, but having just done one at Daintree, I did not want to do that. (Can you say “city person”?) Given my name, I wanted to visit something with the name JimJim. We could not get to JimJim Falls or JimJim Billabong without a 4 wheel drive or some sort of amphibious landing craft, but I did get to JimJim Creek, which is (ahem) slightly overflowed as the two water photos show. The sign next to one gives further warning about crocs. Getting back to the Visitor Center, they have answers to commonly asked questions on the board. The interesting part was that the same places that are best for “viewing crocodiles” are the best for fishing. Would you want to be on a little fishing boat when a 15 foot croc shows up? Then they list the places that are OK for swimming. Sorry, there are too many stories of crocodiles moving from one hole to another, especially when things are flooded. I just don’t trust the crocs to remember which billabongs to stay in, and Kakadu makes no promises for the same reason. The weather, the toddler, and my own aversion to being eaten kept us from being geared up to “dive in” here
Now that I’ve given you the “When Nature Attacks” Kakadu version, I’ve gotta say it was beautiful and would have been more beautiful had I stayed, explored, etc. It is also easier to visit in the dry season. The thing is the area I drove through West of Katherine – the Gregory National Park – was more beautiful from the road. My photos were no good because of the rain, but I’ll take some in the AM. In the absence of pictures, let me set the scene: a large, muddy river flows through a valley with dramatic red cliffs. Everything else is covered with trees. I had sweeping views across these valleys as the thunderheads approached, shooting lightning bolts into the canyons below. This is quite “big sky” country, so one gets to watch all this unfold ahead before driving through. The rain came and went, but it was a very nice drive through canyons along the Victoria River. Still the rain had that tropical downpour thing a few times, so we called it quits a little early at Timber Creek. We are staying at an old motor lodge that is half charming, half run down. There was a frog in the toilet (in case the photo below is hazy), but there are several campers and nice folks. One of the guys here is from our recurring theme of Gippsland. There is one of those Boab trees (very fat trunk with lots of water), a landing to get into the creek, and still more croc warning signs.
We’ll leave relatively early, get into Western Australia early, and make a good run across the Kimberly to get to Broome weather permitting.
2 comments:
Happy to hear you avoided croc encounters:-)
I bet Alex enjoyed seeing the frog in the toilet....
Love
PS. somehow the Kakadu description makes me happy I am skipping it, though I miss you guys
Boo yah, Jim-- I am living vicariously through you. Kakadu Natoinal Park, gorgeous nature, heat and insects-- sounds amazing! I wish we had the same here in California right now... BTW, I am impressed by these Aussies-- it sounds like they managed to promptly name at least 3 prominent landmarks after the esteemed guest! :)
Keep blogging the journey!
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