Adelaide River 17th July 2014

These are various photos from around the cemetery.

We stopped into Adelaide River on our way to Katherine. Since visiting the WWII sites in Darwin Jacob had really taken an interest into what had happened.  He had bought a book on the Darwin bombings while on Darwin and started and completed it while in Tumbling Waters.
We visited the war cemetery in Adelaide River (the 4th largest war cemetery in Australia) with the 1st being Sydney, then Melbourne, Perth and finally Adelaide River.
We walked around the cemetery, with Jacob taking notice of the age of the fallen with the youngest being 18 and oldest 52. Although majority being in their twenties.
There were the different categories of the defence force including navy, air force, army and merchant navy.
In the cemetery there are 63 civilians including 9 Post Office workers who died as a result of a direct hit on the Post Office by the Japanese bombs. Otherwise there are 434 burials in the cemetery including Australian's, Canadian's and British soldiers.
There was also a change over time with the head stone markings of the graves. Originally being wooden crosses, then concrete crosses, then marble headstone (like you see in most war cemeteries) and now they have the bronze plaques. These were all changed due to the weather conditions not being kind to the grave markings.
We went into the information centre of the cemetery where we found one very passionate worker who told us a number of stories related to some of the soldiers and civilians in the cemetery. She would've spoken to us all day if we didn't have to keep moving towards Katherine.

Berry Springs 16th July 2014

 Nan and the kids in the main pool

 Kids in the lowest pool

 Kids in the top pool

 Nan and Hannah

Kids in the cascade in the top pool

Well our last day in Litchfield NP and Berry Springs. After having a few long days traveling around Litchfield, we decided to have a day of not doing much and beginning to pack up ready to move on.
We went up to the café for morning tea. Mum could get a proper coffee (something that she had seem to struggle with as either they ran out of coffee beans (Kakadu) or the machine broke down (Mindil market)). Jacob was also keen for a smoothie and he was adamant I owed him one because the bombers had beaten the pies the week before and we apparently had a bet.
After morning tea we went down to Berry Springs to give the kids a swim in the natural springs. It was something that again the kids enjoyed. We have decided the kids (especially Hannah) rate a place on the food and swimming! They found a rope where they were able to swing on and jump off into the middle of the pool. They struggled to leave this pool, but then worked their way up stream to the top pool where they were able to sit under a small cascade. Jacob scared us at one point disappearing, only to discover he went behind the falls and we didn't realise.
I enjoyed the swim except for the biting fish that were also sharing the springs. I had also had trouble with them at Florence falls in Litchfield. I had decided that they liked my mossie bites and that was why I seemed to be the one getting attacked the most.
Picnic lunch was had here where we had another group join our table and share with us a watermelon that was fresh from a farm in Arnhem Land. The kids loved this. The watermelon wasn't as sweet as ours is down home.
We also took some replica photos of the kids in a similar spot to where we took photos with my aunty and uncle 7 years ago. Mum took their spot and we also had an extra child in Hannah than we did back then. This is also a spot I remember visiting when on holidays back in 1982 with my mum and dad.
After a good few hours here we went back to camp to get organised to move on before heading out for tea and enjoying a yummy seafood platter (although Hannah has decided oysters are nicer when done Kilpatrick not natural).
Our time at Tumbling Waters has been a memorable one and a place we would recommend to anyone traveling up this way.

Litchfield NP 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th & 16th July 2014

 Kids jumping off the rocks at Buley Rock Pools

 Tjaynera Falls (Strick's and my favourite)

 River crossing to get into Tjaynera Falls and Blyth Homestead

 Wangi Falls

 Cascades

 Florence

 Walker Creek

 Tolmer Falls

 Buley Rock Pools

Well after leaving Darwin we travelled about 80km to a little park called Tumbling Waters Holiday Park. We were booked in here to stay for 2 nights, but when we arrived we had a really nice spacious spot that was shady and grassy so decided to stay here for an extra 3 (total of 5 nights) and just complete day trips into Litchfield from here.
Due to us being on the go we took this opportunity to relax for a few days and the car actually didn't move. Tumbling Waters has it's own café, bar and restaurant. Saturday the kids caught up with some diary entries and had a chill. They had an opportunity to feed some fresh water crocodiles some chicken, without success as it is too cold for the crocs. Louise even had her chicken wing land on one of their jaws and it didn't flinch. The Saturday night the park had a starlight movie which was Charlie and Boots which the kids loved with both Jacob and Lou having a good chuckle. Hannah decided she was tired so her and I missed the end of the movie (I am determined to hire the movie to see the end). The kids did enjoy at the start of it recognising some of the towns they had also visited. Now everytime I go to give them information about where we are going I am being called Boots. For those who have watched the movie you will understand.
Sunday again there wasn't much on with the park having a little market in their restaurant gardens so we all went down and had a look and a drink in the café. They also had someone from the Territory Wildlife Park (that is only 8 km down the road) bring in a blue tongue lizard for the kids to have a hold and ask questions. Of course our kids took this opportunity and enjoyed it. Kids caught up on some more diary writing and they explored the park pool (annoying some of the grey nomads who were wanting to relax in the pool). We were booked in for tea that night for a Sunday Roast in the parks restaurant ($15 for adults and $8 for kids) it was a bargain and with a good feed of Vegies well required.
Monday we were up early to head into Litchfield NP to explore. We went in and started on the West side of Litchfield and went down to the bottom to hope to see Blyth Homestead. We encountered our first river crossing and was required to complete another. Unfortunately the second crossing was more sandy and with Strick feeling a little unsure (as we were on our own) we decided to turn around and go on to explore Tjaynera Falls. This involved a 3.4km return walk into the falls. We found only one other family in there swimming and originally not planning to swim we all snuck behind some rocks to change into our bathers. We all managed to swim out to the falls. We then had to walk back.
The next stop in Litchfield NP was Wangi falls. Where we also put some hot dogs on the butane burner. This was easier access than the first, but also had alot more people we had to share the water with. The kids and I swam out to the falls and sat up on a rock where mum then took a photo of us. We had had enough of all the people so decided to move on.
The next stop on the Litchfield NP line was the Cascades. This also involved a 3.4km return walk. This was classed as difficult with a challenging walk in with a number of river crossings and needing to climb over a number of rocks. We discovered a number of very awesome rock pools and cascades. We shared this spot with only one other couple. This was another great spot we would recommend. We had to head out as mum went back and swam at Wangi while we were in here and had said we will be out by 5.
Due to the time, we finished the day by heading home. The kids (especially Hannah) had done a fantastic job walking a total of 6.8km for the day (& that was just for 2 of the falls) and carried their own backpack with water and their towels. Needless to say they slept very well that night.
Tuesday saw us have our 2nd day in Litchfield NP and this time we entered going via Batchelor. Looking around Batchelor we found a miniature replica of a castle. The girls were excited so of course we stopped for some photos.
We moved on with our first stop being Florence falls. Although it was nice there were alot of people and we were a little disappointed with the number of rocks we had to climb over to enjoy it. We still swam over to get under the falls as I was determined where possible we would swim out to each of the falls. Once we achieved this we decided to move on. Our next stop was supposed to be Buley rockhole. But with the number of people we decided to move on and come back later (this proved to be a wise decision).
We went back around to the west side to Walker Creek which was one area we missed the day before due to time. On the way we called in at Tolmer falls. These were one falls that you couldn't get to base of due to protected species of bats. We had a quick look and continued to move on.
Walker Creek involved a walk of about 3.5km return, but we found a beautiful little swim hole that we ended up having to ourselves. There was a small fall with a little spa pool under it that when you sat under it you got a great back massage. It also had a swim hole that was deep enough for the kids to jump off. Strick was teaching them to do bombs so the competition was on. Unfortunately it was time to move on and revisit Buley.
Buley was fantastic there were alot less people than earlier in the day. Again we found a deep pool where the kids were jumping off rocks. The current in this part was quite strong. The kids had a great time and it was hard to get them out.
We then left to head back to camp where we again cooked tea in the dark.
The kids had ranked the falls and this kept changing each time we went to a new one.
Their final ranking was:
1. Buley
2. Walkers Creek
3. Tjaynera
4. Cascades
5. Wangi
6. Florence.


Strick and Kylie's ranking:
1. Tjaynera
2. Walkers Creek
3. Buley
4. Cascades
5. Wangi
6. Florence


The best achievement was that we swam in every possible swim spot in Litchfield and enjoyed every minute.

Kakadu 5th, 6th, 7th & 8th July 2014

 Entry to the Park

 View from the escarpment at Ubirr

 Swimming in the second lowest pool at Gunlom

 On the escarpment at Ubirr

 Escarpment at Ubirr

 Breakfast time at camp in Kakadu (Mardugal)

 Croc on the Yellow Water Cruise

 Swimming at Cooinda

 Jabiru on the Yellow Water Cruise

 Nan and kids having a rest at Ubirr

 Yellow Water Cruise

Since our last blog post we have been busy, busy and busy. The day after visiting and exploring Gunlom we went to the North end of Kakadu and explored Jabiru and Ubirr. This involved a short walk around Jabiru where we were a little disappointed with everything that we read we expected a little town. Instead there wasn't much there at all. We found a chemist which we needed as Hannah had been attacked by mosquitoes and Louise had lost her dressing off her surgery wound. So we managed to get medicine for Hannah and waterproof dressings for Louise. We then headed out to Ubirr which was were we saw some Aboriginal art and read some stories that told us what the artwork was telling us. Louise found this very interesting and read every bit she could. We slowly climbed up some rocks to the escarpment where we got to see some spectacular views overlooking the North end of Kakadu. One thing that we have been amazed with is the change in vegetation and surroundings and how it can be so quick. After exploring this for a while the weather was quite warm and we had started to have one girl fall in a bit of a heap rather quickly. So we headed back to Cooinda (a resort/caravan park near where we were camping) and the kids had a swim. This relieved them from the heat for a while. Tuesday and our last day in Kakadu we went on a Yellow Waters boat cruise. We met up with a colleague of mine on the cruise (it was prearranged). We had 3 very excited children as they couldn't wait to see crocodiles and the different birdlife. We weren't disappointed with there being numerous crocs and two even putting on a show for us. We had a Jabiru come and stand right in front of the boat and pose for a photo. It was 1.5 hours of great scenery and spotting of flora and fauna and CROCS. Our guide was great which made it more enjoyable for us all. After the cruise we went to Cooinda for lunch in the bistro and the kids spent the afternoon in the pool. It was a great last day in Kakadu.  (As soon as I have more service I will post photos of Kakadu).

Darwin 9th, 10th & 11th July 2014

 Sunset at Mindil Beach

 Sunset at East Point

 Speak No Evil, Hear No Evil and See No Evil at Doctors Gully

 Fish Feeding at Doctors Gully

 Crocodylis Park, croc feeding

 Holding a Baby Croc at Crocodylis Park

 Holding a Baby Croc at Crocodylis Park

 Holding a Baby Croc at Crocodylis Park

 Fannie Bay Gaol

 Stokes Wharf (re enactment of 7 years ago + 1 child)

East Point

Jacob and Lou in the WWII Oil Tunnel

After packing up and saying goodbye to Kakadu, we moved onto Darwin. We had a very jam packed few days in Darwin. The Wednesday we arrived we took the kids to feed the fish at Doctor's Gully. This is something I remember doing when here with the family when I was in grade 2 (1982) and then again only 7 years ago with Jacob and Louise along with mum and dad and my sisters. So it was great to see the 3 kids really enjoy themselves. Jacob loved watching the big fish chase and jump for the food. Louise was enthralled in the whole experience and Hannah thought they were slimy. After the fish feeding we went for a drive around the city and showed the kids a few sights around Darwin. After going back and setting up the camper we decided to have fish and chips and went and sat on the esplanade to eat them.
Thursday we got up and took the kids to Crocodylis Park. We saw not only different sized crocodiles but a number of other different animals. The kids, Strick and I all held a baby crocodile. We were all very very brave. Lunch was on the agenda next followed by the Fannie Bay Gaol. It was interesting reading all about the Gaol including how it got moved because it was felt the original Gaol was too close to the law abiding citizens. Also when Darwin was bombed all the inmates were released to defend for themselves. The kids were amazed at how small the cells were considering they had 3 inmates in them and Hannah thought it was pretty grosse that they had to go to the toilet in front of each other. After the Gaol we went back to camp the kids had a swim while mum and I tried to catch up on all the much needed washing. We then went to the Mindil Beach market and watched the sunset, had tea and bought a few items. The girls loved the market and the fact that there was so much to look at. Friday was the old boys birthday so it was about doing things that Strick really wanted to do. We visited the WW2 underground oil tunnels. Again kids were great and asked the man some great questions and found out 250 people died in the initial Darwin bombing and only 1 died while building the tunnel. He was very unlucky as he was walking out and s rock fell and hit him on the head. We visited the cenotaph and some other Darwin bombing memorial sites and looked around the city. We spent some time in a doctor's surgery with both Louise and I needing some attention. Louise we have discovered has an allergy to something and I have badly infected midge bites that needed some very strong antibiotics. Once that was sorted we went and had lunch on the Stokes hill wharf. Prawns and oysters were on the menu. Kids all tried the oysters with only Hannah willing to go back for seconds. Stocking up on food was next while the kids got to have a swim at a free water park with slides. Sunset at the East Point was how we not only finished the day but also our time in Darwin. It was time to head to Litchfield NP the next day via Tumbling Waters which is only about 8km's from Berry Springs.

Termite Mounds

There are some BIG termite mounds in Kakadu and are a familiar sight along the side of the road. They are especially prominent where there have been burn offs completed. Jacob was fascinated with how hard they were.

Gunlom in Kakadu 6th July 2014

Today we explored Gunlom located in the Southern end of Kakadu. It took about 45 minutes on a corrugated dirt track to get in to the camp ground (We thought it was an interesting road in a 4WD and really wondered how those traveling in little mazda 3's and hire cars were going). We then walked up a rocky range to find these beautiful plunge pools. There is another located behind where I took this photo. The kids enjoyed today exploring the pools and the views. It is definitely a place they have said they would like to come back to. Well worth the walk up the hill.