Link to photo album ->
here
Thursday, August 27, 2009 Program:
- Darwin Route - Jaibiru
- Boswali
Visitor Centre - Look out
Mirra - Waradjan
Aboriginal Centre - Yellow Water Cruise
- Nanguluwur
- Sandy Billabong
- Camp Cooinda Lodge Gagudju three days after returning from Sulawesi, here I am in a new aircraft for Jetstar Asia Darwin with Alex. 18 SGD (excluding taxes) ticket, an opportunity we could not pass up.
parties the night before to 22:15 is at 4:40 we arrived at Darwin airport. The immigration form we had put a flea in his ear, Australia has a very protectionist policy on immigration and customs. After a quick interrogation at the wicket, he must now show white pulp quarantine control. Import food in any form whatsoever is mission impossible in Australia. Fortunately this is not our case and we're now controls after about twenty minutes.
We rented a 4x4 through the Thrifty website
http://www.drivenow.com.au/ . The site promised business hours 24 / 7, it is not. We will have to wait 7am to retrieve the car. Note Hertz seems to be the only company open all night among the Avis, Budget and Thrifty. A Mitsubishi Outlander
awaits us in the parking lot. Having not driven for over 3 years, and having no international permit, I let Alex take us to the Kakadu National Park. One hundred miles away, we arrive at the park entrance. The cars are scarce, it is a vehicle that crosses all about 10km.
After 2 hours drive from the airport, we arrive at the Visitor Center Boswali. We did that in large widths so that we could do, the hostesses have made the program for us. Exceptionally, the territory of Arnhem is open to the public this Saturday, so we organize our days in office. After a quick lunch at the center, we go to the supermarket to buy the Jabiru essential anti-mosquito Bushman, as well as food. It then goes to the South Park, more specifically, Yellow Water.
way, on our own, and stop at Mirra Look-out. The small road in the middle of a forest partially burned, seems devoid of interest, we turn back. It would appear that a 45 minute walk to reach a superb viewpoint ... I take the wheel and we went to Yellow Water. We stop at Cooinda Lodge Gagudju to buy a ticket for a boat trip (55 AUD / person). The hours are: 6:45, 9 am, 11:30, 13:15, 2:45 p.m. ET 16.30.
Our boat does not leave until 13:15, we went to Waradjan Aboriginal Centre. Admission is free because luckily we only stayed there for 5 minutes. Some paintings, some weapons, some pictures and a lot of proverbs aborigines .. the whole being, we believe, rather uninteresting.
It thus goes to the pier
Yellow Water for the start of the cruise. We can already see two crocodiles on the surface. For 1:30, the captain will show a dozen crocodiles and various birds. The ride is really very nice
s and sumptuous landscapes.
In photo, longest crocodile this part of Kakadu National Park.
We will then Nourlangie. We headed first to Nanguluwur , hoping to find a billabong. It's actually a site of aboriginal art. Cooled by the museum before, we turned back. He is 16h, no time to be Aubergang Billabong Walk by the nightfall. It is assumed therefore Sandy Billabong.
The need for a 4x4 soon becomes apparent on the sandy path. After about twenty minutes, the left front tire noise disrupts the sound of crickets. A large piece of wood
burned in the middle of the tire, here we are in the middle of nowhere, lying under the car and under a cloud of flies,
forced to change the wheel. Then we returned to Cooinda hoping to repair the tire or to buy another, you cross a kangaroo. The camera is in the back seat ...
The Rangers have not the tire size we need, we therefore decided to call Thrifty. He sends the garage of the Mobil station Jaibiru. After 1 hour, he arrives with a tow truck. So in addition to ask unnecessary questions for 20 minutes, the hostess telephone Thirfty told him we had two tires slashed ... He did not tire him, he is proposing to spend the day at the station between 7:30 and 16:30.
We then pay our sites for camping (30 AUD) in the game without electricity
camping. Here we 21h therefore going up our tents using headlights. Luckily no mosquitoes. It seems that around the rainy season, there have swarms of mosquitoes at night. While in dry season, our newspaper is more a swarm of flies and horseflies.
Friday, August 28, 2009
Program:
- Ubir
- Bardedjilidgi
walk - walk Mangarre
- Ubir (sunset)
- Encampment Merl
Sunrise 6:30 am. Breakfast at the Lodge Cooinda Gagudju before leaving to settle for Jaibiru tire story. The Mobil gas station does not have our type of tire, they call the representative of Thirfty Jaibiru. The hole is slightly on the edge of the tire, so Thirfty not cover the cost of the new tire (270 AUD). The representative Thirfty
we propose to exchange cars. After having filled the old car, you take the wheel of our new Mitsubishi Outlander white. We arrive at
Ubir. A 1km circuit takes us around some drawings Aborigines join the side of the mountains. Here, the drawing
represents a person whose bones are swollen by a disease called Miyamiya, it has contracted for disturbing the stones
a sacred site. The highlight is a huge rock which offers a superb
view over the valley, we will come back for the sunset.
We then went to the walk Bardedjilidgi . 2.5km. circuit rather nice cave with rocks and we saw a wallaby in the mountains. Only armed with my 17-55, and even digital zoom 40 times, the presence of the wallaby on my photos is currently a mystery.
It then rises to Mangarre Walk (1.5km) where you will see 4
crocodiles basking in the estuary,
bats , moorhens and a wallaby.
is 14h, it arises at a border store for lunch (23 AUD 2 2 sandwiches and drinks ... ouch). We then left to settle in Merl campground (10 doll / person). The sites are already pretty set. We find and install a tent.
Then we take off again in the southern small roads at random to see kangaroos. Without
success. It's more of dozens of horse flies that we see. We then went to the
sunset Ubir . Forty people have imitated. The view is beautiful but I have not found the sunset special. Border store is closed .. He will dine with what remains. Fortunately, we can fill our water bottles with water from the campsite. After a quick shower, we come back to our camp. We dine cookies and chips before going to bed .. Awakened several times during the night, we hear heavy footsteps, the branches creak around the tents ... kangaroos? Dingoes? It does no good can be out at night in the forest ...
Saturday, August 29, 2009 Program:
- Arnhem Territory - Injak
Art Centre - Art Injak Rock Hill tower
- Route Kakadu - Katherine (Nimbuluk National Park)
- Sunset Gorge Katherine
- Photography
Wallabies - National Park Camping Nitmuluk 
Sunrise 7am. The store opens at 9am border. It happens to coffee. We share the back roads in search of wallabies. We will see a dingo
and 2 kangaroos.
It then takes Cahills crossing to reach Arnhem. On either side of a road ocher mountain landscapes are splendid. Many vehicles seem to enjoy the open house, so it's the middle of a motorcade that we join Oenpilli.
Injak We stop at the Art Centre. We buy tickets for the Rock Art Injak hill turn. Departure 8:10 am.
After qu'15 minute mini-bus on a highway ocher, we arrive at the foot of a mountain. In the company of 8-10 other tourists, we climbed to a first site
of "graffiti" 1100 years old. The guide is very talkative, and stop every 5 minutes. It tells us a lot of history on the spirits who kill people who have violated a sacred site, but also kill sometimes in error. It shows a mountain, it is forbidden to take pictures, where they do their ceremonies .. As two days of a kidney operation, and thinking that having problems with spirits is not the right time, I would not violate this rule.
It then passes through a small cave where they do their ceremonies before arriving at a second site of Aboriginal art.
The tour ends share a nice view
on a plain. We return the car and wait several minutes. The guide explains that the frog croaking is meant is actually his uncle ... ... Well, sometimes this bus?
Back at school, thereby breaking the law by driving us into the territory. After a few minutes, turn back. The program of the day does not suit us too. The morning is devoted to knitting and Australian football. Aboriginal dances only start at 14:30. No time to wait, we want to reach Katherine tonight. We return to
border shade for lunch (we pay 16 AUD for the same meal as yesterday, or 7 AUD least .. we should have a better head today). Then we hit the road until Jaibiru where the money is withdrawn near the supermarket. We arrived at the town of Katherine. 30 kilometers later, we arrive at Nitmuluk National Park. At the Visitor Center, we reserve the campsite and a half day of kayaking the next day.
We start up our attempts to avoid having to do at night. I jumped on my camera the first Wallaby
that one meets in the campsite. After a few minutes, we understand that there are everywhere.
It then goes on a point of view of the first groove
Katherine for the sunset (10 minutes from the Visitor Centre). Not bad, but still no red sunset.
We then dined at the Visitor Center before joining camp. Some wallabies roam. After some photos, so you must lie. A short twenty minutes later, the crack branches around the tents. This time, the camp is a little light, you see wallabies to two meters of tents. We negotiate with them a little photo shoot
cons of bananas and some bread.
Sunday, August 30, 2009 Program:
- Canoeing Katherine Gorge
- Katherine Journey - Litchfield National Park
- Field termite
- Course Litchfield - Darwin Airport
- Vol Darwin - Singapore
Sunrise 6:30 am. The day begins with a traditional safari wallabies. Breakfast
fast at the Visitor Center before taking possession of our tandem kayak at 8am. Having a half day, we are allowed to paddle in the first groove
. However, we can reach the second gorge walking and swimming. There are freshwater crocodiles, but they are very timid and can not risk anything so .... Hmm.
All muscles out, you reach the end of the first
throat in 30 minutes. On road, many signs prohibiting access to the shore, they are spawning areas crocodiles. A dozen other kayaks are there .. no doubt, is the star attraction of Nimbuluk National Park. After a few minutes a girl comes out of the water quickly, it has to cross a crocodile.
We joined the second groove walk. It bathes an hour before returning to the kayak at 11:30. Quick lunch before heading back to 12.30. I take the wheel and reasonably supports the fungus to succeed to squeeze one last activity before returning the car: the field of termite mounds of Litchfield Park.
The timing is very tight. We arrive at the entrance of Litchfield National Park in 15h. Still nearly 50 kilometers to the termite and start again after 4 minutes strafing photography. The mounds are all aligned in a north-south axis so that the sun heats only the smallest possible area .. Interesting, but the fact that one can not see the field just 50 meters away reinforces our view that this does not justify the detour was necessary if not expected to do something else in Litchfield.
We Arrive in Darwin at 17h, at which time you must return the car. We quickly found a gas station to refuel and clean the car before returning the car at the airport. Note that no statement made when the car is given the mileage and wait for the invoice .. what happens if there is a dispute? (Will find out for yourself. Do not mess about, we have already experienced the puncture, we can not tell you about all the crap that can happen to you:)) This wonderful stay
ends sadly with the heaviness of the Australian Customs Service. Everything starts at the counter Jetstar. Our ticket not only allows us a maximum of 10kg of baggage. My bag is 12kg, you wonder to alleviate it. I put my walking shoes is good. Then came the first test, Alex passes without problem, not mine. Customs officials confiscated my frame of tent pegs and iron. I can take everything and put my ticket in the hold but does not allow Jetstar and the extra cost more than the price of the tent. I can get keep the frame of the tent, which you will agree, is essential for a tent. Finally, the second is the control of liquids. I open my suitcase to get out my tube of toothpaste. Pff is ca. It describes the rigid Singaporeans, they found their master ...
Budget (2 people, 4 days)
rental car: x AUD
- car rental browsing the various agencies (Avis, Budget, Thrifty, Hertz) to find the best value for the number of miles you plan. Our car included
400km and 0.25 AUD per additional kilometer.
http://www.drivenow.com.au - Two periods hinges seem to me the best times to visit Darwin
1. May / June: end of wet season / early dry season. The scenery is lush, waterfalls have a good flow, etc. .. but roads may be inaccessible unless you have a 4x4 equipped with a drain (called snorkel). Watch out for swarms of mosquitoes.
2. August / September: end of the dry season / beginning of the rainy season. Larger number of animals. Possibility to go 4x4 on all roads. By cons, do not bother to go see the waterfalls (aside the Twin Waterfall a priori). Beware of "clouds" flies and horseflies.
- The site remains the most practical and most economical (count 10 AUD per person)
- Do not bring food into Australia, not even a packet of sweets. You shall not pass through customs with, and supermarkets, such as Jaibiru, provide you with everything you need.
- boat ride on the Yellow River: AU $ 55 per person for 1 ½ hours. (70-90 AUD 2h)
Tel: 8979 0145
- National Park Camping Nimuluk: 14 AUD per person
Tel: 1300 146 743
