TOD Tour 2.0 Day 49 - Into Kakadu

There are certain places on this tour that are big ticket items, either because of significance to do with family or their significance to Australia or mostly because they are just so damned amazing.

Kakadu is one of those.

We arrived at its southern entrance near Mary River Roadhouse, turning off the Stuart Highway at Pine Creek after the distraction of a cup of coffee at Mayse's. Actually the cup of coffee wasn't so much the distraction as was the collection of movie star memorabilia. Elvis and James Dean seemed to be particularly favoured and I had a chat with a life-sized model of Dean, the man who made only four movies and died when his Porsche Spider collided with a truck. He has been an icon ever since.

There was a good blaze going in the national park when we arrived at the border but then its the burning time at the moment: that time when the dry season is ending and just before the "build up" begins. Its the coolest four or five weeks of the year so mosaic burning is applied in the time honoured way of Bininj (the traditional owners of this land). We kept an eye on its location and were glad when we motored away from us.

Its a big place, something that runs many a tourist foul. From entry, it would be over 100kms until we reached out camping spot at Cooinda. The national park occupies some twenty thousand square kilometres: from the Mary River in the south to Field Island at the mouth of the South Alligator River in the north; 100km west on the Arhem Highway to the escarpments of Anhem Land itself. Those that drive in from Darwin on the hope of seeing its treasures in a day are disappointed and leave without the "Kakadu Experience". As such, its not hard to see how some chose to refer to the place as Kakadon't. This is our third visit. Their comments are invalid.

Click for today's photos

We've not stayed at the Cooinda Lodge before. We've visited and done the cruises from here but previously we stayed out in one of the many bush sites, some of which now have hot water showers and flushing dunnies. Very flash! However, they also still have billabongs with crocodiles, flies, mosquitoes and lots and lots of red dust. We'll take the easier option of power, laundry facilities and happy hour $5 schooners, for about $10 a night more.

Muirella Park

Another moving day and despite the shorter distance to travel, we still had to complete a full pack. We again resisted the urge to pre-pack, feeling we should go with the positive manner in which we worked at Darwin. Mission was accomplished in a wholly reasonable time and we were soon on the road south, to Jabiru.

This small town services the park and its guests, as well as providing for the Ranger Uranium Mine to the east. It is a typical "modern town" with the sort of street design which seems to take you around in circles and back to where you just came from. However, it is clean and has enough of what is needed, even if at much higher prices. The pricing aspect was interesting. The supermarket was oddly priced, with many items being well below other prices In comparable sized supermarkets we had used "en route". However, there were great inconsistencies, as other items were enormously inflated beyond anything you could vaguely be called reasonable.

I made my weekly call to our office manager and checked out how our affairs were being managed. After settling a few minor matters and being reminded by Art we would eventually have to turn for home, it was time to move on.

With fuel for people, vehicle and gas bottles replenished, it was off to Muirella Park, about 40 kms south of Jabiru. It is one of four tent and caravan sites in the park which have solar showers and flushing toilets. Muirella Park is set beside Djurdja Billabong, which is part of the Nourlangie Creek system feeding the South Alligator River. It is a beautiful, tree-lined, elongated water hole containing fantastically clear water and sandy banks. Unfortunately, as much as human beings like the look of the water, "salties" also share this admiration. As they make this their home and they have a nasty habit of consuming visitors to their habitat, there is no swimming here !

The area beside the billabong has been rehabilitated to form a camping area, but was originally cleared and used as an airstrip. Consequently, the camping area is very long and narrow and Is surrounded by a one way bitumen road. As with all areas of this type at Kakadu, there are designated areas for caravans - with and without generators - and campers.

The airstrip was active in the 1950's, when two blokes set up a hunting lodge called "Muirella Park" and flew hunters in during the wet because the roads were impassable. The work in rehabilitating the area is impressive, with naturally occurring species providing shade and wind breaks being planted .
The camping area has a permanent manager ...at least, he is permanent for the dry or busy season. It is his job to collect camping fees, clean the toilets and generally make sure the needs of users are met. We were impressed by his friendliness and general caring manner during our stay, which was to extend to four nights.

Our record in croc spotting continued, with further proof that "salties" frequented the billabong coming during our driving tour of the campground, in search of a site.

After set up and lunch, we drove the 25 kms to Yellow Waters and the Cooinda Resort Lodge. There are three resort lodges placed strategically about Kakadu, catering for the upper end of the tourist market, who require their beds to be made for them and their toilet in an adjoining room. We booked a two hour, sunrise cruise for the following morning - something we had been told was a must for any visitor to the park and then went to the Yellow Waters Billabong, itself.

Yellow Waters is a series of large billabongs which contract, like all water ways in the park during the dry season, after flowing in wide, open spaces during the wet. It is part of the Jim Jim Creek system and also feeds into the South Alligator River. As we were to explore it on the water during our cruise, our one kilometre walk along an elevated board walk was an excellent taste of what was to come.

You are struck immediately by the great beauty of the near still water, as it reflects the Narrow Leaved Paperbark trees and Pandanas Palms. As this short but pretty walk unfolds, the audacious winged inhabitants of this watery area display themselves without apparent fear of the large bipeds which stand, staring in their direction. Egrets slowly picked their way through the shallow water and a Forest Kingfisher darted and dived past us. In the water, Grunters could be clearly seen gleaning a feed among the reeds and me supports for the board walk structure. On the far bank, croc number four was spotted, lying inauspiciously in the mud and reeds and resting his two and a half metre body.

With our appetite whetted, we returned to camp for an early night, as we had an equally early morning ahead of us, if we were to be at Yellow Waters in time for the cruise.