After a few hours of indecision as to when to leave we left for the park on Friday night at 21:00 and arrived at the Merl Campsite, East Alligator at about midnight. We would have gotten there earlier but I was looking for a different camp site. If you're wondering how we made it there that quickly, the 130km speed limits certainly helped.
A few hours of sleep and the sun was rising so it was time to get up. I was not particularly keen on this concept but there was plenty to see and do.
The smoke from the various controlled fires made for a beautiful sunrise.
The morning was spent at Ubirr which is a gorgeous rock art site that overlooks some flood plains. Stunning sunsets from what I've been told but we were there at the wrong end of the day. Still, spotting the thylacine rock painting and looking out from the top of a really big rock and seeing the terrain change from bush to flood plains to rocks to semi-tropical forest was just amazing.
In the afternoon we headed towards Jim Jim Falls where the roads had just been graded making them much more passable for newbie off roaders like me. The falls were a 900m scramble over rocks that was vaguely marked with orange pointers that were often few and far between. It felt like we'd been scrambling forever until we rounded a particularly large rock and discovered a beautiful sandy beach area. It was worth the hike.
On the ranger's advice we camped at the falls (camping in Kakadu is very civilised. There are hot showers and actual toilets) and woke up early to head to Makuk (Barramundi) Falls where there was said to be good croc-free swimming.
After more scrambling over rocks (an extra 100m) we made it to a gorgeously cool plunge pool with a spectacular waterfall. After a bit of coaxing I made it into the cool (cold) waters and swam to the base of the waterfall to relax in the sun just underneath. Possibly having had a bit too much sun I decided that I really did want my camera to take photos of what it was like under the waterfall. Only problem was the lack of waterproof camera gear. This was the solution.
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The rest of the photos can be found here:
Zoto Album
or you can find in my Facebook album.
After a morning of swimming and not dropping our cameras in the water we headed to Gunlom Falls to experience the rock pools at the top of the waterfall. Spectacular views yet again.
I can't even begin to describe how beautiful Kakadu is. Everyone should go and experience it. It was quite a clamber up to the top of Gunlom but well worth it in the end.
So after plenty of sun it was time to head home.
We stopped for diesel at the Mary Road Road house where we watched the Territory Day fireworks (and stomped on the small spot fires that were caused by said fireworks) before heading back to Darwin. It was a good drive home with only one suicidal kangaroo, who we missed, and a rather large bush fire we were advised to ignore. Life's a bit different up here but it's great.
Wish I could send you all a big parcel of sunshine!
