So to escape the chaos during CNY, we decided to find a place that wouldn’t be celebrating- the Northern Territories of Australia.
Only 8 hours after picking Jack up at the ferry from his Indonesia camping trip, we were over at Changi – ready for our red-eye to Darwin! A really early morning arrival (Mom really likes sunsets, but not so much sunrises) gave us the full day to explore. After a power breakfast and walk around the harbor, we headed over to Crocodylus Park (side note- Kakadu Park near Darwin, is where they filmed Crocodile Dundee).
Crocodylus Park
While the park had its share of native and not so native Australian animals (emu, ostrich, cassuary, prarie dogs, tigers, really ugly lizards), there was no doubt everyone was there to see the crocs….So in case you didn’t know, crocs can jump- really high…Jay and Bee got to dangle raw chicken off a stick – teasing the crocs into jumping ~ 2 meters out of the water to get their breakfast. Crocs are also really quick…silently waiting till just the right moment before they pounce- and when they shut their jaws and force causes a sound like a Mac truck slamming on its breaks..Mom said it best, these animals look like they should be with dinosaurs! After feeding the crocs, Jay and Bee were brave enough to hold juvenile ones (luckily with their jaws taped shut). We then got to take a boat cruise around the park, where rescued crocs (those that were becoming a menace to their communities) lived..saw Momma crocs mending their nests, crocs with damaged teeth, skin and missing limbs – all war wounds from fights with other crocs for dominance of the area. And of course, saw many more crocs jumping out of the water for a meal.
After the 1st off several picnic lunches, we took a quick stop at the Darwin WWII museum. Did you know Darwin was bombed only a few months after Pearl Harbor? The museum had a very cool special effect show where you relived the bombing. Very cool interactive exhibits showed how Darwin played a key role in Australia’s defense. Outside the museum, Bee found a huge surface to water defense gun along with a huge collection of WWII guns and vehicles.
A long drive through the park got us to the pool and our home for the night, you guessed it, the Crocodile Lodge in Jabiru- where the whole hotel was shaped like a Crocodile (Lil’ Grandpop had a blast exploring here) The next AM, Dad took an early bird walk to see a blue winged kookaburra, corellas and masked lapwings at a nearby lake. After trying to find any fresh fruit or veggies –in a supermarket that could qualify as a food dessert – we set off to explore Kakadu!
1st stop in the park was a walk to see Aboriginal rock art that was thousands of years old at Nourlangie Rocky= – painted in rock shelters in the high ground where they waited out storms in the wet season. Along the way, we got a great look at the Little Corrella bird. Then it was off to Nawurlandja a beautiful lookout- where walking up a rocky ledge, gave us a view of the lush forest and highlands that stretched out for miles…a true “Lion King” type moment! After a lunch that was rudely interrupted by the mosquitoes (they are fierce in the wet season), Dad had us do a very steep 3 k hike up to Mirrai Lookout – another pretty view point as we got closer to the high country- could see multiple areas where controlled burns are performed to knock out the underbush, avoiding uncontrolled forest fires.
Next we caught a quick dip in our next hotel, the Cooinda Lodge before the highlight of the day – a cruise down the Yellow River. As our captained navigated through channels cutting through the grass, trees and lilypads, we had both amazing views and incredible encounters with wildlife. To start with the birds, the “Jesus” bird (aka the Comb Crested Jacana) who truly walked on water, the sulfur crested cockatoo, magpie geese, the Australian Darter and the fierce white bellied sea-eagle! Then of course the crocs- this time in their natural habitat!..saw the croc who ran this stretch of turf..a huge 6 meter beast who patrolled the waters up and down…Towards the end of the trip though, we found one of his girlfriends and their 3 new babies- guide told us they were less than a few days old..tiny little guys who even are still cute at that age (remember when Bee and Jay were cute…it was a long time ago)..really, really cool!
Day 3 in Kakadu started innocently enough with a Dad taking a bird walk and spying a kingfisher and a partridge pigeon, and then a visit to the Aboriginal Cultural Center, where we learned that the Aboriginals were the oldest continuously practiced culture on earth, dating back 40,000 years! Then took a 1.5 hour drive where we passed 0 cars the whole time. Afterwards we completed a short hike to see another cool overlook (Bukbukluk- places here have really cool names) and had a nice picnic lunch.
But Dad had other ideas for a true adventure for the day…entering the Yurmikmik area (see really cool names). 1st a 4WD only bumpy road where we got to try out the power of our huge LandRover! Then we started an 8km hike..pretty views of rock formations – but it was sunny and really hot! But it was all worth when we arrived at Motor Creek Falls- an outstanding 30m waterfall with awesome black and orange striped sandstone all around and a gorgeous swimming hole- the highlight of the day if not the whole trip. We did some serious swimming, exploring, jumping off rocks and photo-taking. For the 1st 30 minutes we shared the falls with only one other group of 3 and the last 30 minutes we had it all to ourselves! On the drive out, we saw multiple packs of the bright red galah birds along with a few lorikeet.
After a drive through bustling towns with populations of <10, we found our hotel for the night, Mount Bundy Station- a farm of sorts with all kinds of wildlife- including wallabies that came right to your backyard. For dinner, we hit the local bar- quite a scene of locals- including a stuffed 6 m crocodile they had to catch, as it was a terror to the town. In the morning, we snapped some great pics of the wallabies, saw a rainbow lorikeet and a pair of Blue Winged Kookaburas.
During our last day we ventured to Litchfield Park. Our 1st stop was the magnetic termite mounds. Through both Kakadu and Litchfield, we saw the cathedral style termite mounds, built by 1000’s of worker termites as their home with some reaching heights of > 10 meters tall! In Litchfield, however, the magnetic termites also live. These smart guys used their sense of magnetism to orient their towers east/west- allowing for temperature control as the side facing the sun gets ways warmer than the other side. Next it was time for some super cool swimming in Buley Rockholes- a series of connected pools and small waterfalls. Awesome spot to get a natural massage under a waterfall! We swam in 5 different water holes! Then to the super-cool, if not a bit crowded Florence Falls for more views, swimming and a picnic lunch. The impressive Tomer Falls was next on our list- and the day finished with a hike up and around Wangi Falls- unfortunately no swimming but encountered a few of the giant Golden Spiders- Jay almost turned into Spider Man!
After the drive back to Darwin and a quick dip, we found our favorite restaurant of the week (and maybe one of the best named restaurants we ever ate at)“Frying Nemo’s.” Fish and chips right on the dock. As we ate, we pondered population density…Singapore has 7000 people/km2, while the Northern Terriroty of Australia has 0.2 people/km2, so if Singapore had the same population density as the Northern Territory, only 140 people would live in the whole country (well less than the number that live in our apartment building). After watching the Eddie the Eagle movie, we caught some sleep before an early AM flight back to Singapore. What an adventure!
