Lords Safari Arnhem Land Tour

I absolutely loved this tour and would recommend anyone that is up this way to do it. It was a full day tour, full of amazing scenery and interesting facts and something that I would definitely love to do again. Mike picked us up in his 4WD bus thing from the lodge and then we drove out to Cahill’s Crossing and crossed into Arnhem Land from there. The morning was spent climbing up Injalak hill with two aboriginal guides who explained the paintings and answered our questions, including some particularly dense ones from one of the ladies (there is always one in each group).

Some of the paintings they showed us were just amazing. Huge barramundi, rock pythons, fresh water turtle, wallaby and emu, painted in deep reds, yellow ochre and white cover every available surface. In some places the paintings have been layered on top of each other as generation after generation have recorded their lives.
We also got to see a burial site and had morning tea looking out over the billabong in the west and the rocky escarpment in the south while we sat underneath a rocky overhang that had aboriginal paintings on the underside whilst drinking our tea and eating our monte carlos. Talk about surreal.

On our way back we visited a sacred site where they performed circumcision ceremonies and had a little bit of an exploration along the back of the rocks. We also got to see a painting of a double rigged schooner (or double something or other, can’t remember the details) which the local people had painted as a record of some of the early settlers that came through. Pretty crazy hey.

Another mind blowing thing was seeing how they chose young boys to go on hunting expeditions. It is a little hard to explain but basically the young guys had the be able to make and throw a spear well enough so that it wedged in the crevice of this huge rock out on the floodplains. Now that probably doesn’t sound that hard but this rock was like 80m away from where they were standing and the crevice was about half a centimetre thick. Check out the photos to get a better idea o what I mean. The long sticky things hanging out of the rock are spears. Mental.

Our mode of transport for the day.

This gives you a little bit of an idea about the rock art. It's hard to capture it in one but hopefully you get the general idea.

Me and the rock art.

This is where we had our morning tea. It was under a rocky overhang that had art on the underside and had the most amazing view of the floodplains and escarpment.


When white settlers first made there way up here - god knows how they made it - the local people recorded it on the rocks. I forget the explorer that this boat belonged to though.

This is a close up view of the spears in the rock face. You can just see the black sticks poking out of the crevice.

And this is the view from where we were standing and where the young guys had to throw the spears from. Absolutely mind blowing.

1 Hour Scenic Flight.

Aside from the fact that I was slightly nervous (ie: completely packing it) about the fact that our plane looked like one of those remote control ones that you get in a box and put together yourself, I actually really enjoyed the one hour flight with Kakadu Air. Well, when I wasn’t in the throes of debilitating nausea due to our plane bouncing around like someone on pills, I really enjoyed it. Hmmm, I am beginning to get the feeling that perhaps I actually didn’t enjoy it all and have brain-washed myself into thinking that I did. Such is life.

Nervousness, nausea and self brain-washing aside I have to say that it was great to see Kakadu NP and Arnhem Land from such a different perspective. You get such a changed view of the rocky escarpment from that height. It makes it seem as though a giant hand has simply pushed it up from underneath so that on one side there is a slope and the other a massive drop off and makes you appreciate why the aboriginal have the dreamtime and creation stories that they do. The commentary that we had on the flight spoke about the early explorers moving through the region but it is impossible to imagine anyone other than aboriginal people being able to travel through and survive on such difficult terrain.

Highlights: the amazing view.

Lowlights: nervousness and nausea. Oh and did I mention the nausea?

Thunderbirds are go.

My, my, what a small plane you have... aargh!

The East Alligator River which is the border between KNP and Arnhemland. I have to say that I do admire the creativity that the early settlers used when naming the rivers. We have the East Alligator, South Alligator and West Alligator Rivers. Oh and no alligators.

Magela Wetlands.

This is an aerial view of where I am working. Hurrah!

Guluyambi Cultural Cruise (pronounced Goo-lee-arm-bee)

The Guluyambi boat cruise left from the upstream boat ramp on the East Alligator River, headed down to Cahill’s Crossing - which is the only road into Arnhem Land – and then back upstream to a sandy river bank where the wet had dumped 20,000 tonnes of sand. I did the cruise with one of the bar staff, Keith (A.K.A one half of the infamous Keiffany, go hard or go home) along with a group from AAT Kings. As Keith so eloquently put it, it was like “being in God’s waiting room” with the two of us being the youngest by oh, maybe forty years or so.

It was a really interesting cruise though and our guide taught us about the uses for some of the plants that line the river bank including beach hibiscus (spears, string, mozzie repellent and antiseptic) and paper bark trees (shelter, water carrying vessel, cooking utensil) as well as explaining some aspects of traditional aboriginal law (if you were naughty you got a spear in the thigh or if you were really, really naughty, in the Achilles tendon so that you had a limp for the rest of your life and people knew that you were a ‘bad fella’).

Highlights:
Seeing my first croc in the wild.

Lowlights:
Being stalked above mentioned crocodile. I am nobody’s dinner.


This is me. And a bus. Yay.


Conway doing his best tourist impersonation.


Guluyambi means 'paperbark raft' in the local aboriginal language. This however is not a paperbark raft.


My second croc in the wild - woo hoo! I didn't get a proper photo of the first one as it kept cruising around the boat and going under. Cheeky little devil...


This is a water carrying vessel made from paperbark. Pretty neat, eh?

Jab-ah-roo, Kak-ah-dooo...

So, one of the girls that I work with has this song that she sings about Jabiru that goes something like “Jab-ah-roo, Kak-ah-doooo”, so now every time I say/think/write the word Jabiru I get that stuck in my head. I guess that it’s not a song really. It’s more like two words with a melody. It is surprisingly catchy though. It’s like one of those silly cereal jingles that get stuck in your head. You know, like ‘Just like a chocolate milkshake only crunchy’ ad. Yeah, you know it. The one with the gorilla. Or is it a monkey? Or that ‘happy little Vegemite’ one. Yeah that always gets stuck in my head. Sorry, what was that? Now it’s stuck in your head? Mwah, hahahah!!

Aside from the fact that I may actually be losing my mind (see above paragraph) I am actually really enjoying being in the middle of nowhere. Whilst it is polar opposite to London there is something refreshing about getting back to basics and being in the bush again. I haven’t really taken any photos of my donger or around the park but I have got a few pics from the different tours and walks that I have done which are as follows:

Ubirr (pronounced Ooo-beer which I find quite fitting considering the beer belly that I have proudly acquired in my mere four weeks here).
This is an amazing lookout about thirty minutes drive from Jabiru and within Kakadu National Park but close to the river border with Arnhem Land which is aboriginal owned and only accessible with a permit. There are some cool art sites including a painting of a Tasmanian tiger which I was blown away by. Not because the painting is that amazing but I had no idea that thylacines were up here at all. Admittedly it was like 2,000 years ago but still, how cool is that?

Highlights:
Aboriginal art sites including some pictures of sorcery figures that were believed to be painted by Mimi spirits as they are on the underside of a 30m high cliff overhang (spooky!).
The 360 degree views of the floodplains, Arnhem Land and the escarpment especially on sunset.

Lowlights:
The number of foreign tourists – ‘Can you please take photo of me? Oh and one of me and my friend? And me and my friend from this angle? And one with my friend and this random person that we just met?’ Meh, get away from me.


Ubirr rock - this place has the most amazing views. On one side you have the flood plains, on another the escarpment which winds up the eastern side up into Arnhemland and joins back up with the northern wetlands. So pretty!


I still can't get over how green it is here. It's like that fluro lime green paint that you use as a kid. So cool!


More green and rocks.



These photos don't do it that much justice but the sunsets from Ubirr are phenomenal.

More puppy photos

I have been playing around with Picasa and trying to figure out how it works so I thought that I would uplaod some more photos of the puppies. If it works I might upload some more pics from my time away...

Winnie and Sammie

Yay it works! You just need to click on the album cover photo and it will link off to some more photos in a Picasa album.

East Coast to North West - Road Trip 07

DAY 1
Wednesday 15th March 2007
Glasshouse Mountains to Rockhampton
Distance travelled: 580 km. 7.5 hours
Left home at around seven after a fab big breakfast courtesy of mum and dad. The weather was pretty grey and miserable. Stopped for a roadside pee a few hours into the trip and spent ages wondering fumbling around wondering why the key wouldn’t unlock the car when Liz realised we were at the wrong car. Laughed at ourselves for ages after that one! Following that the lining from the car ceiling came away and put orange foam everywhere. Tried spray adhesive and string to fix it before resorting back to the tried and tested pinboard tacks which worked a treat. Stayed in a cute little cabin thing on the north side of Rocky. Laughed at the giant fibre glass bulls with their balls bolted to ground on the way out the next day.

The family waving goodbye...

The little cabin that we stayed in. Was pretty cute though the linen gave me the worst hay fever ever and I spent a large portion of the night having sneezy itchy fits. So not hot.

Our gourmet dinner of sausages, carrot, zucchini and packet pasta. I thought it tasted alright.

DAY 2
Thursday 16th March 2007
Rockhampton to Townsville
Distance travelled: 718km. 9 hours.
Left Rocky fairly early. Got stuck behind lots of slow cars. Stopped in Kuttabull which was memorable only because it had the worst toilet in Oz and Bowen where we got a photo with a giant mango. Got some hot tips from the lady at the Bowen info centre who piled us with maps and brochures for everywhere between there and Darwin which was sweet if somewhat highly un-friendly for the environment. Arrived in Townsville in the afternoon and stayed at a backpackers in town. Wandered down the Strand which was really nice. Had some biatch backpackers take my veggies out of the microwave before they had finished and then proceeded to use it for half an hour. How rude!

The car was full to the brim!

A photo from some random servo along the way. Liz insisted on climbing the tree after I took this photo. Weirdo.

The big Bowen mangon. What a thrill.

Liz gets friendly with the locals in Townsville.

DAY 3
Friday 17th March 2007
Townsville to Cairns
Distance travelled: don’t know. 5 hours.
Left Townsville at 6:45 and promptly got mixed up in the one way streets. Made it out ok and then got stuck behind slow traffic, grrrrr. Stopped in Cardwell to get a photo with ‘Rocky’ the giant crab that was stuck on top of a restaurant. Too cool. Stopped at Lumholtz National Park for some more photo ops which was beautiful. Made it to Cairns around noon and checked into our cabin which we ended up getting an upgrade for – brilliant! Spent the afternoon flapping about in the pool.

Rocky the giant crab.

I got bored in the car and ended up taking a whole heap of dodgy self portraits. This is one of the better few.

One hot mama.

Another hot mama.

And once again the cheesy self portraits make and appearance.

DAY 4
Saturday 18th March 2007
Cairns to Moore Reef (part of the Great Barrier Reef).
Did a day trip out snorkelling on Moore Reef about 65 kms off shore. The sea was ridiculously rough which made half the passengers throw up all over the back of the boat which was a bit nasty but hey, I was with them so I can’t complain too much. Finally made it to the pontoon, got into our flame red stinger suits (hot!), had a bit of a snorkel around the reef before doing our snorkel safari with the resident marine biologist. The whole day was amazing with the highlights were seeing a giant Maori wrasse and being close enough to touch it as well as seeing huge schools of trevally and barracuda swimming past. Would recommend anyone to go and do it if they have the chance. Got all dressed up that night to go out for St. Pat’s, fed the freshwater turtles in the creek and promptly fell asleep. We are such grandmas!!

This was Wally the Giant Maori Wrasse with us in the background. He was so cool!

Us in our flame red Cathy Freeman suits.

DAY 5
Sunday 19th March 2007
Cairns to Cape Tribulation (return)
Distance travelled: 200 km. 6 hours.
When we told the staff at the front office that we were heading up to thew Daintree they recommended that we went up to Cape Tribulation rather than heading to the town of Daintree. One lady also recommended stopping in at Mossman Gorge on the way which was a great tip as it ended up being amazingly beautiful. The rest of the drive was amazing as well with stunning forests the whole way up. I got to see my first ever Cairns Birdwing butterfly which was brilliant as well as a few of the blue Ulysses butterflies as well. All in all a very enjoyable day with some amazing sights.

Mossman Gorge. A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!

The view from one of the lookouts over the river mouth and the ocean.

The beach.

Me at Cape Tribulation.

DAY 6
Monday 20th March 2007
Cairns to Townsville to Hughenden
Distance travelled: 720 km.
Had to backtrack down to Townsville before heading out west to Charters Towers where we stopped for lunch. The road out west (Overlanders Way) was pretty good so we were able to make good time for the first time in a few days. Got stuck behind a few road-trains which can be up to 50 metres long which was a bit scary. I hate overtaking at the best of times let alone on winding roads with huge trucks! Stopped for a chocolate Billabong at a servo, it had a really cute little old lady there, she was so sweet. The scenery started to thin out once we started the road out west though was surprisingly green for the time of the year. I think they have all had a bit of rain out there. I got a mean truckers’ arm and leg from the driving, not a good look. Visited the dinosaur museum once we got to Hughenden and had our first beers of the trip (and a steak) at the Great Western Hotel. Stayed in an 80’s looking motel.

My mean trucker arm and leg!
One of the dino sculptures around town.

DAY 7
Hughenden to Mt Isa
Distance travelled: 519 km.
Left Hughenden at 7am and stopped in the next town, Richmond for some more photos with dinosaurs. The road straightened out heaps and was basically in a straight line out to Mt Isa. Saw lots of birds of prey which were near the road for all the road-kill. Got to Mt Isa early afternoon and booked into a cabin. Got the car tyre fixed as it was leaking and got a hot tip to go to Lake Moondarra, the local water source. It was such a great idea and a really nice place to take photos and have a swim though I have to mention that I did get attacked by water weed and got the shits. Checked out the lookout which had a good view of the town and the mines. Tried to get some night photos but they didn’t work very well.

A marine dinosaur model at Richmond.

Lake Moondarra.

Me at Lake Moondarra.

The cool sign at the Mt Isa lookout. You can just make out the distances to both Brisbane and London in the photo.

DAY 8
Mt Isa (QLD) to Three Ways (NT)
Distance travelled: 630 km.
Woke up late and left Mt Isa around 8 and headed across to Camooweal and then over the Queensland – Northern Territory. Got a photo with a random fibre glass kangaroo with horns at Camooweal and with the border signs. Stopped at a roadside stop for a pee and something to eat and as they were no actual toilets had to use the ‘bush dunny’ ie: the nearest bush. Asked Liz to look out for cars but she forgot and entire family drove in on me having a wee. Not happy. At all. Stopped overnight at Three Way Roadhouse in the middle of a locust plague. Made friends with the staff and got free drinks. Yay! Ended up sitting in the bar doing crochet like proper grandmas. Saw the fattest frogs ever that had made the ladies toilets their home. They had the biggest bellies on them. Ever.

Cheesy shot in front of the NT sign.

The Stuart Highway. If you go left here you go out through the Red Centre and (kind of) past Ayres Rock and then down to South Australia. If you turn right you go up through the Northern Territory and on to Darwin. We turned left.

Three Ways was in the midst of a locust plague. Yay.

DAY 9
Three Ways to Jabiru
Distance travelled: 960km
Left Three Ways about half seven as Liz insisted on having all her coffees and cigarettes and generally held up proceedings. Were going to stay at Mataranka and go to the thermal pools but they were closed due to flooding and crocodiles plus we got a weird vibe from the place so we headed up to Jabiru instead. Saw lots more termite mounds which were a lot bigger than the ones that we had previously seen. Turned off the Stuart Highway at Pine Creek for the last 200 km of the trip which turned out to be the longest 200 km in the history of mankind. We did make it there in the end though and Liz finally got to see Rick, yay! There were signs everywhere in the park telling patrons to carry torches when walking at night to reduce the chances of standing on venomous snakes. Not cool when the only shoes I had were pluggers!

There were croc signs everywhere!

Kakadu National Park. Jabiru (where Liz is working) is in the park.

This was one of the smaller termite mounds.

DAY 10
Jabiru and surrounds
Didn’t do too much today except for checking out the tourist info centre which was actually really amazing. They had heaps of really cool exhibits set up and it was all really information. Got some info about a place to visit as all the other cultural sites were closed due to the floods. Flapped around the pool in the morning too which was really lovely. It was one of those nice big kidney shaped ones with a waterfall and landscaping, a nice addition I must say. Had a look around the township too which took about a minute as it consists of a supermarket, library, bank, doctors and café. Still it is everything that you need I guess.

Lounging by the pool.
The oh so fabulous pool.

AFTER THAT…
I didn’t write in my journal for the rest of the time so I don’t really know what we did when though we did visit Nourlangie Rock which is an amazing Aboriginal site and then went into Darwin for a few days. Didn’t really do too much there but watched a lot of Animal Planet and did makeovers on each other as we wanted to stay in the air-conditioning. We did make it out to the museum and art gallery though which was great. There was a whole section on aboriginal art which was completely amazing. There was some of the older more traditional art but then it had some of the new contemporary stuff as well which was great. Well worth going to see. Caught my plane flight home at some silly hour in the morning from Darwin to Brisbane. Was a bit hard to say bye to Liz after having such a good trip and not seeing her for a year. Still I think that she is going to really enjoy her time up in Jabiru so it is all good. Watched an amazing sunrise from the plane. It was like I was the first person to see the start of the new day with amazing reds belnding into the navy blue of the night sky. Pretty amazing stuff.

Nourlangie Rock.
Me!
Me at Darwin.