Victoria River & Timber Creek

At just under 200 Km southwest of Katherine, Victoria River Roadhouse was our next stop. The pleasant caravan park right on the banks of the river is peaceful and good value at $20 per night for a powered site. For at least 20 Km or so as you approach Victoria River the landscape becomes much more dramatic with the road weaving through rugged red hills under a brilliant blue sky. The hills appear to get higher as you get closer to the river. There is a lot of roadwork going on in this part of the country including a new high-level bridge over the river, but we were told that even this massive new structure would still go underwater in a big wet. We undertook two walks while there, the first at Joe Creek, and the second a free ranger guided walk through the riparian zone along the river. The Joe Creek walk has you scrambling up to the base of the escarpment and then walking along the base of the towering red cliffs amongst the Livistonia Palms, it is quite hard going for the first part. The return section of this 1.7 Km track is via a dry creek bed back to the carpark. The ranger guided walk was most informative as we learned about the animals and birds that inhabit the fragile zone along the river’s edge. We also learnt how important the tall (up to 2 metres) spear grass is and it’s vulnerability to destruction by feral animals like Buffalo and Pigs. This walk was well worth doing and the rangers were friendly, helpful and enthusiastic.

Ninety kilometres west of Victoria River is the small town of Timber Creek where we stayed overnight so that we could take the river cruise. The river here is quite wide and very attractive as passes through the rugged countryside and on the 2½ hour cruise you travel downstream for over 40 Km. The shallow draft boat takes about 38 passengers but with it’s two 200 HP 4 stroke Honda outboards it really gets moving and makes for a thrilling ride. You do make plenty of stops as Geoff the skipper brings the front of the boat right up onto the banks to get a real close look at the numerous crocs sunning themselves. A stop is also made near the territory of a pair of sea eagles who come down to the bank to accept a small handout. It seemed unusual to see these large majestic birds feeding on the bank while totally ignoring us and the dozens of Black and Whistling Kites constantly hassling them for a scrap or two. At the furthest point of the cruise Geoff brings the boat to a stop in the middle of the river and serves a selection nibbles and fruit while we consumed our bottle of chilled

chardonnay as the sun set over the mountains. On the swift return journey Geoff again stopped the boat in the middle of the river where we all enjoyed the spectacle of the sun setting over a long straight reach of the river.

In 1855 Augustus Gregory set up camp on the riverbank near a couple of large Boab trees. He had his men cut planks of timber from a nearby creek (hence the name of the town) to repair his boat, the Tom Tough that lay at anchor on the Victoria River. We visited this site and the inscriptions in the tree made by Gregory and his men are still clearly visible. Our second night in the area was spent in the Gregory National Park at Big Horse Creek campground. This campground is only about 10 Km out of Timber Creek and it’s unusual name comes from it’s popularity with fishers. It seems around here if you catch a large Barra it is called a “Big Horse” so we can assume that quite a few large ones are caught in this tidal creek. Another thing to do is to walk across the large high-level steel and concrete Bradshaw Bridge that crosses the Victoria River. This bridge is securely locked at its northern end as it is only there as an access into the army’s Bradshaw training ground. It is probably the largest bridge crossing the Victoria River and yet is very seldom used. Another thing we did was to drive up to the lookout at the top of the escarpment to take in the view of the town and later, the sunset

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Flora River Nature Park

After stocking up on supplies and fuel in Katherine we turned west on the Victoria Highway. Considering it was already past lunchtime when we left, our first night on our westward journey was at a roadside stop at Limestone Creek. This large shady area is very popular and by nightfall it was pretty much full with a diverse collection of rigs of all shapes and sizes, from large 5th wheelers to people in tents. One advantage of staying in free roadside rest areas like this is that you meet a lot of very interesting people who all have a different story to tell, and usually are eager to do so.

The next two nights were spent at the Flora River Nature Park. To reach the park you turn off the Victoria Hwy 86 Km south west of Katherine and then follow a gravel road for 46 Km. This road was in reasonable condition with only minor corrugations, although large deep Bulldust sections were beginning to appear, some up to 100 metres long. Great care is needed when negotiating these sections because even though the surface appears smooth, the fine powdery dust can be quite deep and easily conceals deeper holes and large rocks.

Upon reaching the Djarrung campground a suitable site was easy to find as very few people were there. The campground is very pleasant and has a large amenities block with flush toilets and solar heated showers. Just a short walk from the campground brings you to the edge of the river, although the river is not easily visible because of the dense vegetation comprised of Pandanus and Paperbarks. There are two walks, one of around 100 metres will take you upstream to Djarrung Falls, and the other of about 450 metres return goes downstream to Kathleen Falls. The spring fed, calcium rich waters of the Flora River flow over these falls, that are comprised of fragile Tufa rock (pr. too-fa), which is really deposits of calcium carbonate. It begins to form as the water’s flow is impeded by tree roots and other obstructions and eventually forms large weirs and dams across the river, in places even encrusting living vegetation. The deep clear pools of emerald tinged water are just begging you to jump in, they just look so inviting. However swimming is definitely off the agenda, as large estuarine crocodiles (Salties) inhabit these waters. There is a boat ramp about 4.5 Km from the campground for people with small tinnies (limit 15 HP) or canoes, with the river downstream of Kathleen falls being navigable by canoe for about 20 Km.

Heading South, then West

Since leaving Darwin on Friday 10th July we have travelled south back down the Stuart Highway staying overnight at Hayes Creek. From Hayes Creek it was an easy drive to Katherine. We arrived in time to catch the Saturday morning markets in the park. There wasn’t much on offer so we took a walk around town and then had lunch in the parkland surrounding the visitor’s centre. After lunch we took in the 45-minute film in the visitor centre that gave us a real good insight into the difference between the wet and the dry season.

It was a drive of about 30Km from Katherine out to the famous gorge where we checked into the campground. This campground is quite large and reasonably pleasant, but in our view overpriced with an unpowered site costing $28.00 per night and powered $32.50. We were looking forward to the renowned scenery and the chance to put our kayak in the water for a paddle up the gorge. After a late afternoon visit to the info centre we found that you need a permit to put a private boat (canoe or kayak) into the waters of the gorge. Early the next morning we set off on the 3.7 Km circular walk that takes in the main lookout. Even though the view is pretty good it was not as spectacular as many we had seen previously and this led us to the decision not to bother with the kayak trip. In fact, overall we were a little disappointed with Katherine gorge, feeling that it did not measure up against places like Lawn Hill gorge and others. Returning from our walk we packed up and headed back into town to re-fuel and re-provision. When heading west from Katherine your re-provisioning needs careful consideration because of the strict quarantine rules at the WA border. We had to calculate how much fresh produce we would consume before the border crossing so as to have just enough without running out. The basic rule is no fresh fruit or vegies and no honey. With strict enforcement and heavy penalties at the 24-hour checkpoint we have to make sure we comply with all the rules.

On the way west from Katherine we have so far stopped overnight at Limestone Creek, Flora River National Park, Victoria River and Timber Creek, and intend to visit more of Gregory N.P. and Keep River N.P. before reaching the border. Each of these locations will be covered in more detail in later posts along with what I hope to be some good photos, so keep watching!

The main problem with keeping our Blog up to date is lack of Internet coverage in these areas, so it may be a while until our next post.

Return to Darwin

Here we are back in Darwin after being away for about 3 weeks. Our main purpose for returning was to meet up with our good friends Wayne & Mary. They have sailed their yacht around to Darwin from Bundaberg to take part in a yachting rally to Indonesia in company with more than 100 other boats. We met them at the Darwin Yacht Club on the shores of Fannie Bay and then took them on a shopping excursion so they could restock with some essentials. After this we were invited aboard their yacht for dinner and it was fantastic watching the sunset over the harbour while enjoying a couple of relaxing drinks, and of course their company, a very nice night indeed.

During our absence from Darwin we have visited Adelaide River, Daly River, Douglass Hot Springs and Berry Springs. Adelaide River was the virtual front line of defence during WWII and has lots of historical military sights and the war cemetery, all of which are worthy of a visit. A rather unusual and amusing sight is in the bar of the pub. There standing on top of the end of the bar is “Charlie the Buffalo” who was a star in the Crocodile Dundee movies. It seems Charlie’s owner, the publican, was so fond of him that when he died he had him stuffed and placed in this prominent position so he could see him every day.

Daly River has little to attract tourists unless you are really into fishing and it was a little disappointing for us because we were told in no uncertain terms that you would be a total idiot if you tried to fish from the bank because of the large crocs always present. With us not having a boat and not wanting to pay the high prices asked to hire one, we couldn’t see much reason to spend much time there.

Douglass Hot Springs were also disappointing mainly due to the state of the camping area. It was dry and very dusty, the toilets were blocked up and it was totally unregulated. The campground was overpopulated with locals (from Darwin) all with lots of kids that mostly ran noisily around uncontrolled until well after dark, and some of the adults were very rowdy and inconsiderate of others. We only spent one night there before moving 14Km up the road to the Douglass-Daly Tourist Park that has a 2Km frontage to the river with lots of lovely swimming holes and nice shady sites with plenty of lush green grass. Each Thursday they serve up free scones with jam and cream and your choice of tea or coffee – mmmm, yum.

At Berry Springs we visited the local nature park (free entry) that has a spring fed stream cascading through a number of large pools full of fish. There is lots of room for swimming and the water is very inviting. The extensive lawns under the shade of large trees made the perfect spot for our picnic lunch, whilst others were using the free BBQs scattered throughout. Berry Springs is also the location of the Territory Wildlife Park, which could be seen as Darwin’s zoo. The displays and activities on offer are just great. At the sandy billabong some people are chosen to feed the freshwater Whip Rays and the pond is full of Archer Fish. An attendant comes along and gives you Mealworms which when held over the railing are shot down by powerful spits of water from these deadly accurate fish, very entertaining. They have a birds of prey show, a walk through aviary and an excellent aquarium, as well as many other attractions, again very much worth your time to visit.

Litchfield N.P. 15th to 20th June

Heading south along the Stuart Hwy we turned off to reach the town of Batchelor at lunchtime. Batchelor, the gateway to Litchfield, is an attractive small town with large areas of parkland containing many mature trees and all surrounded by lush green grass, a perfect place for a lunch break. However before we started lunch we were advised that the only campground within the park, Wangi Falls, that allows caravans fills up very early, so we decided to defer lunch and travel the 60 or so Km in the hope of getting a spot. We reached Wangi at about 1.30 to find all sites taken so we had to settle for a commercial campground about 4.5 Km away just outside the National Park. After a quick set-up and a late lunch we returned Wangi for a swim in the large pool at the base of the spectacular waterfall.

Now refreshed from our swim in the cool crystal clear waters we walked back through the campground before returning to the car. In the campground we met up with some people we had camped with previously and they had been at Wangi for 4 days, and so they advised us to be back at the campground the next morning to wait for someone to leave so we could get a site. This is what we did and it was easy to find a suitable site where we stayed for the next 4 nights. The National Park campground at Wangi is quite good; it has recently been upgraded with good-sized sites (sandy, no grass) and a good amenities block with solar heated showers, and costs $6.60 p.p.p.n.

It is often remarked that people have a preference for Litchfield over Kakadu and that Litchfield is more spectacular. We tend to think that one is not better than the other, just different, they are both very good and well worth the effort and time to visit if you can. What advantage Litchfield has is that it’s more compact, allowing you to set up a base camp and do day trips to the various points of interest. This was our plan and we managed to cover two major points each day and still be back at Wangi for a refreshing afternoon swim. Litchfield’s main attraction is it’s spectacular waterfalls and we managed to visit all of them and swim in as many as you are allowed. Our favourites would be Wangi, Florence, Sandy Creek and Buley Rockhole. Other attractions we visited were; The Lost City, Reynolds River 4WD track, Bamboo Creek Tin Mine, Tolmer Falls and Greenant Creek. The snorkel we had fitted in Darwin proved useful as we negotiated a couple of deep-water crossings on the Reynolds River Track.