Day 58 – Up the Goat track to the top of Gunlom Falls (Wed June 20^th)

It was a hazy morning from the fires around here. The fires have been lit by the rangers following land management patterns traditionally practised by the aboriginals. Small areas of bush are burned to encourage fresh growth. These fires will leave a patchwork pattern on the land and help prevent the destructive hot fires that could occur later in the season.

We made the climb to the top of Gunlom Falls this morning, wow! It’s so beautiful up there.  It would have to be one of the best spots in Australia, along with the all others. The waterfalls cascade into the crystal clear waterholes which tumble over the cliff to the plunge pool 70 meters below. The view looks out over the camp ground and plunge pool, with the Kakadu wilderness beyond.

The track is quite steep and took us a while to negotiate with the kids in tow, but it was worth the effort. We were at the top pretty early, so more or less had the place to ourselves apart from another couple. After morning tea, we all had a swim before the crowds started to arrive.

The smoke had cleared by the time we were heading back down the goat track, giving us clear views out over the escarpment.

The afternoon was a lazy one, which was nice, and included a swim in the plunge pool at the bottom of the falls.

The rangers hold free slide show talks at night in the different camp grounds within Kakadu. There was one on tonight, but we didn’t make it as we were having a late dinner, and the kids had gone to bed.