Day 61 – Jim Jim Falls and Jabiru (Sat June 23^rd)

The morning dew has been quite heavy, so instead of hanging around the camp waiting for the camper to dry, we decided to spend the morning at Jim Jim Falls. We could then come back, pack up the camper and drive the short distance to Jabiru, our next destination.

The turn of to Jim Jim Falls is about 8km north of the Mardugul Camp Ground, then it’s about a 50km drive along a corrugated dirt road to the Jim Jim Falls car park. This wasn’t too bad, at least it was better than the drive into Gunlom Falls. 

Once past the Garnamarr campground, the last 10km is on a narrow sandy track, with a few simple creek crossings, and a heap of huge speed bumps. This track follows the base of the steep 150m red cliffs that Jim Jim Falls eventually plunge over, it’s beautiful.

The walk from the car park to the base of the falls is about 1km.  It follows the Jim Jim creek, then up and across the creek over large boulders to the beach and plunge pool.

There is another walk, which takes you to the top of Jim Jim Falls, it climbs up the steep cliffs and is quite strenuous. 

Damon got a little confused when we came to the junction of the two, and we ended up taking the wrong turn!  We probably walked about 1km in the wrong direction, and ended half way up the bloody cliff.

If only we knew we were going the wrong way!

Cameron wasn’t coping with the difficult climb and clamber over the rocks, and ended up being carried for the remainder of the day. Sienna managed quite well, and got lots of comments on her rock hoping abilities. We finally made it to the plunge pool, and were in awe of the beauty of this place.

Finally on the right track

Just about there

Not long after we arrived, all the people that were on the beach left, and so we were lucky enough to have it all to ourselves. We had lunch, and a swim in the icy cold water. This would have to be the coldest swimming hole we’ve ever been in, but we couldn’t come all this way and not have a swim!

The track back to the car

The walk back along Jim Jim Creek

Jim Jim Creek

After our adventurous morning, we headed back to pack up camp then drive the 40km to the Kakadu Lodge in Jabiru. We are staying here for 2 nights, as we want to see the sunset tomorrow afternoon from the beautiful Ubirr Rock. We would’ve done this afternoon, but we didn’t arrive until late and were pretty buggered from our big day.

Unpowered camping here is $26/night for 2 adults, as compared to $40/night at the Lakeview Caravan Park across the road. 

We found a quiet shady grassed area along the back fence, then kicked back and watched the sun go down behind us.

Day 60 – Lazy day in Kakadu (Fri June 22^nd)

It was a quiet day today, which consisted of a walk along the boardwalk at yellow water cruises, and a swim at in the afternoon at the Cooinda Lodge pool.

Sienna has been very creative lately, the kids now play with twigs and whatever  they can find rather than toys.  She made this creation this afternoon and was very proud.

We enjoyed having a fire tonight, which helped to keep the mozzies away.

Day 59 – Gunlom to Yellow Water (Thur June 21^st)

We only had a short distance to travel today. Once we'd bumped over the corrugations back out to the Kakadu highway, it was about 80km up the road to the Mardugul camp ground which is where we decided to stay for 2 nights. It's 8km south of the famous Yellow Water Billabong, so is a great spot to camp whilst exploring this area. The camping here is similar to Gunlom, $20/night for 2 adults, kids under 16 are free. The amenities are the same, with solar hot showers.

After setting up camp, we went and sussed out the Cooinda Lodge and booked ourselves on the sunset cruise on Yellow Water Billabong. We had our nicest coffee in a long time at the resort, which looks nice, with a pool and caravan park, but is expensive.

The cruise was from 4.30 – 6.30pm, we took the kids to Cooinda Lodge for some hot chips beforehand. A bowl of chips came to $11.50, we couldn’t believe it, but paid the price.

The cruise was great, with heaps of birdlife, about 16 crocodiles, and a magnificent red sunset over the wetlands. The tour guide was on the ball and spotted and talked about all the wildlife there was to see, it was beautiful and very informative.

Once off the boat, the mozzies just about carried us back to our car, they were vicious! We’ve been pretty lucky with the mozzies though whilst in Kakadu, we’d heard how bad they’ve been, and tonight was the worst we’d seen so far.

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.