Sept 4, Tuesday - Sept 5, Wednesday - Sept 6, Thursday

Sept 4, Tuesday - Sept 5, Wednesday -  Sept 6, Thursday

Tuesday:   Last full day in Darwin.  I took it easy today, only went out for a short while.  Got my luggage organized so that I would have what I needed with me on the train for my 24 hour ride to Alice Springs.    

My room in Darwin at the Value Inn

 Wednesday: First day on the Ghan Train. I had to be at the bus terminal by 8:30 this morning for the shuttle to the train station, 15 km outside of Darwin. When I arrived at the station I was advised that all check-in luggage had to be weighed so that it was not over the limit. ? ? Oh oh ! Houston, we have a problem. It is all related to workers not having to lift anything over a certain weight. Well, I knew mine was over and was expecting another bad experience. I could not have been more wrong. The two guys handling the weighing were SO FUNNY. One guy would lift the bag and guess the weight, then put in on the scales. He was always bang on within 1 kg. Sometimes he would lift a bag and say “No problem, this one is definitely underweight” and would not bother putting it on the scales. When he got to my bag I told him “It’s definitely overweight. It might take two of you to lift it.” He lifts it up first and says to his partner: “We may have a winner here.” He puts the bag on the scales and sure enough, it’s 34 kg. Both guys look at me and say“CONGRATULATIONS. You have the heaviest bag ever!” and everyone around us applauds. Now that’s good customer relations. I was advised to take my luggage over to the counter and someone would help me “lighten the load”.  

 I was given one of those big plastic shopping bags that you see all over Mexico (for those who have travelled there)   and told to put 9 kg into it.

I went behind the counter with my luggage, layed my big suitcase down on the floor and opened it up to try to find the heaviest items: toiletries, heavy jeans and sweaters for colder weather, and a few other items. I put the plastic bag on their second set of scales and kept feeding it until I reached 10 kg. Closed everything back up again, they re-weighed my suitcase, tagged it, and that was that. By this time, the two guys who had been weighing the luggage outside were back inside and helped make the necessary entries in their log book. They were joking with me the entire time. . I asked if I would have to go through the whole thing over again next week when I left Alice Springs on the Ghan train to Adelaide. I had visions of my having to put everything back into my suitcase when I arrived in Alice. Not a problem I was told, just keep the extra stuff in the bag. No extra charge for the bag either. I could have kissed each one of the three guys who helped me through this process; they had been SO NICE. Hopefully all Aussies will be as nice to deal with if this is an example of their hospitality… or maybe this is just the “outback” attitude. Regardless, they took all the possible stress out of the experience and turned it into another “nice” adventure during my travels. 

 The "Ghan" Train at the Darwin Train Station

 One of the older cars with the "Ghan" logo

"ghan" stands for Afghanistan and dates back to the time when the first camels were brought over to explore central Australia in the 1800s. 

 There are restrictions with foods that you can bring from one area to another, even within the same state.

Inside the regular car

The train left on time at 10:00 am and we were off on a slow ride to Alice Springs.  

 Views from the train, crossing the Northern Territories

Very little agriculture along the way
 
 Must be near Litchfield... those are cathedral termite mounds out there

 This is a typical house in the Northern Territories, and the type of house that was used in Darwin until Cyclone Tracy hit.

 A salmon gum tree

This is the area where a railway bridge washed out last year during the rainy season.  It was only recently repaired.



We must be getting close to a town since we are seeing cultivated fields.

316 km south of Darwin is the town of Katherine. We had a scheduled 4 hour stop here to allow for excursions in the surrounding areas. I selected the Nitmiluk Gorge Café Cruise. We simply left our carry-on luggage in the train car and took only what we needed (hat, water, sunscreen and cameras).   A number of tour busses were waiting outside the Katherine train station with the name of each tour at the front; easy-peasy. In no time at all, the busses were loaded and we were on our way. Our driver had a really thick Aussie outback accent and I missed some of what he was telling us, but the parts I did capture were informative and funny. We had only a short drive to the Katherine River in the Nitmiluk National Park for our cruise through the first gorge.  
 
At the boat landing

We start down the river

 The rock formations jutting out of the river are impressive and you can really see how the earth has heaved them out at an angle

 It's a beautiful sunny day

 A crocodile trap along the river. 

 You can rent kayaks here as well, but with crocodiles in the river it's not something I would be doing.

 And to back up my point... we are told that these are crocodile tracks going up into the sands along the river

 The area gets covered in water during each rainy season. You can really tell by the smooth surfaces on this big outcrop.
We were served “morning tea” during the cruise:  a nice scone with clotted cream, butter and jam.  I forgot to take a picture before eating it.  It was SO GOOD ! 

 The river get's wider before we reach our destination

 The rock face is quite high

 And we make it to the are where we disembark.
This is the dry season, so this is as far as we can get by boat.  During the wet season they can just continue up the river.

There are giant rock drawings on the cliffs.  You have to wonder how they got up that high to paint them.

We were only there about ½ an hour, but it was sufficient to take pictures.  I have to tell this story because it again underscores the note I posted on Facebook about “disabled vs amazingly able” people.  On the train sitting in the row ahead of mine was an older couple with their blind daughter (she is probably in her 30s) who were travelling across the Northern Territories.   Her mother and father would guide her, but in a very off-handed manner;  she used her white cane very effectively and I marveled at how easily she tackled the stairs to get on and off the train, the high and steep stairs to get on and off the bus, the steps down to the boat landing, getting on and off the cruise boat, etc.    We were at the gorge, looking up at the cliffs, trying to locate the rock paintings our local guide was pointing out.  Most of us could not locate them; when the daughter pipes up and says “Common guys, I see them very clearly.”   There was a moment of silence before everyone broke out in laughter.  What a great sense of humour; what courage!  Would I be travelling if I were blind?  Definitely not; I would be crying in my soup over my bad luck at being blind and unable to see the wonders around me.  Here she is, unable to see a thing, but still travelling to experience what she can.  

 The water has gouged out an entire layer from the rock face

A darter drying its feathers

On the cruise back to the landing, while I was filming the river side, I spotted a wallaby!  What luck to have captured it on film.   I did not have time to switch over to my camera however, so here is a picture taken from my camcorder.

 What a beautiful animal !   My first wallaby

We got back to the boat landing area and made our way back up to the busses. And guess what was there? More wallabies, just beside the picnic tables.

Got this one between the trees.  Just great ! 

And just as we drive out of the parking lot, there's a baobab tree, exactly as described in the books, looking like an upside down tree with the roots sticking out of the ground.

 We spot a "road train" on the way back to the station.  

Back on the Ghan I pass through the lounge car to get back to mine.  It was 6 pm by now and dusk was fast arriving.  It was a VERY LONG NIGHT.  I only caught snatches of sleep, even though I had two seats to myself, and the seats are wide, the partition in the middle is solid metal and the arm rests are high, making it difficult to move around as you tried to sleep.  It did not help that the attendants from the Gold Sleeper Cars kept coming through our car to get to …. Wherever!   The doors between the cars would open, the clanging of the wheels would get louder, the door slamming shut and being locked.  It seemed endless.  I’m sure a minimum of 20 times we were woken up by these guys.  The train was impeccably clean (and so were the washrooms) so I can’t complain there.  The cars are old however and the windows are scratched; some of the blinds which are sandwiched between the glass, could not be opened, making it difficult to take pictures.

The landscape changed very little during the 1,500 km ride.  The train was stopped for awhile during the night, just before sunrise, probably to ensure that we would arrive in Alice Springs at 9 am.  No idea how much time it would take if there was no stop in Katherine, and no dead stops along the way.  I did not want to fly again because of the weight of my luggage and the problems and additional costs.  I don’t think I would have wanted to drive it since there is a whole lot of nothing to see along the way and I would not want to be stuck in the middle of nowhere.  Would I recommend the train ride to anyone?  Probably not.  I’m glad I did it however, since my curiosity has been satisfied.

 Sunrise on the Ghan Train

 We start to see some rolling hills in the distance

 
and as we near Alice Springs, we can see a mountain range

Arriving at the Alice Springs railway station

 There was a shuttle bus at the Alice Springs Train Station, so I purchased a ticket to get to my hotel,  Lasseters Hotel & Casino.

 My room at the Lasseters Hotel

 
and check out was was showing on the TV in my room !   Now that's a Welcome I have not seen before.

It is very nice, has free wifi in the rooms, a beautiful pool area but not within walking distance of downtown.  They do offer a free shuttle service downtown three times a day if you book it ahead of time, so that is nice as well. 

I just rested today; I badly needed a shower and a nap and I wanted to read all the tour brochures to make my selection of excursions while I am here.   Dinner at the hotel as well rather than downtown.  The prices are all very high, nothing under $20 even if it is just a sandwich.  Obviously the isolation of Alice Springs plays a big role since everything has to be shipped in from far away.  One of the restaurants, the one I used tonight, is open to the Casino area and quite noisy.  I think I’ll use the Samphire Restaurant instead next time.   Prices of items in the minibar in my room are also high:  $4 for soft drinks or snacks (small chip, chocolate bar, peanuts, etc), $7 for beer and wine, $10 for the spirit beverages.  I think I’ll do a bit of shopping when I take the shuttle downtown tomorrow.

Sept 3, Monday {Bonne fête ma PGS Yvette !}

Sept 3, Monday   {Bonne fête ma PGS Yvette !}

 

Today is my planned expedition to Kakadu National Park.  At 6:00 my alarm clock wakes me and I just have time for a quick shower, jump into my clothes and leave for the bus terminal across the street from my hotel for the pick-up.  And of course, the buses don’t arrive for another half hour.  Although I had booked with a company called Pinnacle Tours, I’m told that the tours have been merged with AAT Kings Tours.  The young lady I’m sitting beside on the bus (a physiotherapist from Melbourne) had booked her tour with APT and hers had been switched to this one as well; the two companies having merged in August.   Looks like AAT King is taking over in this part of Australia.   In any case, the bus (coach as they are called here) is very comfortable and I’m sitting in the front seat. {Our favorite Yvette, since you are travelling with me, in spirit again, for your birthday today.}

It is a long drive today, about 300 km to the deepest part of Kakadu National Park that we will reach today.  Kakadu is the largest national park in Australia; it covers 20,000 sq kms and was traditionally occupied by two aboriginal groups: the Bininj & Mungguy. 

I will put in a disclaimer now, for some of the information I am passing on to you, based on conflicting information I have heard during my time in the Darwin area.  “Reader beware!”  Could be true, could be a distortion of the truth, or simply lost in translation.

Peter, our driver and tour guide for the day is a fountain of information; I love this type of guide {and I know you do too Yvette!  This should prove to be a great day for us.}

Sunrise and mist along the Stuart  Highway

 South Alligator River (misnomer by an American who was exploring this area)

 We are driving through some “savannah woodlands, which cover 80% of Kakadu, consisting mostly of eucalypts and tall grasses (resurrection grass). (pandanusSingle tree trunk with clump of palm like leaves) but also contains paperback trees (Melaleuca species )and gum trees (eucalyptus species).”

“Eucalyptus salmonophloia or the Salmon Gum is an evergreen tree native to Western Australia. It can grow to a height of 30 metres (98 ft). ”I’ve actually mistaken these for ironwood trees a few times in my pictures.Some gum trees change colours 6 times during the year, and it is used as a calendar tree by the aboriginal peoples:time to fish, time to hunt, time for rain, time to pick a certain fruit, etc.The kapok trees are also a signal; when the kapoks explode and let their fluff out, it is the time when crocs lay their eggs.If you are brave enough, you can steal some croc eggs to add to your dinner. Yeah right !

There are more than 700 species of Eucalyptus, mostly native to Australia.

The eucalyptus trees with the black bases and white tops that I saw on the way to Litchfield are also found in the Kakadu area. Peter tells me that this is a natural occurrence and not because of fire. The dark bark is in fact fire resistant and do not ignite when the seasonal brush burns occur before the rainy season.

Arnhem Land Plateau: 300 km long and up to 100 km wide is areas, there are 30 to 300 meter high sandstone escarpments on it that were used by aboriginals as shelters during the rainy season and contain rock drawings. Erosion during the rainy season is continues to impact on this area. This area contains two main tourist attractions. There are more than 5,000 rock paintings/drawings in the park, but most are in remote locations and closed to the public. “In Dreaming painting, use special paint, ochre, blood. Come back with that feeling. Ceremony painting is not for everyone to see. Top business you can’t see it. Go through your body and give you knowledge. Dreaming. You might dream. Good one.” (Bundj clan).

Ubirr, in the Jabiru Region, is a sandstone escarpment in the northeast section of the park. I had to chose between this one and selected Nourlangie simply because it would be an easier climb. I’m giving my knees, ankles and lungs a break today. I was told that the rock art at both sites would be fairly similar.

Nourlangie, or Burrunggui as it is known to the Gun-djeihmi. (Burrunggui is the name for the higher parts of Nourlangie; the lower areas are known as Anbangbang): This was our first tourist stop of the day. Archeologists have uncovered over 20,000 years of aboriginal occupation in this area. The Bininj used the plants in this area for food, tools, weapons, shelter, decoration, musical instruments and medicine. The diversity of plants and grasses were also used as a calendar signaling the change of seasons. We walk a 1.5 km circular walk around the site (part boardwalk, part stone) taking us past ancient Aboriginal shelters. 

We’ve only gone a short way when we see a Wallaroo! Combination of Wallaby and Kangaroo. A rare sighting we are told since it is about 10 am by now and the heat is high already.

Marsupials:

Kangaroo: Largest of the marsupials; reddish brown coloured or grey, (the reds are larger)(the greys prefer to live among the trees); they appear on the Australian coat-of-arms; INTERESTING: A group of kangaroos is called a “mob” ; They can reach speeds over 35 miles (56 kilometers) an hour and bound 25 feet (8 meters) in a single leap. Average life span in the wild is up to 23 years. Size: Head and body, 3.25 to 5.25 ft (1 to 1.6 m); tail, 35.5 to 43.5 in (90 to 110 cm) Weight:200 lbs (90 kg) Size relative to a 6-ft (2-m) man

Wallaby: Members of the kangaroo clan. Wallabies are typically small to medium-sized mammals, but the largest can reach 6 feet (1.8 meters) from head to tail. They have powerful hind legs they use to bound along at high speeds and jump great distances.

Wallaroo: Marsupial, size between the kangaroo and the wallaby. The Black Wallaroo (Macropus bernardus) occupies an area of steep, rocky ground in Arnhem Land. At around 60 to 70 cm in length (excluding tail) it is the smallest wallaroo and the most heavily built. Males weigh 19 to 22 kg, females about 13 kg. Because it is very wary and is found only in a small area of remote and very rugged country, it is remarkably little known”. Amazing that we got to see one.

Black Wallaroo: “At around 60 to 70 cm in length (excluding tail) it is the smallest wallaroo and the most heavily built. Males weigh 19 to 22 kg, females about 13 kg. Because it is very wary and is found only in a small area of remote and very rugged country, it is remarkably little known.”

 The rock drawings are amazing

 
 
 Thankfully there are explanations for the drawings

 

Anbangbang Gallery Nanguluwurr Gallery Gun-warddehwardde Lookout

Rock paintings, or drawings, were used by “aboriginal people to record events in their lives, to illustrate stories and for fun and enjoyment. Some paintings have religious power and can influence the success of the hunt.”

 The rock outcrops also provided the native people some protection during the rainy seasons

 Some of them are huge

The trail around the site varied greatly from a rock to an elevated board walkway

 To a rocky path where every step needed to be watched

 We made our way around the other side of Nourlangie to view more rock paintings
Rock art is extremely important to the Aboriginal owners of Kakadu.It is also an important historic and scientific record of human occupation of the region.This area has been used for thousands of years to draw/paint pictures of their “dreamtime”.Some are recent additions dating to the 1960s.

 This is a shot looking almost straight up

Back on an elevated walkway

 No Hélène, I did not bring you back any rocks, though I know you would have loved the colourings on these.

 
 And we make our way back down the rock

and continue on the path back to our bus

From here, we drive about half an hour to the Cooinda Lodge were we are having an early buffet lunch. Great salads and cold cuts, fruit salad and banana bread. After lunch we drive only a short distance to Yellow Water region (Ngurrungurrudjba), a huge wetlands area were we will be going on a cruise along Jim Jim Creek and the South Alligator River. (Why Alligator you ask? So did we. An American was here during the years the territory was being mapped, and when he saw the crocodiles, he wrongly assumed they were alligators. But the name stuck!) 

 The boat we will be taking in on the right

 and the levels of water on the river are high.  I would not try walking on what looks like grass on the bank since I'm sure part of it is muskeg.  We are 70 km from the ocean and yet the river at this point is still affected by 6 to 7 meter tides and up to 9 meters during the wet season during November to March.That’s a lot of water.

 This dead grasss hanging from the branches shows the high water mark on this tree during the rainy season


 We see many many types of birds during our cruise.  This one is a cormorant, drying its feathers in the sun.

 This one has a crocodile hiding in it.  Can you find it?

I was not able to identify this wading bird on the internet, but it was quite beautiful and maybe only 18 inches high

Birds we saw along the way:Ibis, Egret, blue heron, Jabiru (One of the most famous Australian birds, Ephippiorhynchus asiaticusis the largest Australian wetland bird. It is the only species of Australian storks and it is also called black-necked stork. It is 1.4m tall, mainly thanks to its long legs, and has a wing-span longer than two metres. It has got a heavy, 30cm-long black bill, a black-and-white body, and its head and neck are greeny-blue.) Black Cormorant & Australian Pied Cormorant (they have waterproof feathers), Darter (looks a little like the cormorant but has a longer snake like neck)“Darters are a water bird that is closely related to Cormorants. Their feathers are not waterproof and since they are underwater hunters you will usually see them sitting out of the water on a log or rock with their wings spread right out drying themselves. Their feathers are permeable to water to allow for decreased buoyancy so they can sink to catch their prey. They have an oil gland at the base of their tail which they use while preening and squeezing the water from their feathers. With its body submerged and only its head and neck above the surface, the Darter resembles a snake rising from the water; hence one of its popular names the Snake-bird. They have very long and sharp beaks, which they use with their long neck to spear their prey.” {Remember these from my Chobe photos?} spoonbills, pelicans, magpie geese, whistling ducks (brown), Jesus birds(Jacana), brolga (sorry too far away to get a good picture of this tall bird = grey crane with red collar at the base of its head),white bellied sea eagles and kytes and others I could not identify.

 A beautiful egret

 A colourful and huge jabaru, a kind of stork

 and an unidentified duck (though I did try to find it on the internet) who mates for life.  If the aboriginals kill one, they usually try to find the mate and kill it as well, since we are told it would die of sadness anyway within weeks.

 And we see lots of crocs

 In and out of the water

YIKES !   ”My, what big teeth you have”

Reuben are captain and guide during the cruise is quite arrogant in his comments, but he does impart a lot of knowledge of this, the ancestral home of his family (his father is Aboriginal and his mother is“Australian”.(His words, not mine!) He is irreverent in his comments about Aussies (the majority of the occupants on the boat are Australian tourists!)

Lotus

 

"He leadeth me beside still waters"

 
 A pair of eagles in the tree

and a capture one of them in flight

Freshwater also attracts animals: wallaroos, wallabies, dingoes, goannas, who come to drink some fresh water… and often end up being eaten by crocodiles. Oh and crocodiles eat each other as well. They are cannibals! They will actually eat about anything that moves; there were crocodile teeth marks all over the aluminum boats we were riding on.

After the cruise we are taken to the Warradjan Aboriginal Cultural Centre (Sorry, no photos allowed inside) where a beautiful exhibit is displayed giving us insight to their history and daily lives, their arts and crafts (painting on bark and on canvas, weaving with grasses and other plant fibers to make baskets, mats and jewelry), hunting & fishing tools, etc. I learn that many of the paintings/drawings are done by using grass as a paint brush; sometimes just a very narrow strand to make fine lines on the drawings. Unfortunately, there were no aboriginal elders onsite to provide us with their own information; a great disappointment for me.

 Calendar stone showing 6 seasons

 It was another very long back to Darwin but my seat mate and I yakked most of the way back.

 

Beautiful sunset during the bus ride back to Darwin

Peter had told us about barramundi (the local fish) and I was determined to eat some before leaving Darwin. On my short walk from the bus to the hotel, I checked the menus to the outdoor restaurants along Mitchell Street and lo-and-behold, I found one that sold “beer battered barramundi” (try saying that three times fast) so I stopped off for a very late dinner. Not bad; I’ve definitely eaten better fish.

Another very long day, but a good one!