Goughs on the Go: Kakadu Part Tu

We knew we had to move on. Cam and Ton were at Jabiru to work at the huge festival which was on Saturday, but we still really wanted to get down south and back up north before the wet hit, so didn’t want to hang around. I realized how comfortable I am in this lifestyle when I said “Come on kids. Its time to say goodbye to Jordyn and Riley, Andrew, Brooke and James. Its okay though. Tonight we will be staying with Charlotte and Jake!” We are not alone. There are sooooo many families out here, travelling this land. Our kids are definitely NOT missing out on any social interaction, which I know was a concern for a lot of people before we left.

So we pumped up the airbags and got Bertha moving all the way to Mardugal campground near Cooinda. Cam and Tonia had been camping with Mark and Amanda who we first met in Karajini and had caught up with in Broome. We knew these guys were still here, and were able to spot their van and park up right next door. Stalking much??! Probably.

This second part of Kakadu was just as beautiful as the first, though quite different at times. Cooinda is the yellow water region and has the beautiful wetlands and birdlife that goes with it! There’s an aboriginal cultural centre there, which we enjoyed, though the talks were probably more educational. We were lucky enough to get all the solid, USEFUL info from Mark and Amanda, since the books and sheets told me nothing worthwhile – “High clearance 4WD required for river crossings” – is that the case so late in the dry season though?? We had wanted to get out to the iconic Jim Jim falls and Twin falls, but upon hearing that Baby Bertha would have to do a 60cm water crossing without a snorkel, and that one waterfall was dry and the other a trickle, we decided not to attempt it. Instead we had the BEST day and went out to Gunlom Falls.

We left early, and I’m glad we did! The drive out there was marked as 2WD, but I would NOT like to have done the last bit in a 2WD! As soon as we parked, I made sure we headed straight for the hike up to the top of the falls. It was HOT and I think it would have been impossible to keep the kids out of the water if they’d caught sight of it! I was a bit surprised by the hike up. It seems the NT is a bit more relaxed than WA when it comes to safety. It was incredibly steep and there were parts where I would have been happier with a handrail or two. It was a fairly short hike, but with a couple of stops we made it in about 30 minutes. And BOY was it worth it!

The view from the top is insane – a beautiful natural infinity pool. There were 3 interconnecting pools, a small waterfall which is invisible from below, and wonderful wonderful cool and blissful water.

We had such a ball up there that we stayed HOURS. Good thing I had packed a bag full of food.

On the way back home from Gunlom, we stopped past a ‘secret’ waterhole that wasn’t marked on any of the maps. Following the directions given to us from Amanda, we ended up at the most beautiful little waterfall. We were all swum out by then, so spent a little while feeding the hundreds of little fish on all the old bread and crusts that I could dig up in Bertha.

It was such a lovely day, but not over yet! We got back JUST in time to get to Cooinda in time to see the sun set of the water. We wandered along the boardwalk and saw the most amazing birdlife. Brilliant day all ‘round.

We had intended to head south the next day, but the realization that the Jabiru festival was on just up the road, and we were so close was taunting us. We decided to leave Bertha in the campground, drive the 60 or so km back to Jabiru, catch some of the festival and leave at 3pm. This could get us back to Pussycat Flats in Pine Creek by nightfall and give us the best of both worlds.

We had a ball at the Festival. And I got to see some weaving! In fact Lexie, Charlotte and Jordyn got to DO some weaving. The festival area was set up wonderfully with paper sculptures hanging from the trees. We had a lovely few hours and spent time wandering the stalls, doing the activities, watching Cam and Tonia work at their temporary tattoo stall and eating yummy food.