Australia - Reef & Red Rocks

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Australia - Reef & Red Rocks Diane and Darryl
Nitmiluk National Park (Katherine Gorge)
August 25, 2019 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 86 °F
Yesterday, we said farewell to Kakadu National Park with a hike and swim in a croc-free ‘plunge pool’ at the base of a waterfall. Then it was a few hours driving to Katherine Gorge (aboriginal name, Nitmiluk National Park).

The Katherine River runs through the park as a series of gorges (13 in all), broken up by rock portage points. So, in the morning, we met the boat which took us through the first river gorge (with many freshwater crocodiles) to access the gorges suitable for kayaking (not as many crocs).

We learned that ‘freshies’ don’t see people as food, since the narrow shape of their jaw and brittleness of their teeth require them to swallow food whole. That doesn’t mean they won’t nip (or worse) if threatened. ‘Salties,’ on the other hand, will actively hunt humans, and have been known to learn repetitive behavior, like fishermen who come to the same spot around the same time.

Anyway, we had a beautiful 3-hour kayak through 2 gorges—requiring a short, but tricky portage over a rocky section to the next gorge.

As we were driving back to our Airbnb, we decided to stop at a roadside art gallery. What a treat! They had nice art, but more fun for us this time were the friendly wallabies out on the lawn! The proprietor gave us some slices of yam to feed them, and they kept coming up to us like friendly dogs. One had a joey in her pouch!

Another fun thing we saw later that day was a Bowerbird structure. If you haven’t read about these birds, look them up!Read more
Todd DouglasGreat kayaking location!
8/27/19Reply
TravelerLooks like a fun day!! Were the wallabies domesticated or just very human-friendly? Doesn't look like these were nocturnal...
8/29/19Reply
Diane and DarrylThey were rescue wallabies, and semi-domesticated. I asked about why they were up in the daytime and the gallery owner said they usually sleep in the daytime, but won’t pass up any chance for food.
8/29/19Reply
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Australia - Reef & Red Rocks Diane and Darryl
Edith Falls Hike and Swim
August 26, 2019 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 88 °F
Another travel day where we broke up the drive with a stop for a hike and swim. At a ranger’s suggestion, we went to Edith Falls, which was on our way out anyway. It was a short 2.5 mile hike along a rocky gorge, ending in a picturesque waterfall and swimming hole. We had the place to ourselves for about 5 minutes, but even then, it was just a few more who showed up, and they were traveling retired Aussies, So it was fun to talk to them about the local wildlife and where they had traveled.

We saw a little water monitor slip into the water from the rocks,which was fun to see, since our latest art acquisition depicts a water monitor. While having lunch after the swim, a black whip snake slithered around on the lawn. They aren’t venomous, but could bite if antagonized.

We’ve checked into our last lodgings on our Australia trip, a very nice Airbnb in the small former mining town of Batchelor. We had dinner at the Butterfly Farm, which is a combination lodgings, restaurant and petting zoo. The proprietor, Chris, is a real character, and was hamming it up with Darryl and Nance.Read more
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Australia - Reef & Red Rocks Diane and Darryl
The Lost City & Magnetic Termite Mounds
August 27, 2019 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 84 °F
We’ve gotten the hang of the hot weather here. Get up early, go for a bush walk (it’s too hot to ‘hike’), have a picnic lunch at a swimming hole (plunge pool in Australian), then carry on with the walk while we are damp and cool.

When planning our visit to this park, two places intrigued us: the Lost City (pillars of rocks amid an otherwise flat landscape) and the magnetic termite mounds. Having a 4-wheel drive rental allowed us to make the 45-minute drive down the dirt road to the Lost City. It was well worth the bumpy ride, especially since Nance spotted an emu for us in the woods, and it had a young one. It got away before we could get the cameras organized.

The Lost City pillars of sandstone and quartz are the last stubborn rock remains of an eroded plateau — dating to a time when the area was covered in water. There was a nice trail around the formations, and as we’ve done so many times now, we struck up a conversation with a traveling retired Australian couple and their daughter with her baby. It’s great to hear where they’ve been or what highlights they’ve seen, and also to hear about their travels in America, as many have.

After the Lost City, it was on to Florence Falls, for our daily dip. This pool had two waterfalls, and for some reason, one was warm, while the other was comfortably cool like the pool. We had hiked (oops, walked) a loop trail to the pool, and on the way back, Darryl spotted a wallaby in the bush. This was a rock wallaby, that lives among the crevices and caves of the eroded sandstone. Our photo here is using the magnify photo feature to highlight the little critter, so hopefully it comes out okay.

Our last destination for the day was to the magnetic termite mounds. We’d seen many large termite mounds in various places in Australia, but in this location, a species of termite builds its mound more two-dimensionally (tall and flat), oriented with each flat side facing east and west. During the cool parts of the day, it can live on the warmer side of its structure, and when it gets hot, it moves to the cool side. The termite is blind, so it isn’t sensing sunlight to orient its mounds. Scientists think they can sense the earth’s magnetic poles. Experiments were done to artificiality change magnetic north-south and the termites built mounds to the artificial poles. Crazy!

Finally, we retired to our great Airbnb house with many porches and outdoor seating areas to watch the birds around the yard. The Lorikeet photo is courtesy of Nance’s great camera and photo skills.Read more
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Australia - Reef & Red Rocks Diane and Darryl
Last Day: Falls, Butterflies & Birds
August 28, 2019 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 88 °F
This is the last day of our wonderful 5-week Australia trip. While still in Litchfield National Park, Sande wanted to see if the bird life here was as good as we’d seen in Kakadu. So on the way to a new plunge pool, we stopped at Tabletop Swamp. Sounds pretty yucky, but the remaining water in this quickly drying billabong was glassy and attractive to egrets and spoonbills in particular. The noisy white sulphur-crested cockatoos were prevalent as well. They have a terrible squawk, but are fun to watch as their ‘headdress’ fans out like a punk mohawk as they alight on a branch, then gets tucked back like an Elvis ‘do once they’ve settled.

There was a bit of a breeze this morning, making it comfortable to take some more short walks. After walking the perimeter of the billabong, we drove to Tolbert Falls for a 1-2 mile walk along the escarpment—more remnants of the ancient plateau. More trees and bushes are flowering now that we’re in the tropics—wild ginger, kapoks, turkey brush and others we can’t think of right now. The water is not meant for swimming for cultural sensitivity reasons (we didn’t hear what those were).

Another 30 minutes of driving got us to Wangi Falls for lunch at their cafe and a dip in the large and popular two-waterfall swimming hole. Before getting in, we watched a water monitor hunt for insects at the edge of the water. It was about 3 feet long nose to tail.

After watching others do it successfully, Darryl, Nance and Sande climbed up about 10 feet to a small pool of deep, cool water under the small waterfall.

Refreshed, we headed back to town to view the butterflies at the Butterfly Farm, where we’d had dinner earlier (Chris’ place). There weren’t as many varieties of butterflies as we hoped, but it was still fun to walk among them in the habitat created for them. Chris also keeps bunnies (small babies!), goats, pigs and a freshwater crocodile for visitors to feed and pet (not the croc!).

Finally, it was back to our house for more bird watching. Thanks to Nance for sharing her photos!

It’s been a fantastic trip, with ‘heaps’ of variety and memories. (Across Australia, they say ‘heaps,’ which is endearing.) We loved the openness and friendliness of the people, who have such good humor. From the Reef to the red rock desert, and the tropics as well, it is a fascinating country. Thanks for sharing our journey with us!Read more
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Trip end
August 29, 2019

Australia - Reef & Red Rocks

Nitmiluk National Park (Katherine Gorge)

Edith Falls Hike and Swim

The Lost City & Magnetic Termite Mounds

Last Day: Falls, Butterflies & Birds