Long Way Home

Kakadu the language of the Gagudju!
Jabiru is home to the Flying Foxes. The small red and larger black. Stopping by a lake to lunch in the small town of Jabiru, we were inundated by this noisy social chorus hanging about in the trees. They are actually a bat but unlike bats do not use echolocation to hunt. Rather they have astute senses of smell and sight. I’m not sure what they are saying to each other but it’s loud and it’s raucous and it sounds a lot like swearing! Jabiru seems like a peaceful town surrounded by and actually in, the vast Kakadu National Park. Our stop here was brief but beautiful.
Today we took the sometimes graded but mostly rutted road into Jim Jim Falls over small creek crossings to eventually get to the falls walk. The name Andjimdjim comes from the word for fresh water pandanus. The walk into the falls is rugged and rocky with some pretty steep boulders to scramble over in the end. It’s all worth it though as you come to a sandy beach , with a swimming hole surrounded by enormous cliffs. A short swim and more rock scrambling gets you to the plunge pool and under the water fall. It’s a trickle in the dry season but still spectacular. We’d come in the afternoon and the crowds had dispersed. Imagine having this to ourselves (well me as Andrew doesn’t swim)! All I could see looking up was blue sky and towering rocks 200m high. Looking down the plunge pool was a deep, deep blue. High above, the water cascaded down in rivulets and the sound of birds echoed above. Sounds in this plunge pool are amplified , the sound of my breath, my gentle splashing, the water spraying. I don’t have a photo as I had to swim and climb to get here but I felt it.

Tonight we are back camped in our swag and under the Kakadu skies at Jim Jim Falls campground. A beautiful bush camp surrounded by majestic gorge cliffs which capture the afternoon sun perfectly. We witness the display in hues of red, orange yellow and everything in between during this cascade of late afternoon sunshine reflected on the surrounding cliffs.

The full moon rose at about 8pm & made for very effective daylight right through to morning - incredibly bright & a most excellent night for cattle duffing as Andrew’s father would say.
On a side note people who know Andrew would know the great value he places on hard gotten firewood. Often we collect prior to entering parks or camps. He bought a brand new you beaut mini chainsaw for our trip just for the job. Sometimes we drive into a camp racked and stacked like some local wood suppliers! Anyway on this occasion we’d dropped our wood at our campsite prior to our walk to the falls. Imagine the consternation, the indignation and the exasperation of the wood collector upon returning to camp to find most of it stolen! Yes stolen. Non other than by the people camped next to us! Andrew could not help himself. He conoitered ( it’s not a word but sounds just like what he did) about close to their fire and immediately recognised his logs! He told them so too! Poor campers thought it was a free for all. And I don’t blame them as we do look like the local wood suppliers after all!Read more