Northern Territory 2006

2007-10-20T00:48:00.000-07:00

The Dry Todd River ..... just coarse brown sand and gum trees in the Dry. The Todd River catchment above Alice Springs covers an area of 445 km2 and is located in the geographical centre of Australia. Flowing in basically a southerly direction, the mainstream length of the Todd River is approximately 50 km. The climate of the catchment is typically arid continental with large daily temperature variations. Rain, which falls infrequently may occur at any time of the year and is often due to thunderstorm activity caused by convective processes. The mean annual rainfall is about 260 mm and the average monthly rainfalls range from 40 mm in February to 9 mm in September. The summer months have the higher average rainfalls.

The maximum catchment elevation exceeds 900 m and the streams are generally very wide and shallow with a sandy bed. The upper northern part of the catchment is composed of fairly flat red soil plains and the catchment boundary in this area is difficult to determine. The Arunta Complex hills form the north-eastern and central part of the catchment above Alice Springs. This area is made up of rolling, occasionally steep, rocky hills into which the river and other drainage channels have cut steep-sided rocky gorges. The ground surface is mostly broken, angular, granite-gneiss rock with exposed rock outcrops and occasional sandy flats. The vegetation cover is highly dependant on the amount of rainfall seasonally and annually, but is generally sparse.

Vegetation in the catchment area ranges from grasses and scrubs (Acacia) to low shrublands and woodlands. Landuse in the catchment are primarily Pastoral (grazing) Lease and National Park Reserves (Telegraph Station and Simpson’s Gap). The only significant urban region is Alice Springs. Tourism is a significant local industry. See the website: www.bom.gov.au/hydro/wr/unesco/friend/todd/todd.shtml
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2007-10-19T13:46:00.000-07:00

Lassetters Casino and Hotel. The dry McDonald Ranges in the background. 4 star ... Set against the McDonnell Ranges and adjoining one of the world's best dessert golf courses, the Lasseters Hotel Casino Alice Springs offers accommodation of high standards comprising of 127 spacious guestrooms and 13 elegantly appointed suites each fitted with stylish and comfortable furnishings. All rooms and suites boast a private balcony or courtyard with magnificent views of the McDonnell Ranges... See the website: www.lassetershotelcasino.com.au/

2007-10-19T13:32:00.000-07:00

Novotel Hotel where we stayed for three Nights. Located in the foothills of the MacDonnell Ranges, Novotel Outback Alice Springs is close to many tourist attractions of the city such as West MacDonnell, Anzac hill, Desert Park, Botanical gardens and racecourse. The hotel's 138 guestrooms provide modern comfort, a unique feeling of spaciousness and contemporary decor for both business and leisure travel. See the website: www.bcl.com.au/Darwin/alicehotels.htm

2007-10-19T13:14:00.000-07:00

KATHERINE GORGE stop off ..... A Whistle Stop Tour between Darwin and Alice Springs.

We all piled into two big flat bottomed boats and cruised for two hours up the Katherine River. The river was 20 metres deep in the Dry Time of the Year.
More cruising up the Katherine River. Sandstone Cliffs in layers rose 50 - 100 metres on either side of us .... majestic!!
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2007-10-19T13:11:00.001-07:00

Gunlom: We walked into the falls for a swim (no crocodiles at last!) ….
It was very cold water but very refreshing! I took the above photos and
did the environmental journalling in the morning before we left the area.

It was just pure natural beauty and not manmade cultivated beauty as we
found in Europe (England and Italy) as in previous trips overseas.

Vegetation on the left hand of the pool consists of small trees to ten metres
high of a dry rainforest consistency with close dark green leaves ….. trees
angle up the cliffs in a series of three rock terraces and grade into the surrounding
woodland forest. On the right hand of the pool, the dry woodland forest comes
down to the waters edge. It then changes into a paperbark forest (Melaleuca Forest)
….. the trees grow to 30 metres high with single trees then spreading out into the
gravel beach …… the gravel has been piled up against the trunks from the wet season
flooding. The water around the plunge pool on this side is edged with river pandanus
…. the spiky sedgelike tops grow to three metres in height ….. the river pandanus
forms a continuous five metre wide banding around the entire pool edge on the right
hand side of the water. See the photo above of the little creek outlet. This species type
is commonly seen growing on beach fronts and headlands in an Eastern Coastal
setting, but here in Kakadu National Park, there is particular species of river pandanus
which grows right in fresh water.

Gunlom Falls, Creek and Plunge Pool …. Falls Overall …. Water falls in a series of
broken cascades from 100 metre high falls in a five metre wide curtain of water
…… the water falls off the sheer sandstone escarpment above the level where I am
…… The cliffs of the escarpment encircle the space of the falls in sheer falling cliffs to
400 metres around.

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COur camper van in another locality ….. totally self contained with a gas stove and

with 12 volt for lighting and small refrigerator. See the website: http://www.drivenow.com.au/details/australia/

campervans/lastMinute/nt-darwin/any/apollo-

australia-on-request-cheapa-campa-cheapa-cam. Entry to the Park …. was by travelling 40 kms on an unsealed loose gravel road …. All at a bone-shaking 20 - 30 kms. / hr. for 1.45 hours. We just followed the map of the area with a description of a waterfall with a plunge pool at the end of the road. We passed through dry eucalyptus woodland for kilometre after kilometre ….. Many times we wondered if it was worth it. Right at the very end we suddenly came into this green valley with high cliffs and a waterfall plunging off the escarpment. It was a small green – grassed oasis with big sprinklers going on of mown lawn under shady eucalypt trees which Park Ranger kept in order. We made camp in the camping area with our camper van. There were hot showers run from solar heating.

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2007-10-17T20:40:00.000-07:00

Nourlangie Rock Art Site:

The walls of the Nourlangie Rock Art Site, in World Heritage-listed Kakadu National Park, have served as a shelter and canvas for thousands of years, providing windows to a rich spiritual tradition. Paintings such as Namarrgon,lightening man, explore the relationship of the people to their country and beliefs. The paintings at the base can be reached by the circular one and a half kilometre Nourlangie Rock Art Walk. During the months of April until October, Park Rangers invite visitors to join them and share their knowledge of this ancient gallery. There is a lookout that is well worth the climb for sweeping views of the escarpment. For the more adventurous, there is also a moderately steep climb to Gunwarddehwardde lookout which provides impressive views of both Kakadus escarpment and Nourlangie Rock.

Facilities:

BBQ Facilities
Car park
Coach Parking
Access Without Assistance for the Disabled
Parking for the Disabled
Toilet facilities for the Disabled
Guide
Picnic Area
Public Toilet

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2007-10-17T20:17:00.000-07:00

Bowali Visitors Centre: see the website:http://www.travelnt.com .... enter the search function and enter 'Browali' ..... to get to the information on the Bowali Visitors Centre.

Bowali Visitor Centre ..... Before you start exploring Kakadu National Park, get familiarised by exploring the Bowali Visitor Centre. Spend an hour at the interpretive centre where you can watch a 25 minute audio visual presentation to help you gain a greater understanding of Kakadu's landscape and moods, then take a walk through the interpretive displays. Videos are shown on the half hour giving different perspectives on Kakadu and its international significance. The habitat based display and library gives you detailed information about the park and how much there is to see and do. Take a look at The Marrawuddi Gallery for Aboriginal arts and crafts, books and gifts, and then enjoy a coffee at the cafe.

Facilities:

Bicycle Path
Bicycle Rack
Cafe
Car park
Coach Parking
Access Without Assistance for the Disabled
Toilet facilities for the Disabled
Interpretive Centre
Public Telephone
Public Toilet
Shaded Area
Shop
Visitor Information Centre

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2007-10-16T18:58:00.000-07:00

Warradjan Aboriginal Cultural Centre: To understand something of the connection Kakadu's Aboriginal owners have with this special part of the Top End, spend some time at the Warradjan Cultural Centre learning the stories that gave them their laws. Start with how the first people created the land, plants and animals. Aboriginal people developed this centre so they could share their culture. The Building has been styled in the shape of a pig nosed turtle, Warradjan, and is based on the theme, out land is our life. Allow at least an hour to view and appreciate this attraction.

Located in Cooinda, the Warradjan Aboriginal Cultural Centre’s architecture represents the story of World Heritage-listed Kakadu as told by the traditional owners. The circular design of the centre symbolises a warradjan, the pig-nosed turtle. The Centre was developed by the local Aboriginal people and interactive displays provide information on their culture and history.

From: www.travelnt.com/search/search_product.asp (Warradjan)

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Warradjan centre:

2007-10-15T12:48:00.000-07:00

Aboriginal rock art: Painting shows the presence of a rifle butt along with food animals. The rifle butt is from contact with white buffalo hunters in the 1800's.

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2007-10-15T12:45:00.000-07:00

Aboriginal rock art featuring people. These are done the X ray style of painting.

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2007-10-15T12:40:00.000-07:00

Aboriginal rock art featuring people. These are done the X ray style of painting.

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2007-10-15T12:36:00.000-07:00

Different styles of rock art are represented at Obirr. There are the relatively simple red ochre paintings, unadorned by other colours, for example the Tasmanian tiger and the stick-like mimi figures. It is believed that these are the oldest paintings, X ray paintings, showing the internal structure of animals, is more recent style. There are excellent examples of the X ray style paintings at the main gallery. A third style is contact art. It marks the arrival of non Aboriginal people, and people portrayed with hands in their pockets and with axes and firearms. Rock art has diminished since the arrival of Europeans in the early 1800's. However the artistic tradition still flourishes and Aboriginal people now paint on bark, paper and canvas.

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2007-10-15T12:31:00.000-07:00

Aboriginal rock art featuring local foods such as the prolific local fish .... the Barramundi. These are done the X ray style of painting.

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2007-10-15T12:27:00.000-07:00

Another of the rock art galleries.

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2007-10-15T12:23:00.000-07:00

The View From Obirr Rock: Looking out over the Kakadu National Park.

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2007-10-15T12:19:00.000-07:00

On top of Obirr Rock: The highest point with a 360 degrees viewpoint. One small section of the Kakadu floodplain is in the background.

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2007-10-15T12:13:00.000-07:00

Obirr: Human figure with hunting equipment.

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2007-10-15T12:09:00.001-07:00

One of the rock art galleries: The overhang goes for about 100 metres.

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2007-10-15T12:03:00.000-07:00

Obirr: The place of great cultural significance in Kakadu National Park (A World Heritage-listed Park).

See the blog site: http://obirr.blogspot.com/

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Obirr: The place of great cultural significancein Kakadu National Park (A World Heritage-listed Park)

2007-10-15T11:55:00.000-07:00

Crocodiles were out everywhere sunbaking in the warm sun. Some of them were up to 4.0 metres. Others were quietly swimming in the water near our boat. You wouldn't go in this water as you would become their next meal. There were frequent Crocodile warning signs on any creek or river in Kakadu National Park.

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2007-10-15T05:13:00.000-07:00

5. Fishing in the Northern Territory: A very large barramundi. Barramundi: Similar in size to one I caught, I had to throw it back as it was to small at 51 cm. It had to be 55 cm.

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2007-10-15T04:51:00.000-07:00

4. Kakadu National Park: for any area in the park, see the website: http://www.travelnt.com/ and enter the searh function under Kakadu.Yellow Water is the South Alligator River and is within the Kakadu National Park . We caught an early morning cruise at 7.30 am in one of two flat bottom covered boats with fifty other people in each boat. The boats cruised out along the river as the sun was slowly coming up along in the east. The water was a like glass …. only broken by the wake of the boat. The early morning was too early to see crocodiles sunbaking on the banks as the water temperature was warmer than the air temperature. We saw many kinds of birds: egrets, jabiru, sea eagles, magpie geese on the higher floodplain.

The guide was saying that had we had come in the Wet season four months earlier, the water would have been four to six metres higher and the floodplain would have been covered with water. Water coming down the river would flood over the banks and among all the trees in the background for hundreds of square kilometres. Then in four months it drains away in the Dry and exposes the floodplain again. The green comes back and the migratory birds flock in again.

Yellow Water is 7.5 kilometres off the Kakadu Highway, Kakadu. Yellow Water, a land-locked billabong brimming with native flora and fauna, is part of one of World Heritage-listed parks: Kakadu National Park. Located near the small settlement of Cooinda, Yellow Water is home to crocodiles, wild horses, buffalo and other wildlife. The billabong, which floods to join other waterways during the wet season, also attracts millions of migratory birds each year, including jacana, egrets, jabiru, sea eagles, magpie geese and many other native species. Paperbark forests, pandanus and fresh water mangroves line the shore, and the water is dotted with beautiful pink and white waterlilies. Explore the billabong by boarding a wildlife cruise, or enjoy an unforgettable Top End sunset from the viewing platform. A trip to Kakadu is not complete without a visit to Yellow Water.

The guide was saying that had we had come in the Wet season four months earlier, the water would have been four to six metres higher and the floodplain would have been covered with water. Water coming down the river would flood over the banks and among all the trees in the background for hundreds of square kilometres. Then in four months it drains away in the Dry and exposes the floodplain again. The green comes back and the migratory birds flock in again.

Yellow Water is 7.5 kilometres off the Kakadu Highway, Kakadu. Yellow Water, a land-locked billabong brimming with native flora and fauna, is part of one of World Heritage-listed parks: Kakadu National Park. Located near the small settlement of Cooinda, Yellow Water is home to crocodiles, wild horses, buffalo and other wildlife. The billabong, which floods to join other waterways during the wet season, also attracts millions of migratory birds each year, including jacana, egrets, jabiru, sea eagles, magpie geese and many other native species.

Paperbark forests, pandanus and fresh water mangroves line the shore, and the water is dotted with beautiful pink and white waterlilies. Explore the billabong by boarding a wildlife cruise, or enjoy an unforgettable Top End sunset from the viewing platform. A trip to Kakadu is not complete without a visit to Yellow Water.

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2007-10-15T04:43:00.000-07:00

3. On top of Obirr Rock: The highest point with a 360 degrees viewpoint. One small section of the Kakadu floodplain is in the background.

2007-10-15T04:38:00.000-07:00

2. The photo is one of Harriet and I at the Olgas which is about 30 kms. away from Ayers Rock in Central Australia.

The photo is one of Harriet and I at the Olgas which is about 30 kms. away from Ayers Rock in Central Australia.

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2007-10-15T04:28:00.000-07:00

1. Northern Territory June 2006:

Ken and Harriet’s short holiday from 1st-13th June 2006, whereby we:
Flew up to Darwin from Brisbane on the 1st June and hired a camper van
Then went down to Kakadu National Park for four days … a Park of rivers, floodplains, cliffs and Aboriginal rock art etc. over hundreds of square kms.
Then drove back to Darwin
Then we caught the train = the Ghan down to Alice Springs (1000 kms. +) which is in Central Australia
We stopped off before Alice Springs on the way down, for four hours to visit by boat the Katherine Gorge
Then on a small bus tour to Ayres Rock for several days … Ayres Rock is 500 kms. south of Alice Springs ….one day to get down there, three days camping out and half a day to get back
Then we flew back to Brisbane by the 13th June ….. Alice Springs to Sydney then onto Brisbane