Nourlangie and Gunlom Falls

Friday 27^th June 2008

Packing up after one night can be tiresome but in some ways it’s good because we’ve had less time to make a mess. Still doesn’t make it a pleasure, tho’!

We ventured into Jabiru Township to post a letter to Emily that has been hanging around the camper for about two weeks! The shops were very uninspiring but they did have a bakery where we invested in an early lunch – and just as well, too, because my planning was a bit under par today and we had a lot of driving to do and no sandwiches packed.

We stopped off at Nourlangie to see the very famous rock art. It’s actually called Anbangbang and Nourlangie is a corruption of a name the traditional owners use for another nearby rock but the whitefellas couldn’t get it right. Anyway, the rocks were impressive on their own with great cave areas and sheltered spots but with the rock art they make for a worthwhile visit. We did get the gist of the stories that went with some of them by listening in to a tour guide doing his spiel while intently looking the other way!

We also did a short (by our usual standards) walk up to the Gunwarddehwardde Lookout from where we could see across Kakadu to the Arnhem Land escarpment.

We drove up to Yellow Waters because it is so famous but we decided against any organised boat trips because I found it too long and boring when I did it back in 1991 and couldn’t see how it would have improved much in the intervening years.

So we drove on to Gunlom Falls where we’d be camping the night. It was further than Paul had realised because I hadn’t really considered how long it would take and had therefore failed to warn him. It also had about 35km of dirt road to be negotiated and while it was not bad by Kimberley standards it was worse I’d expected which meant we had no tape on the back of the trailer.

Luckily, the campsite was very pleasant indeed with an excellent out look towards the big cliff of the falls. Once we were set up we trundled over the road and Paul and the girls had a dip (not really a swim!) in the icy waters of the plunge pool. It was a beautiful dark green and parts of it were reminiscent of the magical Fern Pool in Karijini.

We then conned the girls into climbing to the top of the falls by slightly understating the effort that would be involved! As usual, once Katie was on the path she was off and running – ahead of everyone. It was incredibly steep but a fairly secure path and we reached the top in one piece. Up there it was so beautiful with amazing rock pools and where the water slipped over the top was decidedly scary. We all swam (yes, even me) in the (actually quite warm) deep clear pools and got out before the sun disappeared and the temperature started to fall.

Back down to camp I spent a bit of time trying to sort out what we need for Cairns so we don’t have to unpack the trailer in Darwin – we are getting excited about 1) having a night in a proper hotel with proper hot showers and proper beds and 2) seeing the Lewises.