Wednesday 22 August 2007

Cutta Cutta caves & Nitmiluk Gorge

This morning we did a tour of Cutta Cutta caves. Apparently Cutta means stars and the aborigines thought that the sparkling limestone cave formations inside sparkled like stars so they named the cave Cutta Cutta meaning lots of stars. Unlike the Jenolan or Donna cave at Chillagoe, this cave does not have much in the way of artificial lighting only the small lights along the elevated walk-way to light the way. To see most the formations properly requires the guide to light them with her torch. The tours take about an hour from the time you pay until you walk back to your car and they run at 9, 10, 11am and 1, 2, and 3 pm. We did the 10am tour which gave us time to drive back to Nitmiluk Gorge for the cruise we had booked at 1pm. The gorge tours were very booked up despite the fact that there are lots of them; you can choose from 2, 4, or 8 hour cruises, each adding more to the tour. The two hour covers two gorges, the four hour covers three and the eight hour covers five of the thirteen gorges with time allowed for swimming in the two longer tours. Nitmiluk, pronounced Nit-me-look, used to be known as Katherine Gorge but was renamed to Nitmiluk which means Cicada Place. The name was given by Nabilil, important figure of the Creation Time. As he travelled through the country he came to the Gorge where he heard the song of the Cicada, “Nit, Nit, Nit!” Since 1989, under European law under the Land Rights Act, Nitmiluk has been recognised as belonging to Jawoyn, its traditional Aboriginal owners. Jawoyn manage this park according to Jawoyn Law in association with the Parks and Wildlife Commission of the NT. The gorge is magnificent and although Fin and I did this cruise BC (before children), in fact 23 years ago, we wanted to do it again because we remembered that it was such a natural wonder that you have to experience. Actually, we tried to book one of the new (since April 07) catered cruises where you view the gorge whilst enjoying a candlelight meal on board but we only found out about them when we got here yesterday and they were all booked up. Drat! It would have been a good anniversary dinner despite being a day early. Half way, we had to get out and walk about two kilometres to the next gorge since the boats can’t get through between but we also saw some aboriginal rock paintings which were pretty amazing. Neither of us remembers seeing them last time we did this cruise so maybe they have become visible since then through changes caused by the major flooding that happens up here. I have included a photo of a palette we saw up a tree near here on our walk this evening; it would be up about 7 or 8 metres! Mind you we are staying in what is known as Low Level here so I guess the flooding is worse around here. I can’t imagine being here in the wet season; it would be very scary and difficult.
We went for a walk after we did shopping on the way home then booked a few things for WA and confirmed our Bungle Bungle tour. There is a single lane bridge that crosses over the Katherine River just before you get to our caravan park and the view from it is very pretty as the water rushes over a small weir and around some rocks and trees so I wanted to go and have a look at it on foot and take some photos. We walked across the park opposite where we are staying and over to the river then up onto the bridge which thankfully had a pedestrian section then kept going to a path we had seen in passing with signs indicating it was a designated walking path with something of interest. When we got there, the signs were all faded and unreadable but we continued on the path hoping to see something of interest. The path seemed to go up and away from the river and I was getting concerned that we were going on a wild goose chase but Fin assured me we would get back to the river eventually. Well, we did but it was to the Katherine Hot Springs pools. I so wished I had my togs on then since we were hot from our walk but had to be content to just look. We did see some interesting spiders and some rifle or trigger fish looking for a bug they could shoot down when we went further around to the river bank. It was getting dark by this stage so we had to head back to our unit while we could still see the path.


Photos now added. We have Vodafone in Kununurra!

Tuesday 21 August 2007

Butterflies but. . .


This morning we left Darwin and returned to Batchelor to have a look at the Butterfly Farm that we missed last time we were there. It was a lovely warm day with very little breeze so should be good for seeing the butterflies in action. We went in and met Chris Horne, the owner and, after taking our money (not all of it, just $20) gave us a photo album to look at that shows the history of the Butterfly Farm. It was a bedraggled album with most of the pages not attached any more but it was interesting to see how it all began. Following this Chris gave us each a carrot because he also has a bird aviary come menagerie with rabbits, guinea pigs, parrots, a peacock and even a couple of pigs. He took us to the butterfly house first saying there are lots of butterflies in here so just have fun, take photos etc. There was no explanation of which species we are looking at or anything, nor any labels or information boards up either. There were quite a few butterflies in there but no Cairns Birdwings or Ulysses and lots of plants; a feeder with a piece of cantaloupe on it and another with what I presume is artificial nectar in a dish. After I spent some time trying to get good photos we went out and into the menagerie although it was lucky someone was in there feeding the pig because the catch for the gate is on the inside and is rather unreachable. The first thing we noticed after the pigs was guinea pigs inside a penned area and Fin straight away gave them a carrot. They loved it but of course had a constant fight over it and it was funny to watch them. We have a soft spot for guinea pigs since Tristan used to keep and breed them for quite a few years. Then we noticed rabbits on our side of the fence coming up looking for carrot but we had already fed both of ours to the GPs since they were having such fun with the first one and were amusing to watch. The rabbits missed out. There was also a Galah that kept sidling up to wherever I was squatting down to take a photo and then I realized it wanted its head scratched so obliged and it seemed very happy about that. After this we went out and took a photo of the man-made waterfall Chris has made there then left. He is also building some cabins for more accommodation there; he already has a B&B in the house which is there. On the veranda were some polystyrene boxes with mesh on the front that were housing some caterpillars and others with chrysalises in them but again, we got scant explanation about them. In the house and on the veranda also are pictures of various gods and he told us that he tries to have all the god’s pictures up. Not sure why except he tends to be of the hippyish type from his clothes and the decor in the house if you know what I mean. It is not as professional as the Kuranda Butterfly house or the Melbourne Zoo’s one and I suspect Chris has his eggs in a few too many baskets to work on improving it to that standard but if you like photographing butterflies and cute little animals then it may be worth calling in.
Next we went to Adelaide River and stopped at the Inn there to have lunch then went to the War Cemetery. It is a beautifully maintained War Cemetery and a peaceful place to go to reflect on Australia's part in the World War II and the losses suffered by the people in Darwin and surrounding area.

I got a better picture of one of the roadtrains that you often see on the roads in Northern Territory so decided to put it up for you to see as well as a sign that I thought was unique. Actually, NT is very different to other states that we have been to in many ways.
We are now in Katherine in a cabin with parkland surrounding it and the Blue-faced Honeyeaters have been on our veranda looking for hand-outs as well as feeding in a bush just in front of it. There are at least four of them and they may be a family group judging by the different appearance of them but I am not sure that they live in families like that but just small flocks. Butterlfies have been flying past or through our patio also; big black ones but they are too quick to see their markings so I am not sure what species they are.
We had dinner at the caravan park restaurant; Fig Tree Bistro which has a very basic but reasonable menu with the tables and charis all outside and a live entertainer as well! He has an electric synthesizer and sings an ‘old favourites verging on country’ selection and he has his CDs for sale on a table nearby. We resisted the temptation to buy some.

Monday 20 August 2007

Bombers, Spitfires and Cyclones

We started our day today going to the Australian Aviation Heritage Centre where they house an impressive collection of aircraft including the huge B52 Bomber and the WWII Spitfire. We got there just in time to hear a talk about the B52 and its development through various models to improve design faults such as moving the gunner from the tail of the plane where he sat, unable to stretch or get up at all for periods as long as 33 hours whilst out on a mission, to near the front of the craft which was far more comfortable. Many innovations were implemented due to the need for good fighting machines that have greatly benefited our passenger planes of course. We heard a lot about the design of the wings and the disasters or near disasters that occurred which prompted modifications of them for greater lift, speed and safer landing because the B52 is a very big war plane and its size caused all kinds of headaches for the engineers to overcome. They have some old Ansett ANA steps leading up to the windows outside the cockpit so you can take a look inside. I imagine it was a not a comfortable place to spend hours at a time but then I guess they were concentrating on their mission and there was no auto pilot so they could kick back and relax so they just had to get on with the job. What was interesting was hearing about the chaff which was aluminium foil that was released from under the wings, cut off into lengths and dropped from the craft to confuse the enemy’s radar which would suddenly have several B52 bombers on its screen. A very clever strategy! People would find pieces of foil all over the ground during wartime like large pieces of glitter littering the ground. These days we do other useful things with foil; I know my niece, Amanda, who is a hairdresser goes through lots of it. What a shame it isn’t dropped anymore!
Following our interesting morning looking over the jets, planes etc we went to the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory (MAGNT). It was lunchtime so first we stopped off at the Capricorn Cafe adjacent to the museum and had a lovely feed of Barra, chips and salad sitting outdoors with views of the beach. It was very pleasant. We went into the museum and saw lots of aboriginal art and artefacts which were amazing. I liked the big round Pandanus woven mat and also the Crocodile with the man on his back done in brass which recently won an award. Next we looked at the Cyclone Tracy Exhibit which was very moving. Reading all the accounts and statistics of that disastrous Christmas day in 1975 and seeing the photos of the ruins and people’s shocked faces made it very real but they also have a sound chamber that you can go into and listen to a recording that someone made on the day. The sound of the wind was deafening and among it was the crashing and banging of debris from the houses that were destroyed in its path. It must have been terrifying to be here then!
Walking around museums and other exhibits is surprisingly tiring so we went back to our holiday unit after the museum. The car reported that the outside temperature was 33 degrees. I just thought I’d tell all our friends and family in Melbourne that so you could be jealous. Hehe!

Tunnels, Bombs and Pearls

Today we took time to do some housekeeping tasks such as laundry, washing the car and resizing some photos and upload them to Webshots. After this we went into Darwin city and down to the wharf area. We decided to have a look at the underground Oil Storage Tunnels built during World War II. Eight tunnels were commissioned in 1943 after Japanese bomb attacks almost destroyed the eleven oil storage tanks that had been built when the naval ships changed over from coal to oil in 1924. A number of engineering problems including flooding with water meant that only five of them had been completed by the end of the war. They were never used for bulk oil storage but some jet fuel was stored in tunnels 5 and 6 in the 1950s. Inside there are a number of display boards along the tunnel’s length with photos from the war years showing the destruction by air attack suffered by Darwin on the 19th February 1942. 292 people including some civilians lost their lives and ships were sunk in the harbour. The photos are amazing and eye-opening. I certainly didn’t realize how seriously under threat our country was and how many attacks the Japanese waged upon Darwin. In fact, on the way here yesterday we called into Hughes Airfield along the Stuart Highway and now all that is left is basically a dirt road in the scrub with an information board but it was also bombed despite attempts by our forces to conceal its existence from the enemy. Along the wharf there is more information about the devastation caused by Japanese air attacks and the number of lives, ships and aircraft lost during those attacks. It’s hard to imagine the fear people must have felt knowing our coastline was under threat and all the defences that were deemed necessary to protect Australia from these threats. It is an amazing piece of Australian history that can really be brought to life here in Darwin where it all happened. The photos are of the entrance tunnel (with pipes down it) and tunnel 6 which is 7.8 m long, 4.5 m wide and 5 m high and has a capacity of 1.755 million litres.
Following our look at the oils storage tunnels we went to the Paspaley Pearls exhibition. It was very interesting to see the video of how cultured pearl farming has developed and Paspaley’s operation is amazing with staff living on ships out at sea where they seed the shells and look after the farms, cleaning the oyster shells and checking on them regularly, harvesting, sorting etc all on board the ships then they have a supply ship to take supplies to them also. Photography was forbidden but there was just a display of early diving helmets, model ships etc as well as some pearls and pearl shells. The video gave us the most insight to the pearling industry.
After this we went to the wharf and took some photos and had afternoon tea. There were quite a lot of people there sitting at the tables out from the various cafes, mainly seafood but one called Kim’s On the Wharf which also had Asian food.

Following this we went back to our holiday unit and got ready to go to Chris & Russ’s place for a lovely home-cooked roast dinner. It was very nice too! We got to meet her big boys, John and Paul too since they came home for roast dinner and to see their mum on her birthday. Chris showed me some of her scrap books of her trip to the UK; she is a patient and dedicated scrapper. Mine won’t be going into scrapbooks; I’ll have to be content with digital scrapbooks and my BLOG.

Happy Birthday again Chris & thanks for the yummy dinner and hospitality!