Territory Wildlife and a Castle

This morning we found that it was still a cool, windy day in Batchelor so we decided to leave the planned trip to the butterfly farm until another day since we have to go back that way to Katherine. Instead we headed toward Darwin and on the way dropped into the Territory Wildlife Park. It was a big park designed to show the animals of the Northern Territory and had vehicles called Shuttle Trains to take people from station to station which means from exhibit to exhibit. They have a Nocturnal display which has many of our native animals that are most active at night. It was very effective since we saw most animals moving about, feeding, flying etc. There were little rodents of various kinds, bats – big black ones and the little horse-shoe kind which kept going for a little fly across the cage then hanging on the branch; it was so cute. Photos were too difficult through the glass in low light so I didn’t get any but it was great to see all those nocturnal animals that we rarely get a chance to see. There is also a good aquarium display with an overhead type of tank and smaller tanks with various fish, turtles, and sea cucumbers, plants etc as well as the only freshwater stingray and saw fish. I did get photos of them as you can see. We didn’t really spend time looking at many of the other exhibits but decided to move on to the Crocodile farm which was not far up the road. http://www.crocfarm.com.au/
We got to the crocodile farm just before feeding time. We saw the ‘white’ crocodile being fed first; it is not exactly white as you can see but is very pale and it doesn’t have red eyes so is not albino. Next we saw one other crocodile and an alligator being fed also. The alligator was quite a cute little thing compared to the others if you can call a member of the Crocodylus genus like that cute. Finally they showed us the baby crocs which really are cute; they look like toys actually. The ones we saw were 12 and 18 months old. We were told that they farm them for the meat and skin to sell overseas for handbags etc. They have over 14,000 crocodiles at the farm! Overhead, whistling kites were circling and calling waiting to get leftovers from the crocodile meals while they are sleeping.
After we had a look at some of the monster crocs in the farm we headed off to our accommodation in outer Darwin. It is a big resort with lots of onsite cabins and ours is very nice so we will be most comfortable for the three nights we are here. And to top it off we have mobile phone access and Vodafone, if only 2G. Not only that but we get to spend time with Fin’s cousin, Chris and her husband Russ. In fact she has invited us to a home cooked meal tomorrow night which will be lovely for a change!
I forgot to mention that on our way out of Batchelor we stopped to take a photo of the castle that was built by a former resident, Bernie Havlik. He was a Czechoslovakian who spent much of his youth in Yugoslavia. He built it to solve the problem of covering a rocky outcrop in his garden and it took him five years to complete. It is a replica of the Karlstein Castle in Bohemia. It is in a park called Havlik Park which is maintained by the Coomalie Government Council in memory of Bernie Havlik. Interesting thing to find in the top end of Australia!

Billabong cruise and Wangi Falls

Late last night we couldn’t decide whether we could hear the wind in the palm fronds in the courtyard or if it was raining. Fin had a look out and said there were a few drops of rain out there. By the morning it was evident that there had been quite a bit of rain during the night and after dressing in shorts and sleeveless top I decided it was a bit cool for the top anyway and maybe I should at least wear a T-shirt. It was so cool out that we both grabbed our jumpers from the car and put them on when we left to go on our tour. We drove through Litchfield National Park to LaBelle Homestead where we were to go on a Billabong Cruise. It rained pretty much all of the way there and when we got there the cruise operators and other tourists were huddling on the veranda out of the rain. Most people were the same as us and had expected the weather to be much warmer like the day before and there were even a couple of people wearing thongs on their feet. I had the good sense to wear my sneakers. So off we went on a four-wheeled drive tour bus; first to the cattle yards as it turns out that they give you tour of those also. The guy explained how they put through 3,000 head of cattle a year and so they have had to try to make it more efficient and possible for less people to do since they have trouble getting enough workers. They have devised some very clever gate and yard type systems and they don’t use sticks at all but utilize what they know about cattle behaviour to get them where they want them. They only use a stick with a bag hanging off a string to dangle at the cattle to make them go the way they want. It sounded like they have put a lot of thought into what they do in their farming. The only problem was that we had trouble hearing because the rain was so loud on the tin roof!
After this we were taken for a fairly long drive to the billabong. To make the ride shorter and give us some more information they had a video screen at the front and we each had cordless headphones so we could watch a doco that Ben Crop has been making about the wildlife on and in the billabong. It was very interesting and the photography was fantastic. When we glanced out the window as we went along we noticed lots of little wallabies grazing or hopping around; apparently they are Agile Wallabies - very cute little fellas I must say. Once at the billabong, we got onto the boat which had a soft canopy roof which was dipping down with the weight of the rain on it. We pushed it up and let the water pour over the edges and all over the already wet seats along the sides of the boat. Hmm, I guess we won’t be sitting down this trip!
We got underway with some misgivings but were pleasantly surprised when we saw a beautiful billabong with lilies and other plants populated by many water birds. Within five minutes of motoring along we saw our first crocodile. We saw quite a few during the trip, both the smaller fresh water kind and the big estuarine ones also. We went down several tributaries (I guess you call them that when the river is no longer flowing still, that is has become a billabong) and we saw so much wildlife. The rain did ease off and we got really close to many of the creatures; certainly close enough for my 70 – 300mm zoom lens most of the time. The one exception would be the prey birds because they were either on the wing or sitting on a high branch but I still got a few decent shots of them anyway including this sea eagle that was rather damp and windblown.
After the tour which took about 3 ½ hours we went to a cafe along the way back through the park and then stopped at Wangi Falls (pronounced Wongy) It is two waterfalls cascading down into a natural pool and there were even some keen people swimming there. We took the walk around up above the falls and back around which was lovely and good exercise since it involved quite a lot of walking up rough rocky steps. There were some nice views from up higher and we saw a little wallaby along the way as well as quite a few butterflies. Following this we trudged back with our muddy shoes to our car and drove back to the motel since it would be almost dinner time by the time we got there. An enjoyable day!

Frog post

Another quick post today since when we had dinner tonight at our hotel restaurant in the outdoor area I asked Fin what was on the post of the pool fence nearby and he said it was a rock. I kept looking at it thinking it had a distinctly familiar shape and finally went up closer and said, “I thought it was a frog!” There was a large green tree frog sitting up out of the top of the metal post looking down on the ground for, what I am guessing would become its dinner, some bugs.

I took a photo but hope Tristan doesn’t tell Daisy because she will be jealous. This guy makes Daisy look petite! The waitress told us there are five of them that come out of the posts along there usually at around 8pm but I only saw one other at the far end which disappeared back down into its post when I tried to take its photo. It was about half the size of the first one which had gone by this stage. Not sure if it went back down into the post or jumped out and went hunting.

Termite mounds & wetland birds

Today we packed up and left Kakadu to head to Batchelor where we plan to take a look at Litchfield National Park which is known for its waterfalls and termite mounds. We saw some termite mounds on our way down the Arnhem Highway and stopped to take photos of the giants.

We stopped at the Bark Hut ( I think it was called) roadside stop for coffee and met a couple who have done a lot of travelling and told us a few places along the way to look at. The first was Fogg Dam which has been made into a wetland afer a fated attempt to establish rice paddies there. Naturally, the native birds just ate all the rice and plants! Anyway, we took their advice and went there and it was fantastic! So many birds, and so close to the road which we walked down. Actually it is called the dam wall but is just a raised road these days. You can drive down it also but if you do you would miss all the wonderful wildlife along the way. We saw a couple of attractive little dragon lizards with a white stripe on their head fading away down their side. And so many birds! We saw Pied Geese, Pied Herons, Radjah Shelducks, Egrets, Jabirus, a Little Kingfisher and a Rainbow Bee-Eater and a few others I haven't mentioned. I took over 170 photos but of course some will be deleted straight away. Still, I got some good shots including photos of Egrets in flight but I just wasn't quick enough to catch the Bee-eater in flight despite trying a few times. I had three photos of an empty branch to delete! No wonder it can catch dragonflies in the mid-air.(they are only called bee-eaters but they eat dragonflies!) It was fascinating to watch actually. We spent longer than we expected there as you do when it is so

enjoyable and interesting and I could have been there for hours more just taking photos but we went on to Batchelor and were there by about 3.15 pm only to find that so were a whole lot of other people so we had to wait quite a while to book in but we have also booked a billabong cruise tomorrow at Litchfield Park so that is something to look forward to and it will help us become familiar with what is here so we can decide what else to do.
In case you didn't know: If you click on the pictures you can see them enlarged!

Crocs, buffalo, birds and pigs

This morning we went to the Mumukala Wetlands where there is a large observation platform/hide to observe the birds on the water. We hoped that the Pied Geese might have started coming in as we had heard differing stories about when they arrive but we didn’t see any. However, the wetland is beautiful with lovely pink lilies and white flowers also and there are many other birds anyway. Mostly we saw ducks but there was a Heron in the distance every now and then. It is definitely a place to use binoculars to get the full benefit. There is a also a 3km walk adjacent to the wetlands which we started to do but there was no shade along the path at all and we didn’t get anywhere near the wetland after quite a while so decided to go back.
Later we drove into Jabiru airport for our helicopter ride over Kakadu. It was a cloudy afternoon and we were concerned that it would affect the flying conditions or make the views less spectacular but it wasn’t a problem at all. There were four of us on board: Scott our pilot, Jo his wife and the two of us. I sat in the front with Scott and Jo and Fin in the back. We flew with the doors off to get better views so all that was holding us in was our seatbelt. I felt a bit concerned about that at first but once we got going it was all forgotten. We had to wear headsets and press a button if we wanted to speak. Mine was on the floor under the mat near my left foot. To talk I had to press it down and if I couldn’t hear myself speak then nobody would hear me. I had to move my microphone each time because the camera pushed it out of the way.
It was a fabulous experience! We flew over so many different types of country including savannah woodlands, wetlands, rocky ridges and the Alligator River which divides Kakadu from Arnhem Land and winds its way through the countryside. There were lots of water birds including Pied Geese, Pelicans, and Herons and we saw a few crocodiles, some wild black pigs and a very big bull buffalo. The countryside in Kakadu is so diverse and so beautiful and seeing it from the helicopter was amazing and definitely worth doing. If you ever come to Kakadu allow yourself that treat – you won’t regret it! Go to Kakadu Air and ask for Scott. He was able to bring the chopper down low when there was something interesting to see and manoeuvre around so the sun was in the right place. I know we wouldn’t have got the same view from a small plane. The whole experience is one you just have to have yourself to really understand what it is like and how awe inspiring our country really is. I pressed my button at one point and just said, “Wow!” and Scott replied, “Yeah, it’s pretty amazing isn’t it?” Words cannot describe what we saw and I hope some of my photos can do it justice but the best pictures will remain in our minds and we will have them forever. Well, I will; Fin keeps telling everyone he will be senile when he is old so I guess he might forget. LOL!
When we got back we went for a walk down to a billabong just behind this resort. Fin discovered it this afternoon when he was walking around while waiting for the washing machine to finish. Unfortunately we didn’t use insect repellent since we were in a hurry because our flight went longer than expected and it was getting dark. We had a torch though and we found as we walked along there were more and more creatures moving about in the leaf litter. We saw quite a few lizards, a snake and, what was probably making the most noise, cane toads. We also saw a larger kingfisher than the one we saw last night but it flew away when we kept our torch on it too long. I guess it hadn’t settled down for the night yet. After slapping mozzies for a while and having seen a few things we decided we had better head back since we had a dinner booking for 7.30pm. It’s amazing eating dinner in the restaurant here; there are so many languages being spoken by the various tourists from all over the world it would seem but mainly from Europe. Many of the staff is from overseas also and obviously on working holidays in Australia.

Cruisin' on the billabong

Today we headed back to Jabiru to find out about helicopter flights over Kakadu and other tours available. On our way out of the resort Fin pointed out the corellas that were all around a sprinkler and one or two up on the sprinkler head trying to get a drink or get wet and cool down. More Corella antics! Got the camera out and took some pics and had a good chuckle again – some were drinking from the water but others were just trying to wet their feathers and cool down and it was funny to watch. However, we had to organize some tours so off we went to Jabiru. We found that there is a small township with a supermarket, library, council chambers, bakery, souvenir shop, newsagents, coffee shop/take-away and a couple of travel agents. We got some Stingose from the supermarket (yes there are bitey insects here!), filled up with petrol then had something to eat at the bakery though not a coffee because, despite being too hot to sit and drink coffee in an outdoor area, their coffee machine was one of the kinds you get in hospital day rooms if you know what I mean. No freshly ground beans made into frothy cappuccinos here!
Next we went to the airport and talked to the people at Kakadu Air about a helicopter flight over Kakadu. *Travellers tip: We were glad we did this rather than booking through the resort or an agent because we were able to talk to the pilot and find out the best time to go and where we would be going as well. After this we went to the Bowali Visitor Centre-Park Headquarters which was really interesting; they have a display showing plants and animals of Kakadu and giving information about them. Another very worthwhile thing to invest some time in because you learn so much about where you are and many of the plants, animals and bird you see in this environment. When we got back to the resort we decided to book the Kakadu by Night tour which involves a guided bushtucker walk and three course traditional campfire dinner, traditional aboriginal activities such as basket weaving etc and a boat cruise on a billabong. However, it wasn’t happening at the moment so we settled for the Night Wildlife Boat Cruise on its own instead. The next problem was how to get dinner since it was at 6.20 – 8.20pm and about an hour’s drive away which meant all the meals would be finished here and as it turned out in Jabiru as well. We went to the Cafe here and asked for some take-away sandwiches but until we convinced the lady that we would refrigerate the sandwiches and we had no other choice she was reluctant to provide them.
So we put our sandwiches in the fridge, got into our long sleeved clothes that were required for the trip and our insect repellent, camera, binoculars and water bottle and headed to the pick-up point. We had to wait around for quite a while since we were early and were quite uncomfortably warm in our full length clothes but never mind; better early than late! The tour began with a talk around the campfire area explaining some of the traditional cooking methods using rocks in pits in the ground and then we went down to the boat. Freddy was our guide and his sister, Jen was the boat driver. They are both park rangers and in the dry season do the tours as well as their usual work in the park. Freddy gave us some information and showed us some things about crocodiles and explained what we might see and what usually occurs on and in the billabong. Did you know that crocodiles cough up hair balls too? Well, they do and he showed us some – much bigger than the ones pussy cats have! We cruised down the billabong and were told about more creatures along the way but didn’t see a real lot. We did see a cute little fly catcher sitting on a branch, sleeping and a gorgeous azure kingfisher too. There was a fresh water crocodile ‘Gumegan’ only a few people saw before he slipped away under the surface; Fin saw him but we didn’t see the big salt water crocs known as ‘Ginga’ Neither did we see the giant 5 metre resident called “The Boss” Freddy showed us what the big Ginga do to floats they put out on a rope, usually hanging from a tree. They are made of hard foam and the crocs bite on them and leave teeth marks. It gives the rangers an idea what is out there because they are obviously hard to see most of the time. The Boss has taken his float off to a quiet side stream because it is gone now. Despite not seeing lots of wildlife it was a great experience that we would recommend. On the way out of the camping ground where we went on the cruise, we stopped to try to photograph a beautiful little Tawny Frogmouth bird sitting on a white post by the road. He seemed unperturbed by us being so close but before I could get a good shot a big four-wheel drive carrying some other people from the curise came ploughing through and scared him off! My initial hurried photos were blurry and I am sure I could have got some better but at least was able to use it to identify our little night flyer.
Doing the helicopter flight at 4.30pm tomorrow. Wow! How exciting!

Cockie capers in Kakadu

Today we said goodbye to the capital of the Never Never and (my word processor wants to make this Never Never Land!) headed to Katherine where we did a bit of shopping, got petrol and had a coffee under the shade of the trees in the park then we continued on to our next stopover at Jabiru in Kakadu National Park. I took over the driving from there but after about an hour of very winding roads I had to pull over and hand the wheel to Fin since my right arm which has been bothering me for a long time but I tried to ignore it was getting quite sore. Who would have known that the road to Kakadu was so un-straight! Actually, it got that way once we took the turn off at Pine Creek but was OK before that except for the occasional slow driver who held us back a little.
We didn’t realize that we would be driving through a large part of Kakadu National Park to get to Jabiru where we are staying. It was not like we expected at all but I guess we all see the wetlands part of it in photos etc. The vegetation is interesting from the road but not remarkable as such. There were quite a few burnt areas but the information book we got says that they do burns at this time of year to avoid wildfires at other times as it is the natural way the aboriginals have done it for many years.

Our resort is huge! We are in an upstairs room and there is a lawn behind us with big trees all around. There is a lot of wildlife around the resort since it is within the national park and you are advised not to feed it so it remains wild and you remain safe. There was a cacophony of noise from outside on the lawn and in the nearby tree and, going out onto the balcony to investigate, we saw some parrots which are actually Little Corellas that were behaving in the most amusing and unusual way. They were digging holes in the lawn and putting their heads down into them, seemingly to retrieve something to eat; maybe roots of the lawn. The ones in the tree were hanging upside down and squawking loudly as if to get everyone to notice them but actually trying to get a leaf off the tree I think and some were lying upside down on the grass with their feet in the air. It was so funny; they even seemed to rough and tumble with each other like kittens. We were entranced by their behaviour and I swear occasionally I would catch one looking up at us as if to say are you getting all this? I took so many photos because they were just so funny and different to anything either of us had seen before. Later when walking back from the reception area there was a small wallaby grazing on the grass just near the path that just hopped a little away from us as we passed.

The good news is that although there are no mobile phones here so no Vodafone internet, we can use our Optus dial-up as a local call as was promised so we are happy with that.