On the Edge to Whitehaven

On the Friday it was decided we would take a trip on the catamaran “On the Edge” to Whitehaven beach. We had sent out this in the letters we wrote to everyone as part of the wedding invite, so we made up nearly half of the crew. It was an amazing trip. You don’t need a lot to make a great day of Whitehaven, it looks like every single photo of every beach after it has been photoshopped. I don’t even know how to use photoshop, so these photos are just on my small Canon camera.

Before we got there we had a snorkel around Chalkies beach. Pretty good, although I was off to the outer reef tomorrow.

Then we headed over to Whitehaven. I guess not a lot to write about apart from it was really fun, water was amazing, wind was down, everything was great.

Story of the trip is that another crew had found a large turtle on the beach. A shark had eaten its fin off, it was breathing badly. They tried to keep it cool until it decided it wanted to leave. It swam off leaving a trail of blood behind it. Hopefully he made it.

Kakadu without the camping 2

Claire’s sisters visited us so we took them to Kakadu.

The usual locations, Nourlangie, Ubirr, Maguk, Ikomarrwa, Bukbuluk

A lot of fun

Stayed in Jabiru as we didn’t really have the equipment to camp for the four of us.

Plus it is a bit easier when it is an single night.

Great trip, played some cards against humanity on the Saturday which was good for a laugh

The Gunlom walk was closed as it was burnt out… still amazed at the lack of people at Maguk. The most underrated spot in Kakadu!


The three sisters in Maguk


Claire and me at Ubirr

Quick trip to Berry Springs

I was supposed to go fishing but I was a little too eager on my squats Thursday night, given my back was a bit sore, I thought a nice trip to Berry Springs would be better.

Given it was a public holiday I expected it to be full, and the carpark was overflowing when we got there around 10.30am. However it is a very large space, so really wasn’t too bad.

I was a bit more comfortable when I got out to the deeper water. The kids were being kids and super excited in the water, which is fine, but when your lower back is a whisker away from a spasm, it was easy to get a little freaked out.

Had a nice picnic and a swim for a few hours. Claire really likes “big things” and since we had never been to the big stockwhip we made a detour on the way back.

 

 

Jarrangbarnmi – Location

Jarrangbarnmi is also known as Koolpin Gorge. It took about 5 hours from Parap including a stop for lunch. About 1 hour 30 from Mary river ranger station although you wouldn’t think so. The walks aren’t signposted very well so make sure you read the map. Fires are allowed. Collect firewood on the way though it shouldn’t be an issue. Permits only. The old fashioned smelly long drop toilets. Not too bad of a camp site, definitely something to do if you’ve seen most of Kakadu.