Claire surprised me with a trip to Katherine staying at the new Cicada Lodge (or as she pronounces it, kick-arda). It was in January so we couldn’t swim anywhere there, but we took a boat trip down and got to see some of the Gorge itself.
I’m hardly used to staying in fancy resorts instead of a tent, but I really liked the place, and the food was really good. Here I am on the balcony… note actually the Melbourne is mine 😉
On the way back home we thought we stop at Edith. It was open, the second pool was available to swim in, and no one was there! It is usually a really popular spot, given it was open for swimming on a weekend, I was amazed that we were the only ones there.
I was down in Victoria for New Years Eve and I was invited along to a camping festival to celebrate the new year. It is run by some friends on mine from high school. It is pretty difficult to describe to people who haven’t been there, it is camping, loud music and partying, very bright colours, silly costumes (just for the sake of it). I won’t post anything too detailed as I suppose some people may not want their ridiculous attire on the internet, so just a few snaps: the campsite; and a group of us playing in the river:
Took the old man’s Pajero complete with car fridge. Definitely a step up from my rig, but a bit out of price range at the moment!
These festivals have been running for a few years, usually on private property and invite only (like this year). This is the second one that I have managed to get to – but hopefully that will change when I move to Victoria!
We decided to take our good friends Tom & Ails down to Butterfly Gorge. It is a series of rock pools in a narrow gorge with very steep and beautiful escarpment.
The 4WD trip was nice, I do love getting out on the tracks, but I have to admit I like the softer tracks more. We got there and there was barely anyone there, and that was the same for most of the day, which always makes for a good trip.
Claire and I had been there before, but it is still one of the best places to go for a swim. We entertained ourselves with a makeshift water slide down a rock, Tom being the most awkward, and Claire being the one who managed to put a large bruise on herself. Of course.
I would highly recommend everyone sees Butterfly Gorge at least once.
An amazing trip. One of those trips where everything goes according to plan, the weather was nice, the locations were great, more than a few laughs.
First Claire and I went down to Garnamarr and set up camp. We didn’t burn any wood on the first night as it was pretty warm. The stars were just amazing. We had both been working pretty hard and hadn’t been out in a while, it felt like we were on holidays.
The next morning we headed to Twin Falls. The river crossing was great fun. It is paved, so not as scary as it looks. When you get there, you then take a boat. The indigenous guide/captain was really interesting, he told us a few stories, what the land means and so forth. I found it interesting that all indigenous cultures across Australia believe that a serpent created the earth. Anyway – when we got there, wow! It was paradise on earth. Beach, vegetation, escarpment, rock pools, still a trickle of a waterfall…
Just a real shame that it is now closed for swimming. So we headed to Jim Jim Falls.
Jim Jim wasn’t flowing at this time of year. The walk was interesting… the distance is quite short, but it takes forever, as you need to jump from large rock to large rock to get there. The water was colder than I expected, and the water right at the base of the fall (pictured) was freezing!! Who would have thought?
There were a lot of people there, it is clearly a popular place for guides. It was great, but it still amazes me that Maguk gets so little attention in comparison. After a swim, a packed lunch, and an even longer trip back, (tried to take a shortcut, that was my first mistake) we headed back to camp.
The stars were even brighter than the night before, if I had any skill as a photographer I would have tried to take a photo. We lit a fire for cooking and also to keep the midgees away. Nothing better than having a few beers around a campfire. We stayed up late before packing up and heading home.
Always hard to do a write up on these trips to PV, I’ve done so many that a lot of the stories blend into one. I remember getting a pretty good left infection from a bite, and the doctor and nurses in the ER (went there to get some antibiotics) were all paranoid about the strange stuff you can get from the NT, nope sorry, never had anything go wrong up here, a couple of days in dangerous Victoria and I’m in the Emergency Room.
As a result of this we didn’t manage to get the canoe trip in, but it was still a great trip. As long as it doesn’t rain, it always is…
