Garden of Litchfield

On Monday August 12 it was time to move closer to Darwin.  Josh was due to depart  Darwin for his East Coast work trip on the 17th, and we had planned to explore the famed Litchfield NP for several days.  I had been there some 20 years ago with my good friends John and Gooba.  At that time, John had been on a lengthy trip in a troopie around the country and we had flown up to Darwin for 10 days, visiting Kakadu, Katherine and Litchfield.  We’d had a memorable time. 

The drive to Litchfield was an easy one and we found a great caravan park on the outskirts of the NP with towering shady trees under which to set up.  Our new friends Sean, Olivia, and girls had caught up with us in Adelaide River and were to join us in Litchfield for two days.  The kids were, of course, delighted to spend more time together.  Our 3 had taught Mila and Alex how to play Rat-a-tat-Cat, a clever card game, and it had become a mini-obsession for the lot of them, Jeremy included. 

After setting up shop, it was around midday and following a quick bite, and the obligatory game of Rat-a-tat-Cat, we planned a drive along a 4WD track to Sandy Creek. The track was fairly sandy, as the name suggested, with some deep ruts, but not particularly difficult.  We were the first to reach a shallow creek crossing, which according to the depth markers was under half a metre, and around 25m across.  Mindful that as we travelled north the presence of estuarine crocodiles in such waterways was more likely we were somewhat trepidatious. Sean, driving the Audi 4WD, had requested that I go first, on the premise that I had higher clearance. And so we gathered some momentum prior to entry and launched ourselves across. Our fears were completely unfounded - not much depth and a fairly even base. As far as river crossings go, something to build one’s confidence.  There would be more challenging crossings further into our journey.  At the end of the track was a basic but beautiful camping area, only accessible to 4WDs.  A 2km walk along Sandy Creek through some pretty monsoonal rainforest was partly shaded but hot nonetheless and the stunning Tjaynera Falls and plunge pool at the end was like a garden of Eden.  It was to be one of several magnificent and less visited spots we were to discover in Litchfield.  The pictures, as is often the case, tell more than any words...

The Litchfield Tourist Park was a great place to stay and there was a lot talk about the burgers, which were definitely substantial and also reasonably tasty.  A much awaited game of pool with Oscar and me, ended in disappointment for OJ.  Despite my explanation that years wasted at university shooting pool had given me the skills to dominate my 10 year old son on the billiard table. He didn’t seem to understand, but I assured him his time would come.

The next few days were spent around the waterfalls and creeks of Litchfield, all were beautiful, some were overcrowded, but all provided welcome and refreshing relief from the weather which was gradually becoming warmer. 

One of the highlights was definitely Walker Creek in the north of the Park.  No spectacular falls but a meandering creek interspersed with rocky outcrops and deep pools perfect for an afternoon of lazing about, swimming and observing the many microcosms surrounding the waterway. The lack of a big waterfall we guessed was the reason for a lack of visitation. The kids found novel ways to navigate the rock formations, Trace enjoyed submersion in the pure spring fed waters and I got busy photographing the smaller details of this mini-ecosystem.  

We all decided it was a spot worth returning to before our departure.  In fact, it was agreed by all that the  afternoons spent at Walker Creek were the sort that reinforced why we were taking a year away to spend together as a family enjoying all the beauty, grandeur and ancient culture that Australia has in great abundance. 

Adelaide River and the Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair

We continued our venture north to Adelaide River from where we planned to day trip to Darwin to catch the final day of the much talked about Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair (DAAF).  Throughout the Kimberley and now our early foray into the Northern Territory, we had been getting to just about every Indigenous art gallery along the way.  We had not only been learning more and more about Aboriginal art and appreciating the different styles from region to region, but were continually being advised that a trip to DAAF was unmissable. At the DAAF this year, there were to be over 40 Indigenous art centres showcasing their works, as well as many of the artists and various demonstrations, including pandanus weaving which Tracey had developed a keen interest and appreciation for. 

Our stop in Adelaide River was Mt Bundy Station, a working cattle station just on the outskirts of the historic town. We had a nice shady spot under an absolutely enormous fig tree.  We were warned not to venture too close to the river as salt water crocs were frequent in the area.  Instead we cooled off in the pool and got up close to some of the station work horses. Plenty of mozzies here. 

August 11 was the final day of the DAAF and an early start got us into Darwin around 10am. The Fair was down at the Darwin Convention Centre an area that we would spend a bit of time during our stay in the Top End's biggest city. The boys promised not to nag whilst we were browsing through the various art centre stalls. They had a few games and plenty of food to keep them busy.  We had also promised them a visit to the wave pool if they behaved.  Rubes was keen to see a bit of the art work and accompanied us around.  We picked up a hand woven pandanus basket from Injalak in Arnhem Land and had resolved to travel there for a visit once in Kakadu, arranging a permit, we were told, was fairly easy from Jabiru and whilst there we could do a hill top tour of some spectacular rock art.  The great advantage of the Fair is to see so many stunning pieces under the same roof, but also to have a huge variety of art from different regions, reflecting the diversity of Indigneous art today - dot painting to rark to weaving, totems and screen prints. It was well worth the effort and we were eager to visit some of the art centres on our travels that we had come across exhibiting at the Fair. 

So much to see, but after nearly 2 hours the boys were becoming impatient and it was time to move on. Next stop the wave pool which was fun for all.  We felt guilty for forgetting the sunscreen and all got a little pink around the edges in the tropical sun. Our drive home had us hunting in vain for cold beer, which is not so easy to find in the Top End on a Sunday.  Alas we finally found a case of cold Corona to take back to camp.  The kids all slept en route after a long day out in Darwin. 

Nitmiluk Dreaming

August 7th saw us say goodbye to the west and enter the Top End.  It had been a fantastic tour through some of the most spectacular parts of Western Australia, but now some true gems of the Northern Territory were awaiting. 

Otherwise known as Katherine Gorge, Nitmiluk is a beautiful National Park surrounded by large gorges and a croc infested river. After getting much needed food supplies in town, we headed for the campground which was situated in the National Park and a really beautiful setting. The town of Katherine was not the most pleasant of places. There were many indigenous people, mainly women on the street, shouting and quite drunk. It was very upsetting to see this amazing culture in such despair. Many of these people have been rejected from their own communities outside of town for drinking and were basically homeless, living in the grasses around Katherine. A very sad state of affairs, one which we were to learn much more about in weeks to come.

The campground was really quite nice, surrounded by green grass, a restaurant and small wallabies hopping around the caravans. We settled in, did some washing in the free machines and swam on our first day. The kids once again were waiting for our friends from Broome to arrive the following day.

The next day was spent wandering around town visiting a couple of local galleries as well as a much needed excursion to the Katherine Hot Springs. At about 32 degrees, it was welcome relief from the 37 degree temperatures Katherine was experiencing. The kids had fun jumping from a swinging rope into the warm water with Josh. Trace wasn’t so daring (as usual).

We booked into the 3 gorge cruise which was 4 hours but sounded great. We were also told of an interesting and fun cultural experience for the kids called Top Didj which we were waiting for the other family to arrive so we could all go together. Finally they arrived and the kids were happy to have some friends to play with again. Olivia and Sean had promised to repay us a dinner that we had made for them so luckily for us we had fantastic rice paper rolls for dinner that night. Of course the kids absolutely loved them.

Top Didj was a cultural experience run by a local couple who employed an indigenous man to teach people about his culture. Manoel was a charismatic, humorous and interesting man who was more than keen to educate us about some life skills like fire lighting and hunting. Josh maintaining that it took him the shortest amount of time to obtain smoke from his stick rubbing. Manoel was also an established artist in his own right and showed us not only the correct ways to paint his type of artwork called Rark, but also the techniques used. We had a fun experience and again one which the kids will remember for a while.

On our last day in Katherine we managed to book onto the 3 gorge cruise which left in the early morning. The cruise took 4 hours to meander through the 3 different waterways. The kids were horrified that there were numerous people smoking on and off the boat and made it quite clear their disgust. Unfortunately our guide was not Indigenous, in fact he was as Aussie as they come, with some of his jokes flying straight over most people’s heads. It was still a beautiful cruise and we were quickly on our way to Adelaide River on our return.

Freshwater frolicking in Lake Argyle

On August 3rd, we drove only an hour from Kununurra and we were once again in an absolutely exquisite part of Western Australia. We had heard a lot about this caravan park, its infinity pool and the magnificent backdrop which was the enormous Lake Argyle.

Lake Argyle is Australia’s largest man-made lake by volume. It is part of the Ord River Irrigation Scheme. Lake Argyle normally has a surface area of about 1,000 square kilometres. The storage capacity, to the top of the spillway is 10,763,000 megalitres. Lake Argyle's usual storage volume is 5,797,000 megalitres, making it the largest reservoir in Australia. At maximum flood level, the lake holds 35 million megalitres of water and covers a surface area of 2,072 square kilometres. At its peak the Lake is 9 times larger than Sydney Harbour. It was enormous!

We were lucky to get a lovely shady spot under some mature trees. Little did we know that these trees would bring bats through the night, loud and hungry and defacating all over our caravan.

The kids were getting impatient waiting for our friends from Broome to arrive. So, in the meantime we took a drive down to the dam wall and viewed the hydro-electric station which supplied electricity to Lake argyle, Kununura and the surrounding towns.

The kids finished off a bit of school work, Rubes and Trace had a great game of scrabble and Jem and Josh began a very large 2000 piece puzzle. 

The puzzle became an obsession for Josh throughout our stay and for at least a week to come. In fact there were nights where the kids wanted to go to sleep at 9.30 and Josh insisted just a few more minutes. 10 o’clock came and we had to tell Josh enough was enough! Eventually we managed to finish the puzzle with a great sense of satisfaction shared by all.

Finally Sean, Olivia and the kids, Mila, Alex and Nieve arrived our kids were so excited. Their oldest daughter was developing a fondness for Oscar and was enjoying every moment with him. We had waited for them to book a sunset cruise together on the Lake and were recommended that this was a magical way to see the vastness of Lake Argyle and enjoy a swim at the same time.

We were certainly not disappointed. It was a four hour cruise which, at first, we wondered might be too long. We were more than pleasantly surprised at how interesting the cruise was and how much fun the kids were having with their friends. Sunset was nearly upon us and most of us hopped in for a swim. Oscar, Ruby and the girls were happy to take a leap off the top of the boat. A glass of wine, beer and cheese and crackers topped off a wonderful afternoon with friends on Lake Argyle It’s times like these that we have to pinch ourselves at how lucky we are to be sharing experiences like this with our children.

Kids go for a cantor in Kununarra

We were quite looking forward to our visit to Kununurra after our friend Mel in Perth had lived there and had told us so many nice things about it. Our drive from the Bungles was beautiful with tree lined creeks, numerous national parks and large escarpment surrounding the highway. There were many fires burning along-side the road, no cautionary signs, no one even cared. In fact, through most of our drives along the west coast and into the Northern Territory, there seems to be very little concern for roadside fires as they just put themselves out once the grass had burned.

As we approached Kununurra, a little oasis once again amongst a dry landscape we were pleasantly surprised by the sight of so much water flowing from the Ord River and into the lake which the town surrounds. 

We stayed at the Big 4 caravan park right on the lake and a short distance into town. On the night we arrived it was Barramundi Burger night which was a fundraiser for the local Ambulance service. It was a lovely night on the lake eating burgers, listening to live music and enjoying the serenity of sunset by the lake.

Our stay in Kununurra was very relaxing. We had planned to take the tent to El Questro and have a slightly more active stay but after chatting with people at the park we decided to stay away from the crowds and heat and enjoy the pool at the park instead.

Not far from Kununurra is the Argyle Diamond Mine, home to the famous and very expensive pink diamond. So an obligatory visit to the fine diamonds shop in town was in order. Josh was, of course, very keen to have a look and although showed a lot of interest in listening to the lady describe the complexities of these diamonds, was quietly relieved to hear Trace didn’t really like them. It was however made clear to him that he wasn’t going to be let of scot-free, but rather she was waiting for a larger white diamond in the near future. Great!

Time was also spent visiting some art galleries which showed art from a variety of local artists and the surrounds. Each visit giving us a bit more of an insight into Indigenous art, the styles and prices. After a very ordinary Thai lunch we headed home for some rest and relaxation back at the pool and some salon work.

The area around Kununurra is known too for a very unique rock called Zebra rock, obviously named this because of the stripes which run through the rock in various colours. We visited a gallery with numerous pieces, all very expensive and heavy when shaped or formed. Rubes purchased a round unvarnished piece as a memento.

The kids hadn’t been horse-riding since Margaret River and were keen to get back in the saddle. Just outside of town was Yeehaa….a trail riding station with a great name to boot. So, off Trace, Rubes and Oscar went to experience the wild west of Kununurra. It was a hot day, the sun blazing, fires burning and whistling kites circling the skies. It was another great morning riding, Rubes taking on her first cantor on a horse and Oscar galloping up a hill with the instructor. The kids were becoming nearly as experienced and well ridden as Trace was. Josh and Jem enjoyed their usual milkshake and Lego in town.

A visit to Kununurra wouldn’t be the same without a sunset at Kelly’s Knob. A beautiful view of town and the fertile green valley as it glows red and orange as the sun sets. 

Our next stop not far away was Lake Argyle and the kids were excited to once again see the kids and family we met in Broome.