Up with the birds again , breaky done , pack up time .
We have been deliberating whether to go to kakadu or not - it has had a lot of bad press from a lot of people . We haven’t been before , so it will be how we find it , not someone else’s opinions that may not align with ours !!
Our short time at Pussy Cat Flats has been interesting , we would definitely come back here . We filled the water tank before leaving , as we will need some water - every chance we will be camping at remote locations without water .
Driving off down the road , we would have been only 3 or 4 klms , and there it was on the left hand side - a silver grey water buffalo , large as life , with a set of horns about 3ft across !!! It continued to graze away , not giving us another thought !
This is the windiest bit of road we’ve been on for quite some time , you had to think about driving !! We had planned to go to Mardugal Campground , near Cooinda Lodge & Yellow Water Lagoon . The first stop was at the Ranger Station not far from Mary River Roadhouse so we could get a map & some info . Well the Station is unmanned , but you walk into the office and pick up some brochures and check some boards with some aboriginal explanations on Kakadu .
First dilemma - leave the RV here and go to Gumlom , where there is a waterfall , plunge pool , and a hike up to the top of the falls for views of southern Kakadu ; or ; keep driving to another camping location and do Gumlom tomorrow ?
The latter won out and we continued on into Kakadu to Gungurul campground . The landscape was changing , we were driving over undulating hills , through granite boulders , and huge termite mounds . Then we dropped down off the top of the hills and into a vast valley , the escarpment much higher than it was at Katherine . There seemed to be something familiar about this place , we felt comfortable here . Before much longer we were at the turnoff into Gungurul and drove in , finding a spot to set up . We had some lunch before going out to Maguk - another campground and walking track to a plunge pool and waterfall on the Barramundi Creek .
The track into Maguk was about 9klm from our campground and then 10klms in on a corrugated gravel road . It was in reasonable condition , but had plenty of corrugations . The ute seems to handle the corrugations really well - the extra axle helps with that !! Arriving at the parking area at the day use section , we found about 12 other vehicles , so we were definitely not on our own out here . Packing the backpack with water , towels , swimmers , and keys , we headed off down the walking track . It was the finest dust , and about 100mm thick , but only lasted for about 150m before we turned and got onto a walkway that took us over Barramundi Creek and through pandanus and other palms and 50m tall paperbark trees . The temperature was 28 degrees , but was much cooler in the trees .
The creek was flowing , clear as crystal , and a lovely emerald green colour . There were hundreds of fish , some very worthy of being put in the frypan !!
Then we climbed over some rocks and arrived at the creek again - time to cross , off came the boots & socks - yes , the all terrain swamp stompers got to rest today , away I went and thinking the amount of people going over these rocks , they wont be that slippery , well how wrong was I . The first step almost sent me to the bottom , the second much the same , I grabbed at the camera only to find I had given the end of the lens a wash !! Not happy Jan !! I thrust out a hand to Lyn so she could steady herself , these rocks were like ice , slippery as !! We made it across the 2 metres without further mishap , I dried off the lens - it wasn’t very wet at all - just a little splash , and it dried off nicely in the sun . Back on went the boots as the next section was rock hopping , and a bit challenging but we took it slowly . There was then some sand before more rocks - the track was climbing , as was the creek , gradually getting closer to the last pool .
Lyn sat for a while , and I kept going to see how far it was , and how rough . She chatted to a guy from Canberra who is in charge of the change in management from the Commonwealth to the Aboriginal Custodians of Kakadu !
I found the plunge pool below the falls , and what a sight it was , about 50 m long and 30m wide and quite deep . Plenty of fish here as well , also quite a few people too . The track up , was more rock hopping , but was definitely worth it , the orange and red rocks , the emerald green water and a waterfall - hopefully no crocodiles ?
I went back and got Lyn and we traversed the rocks , making it to the pool , her eyes lit up as she took it all in - this is beautiful , worth every rock we climbed over .
Without further thought , we got ready for the plunge - how good is this , the water was great , warm enough without being cold , we swam across to the opposite side and sat on a rock in the water for a while taking in the view . People were over beside the falls , behind us on the banks , and more where we jumped in , this is a popular destination it seems !!
We swam back across & got out and dripped for a while before putting boots back on for the trip back - we stayed in our swimmers , it kept us cool all the way back !!
Before long we got back to the ute and another 20 mins or so we were back at the RV for a relax .
So far Kakadu is one up , detractors zero - what a great day . It’s a huge area , and much more to see , till tomorrow - see you .
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