Darwin July 2004
 

We are planning to visit Darwin during July of this year (2004) and then join a tour to Katherine, Litchfield and Kakadu.
I am interested in feedback about the heat, insects, frogs, snakes, etc. We plan to stay at Springvale Homestead in Katherine for two nights and then camp for one night at Cooinda. In Darwin, we plan to stay at the Value Inn, both before and after our tour.
Does anyone have information on any of these locations? Any and all info will be appreciated. Thanks!

We took a tour with Billy Can tours in April, and one of the places we stayed was Springvale Homestead. Seemed ok - we were just there for the 1 night and we didn't camp. We were staying in one of the kind of bunker like units. I have to say I was glad we were staying in a place with an ensuite bathroom - there were so many cane toads around there! Also lots of little wallabies jumping around, and that was really fun (unlike the cane toads). In Darwin, we had gotten a good deal at the Holiday Inn - $98/night, which was fine.

We really enjoyed our trip to Darwin and the surrounding area - I would say it was the highlight of our trip to Australia!

We too really enjoyed our time in the Top End. Only an overnight in Cooinda sounds really brief for Kakadu ( to say nothing of Arnhemland). We travelled independently and spent 2 nights in Jabiru ( Lakeview Park, an aboriginal owned and managed resort w/ campground; we had a tented cabin w/ private bath for $85. ) and 2 nights at Cooinda. We went on a day trip from Jabiru to Arnhemland ( Lord's Kakadu) and saw fabulous rock art. We took a boat trip down the E. Alligator and a dawn Yellow Waters cruise. We also went on an 8 hour
bush tucker and animal spotting trip from Cooinda ( Animal Tracks) all these an the 2 visitor centers were fascinating.

AndrewDavid

Thanks SusanInToronto and DavidAndrew for your valuable info!
Regarding the Springvale Homestead, were the rooms/beds comfortable, was there food/bistro on the premises, and most importantly, were there any moving things, i.e. insects, toads, in the room?
Thanx!

ljl143

Just a word on cane toads - they will often come inside if door is left open. Don't worry about windows, they can't jump, just sort of hop. One of the worst introduced pests to hit Australia as far as our wildlife is concerned - but harmless to humans unless you decided to eat them!

ljl143, we were part of a tour, so maybe the facilities differ depending on what you're doing. I know that Billy Can has their own camping facilities. The 'motel' part of it was very basic, but comfortable enough. There was a restaurant there, but we didn't eat there (since we were part of a group who were making a dinner).

Fortunately there was nothing moving in the rooms - but there were lots of toads on the stairs outside the rooms and along the corridor (which was open).

When we were in Katherine two years ago, Springvale Homestead has a short but interesting tour around the old homestead - worth doing if you have time. I assume you will either have a car or be on a tour as the homestead is about 10 minutes drive from Katherine. There is somewhere to eat at the homestead, plus also a small cafe at the Low Level caravan park a few minutes towards Katherine.
We had a week in Katherine in July 2002 and didn't see any cane toads at all (or snakes or bitey things) although they are moving northwards at an alarming rate.
There is a place in Katherine where you can see an aboriginal dance group - sorry I can't remember exactly where.

I truly appreciate your information, Marg. Our tour offers the option of staying in the town of Katherine, but we felt the Springvale Homestead would be more interesting. I also hoped that the July timeframe might be different regarding the Cane Toads.
Your reply has given me more assurance about our choice of staying at the Springvale and I will certainly look into the tour of the homestead.
Thank you!