caligirl56

Melnq8--If I remember correctly you like to take walks/tramps. And there are lots of them at Kakadu. We were barely able to scratch to surface while we were there. The only thing is, of course, these walks are better done early in the morning or late in the evening due to the heat.

Toucan2--I know that you enjoy birding. I can't remember if you've been to Kakadu or not. But it is truly a birder's paradise!

caligirl56

KAKADU NATIONAL PARK

Highlights:

Spectacular Jumping Crocodile Cruise: This is a smallish operation along the Adelaide River on the way to Kakadu. All right, yes, this IS really “touristy”. But, for some reason, we felt compelled to check this out. And it certainly did NOT disappoint. It is quite a sight to watch these huge reptiles leap out of the water. Their power and strength are very impressive. I think there are arguments about whether or not this is really good for the crocodiles—it obviously interferes with their more “natural” instincts. But, it is certainly an easy way to make sure you have seen a crocodile in the wild--although, as it turned out, we were very lucky and saw lots in Kakadu, anyway.

Monsoon Rain Forest Walk: We stopped at the Bowali Visitor Center, and they suggested this walk because it would be shady in the hot afternoon. It turned out to be full of wildlife. The trees at the outset were full of chattering bats. We spent a long time watching and listening to them argue with each other. As they hang, they fan one of their wings constantly—I guess to keep cool. Quite a lot of flapping going on. When a mob of them took off flying, it created a huge commotion. Actually, it was a bit daunting! We could see the sun shining through their wings as they flew—quite a sight!
A little farther along, we saw two crocodiles sunning themselves in the muddy river below. This was definitely more exciting to us than seeing the ones that were being baited on the cruise in the morning. Probably because we had found these crocs on our own, without a guide. Believe me, we stayed way back from that river bank! I started feeling jumpy at every rustling sound as we walked deeper into the trees and underbrush. Then, in the very darkest part of the forest, we ran into millions of brownish butterflies. Totally unexpected!

Ubirr Rock just before sunset: We climbed to the top of this outcrop in the late afternoon. The view, in this special light, was unforgettable. The green flood plains below, studded with rock outcroppings, were full of life. Flocks of white corellas, wallaroos grazing. It was a magical scene.

Gagadju Lodge Cooinda: We had to drive here in the dark (after seeing the sunset at Ubirr). If you are going to do this, be sure that your rental car company will allow you to drive at night. Many of them don’t. And, be very careful to look out for nocturnal animals. We wanted to spend the night at Gagadju, so that we would be close to the Yellow Water Billabong for our 6:45 cruise in the morning.
I loved this hotel. It is very simple and basic. Little cabins. We had dinner at the open air bistro. I really wished we could stay for a couple more nights—maybe hang out at their pool (also very simple), and just soak up the surroundings.

Yellow Water Billabong Cruise:
I can’t say enough about this. I think it was the favorite thing for both me and my husband over the entire 5-week journey. Watching the mists slowly rise off the wetland in the very early morning, with a full moon in the background was priceless. As it grew brighter, we realized that we were looking at water buffalo standing in the distance. If you do this, I would strongly advise the early morning cruise, because the lighting is so dramatic and the birds are really active. I also think that we were very lucky, because apparently all the crocodiles/birds tend to congregate in this area as the floodplains dry up in late September. The animal life becomes much more “concentrated”. We were old that in March, this whole area had been under TWELVE FEET of water!! The billabong was absolutely teeming with life. I snapped one picture, and realized that I had 4 different kinds of birds in just one frame.

Here are some impressions: Geese silhouetted as they flew across the full moon; red-barked trees jutting out of the morning mists; lily pads all around, with white flowers opening in the early morning sun; crocodiles EVERYWHERE—in amongst the lily pads, sunning on the muddy banks, sparring with each other, swimming right by the boat (after seeing the crocs jump on the “spectacular jumping” cruise the morning before, I admonished my husband too keep his hands and camera inside the boat!!); Brolga Cranes doing a mating dance--with their 1-year old chick watching; puff-ball baby Jacana birds “walking on water”; lots of water birds—jabirus, darters sunning themselves with outspread wings, spoonbills, 2 kinds of Ibis; kingfishers; a sea eagle; swaths of huge pink lotus flowers in amongst the green grass; tiny boats with barrumundi fishermen; dramatic reflections in the perfectly still river water; wild horses with cattle egrets sitting on their backs. Pictures did not do it justice.

Anabangbang Billabong: We took a quick walk to see this. We thought that it would be disappointing after our Yellow Water cruise. But it was entirely different country. We walked through grass as tall as we were. There were lots of pelicans in the billabong, floating around like swans. Pretty.

Nourlangie Rock: We especially enjoyed the x-ray art here. Try to time your visit so that you can listen to one of the ranger talks.

Next: two more nights in Darwin

caligirl56

2 MORE NIGHTS IN DARWIN

Enjoyed dinner at Tim’s Surf and Turf. We were situated on a pleasant outdoor patio with a kind of funky décor. Huge paper lanterns, a fountain/pool, gigantic seashells. Fun music. We ordered the deep-fried crocodile with several dips. Also Moroccan lamb and Thai salad. We really liked this place. Lots of locals were eating here.

Northern Territory Art and Natural History Museum. Don’t miss Sweetheart the Crocodile and the Cyclone Tracy Exhibit, complete with a sound booth which helps to recall the power of that event.

Stokes Wharf. We enjoyed Singapore Noodles on a patio where a lovely breeze kept us cool. As we wandered along the wharf, we asked a man about a huge boat that he was helping to unload. It was very white and clean. Turned out, it was a Paspaley Pearling Boat. He opened a keg and handed me a large, cleaned oyster shell (to keep!). Nice people everywhere we went!

After this, we visited the Australian Pearling Exhibition. Apparently Australian cultured pearls are the biggest and most lustrous in the world. Interesting. I really, really wanted to buy some pearls after this!

Mindil Beach Market on a Thursday night. This was lots of fun. So many booths. Food, music and lots of things to buy. We mainly enjoyed just wandering and taking in the scene. It was clearly the “happening place” in Darwin!

Next: Far North Queensland

LaurenKahn1

I would love to have a home exchange in either Cairns or Darwin. Still enjoying your trip report.

aprillilacs

Thanks, Caligirl, for writing my trip report for me! Well, anyway, portions are very similar, but it's so interesting to hear what you did differently, and also to hear about the differences in October as compared to May/June--they seem to be most prominent in Kakadu. I agree that the 6:45 a.m. Yellow Waters cruise was truly unforgettable. We saw tons of birds but just a couple of crocs there, including one the evening before the cruise that cruised speedily but silently toward a fisherman in a boat, leaving everyone gawking. (The fisherman was aware but unfazed.) Our boat guide was thrilled to see two brolgas, the first of the season, she said. Sounds like they stayed and had a baby. Sweet!

We spent 2 nights at Gagadju Lodge in Cooinda (in the cheap, barebones trailer rooms), including a half-day at that lovely relaxing pool when our plan to go to Jim-Jim Falls fell through because the road wasn't opening until a couple days after we left. It was great fun, as you say, soaking in the atmosphere and watching the other guests. (Sometimes an unexpected day of downtime is just perfect--especially on a 6-week trip.) That was a nice place.

So sad our timing didn't work out for seeing Ubirr Rock at sunset--we visited in the afternoon. Sounds like we missed something very special. But who's complaining? Glad you were able to partake.

I too was drawn to the Jumping Crocodile Cruise. In my normal life I would have definitely given it a skip, but it just sounded so...unusual! And it was. Hokey, definitely, but also kind of enthralling. And I got awesome pictures of crocodiles close-up, especially when the boat was purposefully grounded next to The Big One (I forget his name) and I was able to zoom in on all his parts. Very fun.

Somehow I wasn't enthused by the termite mounds in Litchfield. I guess I just hate termites, after what they've done to our home foundation. Hard to forgive those little bugs. But they are indeed industrious! But the swimming at the pool below Florence Falls was indeed nice.

Sounds like you enjoyed Darwin as much as we did. It just had that special, low-key but unusual feel about it. I thought the museum there was outstanding. Some of the best art we saw on the whole trip.

Our favorite restaurant in Darwin was Hanuman. I wish I were eating there RIGHT NOW.

Can't wait for the FNQ installment of your report--my favorite part of Australia.

FurryTiles

Caligirl, such a wonderful trip report with lyrical detailed descriptions! You rock, girl!

And thanks also for your post detailing your food/gastronomic adventures – true, vegemite is an acquired taste ... I have a hard time convincing it’s very healthy
by-product of beer making, when first-timers feel it’s the scrapings from a dirty oven, lol.

Looking forward to more!

Toucan2

Caligirl,

No, we haven't been to Kakadu yet, but it's on the list Unfortunately our planned September trip to Australia is shelved for now. The economy is not being kind to us.

And reading trip reports makes me want to go again! Am enjoying yours very much.

SnR

Caligirl, I am enjoying your trip report so much. Your planning for so long was really worth it, wasn't it! I wish we had been along with you. Sorry to hear about the cancelled trip, Toucan. We've had to push off our planned 2009 trip to South America until 2010 or later. Our "trip" last year was a new roof.
Sally in Seattle (also known as SnRSeattle)

caligirl56

LaurenKahn--I hadn't thought of a home exchange. That's a really good idea. It would be a really affordable way to spend a longer period of time in one of those beautiful places!

caligirl56

aprillilacs--I'm really enjoying reading your experiences. Writing this report has been making me miss Australia more than I already did. And I'm so glad to hear that someone else did the Jumping Crocodile Cruise! And yes, it was fun, wasn't it? Wish we'd known to try Hanuman. I enjoyed the food so much in Darwin.

caligirl56

Furry--I had no idea that Vegemite actually IS a byproduct of beer making. My husband and son sometimes make their own beer, and when we tried the vegemite, my husband said that it smelled just like what is at the bottom of the pot when they're done. It never occurred to me that he might actually be right!!

caligirl56

Toucan and SnR--I know what you mean about the economy. Our daughter is getting married in June. Then in August, she and her fiance are going to be married a second time in his family's centuries-old village in Greece. We are in the process of scaling that trip way back, or maybe not even going. Tough times.

That said, all of this is going to be particularly ironic when you read my next post. It is all about an amazing splurge we took in FNQ. I'm glad we did it, because we'll certainly never be able to do it again. But, from where was are now--it looks more than a little crazy. Wonderful, but crazy.

caligirl56

FAR NORTH QUEENSLAND
LIZARD ISLAND

We made a few big splurges on this trip. And this was one of them. We certainly won’t be able to make a habit of doing this sort of thing. But I have to say that everything about Lizard Island was pretty much ideal. Also, it was very nice not to have to spend anything while we were there, since it was pretty much all-inclusive (we refrained from going on any of the excursions which would cost “extra”—we wanted to enjoy being on the island). It felt good to take a breather and relax right in the middle of our five weeks.

As soon as we arrived at the Cairns airport, we headed to the Hinterland Air terminal for our transfer to Lizard Island. First of all—the plane ride was absolutely beautiful. You fly relatively low over various reefs, which look spectacular from above—they almost glow!

Lizard Island is a paradise. It has waves lapping on white sand beaches, brilliant blue water, soft breezes, and you can snorkel in the Great Barrier reef directly off the beach. The weather was so perfect that we never needed a sweater. But, what was even better, was that we never needed air conditioning, either. Highs were around 82 F (28 C) and the lows were maybe 72 F (22 C). As we fell asleep at night we could listen to the palm trees rustling (and one night, the rain pattering down).

One favorite activity was taking a picnic lunch (they give you a private dinghy) to our “own” secluded beach, and spending a relaxing afternoon eating giant prawns, roasted vegetables and cream puffs (seriously!—that’s what they packed for us!) and just hanging out.

Also, one morning, we got up early (to avoid the heat) and hiked to the top of Cook’s Look (the highest point on the Island). This is where Captain Cook climbed in order to figure out how to free the Endeavor when they were stranded on the Great Barrier Reef. There was a magnificent view from here—of the island and of the surrounding reefs. The “Blue Lagoon” which is near the island's Research Station, looked exquisitely turquoise from above. It is surrounded by pink and aquamarine reefs. Kapok trees with bright yellow flowers cling to the side of the mountain, and looked brilliant against the blue sky and deeper blue water.

The food was delightful. A favorite was pan-seared crocodile in pea soup. And crayfish with grilled lime. The tropical fruits at breakfast were wonderful—there was always star fruit (which, when sliced, actually IS in the shape of a star!).

We also had fun watching the monitor lizards (goannas) sunning themselves on the lawn outside our room. The biggest we saw was only about 40 inches long, so they aren’t scary. When the sprinklers went on, one of them stood up on his hind legs—I guess to get a better bath??

The snorkeling was beautiful. There were giant clams and purple burrowing clams with green fuzzy “lips”. Pink and cream colored coral. Also blue stag horn coral. And lots of fish. We had high winds for part of our stay, so we had to be careful not to drift too far out as we snorkeled. But, when the winds died down, the snorkeling was extremely peaceful.

Hard to leave this place!
Next: the Rain Forest

caligirl56

FAR NORTH QUEENSLAND:
2 NIGHTS IN THE RAINFOREST

Highlights:

Driving through sugar cane fields and seeing the yellow cane trains chugging along.

Visiting Mossman Gorge and watching families (it was the beginning of spring break) rafting and swimming among the boulders. Judging from their shrieks, it must have been really cold!

Falling asleep listening to the nighttime sounds of the rainforest. Very noisy, but in a “symphonic sort of way”. Quite a chorus!

Early morning cruise on the Daintree River with Dan Irby: This was very low-key and peaceful. NOT a crocodile-spotting cruise (although, I think they do happen upon them sometimes). Dan’s goal is to help you to “feel” the rainforest. It was an absolutely lovely experience. Reflections of mangrove trees and roots in the water; tree snakes wrapped around overhanging limbs; apricot-colored flowers floating on the glassy river surface; morning light filtered through pale green leaves; lots of birds just waking up; an amethyst python sunning itself above us!

Daintree River Ferry: We were very impressed with this ferry crossing. It worked so efficiently. We loved the huge statue of a giant cassowary out in front!

Daintree Discovery Center: This was fantastic. There are all sorts of trails and canopy walks here, and you can rent headphones to take a self-guided audio tour. We learned so much, here. If you are self-driving, this place is a must. If you come here first, you will know what you are looking at when you stop at the upcoming boardwalks.

We had fun driving up to Cape Tribulation and stopping at the various boardwalks along the way. The rainforest is pristine. Lots of thick curling vines (called lianas); tons of palms; gigantic ferns; interesting fungi everywhere; epiphytic ferns growing high in the trees; vines that literally reach out and grab you with their tiny thorns—and then won’t let go!! (called the “wait-a-while” or “lawyer vine”—my husband got hooked by one of these). I especially liked the “Fan Palm Gallery”. The Marrdja Boardwalk was also interesting. Very swampy mangrove country. We also saw some cassowary poop here (well, we assume it was cassowary poop—it was huge, and full of undigested fruit—just the way it was described at the Discovery Center). We kept hoping to see the cassowary that deposited it,--but no luck, of course!

The beach at Cape Tribulation. A lovely white sand beach—lots of sand crabs.

Daintree Ice Cream: This was a huge winner! We each had the special—4 scoops of tropical flavored ice cream: Jack Fruit, White Chocolate/Macadamia, Wattleseed and Blueberry. There were red and pink ginger plants blooming all around. They also had a field of banana trees with the bananas covered in blue bags to protect them. I’d never seen this before. Interesting.

One thing I wish we’d done: take a nighttime tour or walk through the rain forest. I think if we’d done this, we might have seen some of the frogs that serenaded us each night. We had decided against it, because we were sort of tired. But, it might have been well worth it!

Next: the Atherton Tablelands

Toucan2

My husband just walked by and saw I was reading a trip report and asked why I was torturing myself No worries, I'm enjoying taking this trip with you and hopefully when the economy turns we will make it back someday.

Caligirl, I never regret the splurges. We don't do it often either, but when we have it was always worth it and makes for great memories--like the ones you will always have of Lizard island.

LaurenKahn1

Oh, I have to return to Australia. I didn't see any of this!

Melnq8

Did someone say ice cream? A thoroughly good read caligirl, your descriptions make me feel as if I were there.

caligirl56

ATHERTON TABLELANDS (2 DAYS AND 1 NIGHT):

We decided to hire a guide to help us better see and understand the wildlife in the Tablelands--Jonathan Munro of Wild Watch. This turned out to be a wonderful decision. We saw and learned so much from him—and were entertained by the myriad of stories and experiences that he very colorfully related to us during the two days we spent together. Visiting the Tablelands was an enormous highlight for us.

Special memories:

Lumholtz Tree Kangaroos: These are big furry creatures with extremely long tails. They are only found in the Atherton Tablelands—and although they were easy to see, once Jonathan pointed them out to us--we never would have noticed them among all those branches, if he had not been with us.

Exploring Jonathan’s private rainforest in Ravenshoe: Since this is his own property, he knows how every tree/shrub is doing! It sustained a lot of damage during the cyclone—huge trees were uprooted. This is something that I had not thought of. You think of buildings, etc. being damaged by a natural disaster—but the damage to this old growth rain forest was quite serious. He has planted over 5000 saplings to replace what was destroyed. Since it is a pristine and protected rain forest, he can only plant the “correct” trees—some of which are very rare and hard to get.

Curtain Fig Tree: This tree is huge. Apparently possums like to hang out in this area it at night.

Having an Australian hamburger (with poached egg, beets and carrots) in Ravenshoe—the “highest town in Queensland”.

Seeing the bower of a Golden Bowerbird. This was quite a piece of construction—with a stage carefully covered in moss. We heard him “gargling” at us, but never saw him.

Seeing lots of kangaroos grazing in the late afternoon light: Grey Kangaroos and Pretty-face (Whiptail) Wallabies. Several moms had joeys in their pockets. We loved watching them jump through the fields. When they get going fast they move like slaloming skiers. Many of these kangaroos pose for pictures just beautifully—they stand erect like sentries, and many don’t seem to startle much at all. This was so much fun.

Brahma Cows: I don’t think I've seen these in the U.S. These Brahmans are the kind they have in India (with the hump on the back and the loose skin hanging from the neck). Jonathan explained that these do very well in the FNQ climate.

So now came a sort of disappointing thing. We were so lucky during our entire 5 weeks Downunder. We experienced very good weather. So, I really can’t complain about this. But, it suddenly just started POURING rain. And didn’t stop all night (apparently it was a bit early in the year for such a major storm to come through). We went to a lagoon to watch the Brolga Cranes fly out. And actually, I have to say the lagoon looked pretty amazing in the rain. Very eerie—greens and grays. But no cranes! Apparently they’d left early, because they sensed the storm was coming. And then we were supposed to do a night spotlighting walk to see rare possums. We still saw some, but the animals hunker down when the rain is really torrential. So, we mainly saw big bright eyes peering out at us from inside the trees. Oh well. We did see a Bettong, a Pademelon and a Bandicoot on the way back to our lodge though! Sort of a marsupial extravaganza!

Listening to the Scrub Fowl caterwauling all night: believe it or not, I actually liked this. And I got some great pictures of them in the morning.

Early morning platypus viewing!! We loved this. Jonathan showed us how to come up on them quietly (they’re very shy) and then run ahead to get a picture. The trick is to stay in front of them. He would see a little ripple in the river, and somehow know it was a platypus. The duck bill was much bigger than I had thought. And the way they paddle with their webbed front feet is very cute. Some seem really playful—doing little flips. We followed this with a lovely breakfast of scones and cream.

Lunch at Mareeba Wetlands was nice. And we saw tons of birds. There were so many Pied Cormorants sitting in the branches of a dead tree, that they looked like Christmas ornaments.

Watching an Agile Wallaby and her very personable joey: The joey and kept turning his head to say "hi" to us while his mom grazed. Since he was getting big, so he was stuffed into the pouch with his hind feet and tail hanging out rather haphazardly. I kept willing him to jump out of the pouch, but he didn’t! When his mom would stop to eat, he’d reach out and eat grass, along with her. Once, when she bent down, he reached up and kissed her!
Very cute!

Seeing a big Frilled Lizard in the road ahead of us. His frill was all puffed out. We wanted him to run on his hind legs for us, but I don’t think he was scared enough to do that.

Seeing the bower of a Great Bowerbird. It was all laid out in a circle with white bleached snail shells and lots of green and red glass glittering to attract “his ladies”.

Visiting Lake Barrine. This is a very pretty lake. We saw a nice Boyd’s Dragon clinging to the side of a tree. And a Tooth-billed Bowerbird singing next to his bower. We were overawed by the huge Twin Kauri Trees that grow near there.

This region was so different from the lowlands. We are very glad we spent a couple of days here, and could have spent several more. You could stay in a hotel in Yungaburra and do a few things each day. If we’d had time, we would have visited the Skybury Coffee Plantation, the Mango Drop Winery, eaten lunch at the Tolga Woodworks, gone on an early morning cruise at Lake Barrine followed by tea in their tea room (I think they see pythons sunning in the morning, sometimes), and maybe driven the waterfall circuit.

A book to read: “Kangaroo Dreaming” by Edward Kanze. In this book, Edward Kanze chronicles his 25,000-mile journey throughout wild Australia. He and his wife are both naturalists, and this book is an easy way to learn about the flora, fauna and geography of Oz. I learned about many of the animals, birds, etc. that we saw in the Tablelands by reading this book!

Next: Palm Cove

aprillilacs

How wonderful that you saw so many different animals--a good reason hiring a knowledgeable guide. We saw all the animals you saw -- but most of our "sightings" were of the animals painted on those road signs...bandicoots, tree kangaroos, platypus. . . .

Some of our fond animal memories from FNQ (sans guide) include a double cassowary sighting on the road to Cape Trib soon after crossing the river (loved that ferry!), crocs on the Daintree River, royal blue kingfisher birds on the branches, goannas sunning themselves, cattle egrets (love those guys!), an awesome python-like snake hanging down from a tree and baring his fangs right above a couple of diners on the terrace of Wet restaurant at Cape Trib. We spent an hour or so at dusk in Yungaburra watching for platypus on the creek but had no idea what they looked like and how they would show themselves. And they didn't! But it was fun anyway--we did see a bunch of turkey-like things foraging through the bushes by the creek (I forget their name now).

We too had rain in the Tablelands, but it fit well with the waterfall loop we did. Lovely. I thought Yungaburra was great--low-key and friendly. We stayed at Eden House Retreat, where we had good meals and an awesome hot stone massage. Here I am in snowy New Jersey, again wishing I was THERE!

Canoing in the Mareeba Wetlands was a treat, though the beautiful canoe felt really tippy (I prefer kayaks). Did you see the gorgeous Gouldian finches at the Mareeba wetlands center? We also had an interesting encounter with a father emu and his son...I got a little too close for comfort as I tried to get the greatest picture ever (bad idea), and father emu told me about it.

My husband got a great haircut at a barber shop in Mareeba--one of his nice memories of the trip.

Looking forward to hearing more--

caligirl56

aprillilacs--You were so lucky. You actually saw not just one, but two cassowaries! And emus as well. I guess my husband and I just had no "karma" for seeing the really big birds.

I would have liked to spend more time at Mareeba Wetlands. The canoeing sounds lovely. And I think they also have a sunset boat ride which sounded nice.

I agree, I thought Yungaburra was delightful. Definitely a nice place to just hang out.