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Firefly - Darwin, Kakadu, Nitmiluk, Lichfield and a didgereedoo



Firefly left Darwin at 0900 on Friday 4th September and is on passage to Kupang, Indonesia. This is an area notorious for calm conditions at this time of year and the forecast is not very promising regarding wind. We did manage to sail for the first 5 hours with a favorable tide but then the wind died away and we have had the engine on continuously since then. Its now Saturday morning, there is not a cloud in the sky and its absolutely scorching hot, although more comfortable at sea than it was in the marina in Darwin.

We arrived in Darwin way back on Monday 24th August and spent the first day at anchor having been treated with a biocide to kill off any pests in our pipes. Early on Tuesday morning we entered Tipperary Waters Marina via the lock and Firefly was been moored there for 10 nights. During that period we arranged our Indonesian Visas, attended several events with World ARC, including a trip to see the jumping crocodiles of the Adelaide River. These Salt Water Crocodiles are wild, but have learned to jump for meat that is dangled on a long bamboo pole from the river boat. A White Bellied Sea Eagle and numerous Kites were also thrown small chunks of meat from the boat and provided some fabulous close up flying displays.

We then headed off for a 5 day road trip around the 'Top End'. This took us on a triangular route covering about 1000km and visiting Kakadu National Park, Nitmiluk Gorge and Lichfield National Park. There were several highlights in Kakadu; Ubirr and Nourlangie, both sandstone escarpments with ancient aboriginal rock art and the wetland areas of Mamukala and Yellow Waters that were teeming with wildlife. The birdlife was spectacular with close up sightings of Jabiru, Brolgas, Magpie Geese, Pelicans, Spoonbills, Whistling Ducks and many more species. We stayed for 2 nights in Jabiru (named after the large colorful birds), the main town within Kakadu and populated mainly by workers from the nearby Ranger Uranium Mine.

Driving south to Katherine we cooled off in a series of natural swimming pools formed by the river, a popular spot for the locals. The next day we hired a double canoe at Nitmiluk. Also known as Katherine Gorge this is where the river has formed a series of long gorges with high sandstone cliffs. In the dry season the water in the each of the gorges is more like a lake and in calm conditions it was lovely to glide along under paddle power - although as usual the heat was intense.

Lichfield National Park was our final destination and lay north back towards Darwin. En route we again stopped to swim, this time at the Douglas River hot springs. There a small river flows through a wooded valley, the stream splitting and rejoining in various places and forming several pools. The hot springs emerge in one particular area and it was a matter of testing the temperature and finding the best pools to relax in. It was much too hot in the vicinity of the springs but after mixing with the cool river water some of the pools were perfect. The Florence Falls within Lichfield again involved swimming. Two waterfalls plunge about 10 meters into a large deep pool shaded by dense vegetation. As its so hot in these parts its a very popular place for visitors and there were a lot of people cooling off in this lovely place. Having stopped to view Tolmer Falls we headed back to Darwin.

On arrival back at Tipperary Marina it was a slightly unusual feeling as the World ARC had already departed several days earlier. Darwin was our final destination with WARC 2015 as from here we will be spending 2 months in Indonesia before going onto Malaysia and Thailand. Firefly was now the only yacht dressed overall but there was no time to feel lonely as we had only allowed one day to get all of our provisions and to visit customs to clear out. The hire car we used on the road trip was essential to ferry huge stocks of everything from the supermarket back to the boat. On the basis that this is the last really 'western' country for a long time we bought as much as we could fit on board.

Our final evening was spent watching the sun set at Mindel Beach. In the dry season on Thursday evenings there is a mass gathering of Darwin's locals and tourists who congregate on the beach to eat, drink and enjoy the sunset. There were several thousand people and in the park behind an entire street market was set up with all kinds of food, drink and trinkets on offer. The atmosphere was great with several entertainers including eMDee, playing his didgereedoo. We had expected to see lots of Aborigine culture when we were in Kakadu but although everything is Aborigine owned their presence is very low key - so no traditional dancing and no sign of a didgereedoo. Despite being a white guy, eMDee was able to create some mesmerizing sounds from his bank of 4 didgereedoos all wired with microphones to his PA system. He played 2 sets and it was so good that the small group of Aborigines were loving it so much that they could not resist dancing in front of the crowd.

Paul and Susie

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