but we had decided to do a walk up to Baruwei Lookout and walk the Loop which took us to a great view and back to the car about 2hrs later. There are 13 gorges at Katherine but we were happy to just do a walk.
Its a public holiday today in Katherine for the Katherine Show so back to the caravan park; lunch and a swim in the pool to cool off and we decided to go to the show and watch the rodeo.
We walked through all the displays (didn't take too long), the winning giant pumpkin was 52kg; arrived at the chook shed just when the auction started but we thought we better not bid. There were plenty of rides to go on but we thought not after our roast beef rolls and gravy, hot chips and a soft drink; and I couldn't find a show bag I wanted so we sat and waited for the Rodeo. There was barrel racing, calf roping and of course the bucking steers and very untamed horses and the crowds fav...the bucking, feisty bulls. It was so much fun to watch and we stayed for a couple of hours until we had enough of getting covered in dust from head to toe.
Saturday the show was on again but we had to get organized for our trip to Cobourg Peninsula and when we got back across from our site was Jean and Ted (we met at Lorella Springs) so nice to see them again. Some of the nights here are very warm and still this is one of them, and it's hard to sleep.Sunday we are ready to go by 9am and Ted offered us a cuppa before we go so we ended up leaving about 10.15am...oh well, we can't rush these things.
We dropped into Edith Falls and it is beautiful but very popular.
There is a huge swimming hole but we didn't have time to stay or have a swim but we did bump into Kevin and Linda; after more chatting we continued to Jabiru in Kakadu where we stayed a night at one of the caravan parks so we could be at the Jabiru Northern Land Council Office at 8am to pick up our permit and be on our way to cross Cahills Crossing at the low tide. Low and behold, Government offices not much different up here: our permits were not there. As the staff strolled in one after the other for their days work, one of them said "no, we don't have one in that name". Phone calls were made and the permits were found but weren't emailed through, soooooooo we went and had a cuppa at the local café and half hour later, yeh for technology the permits had arrived.
Got to Cahills Crossing about 9.15am (had to be there before 10am), the crossing was a bit of an anti climax
but we were on our way through Arnhem Land. We were told we would need all day to get to Cobourg Pen. and the brochures say 3-4 hours and there is no stopping allowed on the way so we had water and food and settled in for the long ride.
The roads through Arnhem Land aren't much different to the other dirt roads we've been on,
the first bit was quite good, then came the corrogations, rocks, lumps, bumps, holes and washouts and about halfway into the trip the road started to get rough...hahaha.
We did the trip in 4 1/2 hours from Cahills Crossing to Black Point Rangers Station. First thing, sign in on the white board and then campground 1.....toilets....ahhhhhhh. On our drive past campground 1 is a road sign 'caution croc crossing'...this is where the crocs come out of the sea and cross the track at night to go into the swamp.
Drove around both campgrounds and settled in campground 1 with wood fire bbq, picnic table and shade cloth, solar power hot shower or another cold shower with bore water...noice.
Soon we met the Ranger Allen and we got the run down of the place and then we met our neighbours, Allan and Liz from Sydney who were looking for another couple interested in doing the Victoria Settlement Tour and we said yes to that for Thursday.
It was so nice to stop in one spot for a week and what a great spot, not much to do and not far to drive (because you can't), just fishing, eating oysters, catch muddies and watch the sunset... oh...and watch for crocs if your near the water and definitely NO SWIMMING!!!
So Monday we settled in, Tuesday we did the beautiful coastal drive where Steve found some fresh oysters
and we found Caimen Creek (great place to fish). Drove to Smith Pt and spotted lots of turtles swimming by (there are 7 protected species here in the marine park, pity we can't dive here).
There is also an abandoned accommodation huts here and we poked around and had a look there too. Every afternoon we were refreshed with a cold shower and got ready for the onslaught of the million mozzie march. Long clothes on, bug spray on and mozzie coils lit and by dark some of the mozzies moved on but it was probably the worst part of the day. Steve got to play today, he got the chainsaw out and cut the fire wood.
First time we have used it in 6 months and we are cutting up dead wood in a national park...couldn't be done in Qld. Tonight after dinner we decided to go for a walk up to the beach to see if the turtles where up nesting...another one of our mad moments. I was very nervous to say the least but no crocs or turtles to be seen anywhere. Wednesday we did a walk and talk with Cynthia (from Parks) on bush tucker and bush medicine and we even learnt a couple of things and Steve tried the juices from a morning glory vine that's good to take the itch out of his sand fly bites and it does.
There is Thunder Rock which is an old school that was used for the local communities but has not been used for a while, but at the back is a cliff with a great view of the ocean but we only saw a couple of turtles and a shark in the water.
Wednesday arvo I made scones with jam and cream, Steve and I had more than our fair share and we had a couple left so I took them over to Liz and Allan (I think this is what sealed the friendship, no one can resist a scone with jam and cream haha),
then a drive to have a look at the Wetlands.
Thursday, and don't be shocked but we actually saw a sunrise, we (Allan, Liz, Steve, myself, John and Ros) had to be picked up at the boat ramp at 7am for the Victoria Settlement Tour.
On the way we saw a croc in the water, this was our first croc and he was big maybe about 5metres but as soon as we slowed to look at him he sank under the water, they're very scared of us humans apparently.
The settlement tour was very interesting, it was a couple of hours walk of hearing about the history of the settlement in the 1830s that only lasted 11 years.
Back out to the beach by lunch time and it was low tide so we had to walk out in knee deep water. I had my eyes peeled the whole time and I was first in the boat and we all got on board with all arms and legs in tacked.
On the boat ride back, Steve and John through a line in and John got a bite but it was a dirty old barracuda.
Thankfully the fish got itself loose while it was still in the water. Hugh our tour guide was very informative and pointed out things on the way there and back it was a good trip and we have met more friends to add to the list of many. Allan and Liz invited us to join them to Smith Point to watch the sunset and it was beautiful but as dusk came upon us so did the little black bugs and then the mozzies chased us into our cars and back to camp.
Friday was the day that our new friends had to leave so we said our farewells and Steve and I got organised for a day at Caimen Creek. We got the local knowledge to use 'long bums' for bait, and apparently they are good eating too with a bit of garlic and butter, but we had to find them in the mangroves, we were also told 1 hour before and after low tide is the best time for the barra. So we got our new lures, I had the 'barra gold' on my rod and Steve tried the heavy duty 'crazy popper'. Down to the creek we went with bait buckets and knives strapped to our waist (never had to have a fishing knife attached as a weapon before). We cast our lures continuously through the first hour, then the second hour and the third and forth and I found out something that I already new...I am no expert with a lure (all I got was my tennis elbow back).
We had a break for lunch and as soon as we pulled our lines out of the water a dirty great big fish came to the surface so close we could have picked it up with our hands...I'm sure he even blew us a raspberry.
After lunch we tried different lures and as the tide came in there were fish jumping everywhere...big fish...we didn't know where to throw our lines next. Steve put his"Crazy Popper" back on to catch the big one, a couple of casts later and that "crazy popper" just popped right off his line and plonk straight to the bottom of the creek...bugger.
The lures just weren't working for us so we went to look for long bums, we walked through the mangroves where there was no water (which is where Steve got all his sand fly bites...hehe) and only found the shells with the hermit crabs in them Steve walked up to where the water was, I followed reluctantly...picked a stick up on the way, what for I don't know. I stood on the bank and watched the water while Steve waded around in the shallows and collected long bums (and got bitten some more...hehe). We cracked the long bums open with a couple of rocks and they were green gooey molluscs,
the foot piece was the only good bit to stay on the line (their was no way those things would ever pass over my tastebuds...Yuk!). We fished some more and bingo, Steve caught a bream.
We spent the whole day at the creek and we had the whole place to ourselves, we watched the tide come and go; eagles fly over head and a jabiru jump around, flitting back and forth flapping it's wings at the mouth of the creek trying to catch its own dinner. The fish stopped biting as the waters got deeper so we figured they had a lot more to eat than gooey old long bums but Steve pointed out something swimming along the water edge and then in the shallows we spotted it...a shark about a metre long so that's the end of our fishing and off we went about 5pm, we had the best day!
Saturday mmmmm what will we do....lets go back to Caimen Creek and go fishing again and we went straight to the mangroves for the long bums. Today we stayed only for a few hours, I played around with some squiggies (nucleur chicken flavoured) and I did as well on those as I did on the lures, while Steve used the long bums and spiral shells and he caught two more black bream.
We both had bites and the fish took our lines straight under snags. That happened a couple times and we used all the bait and lost a bit of tackle but we were happy we had a couple of meals of fish. We had some new comers turn up at the creek and we shared our local knowledge with them and that was that.
Sunday is our last day, and we were told about a blowhole at Stewarts Point on the coastal drive so we went to have a look. Saw a croc in the water on the way. The tide was wrong and the blowhole was not blowing so to speak so looked in the rock pools and took some pics.
Here we bumped into 4 couples from the Gympie/Pomona are and it was nice to talk to people about home ground. They had only stared their stay where ours was coming to an end.
Sunday evening we went for a drive so we wouldn't have to put up with our last night of the million mozzie march. Before dark we drove back to Thunder Rock, still no crocs to be seen, only turtle heads so we drove to the croc crossing and walked to the beach, maybe the crocs were waiting in the water till dark to cross the track but no, all we saw was the croc slides in the sand bank. So I took some pics of the sun setting
So we drove out along the coastal drive, it was dark by now to Banteng Plains (Banteng are an Indonesian Cattle breed that are endangered) to see if any banteng were around but no again. So turned around back to camp and all we saw was a wallaby that jumped out in front of the car and...a toad, and we did what any responsible Queenslander would do...we ran over the toad.
Monday was pack up day and on our way back by 9am and we got to Cahills Crossing just after 1pm and that was our wonderful week at the Cobourg Peninsula.
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