We decided overnight that we’d move again today, gypsy style, not really sure where we’d end up. Pack up and brekky was completed without fuss and we were outta Cooinda by 8am.
First port of call was a 1.6km walk up the side of a mountain to get to Mirrai Lookout. This wasn’t far from Cooinda and as it was early in the morning I figured that we’d get away without taking anything but ourselves. Wrong. Water was already going to be a necessity and at the halfway mark everybody was struggling.
We all made it to the top though. Although I think I may have nearly killed them all dragging them up here.
Poor tired souls
Kels phone actually had service up here. Just about the only place since Katherine that Optus has any presence at all. They are completely useless up here. Nonetheless we took the opportunity to have a chat with Nan & Pa over Skype while we could. Got to show Nan just how rough some of the tracks are first hand too. All very cool from the middle of nowhere.
The views are magnificent.
Next stop was Nourlangie Rock, where there is a huge collection of Aboriginal rock art to see.
It was getting on towards lunchtime now and we were close to Jabiru, the main town of Kakadu. The bakery there had some yummy things to try including Crocodile pies. We didn’t hang around too long in Jabiru, as its more of a service town than tourist town … just not much to see. Being lunchtime, we figured that we’d keep on going and see what we’d find.
Just after leaving Jabiru, the park in Darwin called to confirm the booking and we took the opportunity to book in for another night as well … tonight.
There’s not a lot to see on the Arnhem Highway. We did stop at the Mamukala wetlands though.
They go on forever. Plenty of birdlife to see here too.
Magpie Geese
Egret
There’s a military range off to the left of the road for about 40km with signs all along the fence every 100m. I guess that crossing over the fence may be a bad idea.
We pulled in at the Corroborree pub for a beer along the way. The drive was getting tedious and we all needed a break.
We couldn’t stay there for long though as a small bushfire was closing in on the pub (and service station).
With no further interruptions we arrived in Darwin. We’re here for a few days with plenty of work to catch up on!
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