Top End Loop Continued

I left you hanging for the rest of our Top End Loop story at our departure from Kakadu. So here goes.

After leaving Kakadu via the southern gate we continued down the Kakadu Highway to the Stuart Highway. The township of Pine Creek is situated where the two roads meet so we stopped there for lunch. This was the second time I had stopped at Pine Creek and wouldn’t be the last. After Pine Creek we continued south to Katherine where we did a quick food shop at the local Woolworths and then travelled a further 30kms to Nitmiluk National Park (also known as Katherine Gorge). Dad and Sue had booked accommodation in a ‘Chalet’. Nitmiluk doesn’t take bookings for camping so we just had to hope there was room. Thankfully there was plenty of room for camping. The powered site was a bit cramped so I opted for non-powered. The van is all set up for it and the batteries where fully charged so why not. This also meant I could get closer to Dad and Sue and the toilet block which is a necessity when you’re by yourself with young children.



Once Dad had helped me manoeuvre the van into my desired camping spot it was time for a quick dinner and early bed as we had an early start planned for the next day. Agile Wallabies were everywhere from dusk through to the next morning. They were a little cheeky however… one decided to have a nibble on a cardboard box under the van late in the evening. It took me forever to work out what the noise was. The first time I looked he was hiding under the van nibbling the other end of the box, but second time around, he was sprung and his fun was over. I had to keep reminding the kids not to feed the wallabies, unlike other campers nearby.

The next day I was up before sunrise, waking children gently and dressing them in preparation for our morning adventure. Two weeks prior I had decided to book the Breakfast Sunrise Gorge Cruise. My reasoning was that I only had to get the kids up and dressed by myself and not have to worry about feeding them before the event. It would also be the cooler part of the day and the kids would be distracted for some of the two hour tour with food. I was certainly right about the cooler part of the day. The kids and I dressed in long pants and jumpers. We had a great time travelling up the first two gorges by boat and enjoyed a yummy buffet breakfast during the first gorge. Thankfully it wasn’t crowded so that made it even better and our guide/boat driver had a fantastic laid-back manner and he even had a few funny jokes to throw into his presentation. There was even a film crew on board filming for a footy show, I think. I hope they don’t use any of the footage of me as I certainly didn’t have perfectly clean, blow-dried hair, or even brushed, thinking back on it. It was early.








After the cruise Dad, Sue and the kids walked back to the campground via the Nitmiluk Visitor Information Centre where they all looked through the outdoor and indoor displays. Maddi even made a new friend while there, also named Ella. Maddi quickly became attached at the hip to Big Ella and the other two just followed along. Big Ella was 8 year olds and thus why she was called Big Ella, so as not to be confused with our Ella. We did manage to pull Maddi away from her new friend under much protest in order to go and visit Springvale Homestead, on the other side of Katherine after a lazy morning in the campground pool. Springvale was the first station occupied in the Northern Territory.






Also, while at Nitmiluk we managed to conquer the short Baruwei Lookout Loop Walk and laze by the pool a little more. After three nights it was time to pack up and move onto our next destination, Batchelor (near Darwin).





Batchelor is like the gateway town to the Litchfield National Park. Dad and Sue stayed at the hippy-style Butterfly Farm, the kids and I set up at the Big 4 Caravan Park around the corner. Batchelor Big 4 Caravan Park is not your typical Big 4 caravan park. Yes it was clean, but there was definitely no jumping pillow. In fact it was very run down. The original park entrance had been moved down the road to the neighbouring property, the Batchelor Resort. I use the word resort very loosely here. They did have a pool, which was freezing and the sight of it was a little sore on the eyes. They did have Putt Putt Golf if you just wanted some plain concrete slabs with obstacles in them and pay a couple of dollars to hire clubs and balls. Sites where nicely spaced out and easy to get into, even numbered but that didn’t matter as the guy at reception told me to just take anyone I liked. It was all a little strange. They did have nice new-looking large ensuite sites over near some cabins which looked very flashy…. the rest was very sad.

Anyway, we weren’t in Batchelor to spend time at the caravan park but to explore nearby Litchfield National Park, which we did. We spent our valuable 1 and a half days seeing the interesting Magnetic Termite Mounds, swimming at the spectacular Florence Falls, lunching at the very popular Wangi Falls, taking photos at the spectacular Tolmer Falls and back for a swim at the beautiful Buley Rockpools before driving back to Darwin. Litchfield is a lovely National Park, handy to Darwin and even though I had been there twice before, I still feel there is a lot more to see. Next time I think I would like to get onto some of the 4WD tracks and overnight within the park itself.









Back to Darwin we went, back to our previous caravan park, Hidden Valley Tourist Park while Dad and Sue returned to the Novatel for a couple of nights before their flight home. We managed to visit Mindil Beach Markets for some delicious food and street performer entertainment. We also took Grandad and Sue to Leanyer Water Park, which the kids still thought was the best ever. This time, there were three adults to supervise the children, so Maddi got her wish to go on the water slides. She was a little tentative at first, but after one turn she was hooked. Of course, I was the chosen adult to go with her as she had to be escorted/supervised - park rules, not mine. Grandad obviously saw how much fun Maddi and I were having, so he decided to have a go. He conquered the blue slide, which was the gentlest of the three, and then decided to hang up his swimmers as the ride isn’t easy on the back. A rash top is definitely required.





After two weeks of fun with Grandad/Dad and Sue it was time to take them back to the airport for their flight back to cold Sydney. It was quite strange seeing them all dressed up in long pants and with warm jackets over their arms in anticipation of Sydney’s chilly reception. It made me very glad to be staying in the sun, but feeling a little lonely… I had 10 nights to wait until Tig’s return.

Till next time…
Thea