Another early rise, although the sun was actually up this time when we packed the car for our day trip to Jim Jim & Twin Falls. The 60km drive is along unsealed, corrugated road, but the last 10km is little more than a sandy dirt track which reduces the speed to around 10km/hr and the drive takes about 2 hours to complete, we are glad we left the trailer back at camp.
We cross the Jim Jim river, which at 60cm is our deepest water crossing so far – the Prado gobbles her up, heading for Twin Falls first as there is no swimming now (not since the German Tourist was taken & eaten by a Croc in 1992) and in the early morning it is still cool enough to walk without melting. The locals have insisted that no-one goes near the water now, so access is by boat across the first pool (where a Croc trap is cleverly positioned where the Creek mouth enters, a short walk around the edge of the second pool, then a floating walkway across the third pool (which is flown in by helicopter at the start of the dry season and removed the same way just before the wet- talk abut $$). You end up at the base of the falls and a large 4th pool (again no swimming) that looked soooo inviting but just wasn’t worth the risk. Everywhere are oval shaped Styrofoam floats, which are used to indicate Crocodile activity (apparently they can’t resist biting them, so the rangers use them to gauge Crocodile presence in the areas). We climbed up next to the nearest waterfall and let the spray cool us down. The only animal we saw here apart from overhead kites and a few small fish was a Queensland cane toad – thankfully dead but alarming all the same.
By lunchtime we had driven the 1.8km (30min drive mind you) back along the dirt & across the river to Jim Jim falls carpark. Then it was a 1km scramble through monsoon forest and over boulders to a deep plunge pool surrounded by spectacular 150m high cliffs. Unfortunately being the dry season the waterfall isn’t flowing but that didn’t stop us swimming in the freezing waters below the drop, or paddling around in the warmer pools still bathed in sunlight. Everywhere are signs saying, ”Estuarine crocodiles have been known to move into the Jim Jim Falls area, swim at own risk”.
We ate lunch on the beach, saw a guide pull a ‘file snake’ out of the water and saw yet another dreaded cane toad (also dead) before reluctantly heading back to the car and the dirt.
We drove straight through to Muirella Park, some 90km away to join an ‘after dark’ experience, a supposed 2hr night wildlife boat cruise. Muirella Park was first opened as an exclusive hunting camp for rich Americans keen to hunt buffalo, kangaroo & crocodile in the 1950’s. Operating until 1966 the area is now being run as the Kakadu culture camp by the original family who ran the shooting camp. Unfortunately our experience was not a pleasant one, we signed up for and I quote “Cruise Djarradjin Billabong while spotlighting for the myriad of Kakadu wildlife that comes alive after dark! Look for crocodiles, birds, snakes and even Barramundi fish in the shallows with our underwater spotlight!” Well it was 2 hours all right, but nothing like the brochure explained. The family insisted on bringing their approx. 7year old daughter with them, and what a precocious little madam she was, continually interrupting her mother who was giving the information up front and constantly running down the centre of the 20 seat boat back to daddy. They continually stopped to tell her to sit down, she ignored both. As for the wildlife, well we spotted about 5 birds fast asleep in the trees and that was about it. Mid-way through the tour we heard a crocodile snap his jaws and then a rush of water as he flew off the bank – our guide started the engines and high-tailed it outta there, saying it was too dangerous to stay!! We saw more animals in the first 5mins of the ‘yellow water’ cruise than we saw tonight and at $150/family we were not impressed. When we asked the woman why we hadn’t gone back to at least see the crocs eyes in the torchlight she exclaimed it was too dangerous and the children at the front (i.e. hers) were scared. We said it was very disappointing and I also said her child was very disruptive to the tour – well she let fly about how she was sick of hearing about Crocodiles, ‘this was a cultural & wildlife tour, not a Croc tour” (we thought Crocs were wildlife?), then she hurled abuse, whingeing how she lived in the middle of no-where and babysitters didn’t grow on tap, and then started on about how white people (balanda) think aboriginals can’t do anything… We walked away and drove off without replying, who can be bothered with people like that, however her family run affair will not get any praise from me.
On the drive back to camp we played ‘best & worst’, all agreeing the cruise was the worst, and probably that Twin Falls was the best, although being able to swim at Jim Jim was worthwhile. We arrived back at camp to find the air filled with the smoke of nearby ‘cool burns’ started by the locals to clear the country of top-heavy ground fuels, mighty close to camp though and I’m sure the asthma sufferers around us were not happy campers.
Gagudju Cooinda Lodge (Powered $40/night)
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