Our first stop in Kakadu was the Mary River Roadhouse. We had left Katherine and turned onto the Kakadu Highway at Pine Creek earlier in the day and had a fairly easy run into our first Kakadu camp site. Mary River Roadhouse as its name suggests has the usual fuel, take away and tourist info. It also sells your Kakadu park pass. $25 each for a two week pass and kids under 16 are free. Seems alright to us as there is a fair bit in the park to enjoy, and if you had the time two weeks would be easily used up seeing it all, if you could! The caravan park has plenty of room and good clean basic amenities. With plenty of time left in the day we headed off to Gunlom falls, only about 50km from where we were with about 35km of it on a fairly rough dirt road. Though fine for us without the van on.

Gunlom was well worth the rough road in! An amazingly clear, very cold, freshwater swimming hole, with a huge vertical waterfall and still a fair amount of the wet season running over its crest. We walked in with our newly purchased pool noodles tucked under our arm and enjoyed a very refreshing swim. It took a bit to convince Chelsea and Kylz to join Charli and me in the water as it really was freezing!! There is a walk that takes you to the top of the falls and would give you a spectacular view upon reaching the top. However for us it was one hill too far, as we had all had a big enough day, so decided to leave it for another time. So after a quick look around the camp ground we piled into the car for the bumpy ride home.

The next day we were packed up and on the road early considering we only had about 100km to cover to reach our next stop. There are quite a few free and cheaper camp spots available however Cooinda Tourist Park is centrally located in Kakadu and offers many features for all tourists and travellers. Situated within walking distance of Yellow Waters, one of Kakadu's most famous water ways it is a very popular destination for anyone heading into Kakadu to holiday with good fishing on hand as well.

Our girls were very happy to find that the resort had a pool and plenty of other young kids to play with, courtesy of the NT school holidays being in full swing. We spent a day getting ourselves settled in and a plan together on which sights we would be best suited to seeing. So with this in mind we decided on an early start the next day and a trip out to Jim Jim and Twin Falls. Being about 50km away an early start got us out there before the sun got high in the sky. Although not being summer you can believe me when I say it was still pretty warm during the middle of the day!

After another pretty rough road in and then a slow and windy last 10km we were met with a pretty slow last 1km walk over large boulders into Jim Jim falls. Once again though it was worth it!! Being able to take a dip in the, also freezing, water was just reward for the effort of the walk/climb/crawl in! The huge almost vertical cliffs ensure that the pool below receives only a limited amount of sunlight each day, and that combined with the still flowing waterfall and depth of the pool ensures another very refreshing (chilly!) swim or paddle. Charli and I once again led the way and paddled a good way over towards the bottom of the waterfall. The churning white-water and seemingly bottomless depth saw me tow Charli back and towards the gentle and much safer, almost white sand of the beach like shore. We had a good time swimming in and around the huge rocks in the cold water and were all glad we had made the walk in. Well maybe there was a bit of complaining on the way out!?

A lot of work is done by parks and rangers at the end of the wet season to ensure, the best they can, that these awesome falls and many more are free and safe from the ever present threat of the salt water crocodile. Plenty of surveying and trapping is carried out and signs are erected at every waterhole and crossing before any place is given the "open for swimming" sign. While all efforts are taken very seriously no doubt, at the end of the day we are all responsible for our own safety when in and around crocodile territory. Having been around and seen a fair bit of that territory before I tend to always err on the side of caution, and hope that a large amount of that attitude is rubbing off on the girls as we see more and more of the NT.

Leaving Jim Jim falls it is only about a 1/2hour drive around to Twin falls. It does have one water crossing and was a source of some laughter for us as we witnessed a couple of different techniques used for crossing this water way. Now it was only gentle flowing with a max depth of 700mm. Hardly dangerous, but watching one lad hit it at fairly high speed and push water up over his bonnet and half way up his windscreen, only to konk out about 2m from the end, then cough and splutter up out the bank then to open the door and spill out the water his car had inhaled was a lesson on how not to do it! The spray he then gave his poor missus really sealed his title as "dickhead of the day".

Our crossing and drive in was not quite as eventful but still enjoyable. Twin falls provides a couple of long walks that take you out to the top of the falls as well as a boat ride that drops you off only a short walk from the base of the falls. After the long walk into Jim Jim, we chose the boat ride and were glad we did. A very helpful and knowledgeable crew cruise you up the river while pointing out a few features along the way. The walk in is pretty easy and ends with some pontoon style walkways with refreshing showers that can be hand pumped for a bit of a cool off. Charli could not get enough of these either. Chelsea took a bit of convincing though and really gave me a big spray when I caught her out under one when she was not ready!? These are here no-doubt due to the fact that there is no swimming in the Twin falls pools. There was a couple of freshies about and the girls managed to spot one on the boat ride back.

Now constantly travelling to new places and packing and unpacking as well as hitching and unhitching caravans, navigating before unseen roadways, not to mention keeping a sharp eye on the movements of two young children is not a task that always runs as smooth as a maroons origin campaign!? We have had our share of "WTF", "did you check that?", "was that our turn?", "I thought you did that!?" and the important one when dealing with young kids, "what do you mean we are out of beer!?" Not to say it has been at all bad, but we could nearly right a chapter of this little tale on the things we may have gotten wrong or would do a bit differently given our time again. Then there are those moments where all forms of experience, common sense and good planning are bought undone by some cataclysmic brain explosion. I can report that we have both experienced this phenomenon, and it has provided us with mainly a good laugh and shake of the head with only a couple of high potentials. Kylz dropped cake and our little slide in the wet back in Lismore are two examples that spring to mind.

I only go down this road as we both have no idea how we managed to have one of those moments in the Twin falls car park! With us all laughing and carrying on we arrived back at the car and packed up and settled the kids into the car and got ready to head back home after a very big, but exiting day. What happened next had to be seen to be believed. After moving only about 1m I had managed to run clean over the top of a rock about the size of two large 4WD tyres!!? Not only that I had managed to slide the LH side of the axle over it and drop the weight of the whole front end onto the steering arm behind the diff. Now this all happened in the blink of an eye and left Kylz and I sitting there looking at each other wondering WTF had just happened. After a bit of effort getting the rock, which was now stuck under the car, back out we were still speechless as to explain how it happened. We had both been walking around it to pack the car and I had reversed in around the rock to park the car. With damage limited to a bent steering arm we headed back home, a fair bit of it in silence as I was very dirty on myself! Especially after looking down my nose at "old mate" and his water crossing effort earlier in the day!!

After recovering from the disgust at myself, somewhere on the trip home, we both agreed that we had to be pretty careful this year with all things, as one major incident could really bring us undone for the year. With a new arm ordered and organised to meet us in Darwin we were ready to continue our Kakadu experience.

Back at Cooinda we enjoyed a short walk (ride for Charli) up to the Aboriginal Cultural centre, at the entrance to the park. Now I won't explain it all as I would do a s***ty job and it would take forever!? Needless to say it tells the tale of Kakadu and its settlement, history and current management, from the local Aboriginal tribe's perspective. A lot of traditions and ways of life for them prior to settlement are also explained. It is very well done with lots of video and photos for all of us who hate reading.

We had also booked ourselves onto a dawn breakfast cruise out on Yellow Waters as one of our last things to do while camped at Cooinda. There are a great many number of tours available and all can be easily booked right at the reception of the resort. With the tour boats leaving at 6am we were up and covered in aerogaurd and on the transfer bus by 5:30am! The aerogaurd is a definite necessity as the little "bities" nearly carry you away from the boat ramp until the sun gets up a bit and chases them off! With three boats holding about 50 or 60 people each, lined up to hop aboard, the smell of every sort of mozzie repellent available hung in an almost visible cloud around our boat.

Our cruise took us out into Yellow Waters, a flood plain made up of the upper reaches of the South Alligator River and Jim Jim creek junction. Animals abound in this area and it is truly a dream come true for bird watchers. Having two girls with a serious Bindi Erwin addiction feathers weren't going to cut the mustard this morning! However our first sighting of the biggest resident croc had their eyes lit up and as big as dinner plates!! About 4.5m, he was cool to watch as he just drifted past within about 1m of the boat. The guide/boat captain was a funny b***** and kept the whole morning moving at a good pace for all to enjoy. Brumbies and all sorts of fish were also sighted as well as the "Paris Hilton" bird. Apparently it enjoys being perched low on a branch so it can enjoy looking at its own reflection in the water all day!!? True!!

After a couple of hours scoping out crocs and even colouring in for the girls (one other mum bought paper and pencils for her kids, good tip to remember for us!) we were back at the resort and tucking into a welcome buffet brekkie. (My personal highlight of the tour!!?) The girls were excited to see that the eggs and hash browns just kept on coming. Their eyes lit up when one of the blokes on the tour with us handed over his huge muffins for them as they had been eyeing them off pretty hard since he sat down?! It only lasted until they took a bite and realised they had fruit in them, than it was back to the hash browns!

At our base in Cooinda we had met and shared a few tales with our new neighbours, Andrew and Janine from SA. Over a few drinks at happy hour we picked each other's brains on many things about travelling, fishing and raising kids. With Andrew being an Abalone diver and full of cool stories of fishing in the wild waters of SA, and all of us enjoying an ale or two, our happy hours became a pretty regular and sometimes lengthy, occasion! With a few things in common, and as we seemed to be headed in the same direction, we both left Cooinda on the same day and headed north through Kakadu to Jabiru. After a quick stop for a fresh loaf of bread, and a disappointing meat pie, (still can't beat Walkerston Bakery curry pie) we headed out to Merl campground near the well known Cahills Crossing on the border of Arnhem Land.

Now here was a more basic campground but still with hot showers and toilets with even an area for generator camping as there is no power there. It was the use of my generator that gave us all a bit of a laugh one afternoon as we sat around enjoying a relaxing yarn and drink or two. Andrew had had some trouble with his caravan batteries and after sorting it out a bit we needed to add a bit of charge as the shade had reduced his solar output. Being about 1pm in the arvo we fired up the 3Kva "Chonda" and added some charge. Now after shutting it down for a few hours while we set off to see some sights we decided another hour in the arvo would see them through for the night. As it was about 4pm we settled on the plan to run it for only one hour and switch it off at 5pm. Sounds fair to me, it runs pretty quiet at the best of times and our nearest neighbour were 50m away. However, one old bloke (there's always one in a crowd) took it upon himself to act as the "generator police" and strolled over to promptly start delivering us a sermon on the use of generators! Well "captain camper" was met with a few dismayed looks and plenty of laughter and told in pretty short shift what was going on and why and where he could b***** off to if he did not like it! Common sense would dictate even if you did not like it you don't just stroll into someone's camp and start laying down the law! A bit more tactful approach and he would have been more then welcome to have a beer with us for the small inconvenience we were seemingly causing his delicate eco friendly stay!!

Enough of that though, we were in one of the top ends most Barra rich areas and both Andrew and I were keen to get amongst them. Well after spending our first arvo watching the tide cross the crossing and about 6 good sized "Geckos" swimming about catching large mullet and barra we definitely knew we were in the right place. Amazing to see the water build on the downstream side and the crocs resting calmly on the banks or lazily in the shallow edges, then at the moment the water starts to rush over the crossing the crocs come alive as the fish start to really move! Then as quick as it comes the water seems to almost rest for a second before rushing back out to sea. The tides up there are truly amazing! It is a popular spot and there a many tourists and travellers at the few viewing points. A large car park and short walk to the Border store add to its popularity. It is also only a short walk from our campground at Merl.

Andrew and I spent a couple of arvos at the river giving it our all to hook a barra or two. We saw a few little ones caught and released but nothing of any size and nothing for either of us. Oh well maybe next time. It was a top spot to camp if you are prepared for non powered camping for a few days. Being only 40km north of Jabiru it is only a short drive for supplies or a very comfortable stay in the Jabiru Caravan Park which gets a very good rap from all we have spoke to about it. Mozzie spray is essential as the b******s are like ticks on a dog come sun down!! We heard of a few people being chased away due to them. Andrew's technique of taking moretein to the toilet and a mozzie coil to the shower with him was a new one on us though! Apparently Janine reckons it is my fault he is now addicted to mozzie coils anyway. I love the b*****s! With plenty of Bushmen and keeping the doors shut we had no real drama with the bugs or mozzies.

The girls all enjoyed a morning of bracelet making and weaving while there. The local rangers organise it and it was run by a couple of local Aboriginal ladies. The little girls took it on really easily and were right into stripping and colouring the prickly pandanas leaves. Janine and Kylz also managed to weave a pretty mean bracelet and it kept them busy for two hours while Andrew and I played batteries and generators!

A short drive to Ubirr takes you to an area rich in Aboriginal culture. A walk through sees you past many ancient paintings and areas of significance to the local Aboriginals. The highlight of the walk for us was the magnificent view of the Arnhem Land flood plains. As you climb the rocks to reach the plateau at the top, the view just seems to grow out from under you! From the 360 degree outlook you can see vast East Alligator flood plains and around to the rocky outcrops that you drive through to reach this place. Truly a highlight, as far as awesome landscape views are concerned!!

Now having no accommodation booked for us on this trip at all we spoke to Janine about the best places to stay in Darwin. No use asking Andrew, Janine is the organiser for their trips!! So with this in mind we both were packed up and ready to head into Darwin. Sounds simple, but with the Darwin Cup and Darwin show both on the same week we were to arrive, it turned out to be harder than first thought.