It's been another great couple of weeks and we've now made it safely back into Darwin (after rolling the croc dice a couple of times!).

Day 73 and 74 were spent at Corroboree Billabong about and hour and a half SE of Darwin. Mark had been here before with Corey, Kristy, Nev and Terese - but his visit this time was somewhat different (less booze for starters). We arrived on the afternoon of Day 73 and enjoyed a free camp (yay), - just us and a few trillion mozzies! We ate dinner early and retreated to the safety of the camper for books before bed. Unfortunately the early to bed was a bit much for the kids, and after much wrestling and mucking around, Tess' knee connected with Max's mouth - and nearly knocked his other front tooth right out (lots of blood but tooth still in his head!). Day 74 saw us out on Corroboree Billabong (part of the Mary River system) where we hired a party boat (pontoon - see pic). It cost us $150 for four hours, but we were safe from crocs, Tess could run around on it, we were able to fish, and we had a BBQ on board so enjoyed hamburgers for lunch ! We had a rippa afternoon - even with only one Barra caught (Mark got it three minutes after setting out).

Day 75 saw us arrive up on the Cobourg Peninsula (Arnhem Land) at Wiligi Outstation. Thanks to Chan, we got permits to head up there for three nights, and it has been our second favourite spot of the trip (behind The Gibb River Rd). We arrived late afternoon having had to wait until 1pm to cross the East Alligator River at low tide (see pics). The only negative of our visit to Cobourg was the first 10 mins, in which Tess got bitten on the face by the owners dog (it's name was Bullet!!). We doubt the dog had been vaccinated recently,but an alcohol swab and betadine for the next three days seems to have done the trick at holding off infection. Our days at Cobourg were fabulous - we were right on the ocean and had the place to ourselves (some fellas were camped up the top near the homestead and we only saw them once a day at the boat ramp). Max caught himself a Rock Cod from out the front of camp the afternoon we arrived - and boy was he proud of himself (see pic). Day 76 started with much excitement as Max woke to find his front tooth missing (the one Tess put her knee into) - turns out it fell out in the night and was under his sleeping bag (it was very quickly put in a cup of water to await the Tooth Fairy). The kids went for a wander with Mark mid morning and returned with a Mud Crab in hand which they cooked up for lunch. We put the boat in after lunch and had a ball. We started out by cruising over to the island a couple of kms off shore - we called it "Bramley Island" after Chan, Dave and the boys (the Bramleys). It was a bit choppy on the way over so we decided against stopping there for a picnic, and about 2 mins after we turned back, we had a pod of six dolphins swim right up to us. We shut off the motor and watched them come right up to us - the kids thought it was brilliant (I thought they were sharks initially !!). We got back in closer to camp and threw the anchor over for a fish - Mark had a little Flag (Stripy Snapper) within a couple of minutes. He had no idea what it was of course, but Max (who spends many hours reading his Fish Finder magazine) knew exactly what it was! We went on to catch another Flag, 8 Trevally, a Baracoota and a Blue Bone. We moved spots 4 or 5 times over the course of our 2 hrs and we had a great time. The day finished with more excitement - Max lost his bottom tooth (it had been loose for weeks) - so he headed off to bed with two teeth in the cup awaiting the Tooth Fairy! We went back out again the following day (Day 77) and caught another 15 or so fish - Flag, plenty more Trevally and a Flathead this time too. At one point Mark, Tess and Max each had a Trevally on and pulled them all in at once - with tangled lines and screams of laughter (see pic). We were sad to leave Cobourg on Day 78, but had a great hour long stop at the East Alligator River again before we crossed back - the water was high and rushing across, so we waited with 10 or so other vehicles for the tide to turn. There were Barra and Mullet jumping, crocs cruising the river and a few people trying their luck at fishing (one fella caught a couple of barra). Mark was delighted to run into an old mate, Carney Ganley there at the crossing - Mark used to tour guide with Carney in Alice. Turns out they'd been up to Cobourg on the National Park side with his family. We are planning to catch up with them later this week in Katherine where they are now living. We arrived at the Jabiru Caravan Park that afternoon to do a couple of much needed loads of washing, and the kids had some fun cutting laps on their pushbikes. We finished off the night with an outdoor movie (The Man From Snowy River - so cool !) by the pool and FREE Popcorn! The kids were in heaven.

Day 79 saw us embark on Kakadu - with our first stop Jim Jim Fallls. The 50km drive down there was slow - lots of corrugations and plenty of dust. It was a 45 mins walk into Jim Jim Falls and it was great to be out stretching the legs again. We got some great photos (see pic), before trecking back out again. It took us 45 mins to get in there but less than 30mins to get out with Tess being piggy backed again! We had a lovely camp at Garnamarr Campground and left the camper there the following morning (Day 80) as we headed for Twin Falls. We had a 50 min drive to Twin Falls (which had only been opened the day before - good timing!), before crossing the Jim Jim Creek. The creek was still up a bit, which filled the Hilux up with water inside, so the afternoon saw Mark pulling the interior out of the car to try and dry out the underlay !! After driving in, we enjoyed a 10 min boat ride around to the Falls. Another fun clamber over rocks etc before coming to the magnificent Twin Falls (and plenty of tourists). We made it back to camp and hit the road headed for Yellow Water - it was only opened up last week so good timing again. It was late arvo before we got there so did a recce before setting up camp at Mardugal Campground. Day 81 began pretty slow - pancakes for breakfast and a birthday call to Trin. We made it over to Yellow Water by mid morning and were busy getting the boat ready to put in when a Ranger pulled up. He got out of his Landcruiser and walked over to us and laughed! He said "geez you're game - not much free-board on that". Meaning - you fools - that boat's too small to put in that water !!! Mark and I both got a little nervous - yet everyone we'd spoken to previously had said we'd be fine. Mmmmmm - we decided we'd try our luck but not push it. We lasted about 50mins and I pulled the pin. There was a point in the river where it just got too narrow for my liking and we were too close to the edge (where the crocs were all hanging out - we saw about 15 - two of which were much much bigger than us). So although we didn't catch a Barra, a Croc didn't catch us - so I reckon we did pretty damn well ! Next time we visit we'll be in a bigger boat - prefereably one that's bigger than the crocs. We were awoken bright and early on the morning of Day 82 by some very considerate (not!) backpackers at 6am. Suited us ok as we were headed for Gunlom Falls - we were on the road by 745am and at the carpark at Gunlom Falls by 930am. The walk up was steep and rocky but the kids were fine. We made it to the rock pools at the top and they were into their togs in a flash (see pics). It was gorgeous up there but far too nippy for me to venture in. We walked back down and checked it out from the pool below before jumping back in the car to head towards Darwin. We stopped at Pine Creek for lunch before finding a great bush camp (another gravel pit - but with a burnt out car this time!) on a back road near Lake Bennett.

Day 83 saw us return to Darwin before Mark's next appt. We had a special treat at lunchtime - Chan took the kids for an hour while Mark and I went out for lunch ! Yay !! It was a nice break for us and for the kids too - as Tess says "it will be nice to not hear you yapping at us". We left Chan and headed back to Leanyer Water Park (see pics) for a couple of hours of fun before the horrid task of grocery shopping for our next fortnight out bush. We had a fabulous last night with The Bramley's - a roast for tea and Golden Syrup Dumplings for sweets (thanks for the recipe Mumma - they were great). We have been so spoilt by having The Bramley's host us each time we returned to Darwin - thanks guys !

The car and camper are holding up as well as can be expected, although the road to Cobourg and into Kakadu have given it a further beating that it probably didn't need. The bracket on the fuel filler snapped on the way up to Cobourg so is now being held together with cable ties, and one of the driving lights has shaken loose so Pa is sending a tool to fix that from home (express post to Darwin). We lost the front number plate somewhere towards the end of The Gibb River Rd, so we're starting to look as though we've been out and about now. The tyres are getting chewed up from the rocks and corrugations but are holding up well - 16,000 kms down with another 6,000 or so to go !

Next update will be from Cairns - the kids are really looking forward to seeing Shell, Tony, Jaida and Ruben at Cairns Coconut Resort !