We were starting to worry that Kakadu wasn’t really doing it for us, but that was before we made the 60km 4WD trip down to Jim Jim Falls and Twin Falls. There is no direct access to Twin Falls and whilst in the old days you used to be able to swim the couple of hundred meters down the gorge,
today you have to take a boat shuttle.
Our boat driver said that the last saltwater crocodile sighted in the gorge was a few days ago, so the ban on swimming seems like a wise move (and just in case you were tempted to take a dip in the plunge pool, a crocodile trap is there to remind you of the danger).
Flowing all year round, there wasn’t a huge amount of water coming over Twin Falls,
but it was more than the trickle that was descending over Jim Jim Falls. The advantage Jim Jim has over Twin Falls is that you can swim in the plunge pool, which was about time as having all this water surrounding you but not being able to go in it was becoming a bit of a tease (especially given how hot it’s been the last few days).
It was so refreshing to dive into the cold water, and took us back to our time on the Gibb River Road.
Before our journey south we visited Nourangie Rock, the second main concentration of Aboriginal art in Kakadu that is open to the public.
The area is an ancient Aboriginal shelter and has examples of all the local art forms, including a funky dancing scene
and the not so fun looking Nabulwinjbulwini, a dangerous spirit who eats females after striking them with a yam (beware the yam).
Luckily the mosquito count has reduced to manageable levels as we’re now away from the wetlands, although we’ve probably imported some to Jim Jim Falls as we spent the drive down gradually removing them from the Land Rover, dead or alive. There must have been a couple of dozen that had sought shelter in the vehicle and I proved to be the tastier of the two of us, catching five in the process of having a good drink. We had at least a hundred resting on the outside of our mesh doors and windows on the tent this morning all waiting for their chance of a feed when we exited, which isn’t something you want to see first thing. I wouldn’t recommend Merl campsite unless you’re fortunate enough to be unappetising to mosquitoes. SPOT
The most common language we’ve heard since we started travelling in Australia, other than English, is French. Not that this is a bad thing, just an observation.
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