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After another brief stop in Katherine, we made our way towards Kakadu via Pine Creek, where we had lunch. Further along, The Mary River Roadhouse was closed due to a power failure so we pulled in to a campspot just inside Kakadu Park. Very basic but OK for the night. By dark there were probably six other vehicles that had joined us! Moved on next morning to Cooinda Caravan Park - highly recommend this one, beautiful shady sites and good amenities including two swimming pools and a nice restaurant. From this base we did a lot of our exploring, went out to Jim Jim Falls - not for the faint hearted, 150km round trip, all on dirt with the final 5kms in being at best a 4wd 'goat track'. Once at the carpark there was a 1km trek over huge rocks and boulders in order to get to the falls and pool. I think it was worth the effort and could be spectacular at other times but not a lot of water when we were there. By the time we got back to the van we were both ready for bed!!!
Next day we were booked on a cruise at Yellow Water, it was great and we saw lots of crocs and birdlife. Very pleasant and relaxing afternoon. We also checked out the local cultural centre which was extremely well done and very informative. During our explorations we had come across a good campspot not far from the caravan park and as we had only booked two nights at Cooinda, we upped stakes next morning and moved to Jim Jim Billabong. We had two more nights there while continuing our sight-seeing, checked out a few more of the local attractions but weather was very hot so we didn't do too much walking. Found a beautiful wetland area where we had a picnic lunch (and a snooze for John) then checked out another couple of places which didn't have a lot to offer.
Next destination was Jabiru, we didn't hang around long as we were heading for another campspot and had by this time learned from experience that the trick is to get in early THEN go and do the exploring. That afternoon we saw some fantastic rock art, probably some of the best anywhere and free entry. We had a pleasant climb around the rocks and got some terrific views out into Arnhem Land and towards the coast. Had a look at Cahill's Crossing which goes into Arnhem Land (special permit required), lots of people fishing here and lots of crocs as well!!
We had looked forward to relaxing by the fire during the evening but unfortunately the mozzies had other ideas!!!
Our time in Kakadu was done, there were a few other spots that we looked at on the drive back to the highway, perhaps we will check them out more fully on another trip. Meanwhile, it is 'forward ho' to Darwin....
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