The Kowsas' Big Lap: Spring time and W.A.

Again, I can't believe it has been over a week and a half since I posted, but time is just flying by.

Our week in Darwin saw the usual attractions, with the first being Mindil Beach Markets. We enjoyed a great evening there with our newly acquired friends, the Kenagy family and Grandad and Shan. We browsed for hours, with the girls deliberating over what to spend their money on. Daddy enjoyed every minute of the window shopping! For dinner we enjoyed an Asian smorgasbord on the picnic rug, while listening to a fantastic musician.

Throughout the week we added a few more attractions to our list, with a dinner at the Stockes Wharf, an afternoon wandering through Darwin and a dip at the water precinct. Another top spot on our list was the free water park and man did we have some fun. Although the tube ride did have me a little on the green side!

Thursday we ventured off to Kakadu. First off, we had an easy drive to Corroboree where we set up camp for the night and headed off the next morning to do a cruise up the Mary River. This part of the river system claims to hold the largest number of crocodiles in the world, so a sighting was guaranteed. We meandered through the waterway, stopping in at various banks to delight in the enormous crocs. We also sighted our first Jabiru and many other water birds.

The next day we moved on to Merl Camping Ground and based ourselves in a lovely spot for the next two days. Imogen ran temps the night before, so we weren't sure how much she was going to be capable of, but after a big sleep in the car she sparked up enough to venture to the free afternoon aboriginal painting session at the camp ground. The girls both amazed us with their patience and interest over the few hours and both came away with a beautiful piece of art. We also were taught the art of making a brush out of grass and I must include that mine was better than Paddy's.

We then headed back in readiness for a look at the Ubirr rock art and lookout. It was a busy place late in the day and we enjoyed wandering around in amazement scanning the ancient artworks, One of which was of a Tasmanian Tiger, which leaves you only to imagine how different things would have looked so many thousands of years ago.

After our tour of Ubirr's art gallery, we then moved onto a slight climb and up to the lookout for sunset. Nobody had really raved about this place, so we had no preconceived ideas of what was to come, but when we reached the top Paddy and I looked at each other in disbelief. There was a 360 degree view to the surrounding wetlands and prime position for watching the sun depart for the day. We both strolled around to take in each direction's outlook, while the girls played with some of the children from the other families we had met. The sun then descended for the day in the most graceful and sacred of ways...and my heart was feeling full (deep breath Nat and make sure you remember you were here!).

Our first night at Merl was the warmest we had spent in the van so far. Unfortunately Libby woke the next morning with a large amount of bites, with over 24 on one of her legs. Saturday we readied ourselves for a big day, as we had heard about the open day in Arnhem Land. The annual Stone Country Festival was on so we headed for Cahills Crossing by late morning. We stopped first at the crossing and chatted to some people fishing and also apprehensively watched some very large crocs. After assessing the crossing and watching many other vehicles clear the pass without problems, we moved into Arnhem Land via the crossing.

We were all very excited to be entering this part of our country and the first glimpses of the landscape had us wanting more. Unfortunately our touring was over quickly though, as the festival destination was not that far in. The small aboriginal community was basic and as you would expect not so well kept, but it was great to see how they lived and we enjoyed seeing the local people in their own environment. The girls' first request was a face paint , which we did and then moved on to watch a bit of the Koori Footy. It was a pretty uncomfortable and hot day and the stroll down the street to the art gallery left us all quite hot and bothered, so lumping ourselves under a big shady tree with the older aboriginal ladies and their basket weaving looked inviting.

The girls once again were immersed in this activity and the time flew by quickly. Daddy's suggestion of an icy-pole was embraced and we pulled up stumps again to watch some more AFL indigenous style and also the 100metre sprint.

The day was just not seeming to cool off, so we decided to head home and try to escape the heat. The girls and I headed for the showers to cool off and Paddy headed back to Cahills Crossing to try some fishing and hopefully not get taken by one of the resident crocs. Unfortunately though he returned empty handed, but with a huge smile, a broken hook and a story of the one that got away! That night was incredibly hot, with the temp only cooling minimally during the night.

Sunday we made our way south through Kakadu, with a few stops along the way. Some more rock art, a cultural centre and some wet lands were seen, but the day grew so hot that we decided to ditch the last destination and drive on through to Katherine and the promise of some cooler temperatures.

The next few days were spent at Low Level Caravan Park with Grandad and Shan. We caught up on school work, washing and had the car serviced. We also popped down to the river for a paddle and to try for a fish. Our big excitement though was a cruise up the Katherine Gorge. Our two hour cruise took us through two gorges and gave us a beautiful view of this stunning place. The girls enjoyed the walks between the two gorges, seeing the freshwater crocs and also a lonely little bat hanging off a rock near ground level.

We left Katherine yesterday (Wednesday) and had a big drive of over 500kms which saw us change states once again and also pass through quarantine. Today we did some shopping after offloading all of our fruit and veggies before the border and then this afternoon headed north to Wyndham. First we headed up to the five rivers lookout, which is where you can view an amazing spectacle where five major rivers converge into one before they drive on out to the ocean. Then we had a bit of a tour around town, before heading back to finish the day back at the van.

Tomorrow we are off to enjoy a tour to Lake Argyle and then down the Ord River.