TK Adventures – March 2021.  

Part 3 – Alice Springs to Darwin

Our convoy was up earlier and on the road by 7.30am heading north east to Bark Hut Caravan Park, located on the Arnhem Highway. This would be our camp for the next two days as we explored Kakadu National Park and its surrounds.

On the way, we stopped in at Adelaide River Cruises for a Croc Jumping Tour. This cruise would have to be the best crocodile sightseeing and feeding cruise that I have ever been on. As soon as we boarded the sturdy, well designed aluminium boat, crocodiles came from everywhere!

Our guide, Harry, who incidentally has been doing these cruises for some 30 years now, has names for all the crocs along the river. Brutus, Missy, The Dominator, just to name a few. His respect for the prehistoric looking creatures was great. Whilst our safety was paramount, this didn’t stop the adrenaline rushing through my body as we got within centimetres of these humongous beasts as they leapt out of the water to rip raw meat off the feeding pole that Harry had arranged.

Did you know that salt water crocodiles also live in freshwater! They are called ‘salty’s’ because they excrete salt from under their armpits.

Bark Hut Inn Caravan Park is 100 kms from Darwin and a great place to wind down the props for a few days as you explore the world heritage listed Kakadu National Park and the township of Jabiru.

The Park has plenty of fresh water and powered camp sites as well as a combination of cabins to suit all budgets. The best feature of Bark Hut Inn is the great ‘country style’ pub and beer garden area. The beer was cold and the steaks were tender. The pool was also an inviting place to relax during the midday heat, even though it was the middle of July when we were there. They even have a couple of pet buffalos and emu that you can hand feed!

I have travelled the length and breadth of Australia but never been to Kakadu National Park, until now. As we drove in, the enormous rock facade of Nourlangie greeted us. I felt like a kid heading to the world’s best amusement park, the anticipation of what we were about to experience was truly awe inspiring.

Our guide and Park Ranger, Christian, was clearly passionate about his job. As he took us on one of the many walking trails and explained the main rock art galleries are at Ubirr and Nourlangie, for naturalistic paintings of animals, traditional x-ray art, and paintings of early contact with European people which have all been meticulously preserved for all to enjoy.

Kakadu’s rock art is world class – it’s one of the reasons for their World Heritage status. The paintings provide a fascinating record of Aboriginal life over thousands of years. With paintings up to 20,000 years old, this is one of the longest historical records of any group of people in the world

As the sun made its way across the outback sky, the colours of Kakadu took my breath away. I wish I could describe it to you exactly how picturesque it was but I know I wouldn’t be doing it justice. If you haven’t experienced this part of Australia for yourself, make sure you put this beauty on your bucket list! The indigenous stories and sheer magnitude of Kakadu is something I would never forget.

After our flying visit to this region we were once again, packed up and back on the road, this time heading to Darwin Free Spirit Resort.

Our hosts, husband and wife duo, Alistair and Danella and their staff, made us feel so welcome from the moment we pulled in. The Resort is set on 26 acres, with 300 powered sites, over 100 cabins, camping sites, 3 pools, an awesome restaurant serving up fabulous fare and a licensed bar to wet your whistle. It’s no wonder some caravanners have been coming back here year after year, some have been doing so for the last 20 years.

Alistair gave us a list as long as your arm, of things to do and see whilst we were in Darwin. Sitting at the top of the list was Turtle Track Tours.

We boarded the Turtle Tracks Tour boat around 4pm from Stokes Hill Wharf and powered along for the half hour journey to Baresand Island. As we came into the shore, our guide, Sam, warned us not to walk too closely to the waters edge as there were a couple of large crocs seen hanging around the area in recent days! We had lost sight of the mainland and our only reference to direction was the magnificent sunset we were about the witness.

Sam told us about the researches who were currently staying on the island conducting in depth studies into the turtle habitat. We also got to hold some baby turtles which were only a couple of days old, this was truly amazing and something I have never done before. As night fell, the sky turned an inky black and billions of stars came out on cue.

Kakadu

Kakadu Rock-Art

Turtle Island

Go-Kart Racing

Bark Hut

Baresand Island

Reel Screaming Fishing

Hidden Valley Drag Racing

Croc Jumping Tours-1

Croc Jumping Tours-2

The excitement was building as we made our way along the beach to where some female turtles had made the 100 meter or so trek from the ocean to the sand dunes to where they would fastidiously prepare their nest. I felt as though I’d stepped straight into a David Attenborough film shoot. To be literally inches away from a wild flatback turtle as she strategically dug deep into the sand building a nest for her precious cargo to incubate over the next fifty days, this was a once in a lifetime opportunity for all of us. She laid her eggs with precision and then just as carefully covered them up with what seemed like a ton of sand, ensuring they would be given the best protection from any prospective predators until they were ready to hatch and begin their life’s journey.

As we boarded our boat to head back to Darwin Harbour the obvious lack of land lights had me feeling like I was in an imax theatre. I was completely surrounded by stars twinkling out of a jet black sky, it was really quite eerie and magical at the same time.

Next morning, I was up early and excited about what our Producer, Tom, had installed for us today. We were heading to Hidden Valley Motorsports Complex where I would have the chance to put a real racing Go-Kart through its paces. Not many people know that I am passionate about driving, particularly precision driving and all that it involves. Maybe I get it from when I was a kid growing up around my Dad’s Jet Truck, Waltzing Matilda, or simply the respect I have for high powered vehicles and the absolute rush you get from being behind the wheel of one. Either way, I was going to let my hair down and really enjoy the experience.

It had been only a couple of months since I last went go kart racing however, this was indoors with heavily governed karts. Today however, was serious stuff! After pulling on a full body race suit, helmet and gloves, I slid into a very sexy go-kart which I was told to could reach speeds of around 110kms per hour! Now that’s pretty fast considering your backside is only a couple of inches from the racetrack tarmac.

I felt my heart rate increase as I started up the engine and made my way to the track. The first couple of laps were to orientate myself with the layout of the track and once that was established, I put the pedal to the metal and was away. With the theme song to Days of Thunder pumping through my head, I was unstoppable!

Now, I know very well, those folks of you reading this will be thinking, what I am describing here and what it actually looked like when this segment went to air on the telly, was the absolute opposite. You’ll probably have a chuckle to yourself as it looked as though I was going at a snail’s pace however, for me, it was like I had morphed into Craig Lowndes, there was no holding back.

I reckon to experience Go-Kart racing like this, it is up there with one of the greatest adrenaline rushes I have ever had, I hope to get back there one day and do it all again.

After my heart rate returned to ‘normal’ and I settled back into reality, we took a short drive to Hidden Valley Drag Racing track, where hundreds of people were gathered for the night Drags.

This action packed sport is definitely not for the faint hearted. Like bull riding, I reckon you have to be a little crazy to do this but I can also see how it could become totally addictive.

The top end was set to rumble with Top Fuel Dragsters, Top Fuel Doorslammers, Top Fuel Motorcycles all traveling at breakneck speeds.The scream of the vehicles and smell of burning rubber was fabulous.

If you ever find yourself in the Territory around the Darwin area make sure you visit Hidden Valley Race Track Drags, it’s fantastic!

Next day we were off to catch a Barramundi. Now this is something I have always dreamed of doing. I was feeling very positive today as our tour would be with Reel Screaming Barramundi Fishing Charters, with a name like that we were bound to get lucky and catch a big one, a good start I thought!

Owner/Operators Jarrod and Ursula picked us up from the Park at around 5.00am and we backtracked to Shady Camp near Bark Hut Inn. At sunrise the boat was launched and we we’re all as keen to be the first to land a big one.

Cruising up the river to Jarrods ‘secret’ fishing spot, the air was crisp and cool. There were plenty of big old crocs on the banks sunning themselves, along with an array of bird life. Everything from brolgas and jabirus to the Burdekin shell ducks to white breasted Eagles, quite stunning!

Not long after we dropped anchor, bang, I was on! Reeling in my very first Barra was exciting stuff. Although, just as Jarrod was about to slip the net under my catch, my big barra propelled himself into the air, did a backflip and released himself from hook! Bugger, here’s another story about the one that got away.

We continued fishing for a couple of hours, however, it was one of my last casts of the day that will be lodged in my memory bank. I was a bit too enthusiastic and leant over the back of the boat a little too far, as what seemed to be in slow motion, I watched fly off in front of me. Darm, I really liked those sunnie! Oh well, just a little footnote, if anyone does catch a Barra near Shady Creek in the Territory and the Barra happens to be wearing a pair of Maui Jims, could you send them back to me please, oh, you can keep the fish though…lol.

That night back at the Free Spirit Resort in Darwin, we all enjoyed a well earned meal and a few cold beverages as we reminisced about our NT adventure all of which was made possible thanks to our good mates at New Age Caravans and Tourism NT.

As I think about all of the miles we travelled during the last two weeks combined with the great people we met, the amazingly stunning destinations the NT has to offer, I just have one thing so say before I sign off here – pack your swag, hitch up your van or camper trailer and hit the road mate. Like they say, you’ll never ever know, if you never ever go….

Happy Travels, love Tania xx