JASPER GORGE, BUCHANAN HIGHWAY – FLORA RIVER NATIONAL PARK
I am writing this listening to the very loud roar of the water nearby and the whistling sound of what I think is a kite even though it is late at night.
After exiting Humbert Station yesterday we followed the road to Buchanan Highway.
Although it was a dirt road it was a good road.
We found a beautiful campsite at a section of the road where it goes through Jasper Gorge.
It was a beautiful setting. Although the road was just above it, you couldn’t see it from the campsite and there was hardly any traffic along it.
In the morning the birds woke us.
We travelled along the Majestic Jasper Gorge.
It looked just so grand.
We decided to go back to Timber Creek to buy a book for one of our sons and a present for the grand children. So at the intersection of Buchanan Highway and Victoria Highway we backtracked to Timber Creek to find the shop was closed. We had lost sight of what day of the week it was. It is Sunday and everything is closed. So we turned back and headed towards Katherine.
It never ceases to amaze me how different a road can look from each direction.
We see the mighty Victoria River for the last time as we go further east. Australia is an amazing country. Here in the north there is so much water but the land is so infertile. A very harsh and hard but beautiful environment in this corner of the country.
Mustering is well on the way here. We saw cattle in yards yesterday. Today we saw the stockmen on horses moving a herd.
We decided to go to Flora River National Park and we are so glad that we did come here. The road here was fabulous. It was like a highway even though it was a gravel road. The first 20km were smooth as anything. We were flying at 80km on this section. The next 20 km were not quite as fast as there were some corrugations on it but it was still very good.
We went to the Flora River first where there is a boat ramp.
Well there is always a first for everything. Crocodile safety warning signs are everywhere. They tell you to not step in the water at all at every bit of water access points. They even have a boat launching ramp with instructions on how to launch the boat and bring it in without going in the water. A winch at the top,
then a ramp with steps either side of it to lower the boat or pull it up. The same advice is for putting canoes in the water.
We then came back to the day car park and went on the two walks. This is a most amazing place. The Djarrung Falls are just spectacular. You can hear the water from a far.
It was not possible to take a photo of the full falls even by putting them into a panorama shot. There were several sections to the falls and they are very, very wide but due to the pandanus and monsoon jungle type of environment you could only see a section from any one spot.
We then went up to Kathleen Falls. Absolutely amazing. There were falls direction that you looked. The sound from the water cascading down was deafening. The sound was deafening.
At both of these falls the building up of Tafa walls and dams produce the walls over which the falls cascade. The water apparently cascades ove a series of these Tafa walls through the dry woodlands until it reaches the Kathleen River. In the dry season springs in the area keep feeding the river.
How amazing is nature at work!
At the campsite we set up and got on with the chores. The clothes needed washing and the solar panels needed cleaning.
In the surrounding trees there are interesting nests. Not sure what they are.
I think these are the green ant nests. One bit hubby today. So he took a bite of it as it is edible. He said it was quite nice.
There were quite a few green ants on a tree nearby.
The berries on this tree looked strange. I wandered whether they were a type of parasite as they seem to be sticking to the branches. They appear to be using the tree as a host- maybe I am wrong.
There appears to be a small spring nearby as there is constant water there whilst we have been here and in the heat – 32 today – it should have dried up in that time. Birds keep visiting it for a drink.
At dusk a wallaby visited the campsite.
Another amazing place. Another lovely day. Tomorrow we go to Katherine to refuel and restock and then we are off to Gove Peninsula, Nhulunbuy.
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