Back In Darwin

I’m back in Darwin, a day earlier than planned, for two reasons.

The first is that, while Kakadu Natl Park, Litchfield Natl Park, and the rest of the “Top End” are interesting, they are mostly a lot of the same thing. Once you’ve seen the few different types of scenery and critters, then there is just a lot more of it.

The second is that I managed to damage the camper I rented, so I will want to return it earlier in the day, tomorrow, than I would otherwise have done.

Now, I wish that the road to Jim-Jim Falls was closed! It is a 4wd track, so I figured I could take my 4wd camper on it. With a more experienced driver, it would be fine. There are big 4wd tourist busses going through it. However, I am not an experienced 4wd pilot. I even asked a Park Ranger at a visitor centre about the road, and stressed that I could not handle any “difficult” terrain, but she thought it was an easy drive.

The first 1/4 km was easy – just a bouncy road with some ruts requiring high clearance. Then I hit some short sections with deep, deep sand. I was hesitant about these. It is easy to get stuck in deep sand! Finally, I decided to try to cross through the sand, which was maybe five or six vehicle-lengths. Then, there was a very long stretch of much deeper sand.

I tried venturing into the deeper sand, and quickly felt like I was going to get stuck. I was able to reverse out to solid ground, and turn around. I had had enough!

However, on the way back, one of the short sandy stretches managed to surprise me. On the way in, it was downhill, with a right turn at the top. Going back, it was an uphill stretch with a left turn at the end.

Driving through sand, the vehicle bobs around a lot. You “aim” it in the direction you want to go, and hope the vehicle goes that way.

When I hit the left turn at the top of the sandy stretch, the vehicle bobbed sharply to the left. I had probably over-turned the wheel to the left. The result is that the top corner of the camper (the sleeping area) hit a tree, and the fiberglass is cracked and broken.

I have no idea how much it costs to repair fiberglass. The rental has insurance, but the deductible is very high! I did not opt to pay extra for a lower deductible.

Oh well. I will try not to let the extra expense spoil my trip.

I still haven’t found my USB card reader. I may have left it behind at some internet cafe. So, still no photos.

I did see some crocodiles. At the Yellow Water area in Kakadu Park, I went on a two hour river cruise and saw plenty of crocs. This was not a “hang a chicken over the side” type of tour, so no jumping crocs. However, we did have a croc less than one metre away from the boatside!