Australia 2014: Cooinda to Garnamarr

Day 30 – August 18, 2014 – Cooinda to Garnamarr - distance travelled: 98 kms - 31^oC high; 18^oC low. One of very few days that we set an alarm to make sure we wouldn’t miss a fairly early morning event, in this case the 9am Yellow Water cruise. For the first time in quite a while there was dew on our tents and tables in the morning. Our two-hour cruise started a few kilometres from the campground and we made it nicely in time. The ranger who drove the boat took us through the Yellow Water (Ngurrungurrudjba) wetlands and showed us and explained about saltwater crocodiles, numerous different birds including quackless (whistling) ducks etc.; very interesting. After the cruise we visited the Warradjan Aboriginal Cultural Centre which had displays about Aboriginal history and life. Aboriginal people are very present in especially the smaller towns, with kids always walking around on bare feet (including in shops) and there being signs everywhere reminding us of the struggles the indigenous people face: “BasicCard accepted (can’t be used for alcohol or tobacco)”; “no alcohol consumption”; “alcohol prohibited”; posted in shopping malls: “school aged children not served during school hours”. Our next destination was Twin Falls, 60 kilometres down a gravel road which according to our map would take two hours. We were a little surprised at that estimate as the gravel road was fine and we made good time. However, about 43 kilometres in the road turned into a 4x4 only primitive track, and now the time estimate made sense as we were crawling in low range a lot of the time. Only high clearance vehicles were able to cross Jim Jim Creek a kilometre or so after the turnoff to Jim Jim Falls; the deepest point was 0.7m according to the depth marker. As our Troopy is a larger vehicle with a 2 inch lift we made it through without a problem. At the end of the track a short walk took us to a small passenger ferry manned by a ranger who took us up the gorge as far as he was able to go; we then hiked another 15 minutes to the end of the gorge where we could see Twin Falls coming down over the cliffs. Due to the possibility of saltwater crocodiles being in the water, no swimming was allowed in the plunge pool below the falls. The falls were nice, but the best part was the boat ride. We made our way 10 kms back down the track to Jim Jim Falls, where a one kilometre hike with quite a lot of scrambling over rocks and boulders took us to Jim Jim Falls which – as we knew – had dried up. As we left the parking lot a group of about 9 Aboriginal boys with two Caucasian leaders started a hike; the boys were told shoes were optional and all boys we saw were on bare feet. After we had set up camp at the national park campground just before the primitive track began, the boys’ group Landcruiser Troop Carrier with all the boys in the back also pulled into the campground; they all slept in swags. It was warm that night, with the wind picking up during the night but dying down again towards morning.