Australian Outback Adventure - Day 10 - JimJim Falls

Sunday, October 21, 2012 Last Day in Kakadu

Our Wayout Back Itinerary:- Day 10

We are up early for our adventure into Twin Falls Gorge which is accessed by 4-wheel drive track, a boat shuttle service and a rocky walking track and boardwalk. Once there you can relax on the sandy banks and admire the falls. There’s more 4-wheel driving as we make our way to Jim Jim Falls where a walk through monsoon forest and over boulders takes us to the waterfall and plunge pool which are surrounded by 150 metre cliffs. In the afternoon we leave the highway and return to Darwin.

• Twin Falls
• Jim Jim Falls.

Fed and packed, we are rocking and rolling by 6:30 am. This is definitely a 4 wheeling day.  blogging while wheeling is not working well, so woill put I pad awzy for a while.......

It's almost 3:00 p.m. and we are on the way back to Darwin. Our first stop this morning was to Twin Falls. The 4x4 drive had been quite exciting as we squirreled through, dirt, sand, a few billabongs and a deep water crossing of a river. We reached a car park and walked down a trail for 100 meters and boarded a swamp boat to travel down the Twin Falls Gorge.

 The morning light shone on the gorge and reflected in the still depths of the river where salty crocs live. We would see the falls or what is left of them in the dry season, but we wouldn't be swimming here for obvious reasons, tic toc, tic toc, tic toc.



Cascading Pools

 The falls despite the lack of water and the glistening walls of the canyon were beautiful. We had a morning snack here at least nine feet (three meters) from the waters edge (just in case) on a lovely white sand beach and gazed out across the large pool of deep green satin, surrounded by rock cliffs so old there are NO FOSSILS. Australia is a continent of erosion with mountain ranges that were high as the Himalayas long gone. The remnants are these exposed craggy cliffs that were buried at a time when there was no life on earth and hence no fossil remains. Awesome!

Tic Toc Tic Toc

Croc Trap

Rocks Older Than Life on Earth....no fossil remains

The Intrepid Adventurers Not Swimming With the Crocs at Twin Falls

We hiked back to the boat and floated back down the river to where we had parked our overland rover, climbed aboard and bumped and rocked for another 45 minutes to our JimJim hike.  We had yet to change into our swim suits so we grabbed them and stuffed them into our backpacks, loaded up on water, slopped on the sunscreen, slapped on our hats and insect repellant, land were on our way.  

We were only trekking 1 kilometer, but it was over a rough trail of rocks and boulders that required hopping, climbing, sliding, and vigorous activity.  The sun was beating down on us for the last half of the hike when we emerged from the gum forest.  Sweat rolled down my forehead into my eyes carrying sunscreen with it, blur and burn. Sand on sun glazed rocks turned slanted slabs into ball bearing slides.



Jim Jim Falls - Fell (Now waiting for the wet season)



Refreshing Swim

Finally, we reached JimJim.  It was a huge pool perhaps 150 meter across with towering cliffs.  There are no salties here, but some freshies.   I was tempted to just jump in with all of my clothes, but decided if I wanted to swim across the pool, my suit would be better.  Only our group, and a few young men occupied this massive boxed canyon pool area.  Some of the young men who had arrived before us were jumping from some rock shelves on the opposite side.  They looked to be only a half inch in size, white skin and bright shorts popping them out against the black water slick walls of the gorge.

The lack of water over the falls, at the end of the dry season nothing really, allowed for a swim right up to the back wall where we hadnseen the young men, behind where billions of gallons of water shoot over in the wet season.  We spent nearly an hour enjoying the cooling pool before negotiating our way back over the boulders to our outback rover.  

The walk back in our wet suits was much more bearable.  A cloud cover had formed and we could see a few maverick raindrops dropping into the quiet waters of the river casting concentric ripples outward.  It could rain now, our trip had reached its end.  We feasted on all the leftovers for lunch and headed back to Darwin.  Along the way we came across some wild horses and cattle.

Arriving in Darwin around 6:00 p.m., we said good bye to our fellow travelers, 4 of us having been together for the 10 days from Alice Springs.  It was a grand adventure.

Russ and I checked into our hotels The Palms.  It is a little self contained room with a kitchenette.  We unpacked, separating the clean and dirty, dry and sweat soggy clothes for laundry, then headed to the grocery store for some take away salads which we brought back to our suite.  With the air condition on full blast, we ate, showered, watched television, and fell asleep in clean sheets.