With the first Race Meeting being postponed, it was time for a change of scenery, and we made our way down to Rum Jungle for a week.

We based ourselves at Litchfield Tourist Park with the plan of making day trips into Litchfield National Park each day. The caravan park has shady sites as well as green grass.

Although being an hour or so south of Darwin, the lack of phone coverage and wifi meant that we were also “off the grid” as well.

After setting up camp, there was still a couple of hours of daylight so it was off to Buley Rockhole to relax and see the sun set.

We are not completely off the grid with satellite television, electricity and water. We also have ants, cane toads and other bugs but they are not too annoying.

Jenny saw an advertisement for a small LED projector and said that would be good to have. I mentioned there was one in the caravan, so we set up a towel outside for a big screen and watched TV out under the awning. Camping at its best.

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Talking with Sean last night at the Wharf, a day trip to Cahills Crossing in Kakadu National Park was the plan for the day.

It is a 3-hour drive from Darwin and we left just after 9:00am this morning.

First stop was Jabiru. With the mine closed or closing, it is a very quiet town now. Jenny went shopping for lunch at the supermarket but found the shelves were very bare. They did have pies and pasties, which were probably the hottest (temperature) we have eaten. I reckon that I burnt all of my mouth.

Another 30km and we were soon at Cahills Crossing. This is a concrete causeway between Kakadu and Arnhem Land. There are many videos of the crocodiles on the causeway on the Net and peak viewing of crocs is at high tide. To drive across the causeway requires a permit from the Aboriginal Community.

We arrived about an hour before high tide and was met by a number of fishermen on the causeway trying to snag a Barramundi before the waiting crocs grabbed them. There was one guy that must have had the right sort of lure as he was pulling a Barra every couple of minutes, although they were all undersize.

One of the “local” fishermen was not very happy as he managed to snag sticks, trees and lost a couple of lures. He was good to chat to with plenty of stories. He was not too happy when a car of tourists went over the causeway and turned around and drove back over. I guess I won’t be doing that, unless I want a “bone” pointed at me.

Even though the tide had not pushed over the causeway, the crocodiles seem to know it was going to happen as they all started making their way from upstream.

There was a point when the downstream flow and the high tide was at equilibrium and it all went quiet. The crocs all started to move into their positions.

The high tide then overtook the river flow. This was the time the crocs were waiting for. There were around 35 of them all on the upstream side of the causeway awaiting the Barramundi trying to get over the causeway.

Some were on the edge of the concrete with their mouths open waiting. Others were further back. It almost seems to be a pecking order to where they are located. Occasionally there were skirmishes if some got too close to another.

Another interesting thing was they used they front legs as outriggers with legs out to the side flat then lifting their claws vertical. At first, I thought it was a croc with a gammy leg but then there were more and more doing the same.

For the 3 hours observing the crocs, we only ever see one get a Barramundi. I guess they will all be back again tomorrow to try again.

It was also interesting some of the traffic going across the causeway to / from the Aboriginal Communities at various times of the high tide. At some times the vehicles had to wait for crocs to get out of their way.

We stayed down on the causeway with the fisherman but there is a viewing platform up higher on the bank. We found out the next day that Sean was up there somewhere but never knew.

We can recommend making this trip to see Cahills Crossing but make sure that it is timed with a high tide to see all the activity.

Another 3-hour drive back to Darwin for the completion of a good day out.

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Jenny wanted to get to Berry Springs while we were up here this trip and today was a good day for it. Berry Springs seems to be closed more than open when we are up here due to crocodiles found in the pools. Luckily today there were no crocs.

It is only short drive from Darwin and given it was a Saturday, the springs were not too busy. Part of the COVID-19 requirements is that if the carpark is full then the Springs are at capacity. There were no problems with that today.

We spent a couple of hours soaking and floating from the Falls to the Upper Pool and Lower Pool.  Another good day on vacation.

Tonight, was wharf night, with the Adelaide Fire crew having a meal at Stokes Hill Wharf. The wharf has many different cuisines, with varying price levels in a great location with views over Darwin Harbour and fish swimming up to the wharf but not allowed to be fished.

For a Saturday night, the wharf was remarkedly quiet. This seems to be the norm in these COVID-19 times.

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With the NT Long Weekend coming to an end, Mataranka Homestead cleared out with the huge mob heading back to Darwin and leaving the pool for us “grey nomads”.

We waited until after lunch before going soaking to make sure the crowds had cleared out.

Jenny wanted to go to Bitter Springs so after a quick stop for fuel in town (with a 5c per litre discount), we found a near empty carpark at Bitter Springs.

There were very few floating except for one noisy family but we ended up timing our float down the river to avoid the noise and relax.

After a few hours, the sun was on its way to setting so we drove back to camp just before dark.

The campground was a lot quieter than the weekend, so much that we could hear the music act down on the Homestead stage.

The full moon came up in all its glory, ideal for a night soak in the Thermal Pool.

We walked down around 8:00pm to find the pool empty. It was 20 minutes before being joined by a small number of other campers.

We soaked for another couple of hours. How can you not enjoy this lifestyle?

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