Itinerary
- April 22: Fly to Darwin / drive to Kakadu
- April 22-24: 2 days at the Crocodile Hotel
- April 24-26: 2 days at Wildman Lodge
- April 26-29: 3 days at Berkeley River Lodge
- April 29: Fly Berkeley - Darwin - Sydney
Saturday April 22
Up early for our 9am flight to Darwin on QF. We were in economy class while Helen & Garry had snagged the only 2 business class award seats. We arrived around 1:25pm and collected our hire car, a 4WD, and drove the 2+ hours to the Crocodile Hotel in Kakadu. We arrived in time for an early “Happy Hour” using our free Accor welcome drinks and a bag of chips in lieu of lunch. After showers we had dinner at the hotel Bistro - it was fine but we were disappointed the only fish on the menu was battered not grilled.
Sunday April 23
A busy day - with a light plane 1-hour scenic flight over Kakadu checking out the famous Jim Jim and Twin Falls, the roads to which were still closed due to the wet season being very wet. We finished off with the Yellow Waters cruise at 4pm. It was then a rush back to the hotel for dinner. Since there was still no grilled fish on the menu most of us opted for the steak which was excellent.
Monday April 24
We drove to Wildman Lodge on the Mary River about 1.5 hours away arriving in time for lunch. Wildman was “somewhat” (i.e. much) more luxurious than the Crocodile Hotel but at 5 times the price it had to be. In the afternoon we drove to Shady Camp, famous for being the best barramundi fishing spot in Australia in fact in the world. It was barramundi for dinner - best ever !!
Tuesday April 25
Dieter and I were both wiped out in the morning after a disaster night. Upon returning to our villa after dinner we found it infested with millions of bugs outside and almost as many inside - all caused by us leaving the porch light on. It took well over an hour to clear the place so we could go to bed then just as we were nodding off our fire alarm went off !!! We moved villas in the morning.
After a nice breakfast, we drove around the area; however, many of the 4WD tracks were still closed due to high water. We did a 1 hour billabong cruise late in the afternoon - spotting both a Jabaru and a couple of crocodiles - including one of the big kahoonas - a 7 meter monster.
Wednesday April 26
Off to “BRL” today - we drove back to Darwin (2+ hours) and caught our 2:30pm light plane to BRL. To our surprise there were 10 other guests so we had to split up into 2 planes. Also to our surprise the flight was almost 2 hours - so with the 1.5 hours time difference we only arrived at 3:30pm. Up at the lodge we were welcomed (sort of), shown to our respective villas, then had to rush to join the 4pm 4WD (Land Cruiser) beach / sunset tour which finally left at 4:30pm. 15 minutes into the drive we blew a trip so they had to send the one other jeep for us. Eventually we got back to the lodge late at 6:20pm and told to meet ASAP for pre-dinner drinks and canapés which start at 6:30pm. So it was a very quick shower and change. Dinner was fish which was excellent but all round a bit of a skimpy meal. We met many of the other guests - all fun-loving like-minded people.
Thursday April 27
Up early for breakfast and the day’s activities which were an all day cruise on the Berkeley River for Helen and D&P. Garry opted for a fishing trip. The Berkeley was as majestic as ever (since our respective True North cruises) - lunch onboard the boat was definitely “not to die for” but was OK.
It was after 4pm when we returned so it was time for showers and the usual pre-dinner affair followed by dinner - steak this time.
Friday April 28
Today we all had opted for the creek walk - which was originally scheduled for 9am - only we were told at breakfast the time had been moved to 8am “due to the tide”; however, when we fronted up at 8am we were told it was now 8:30am - to cut a long story short the tour only really started at 9:30am.
We cruised along the Berkeley for about 15 minutes then alighted for the walk which started with a steep scramble up a stack of boulders. The walk was about 3 hours return and included some rock art and a plunge at the pool at the top of the waterfall. The walk itself (after the rock scramble) was along the wonderful cliff tops of the Berkeley gorge.
Back on the boat - we had a repeat of the previous day’s lunch then back to the lodge. It was only about 2:30pm so after showers D&I had quick stop in the bar before another rest before dinner.
Saturday April 29
Homeward bound for us - the flight to Darwin left at 8am so it was an early start. We said farewell to H&G at the airport as they stayed another night in Darwin whereas we pressed on home on the 2:40pm Virgin flight to Sydney. It was a packed but uneventful flight - after landing at 7:35pm we walked in the door at 8:30pm then headed to Fratelli for a quick dinner.