27/6  Stayed another night and did it pretty easy. Plenty of time around the pool. Another Ranger talk about what they do to get things ready for tourists. Amazing how much work has to be done after the wet . Crocs to remove from popular areas, tracks to fix.

28/6 On to Cooinda. Booked for 2 nights. Pretty expensive. $36 for an unpowered site which is pretty steep.  Nice pool but not much else there. We went back out to Nourlange area and walked up to the lookout.

29/6 Rose did the sunrise cruise on Yellow Waters and really enjoyed it. Got some great photos

.  I went for  a wander around the park area and had a few casts in the billabong, but it’s hard not to get a bit spooked about crocs. Later on I went up to the bar and watched Collingwood beat Carlton.

30/6 I did the same Yellow River Cruise Rose did yesterday. Lots of birds but the highlight was a big croc chomping on a big barra.

When I got back we packed up and headed off further south. We want to go to Gunlom but are advised high clearance 4wd only. Had intended to leave van at the Ranger station and tent it. We decide to drive part way and stay at another bush camp. I stopped tolet some air out of our tyres and a Guy coming out says we should get all the way in with the van if we took it slowly so we decide to give it a go. Ok for the first 30 kms then real rough, but too narrow to turn around so we kept going and got through. Water fall and plunge pool similar to Edith and Wangi falls. The walk up to upper pools at the top of the falls is about half a km and quite steep in parts, but great swimming at the top.

We got back to camp to find 4 families with 20 kids right next to us.  Very loud into the night playing some clapping game which we couldn’t fathom, but which was very annoying.

1/7   We walked to billabong and Sth alligator river early hoping to see some birdlife. Not much to see. The area has been burnt out and was very dry. Lots of donkey poo but didn’t hear any braying during the night. We walked to upper pools again but went further on and found a great pool a bit away from the main area and the crowds. Fantastic spot.

Watched a kingfisher dive for fish which was pretty spectacular. Walked a couple of km further in along the stream. Sat around the fire after tea listening to the kids play their clapping game again.

2/7 Back up to the rockpool on top of the falls and stayed there most of the day. Thought we were in King Kong country with the rock formations.

We were rudely interrupted by a walking club from Melbourne which included a couple from Paynesville who stopped at OUR pool for lunch and a swim. They were a nice bunch. That night the ranger gave a talk on the local Jawoyn people who’s country this is.

3/7  Left Gunlom on the 4wd track. Slow going.  Seemed even rougher going out. The dryness combined with the amount of traffic over the last few days has made the surface rockier. Relieved to finally reach the bitumen.  Booked in at the Lazy Lizard at Pine Creek again. Drinks with a couple from Bermagui who are heading up Nth. Great pizza at the tavern for tea.