Willis's Walkabouts Web Magazine
March 2002
Welcome to the second of what we hope will be a continuing forum where we can tell a few tales about trips gone by, where our clients can share their experiences and where we can place special offers and other information. I (Russell) have been out bush so much since the last issue that I haven't had time to do as much work on this as I'd have liked but it's been such an interesting time that I'd like to share some of it.
Click the photos to see enlarged versions. Click your back button to return to this page. Hold your mouse pointer on the photos to see captions.
Everything in red on this page is a link to another page on this site or somewhere else on the web.
Don't forget: your contributions are welcome.
A Weird Wet!
January was so dry, the second driest on record in Darwin, that we were beginning to think that the real Wet would never come. Marj King led our Kakadu Highlights No. 1 trip, 6-19 January and had no rain at all until day 7 and only a couple of times after that. Still, on day 11, Marj reported that they "walked directly up behind camp to east, able to climb up onto rocky out crop that almost gave us a 360 view, storms all around – magic!" The wet is great when it does come in.
I'd been so keen to do my own Kakadu Light No. 1, that, even though there were only two clients, I'd arranged to go out just six days after getting back from my Patagonia trip. By the time I got home, I was wondering what I'd got myself into. But what a trip it was!
Kakadu Light No. 1: 6-15 February
With an average age of 70 (not including me), it was not a young group. But Don and Frank were both experienced walkers who had walked with us before so I anticipated no problems. We began with a leisurely drive to Kakadu, then a special tour onto Aboriginal land, arranged at the last minute to replace another Aboriginal wet season tour that wasn't running due to lack of water.
On the third day, we began our major walks with a trip up Baroalba Creek. We saw a number of Aboriginal art sites as well as numerous cascades and waterfalls. And, of course, we stopped for numerous swims.
The next day we did a scenic flight down toward Jim Jim and Twin Falls. We got good views of Twin but there was just enough rain and storm around that we couldn't get close to Jim Jim.
As the rains really began, we moved south and did the best waterfall walk of the trip. There are a number of tour companies that will take you to Motorcar Falls; a few that will take you to Kurrundie Falls, but there may or may not be anyone else who will take you to the lower falls on Motorcar Creek shown at left.
We had timed it well. We left Kakadu and the rain began in earnest. The Motorcar area got over 200 mm in one day. We did a very wet walk above Edith Falls, then drove on to Katherine to spend the night before going out to Katherine Gorge. The rain was so heavy that the road was cut. Not a major problem as seen at the right.
The rains continued and the water rose. In town, the Katherine river rose from 4.5 to 17.4 metres, the highest it had been since the 1998 flood. In the park, the jet boat ride up the gorge was spectacular while the walking tracks turned into small creeks.
From Katherine we moved north to do some short walks in Litchfield. Then, on the final day, we visited the Territory Wildlife Park where I had a close encounter of the bird kind.
There is too much more to fit on a single page, so if you would like to see more photos and read a bit more about this trip, please click the link below. Please be patient as the photos will take a while to load.
Kakadu Light No. 1 continuedWhat's new on the website
If you haven't explored the website recently, click on the what's new link below or on the menu at the left. There are a number of new photo galleries which should give you a better idea of the attractions of some of the areas where we walk. This page will be regularly updated to show you what changes have been made to the site.
What's coming up
The Wet to Dry Transition
We have only two transition season trips with space available. Both have small groups. Both have special offers in effect. If you would like to find out more about either one, please click the links below. Each is divided into sections, any one of which can be done on its own.
Bungle Bungles and Osmond Range: April 21 - May 11
Mitchell Plateau No. 2: May 19 - June 9
The Dry
Some trips in June and July are already full. Others are almost full. If you are thinking about joining us during the dry season, you may need to get in soon to get the trip of your choice.
Section one of Kakadu Super Circle No. 2: June 9-30 is already fully booked. Section two is not, so we are offering a special deal for those who would like to do that section on its own. Click the link below to find out more.
Kakadu Super Circle No. 2, section 2: June 20-30
The Charnley River and the Munja TrackLast August, I made my first visit to this area. To say that I was impressed would be an understatement. I found a relatively easy way to get to the lower Charnley where the river is passing through something like 30 km of continuous gorge. It was truly spectacular. Better still, there was more.
The Munja track is about 220 km long, very rough and slow in places. But slow means that you take time to look at what's around you and what a wealth there was. Abundant wildlife, numerous Aboriginal art sites, creeks and waterfalls. My only regret was that I didn't have the time to explore further. This year's program should fix that.
By using the airstrip at the end of the track, we can run back to back groups. One group flies in and the other flies out. This means that no one has to drive the long track twice. Each group will do something different. Click the links below if you'd like to see the trip notes.
The Charnley Explorer is a major expedition along the Charnley and Calder Rivers.
The Munja Track Explorer consists of a number of walks of up to four days as we work our way along the track.
The Light-Pack Explorerconsists of a series of day walks along the track. This is the only area we have ever found in the Kimberley where we can get completely off the tourist track and enjoy outstanding bushwalking without having to carry a full pack.
Words can't do justice to the area. I've recently added a Charnley-Munja photo gallery to the website. If you'd like to get a better picture of what makes the area so special, click the link below. There are so many photos that it's divided into three sub-galleries.
Light-Pack Trips
When I introduced the light-pack trips a few years ago, I was trying to cater for people like the large number of Australian bushwalking club members who do mainly day walks, people who like walking without having to carry full packs. It's taken a while for the message to get out, but the light-pack bookings are stronger than ever this year. If you think these might interest you, look at the Light_pack Explorer above or try one of the links below.
Kakadu Light No. 2 begins on 30 June and covers most of the accessible parts of the park.
Kakadu Light No. 3 begins on 21 July and covers a bit less of Kakadu but adds in a day in an Aboriginal community and a three day walk accompanied by an Aboriginal guide.
There are many more trips on offer, including our Central Australian and overseas trips - see "Tour List" in the menu at left.
Save $$$
You can get good discounts on our advertised prices, especially by booking early.Have a look at the discounts offered by the airlines too. Contact Qantas or Virgin Blue for flights to Darwin; Qantas for flights to Alice Springs.
Air North has taken over the Darwin to Kununurra run. They have relatively small planes, limited baggage allowances and limited discount fares. If you are planning to come to the Kimberley, the sooner you book, the more likely it is that you can get a good deal. Theoretically you should be able to book them through either Qantas or Virgin Blue, but in practice, you might have to go to them direct. If you click onto their website to look for flight times and dates, some of the Darwin to Kununurra flights may only be listed as Darwin to Broome with a stop in Kununurra.
Can't get a flight to Kununurra? Greyhound-Pioneer offers a daily bus service. When I tried it, I found their web timetable hard to use but they have a nationwide phone number: 132030.
Still not satisfied? We can even arrange charters for prices similar to the scheduled airfares if the right number of people are interested.
Contribute to this Web Magazine
If you're a previous client of ours and would like to pass on an account you've written about the trip you did with us, email it to us. We're not looking for flattery (or rotten tomatoes for that matter!) but interesting stories and pictures that give people an idea of what our unique tours are like.
To send us your story or if you have any questions about making a submission, click the magazine link below.
Submissions to Willis's Walkabouts Web Magazine
If you know someone you think would enjoy this newsletter, please click the link below to send it to them.
To see the first issue (November 2001) of our web magazine, click the link below.
That's all for this issue. If you have any good photos or stories from past trips, I'd really like to hear from you before the next one.
Russell Willis
