Gotcha Australia: 10. – 12. September

Fogg Dam Conservation Reserve to Mary River National Park

It was time to start our second loop around Darwin. We stopped at the Fogg Dam Reserve which was originally built for a rice-building project. But this project failed but the nature had already enough time to take over the dam – a lot of birds seek refuge during the dry season. It’s possible to make several walks but we just did one – from the woodlands to the waterlilies. It was an interesting walk with some lookouts and interpretive signs along the way. We also wanted to walk over the dam to the lookout on the other side but this walk was closed and only open for vehicles. One large crocodile should be in the water and it’s feared it might attack any walker on the dam.

Shortly after we stopped at the “Windows of Wetland Visitor Centre” which features 360 degrees views of the wetlands and the Adelaide River. The interactive display provides some information about the changes of the wetlands. It was interesting although the displays and the way it was displayed looked like 15 years old.

But we managed to get the information sheet about the Hardies Track – a 4WD track which connects the southern part with the northern part of the Mary River National Park. We had a chance to see the fertile heart of the Mary River catchment. The track starts at the Bird Billabong. I don’t know how big the Billabong is as it varies every year – a billabong is an open body of water which has been cut off the main river channel during the dry and will reconnect during the floods. While driving the track we saw several times the Mary River as well as the native Bamboo species. The Bamboo lives for around 30 years, then flowers and dies afterwards. The last flowering phenomomen happened 5 year ago so there were only young Bamboo plants. We had to cross several dried up creeks but they were quite rocky and you had to watch how to drive. The Hardies Crossing had a special warning as large salties frequently use it. The crossing still had water flowing so you couldn’t see the rocks. But we managed without any problems and any crocs. Then we were in the floodplain and enjoyed the sweeping views to the horizon. The track went on through a cattle station before joining the Rockhole Rd and leading to the Couzens Lookout.

We camped at Couzens Lookout and had the place to ourselves. There was nobody around to disturb our views of the river, the sunset or the night sky. But we were not alone! Several boats were travelling on the river. We could hear the engine and the people talking. During the night the ranger must have been out to go croc counting/spotting. We could hear the engine and see the search light as well…

The Wildman 4WD track was next on our agenda. This 32km track links the Rockhole and Wildman Roads and gives you the possibility to see monsoon forests, fig trees and stands of bamboo and pandanus. We came across one fig tree and stopped for a short walk. Then we saw an eagle but it was just resting in a tree and not sitting on the nests. But anyway I guess the eagle was trying to find his lunch as several birds were resting in the floodplains and at the waterholes. Next we came across another warning “wildlife crossing” and saw a water buffalo. The buffalo just looked at us before continuing his walk into the woods. Pandanus trees were the next feature on the track. The trees look a bit weird – sometimes they are compared as Pandanus Warriors. They stand tall and straight and their leaves form a grass skirt. These leaves are dangerous when it comes to a bushfire as they create burning ember which can be carried around for miles.

Our next stop was Shady Camp a big camp area with two boat ramps (into salt- and freshwater). There is some kind of a (natural) barrier which disrupts the water-flow and so there is one side with freshwater and the other still salty. Don’t ask me how it really works… And we saw our first crocodile in the wild. But mind you we nearly missed it. It just looked like a tree floating on the water with the exception it was going against the current and suddenly it dived. We sat down and watched for several minutes and saw some more crocs swimming by. They didn’t look dangerous at all.