The first time we were in Darwin, about three weeks ago, we needed to sort out our car problem and our permit to get permission to go into Arnhem Land. Obtaining the permit was an effort...
The permit story
To go into Aboriginal Land within the top end of the Territory (such as Arnhem Land), one needs to obtain a permit from the Northern Land Council (NLC). The permit is free but it does take up to ten working days to process the request. One Monday morning we went into the NLC office in Darwin to apply for this permit. We weren't quite sure of specific dates and places we wanted to visit in Arnhem Land, so we asked the receptionist for some help. She told us to apply for access to all the NLC regions for a whole year. We weren't quite sure if this was the right way to fill in the form, but according to the receptionist someone would contact us shortly to verify our details and we could then explain where and when we exactly wanted to go. We asked to pick up our permit one week later, which was not a problem, according to this receptionist. Friday comes and we haven't heard from an NLC officer yet. After a phone call we found out the office didn't open until 12pm that day. Since we were headed for Litchfield National Park early that day, we decided to give the office another call on Monday, which is when we were expecting to pick up our permit. Monday comes and we call the office. "No, the officer you need to speak to is not in yet, she's in at 11am," says the receptionist. When we called back after 11am, she wasn't in until lunchtime. When we called back after lunch she wasn't going to be in the whole day. This is what NT stands for – Not Today, Not Tomorrow. We hadn't been to Kakadu National Park yet, so we decided to go there for a few days while waiting for this permit. On Wednesday we called again and no, the officer we needed to speak to still wasn't in and no one else could inform us of the status of our permit. Not quite sure what we were going to do, we decided to drive to the eastern border of Kakadu, where you can access an Aboriginal community (Oenpelli). To enter this community, you need a permit from the NLC. So we were sent to Jabiru, a little community in the heart of Kakadu. It turns out the NLC has an office there as well. We explained our situation to a lady there and she happened to have tried to call us several times to verify our details for our permit and to tell us that our permit was declined. We had no reception at Litchfield or Kakadu, so she couldn't get hold of us. We cleared everything up with her and would get our permit on Friday. She could even fax it to the NLC office in Katherine, which is on the way to Arnhem Land. So that Friday afternoon we arrived in Katherine, but the NLC office there was closed. It turns out that Friday was a public holiday and, oops, the lady in the Jabiru NLC office forgot about that! We then asked if she could fax the permit to the visitor information centre. Unfortunately, their fax was broken! The NLC office in Jabiru closes at 4.36pm and it was already after 4pm, so we quickly needed to find another place where we could receive the fax. We finally found it and the following day we could start our journey to Arnhem Land!
The car story
Our car had been making this awful noise (intermittently) since Alice Springs. After consulting a bush mechanic in Kings Canyon and later another one in Alice Springs, we decided to ignore the problem until we got to Darwin (or until it got worse – whatever came first). The noise didn't go away and got worse, especially on dirt roads. In Darwin, we wanted to get the car checked. No mechanic seemed to be able to diagnose what was wrong with the car and we had our own suspicion that it might be the front diff. We drove around one morning for second opinions, spare parts and tools so that David could pull the car apart to have a look at the diff. It took nearly a day to pull the diff out, only to find out there was nothing wrong with it! After another few hours, the following day, of putting the car back together (and meanwhile regreasing all bearings and replacing oils), the noise was gone and hasn't come back since. The bearings might have just needed some regreasing. Lucky, because rebuilding the diff (by a mechanic) was quoted at $1,500.
Litchfield and Kakadu
Litchfield National Park is the best park in the top end (according to our humble opinion). It's filled with croc-free waterholes, rockpools and waterfalls. Our favourite is Florence Falls, with crystal clear blue water. It's just the best to be able to plunge into a pool during a very hot day without fearing for a saltie to come and get you. The park is also quite compact, so there's not too much driving involved, which is nice. We just spent our days lazing in the sun, sitting on the rocks and sliding into the water when it got too hot.
Kakadu National Park is one big swamp. It has got beautiful beaches with gorgeous turquoise water, but most of the water cannot be accessed, because of all the saltwater crocodiles. The park consists of lots of rivers (with lots of crocs), waterfalls and swamps. The mosquitoes are a huge pest and have left David with at least a hundred bites. We camped at a beach for the first couple of nights, which was beautiful to look at. It was just a bit disappointing we couldn't swim. At night we shined a torch along the shore and we found two red lights shining back – a croc's eyes. In the morning we found a couple of croc tracks on the beach. This particular camp site was quite remote (West Alligator Head), situated next to a swamp (hence the mosquitoes) and full with wildlife. We saw little wallabies, dingoes, wild pigs and loads of little diamond eyes shining at night (spiders). We couldn't bear another night at this campsite, because we were eaten alive by the insects. We moved on to Ubirr, where there are lots of natural galleries with ancient rock paintings. Australia might not have old architecture, but it does have the oldest art in the world. The rock paintings were quite well-preserved and some dated back to at least 20,000 years ago. 
Next was a visit to the Aboriginal community in Oenpelli (Arnhem Land). The art centre there was the only attraction so afterwards we drove around town to have a chat to some locals.David spoke with this Aboriginal man and got to find out a lot about how they live and what they do there. The day after was when we sorted out our permit and saw some more rock art, as well as the famous Jim Jim Falls. Well, we didn't see the falls because they had dried up. But there still was a huge, deep, ice cold waterhole left. Apparently no salties were left behind after the Jim Jim Falls dried up, but we didn't swim anyway. The best place in Kakadu are the Gunlom (Barramundi) Falls. The rockpool there is crystal clear and there are no crocs. We climbed up a steep path for about ten minutes and appeared on top of the falls, where we found more pools. This was definitely the best place, since we could cool off again!
Arnhem Land
Our permit allowed us to travel on the Central Arnhem Road into Arnhem Land. The entry to this road is via the Mainoru Road, which starts 50 km south of Katherine. This dirt road goes for about 250 km before it becomes the Central Arnhem Road. The permit states that, once you're on the Central Arnhem Road, you are not allowed to camp anywhere. Many Aboriginal communities are dotted along this road. which are closed to all non-local traffic. We didn't feel like driving the 700 km to Nhulunbuy (the main settlement in the north east corner of the Territory) in one go, so we checked our map to see where we could stay. It turns out we had an old map, because when we finally got to our destination (about an hour away from the main road), we were told there was no camping there. We had stumbled upon an ex-cattle station, that was now managed by a family on behalf of a not-for-profit organisation whose aim it is to conserve the area and to let (threatened) wildlife thrive again. It was about 4pm when we arrived and the lady that answered the door was very nice and said we should probably stay because it was too late to turn back. We just had to wait for her husband to come back from the land. He initially wasn't too happy to see us on his doorstep, but after some conversation he realised we had made an honest mistake in believing the map would point us to a campsite for the night. The couple offered for us to have dinner with them and even gave us a room! We had fresh fish and lovely conversation and got to find out about their lives on that station. The cattle, buffalo and donkeys that are currently found on the property destroy the flora and fauna. This family's job is to get rid of these animals. They shoot the donkeys and they catch and transport the cattle and buffalo. All animals are wild. We were invited to to come along on the truck that collects the cattle and buffalo that were caught the previous day. It was a fun experience and it was great to find out about their lives in such an isolated place. The kids are home-schooled and supplies come from town, an eight hour round trip. They stock up for three months during the wet season because the roads become impassible. Generators provide electricity and they have a supply of 20,000 liters of Diesel. Their drinking water comes straight from the river. It was great to meet them and they were very hospitable.
The next day we had to drive another 600 km to get to Nhulunbuy. We got there on a Sunday and when entering the town David got breathalysed by the police. This policeman told us there was no camping in town and a permit was required for any other camping. Our only option was a $200 a night motel room. We didn't take that one and camped illegally for a night. The next morning we obtained the right permits and we were allowed to stay on Aboriginal Land for a week. Nhulunbuy is a mining town where they mine for bauxite. It's quite nicely set up for such a remote town. The fuel was expensive ($1,62 per liter), but not as expensive as Unleaded ($1,90!). The water surrounding this north eastern tip of the Territory (Gove Peninsula) are crystal clear and the beaches were white and stretched for miles. However, no swimming in these waters because of the salties. We found a gorgeous camp spot looking straight out over these turquoise waters, but the sandflies got to us. While we were still recovering from the bites we got in Kakadu, these little insects gave us another two hundred bites all over our ankles, neck, legs, hands and arms. We eventually moved on to another spot where it was quite windy. There were no mosquitos or sandflies there and it was just a great spot to relax. The Gove Peninsula was great for four wheel driving. There are loads of little paths that just lead into the bush. We did some sand driving on the beach as well and got ourselves properly bogged. We were quite close to the water and all Jenny could think of was crocodiles coming out to get us! That didn't happen and after letting the pressure down in our tyres we got out just fine. We also went four wheel driving at Cape Arnhem. This is a very, very beautiful area with pristine beaches and gorgeous water. Again, no swimming, we saw loads of croc tracks in the sand. We did some sand dune driving and managed to not get ourselves stuck this time. Apart from beautiful beaches and water you can't swim in, there's not much else in this area. If only we liked to fish… It was really nice to see a few remote Aboriginal communities and we got to see loads of artwork in a very well maintained art centre. And there weren't many tourists in the Gove Peninsula, which was nice. It was quite remote.
Arnhem Land is mainly a dry area (no alcohol allowed), with a few wet areas along the Gove Peninsula. To be able to purchase alcohol you have to obtain a free liquor permit from the Department of Justice. And then you are only allowed to consume your alcohol within the designated wet areas. It is a huge offense to posses alcohol without a permit within a dry area. Obviously alcohol is still a big problem within indigenous communities, which is very sad to see.
To be continued
