The covered entrance to the Jumping Crocodiles Cruise. No, they’re not real.
Adelaide River

Our friends Pat and Dick on the Jumping Croc tour on the Adelaide River.

Embarking on our Jumping Crocodile cruise on the Adelaide River. Kathy and Keith on the right of pic.

Idyllic day. Inviting river … but not for swimming! Adelaide River

Cruising alongside the boat. Adelaide River

And up he goes. Note the meat on the line which you’ll see just at the top of the background tree line. Adelaide River

Moments before success. (Thanks to Jan for the photo)

This one’s on the shore – I hope we don’t get stuck in the mud. Can’t see me helping to push us off. Adelaide River

Wedge tailed eagles wheeling and diving for fish thrown from the boat. Rarely do they get caught by a croc. Adelaide River

Coming in to land, ignored by the spoonbills.

Beautiful water birds.

The pool at Leliyn. That’s me with the grey hair, enyoying my swim. In the distance you can just see where the Edith River cascades down into the pool.

Beginning the Central Arnhem Highway. Mainoru Store is our destination today.

“Airing-down” at Beswick as we’re about to start dirt roads. Keith talking to Steve Orr while Paul checks his tyre pressures.

Having a break at Beswick. Jan, Kathy, me and Julie

Central Arnhem Highway. A few corrugations here.

A break for morning tea overlooking “Jurassic Park”.

Looking down into the valley across Arnhem Land at a place known as Jurassic Park.

Feral donkeys, lots of feral donkeys in Arnhem Land.

Feral buffalo are prolific in Arnhem Land. Hunting safaris are common and there’s also a meat trade in buffalo.

We arrive at Mainoru Store.

The convoy having just arrived at Mainoru store.

I enjoyed the walk to the Mainoru spring. It’s quite beautiful.

The fresh water spring that never runs dry beside the camping ground at Mainoru.

Apparently large barramundi have been sited in the Mainoru spring. Paul was keen to see if it’s true – he never did find out.

The very beautiful Mainoru spring.

Driving the Central Arnhem Rd north of Mainoru Store. Note the tape on the windscreen – placed over a crack that occured on the way up to Darwin. Also note distance from vehicle we’re following, avoiding the dust.

Will we or won’t we? Goyder River

Keith, walking the crossing over the Goyder R before we all drove it.

Exiting the Goyder River bridge bypass road.

Central Arnhem Road. Predominantly one-lane road, with wide shoulders for passing.

Apparently the biggest termite mound in Arnhem Land.

Up and over the sanddunes on our drive around Cape Arnhem and its beaches. (That’s the back of a vehicle with a slide-on in front of us, not a house!)

Approaching one of the beaches at Cape Arnhem.

A view of our ‘lunch time’ beach from the top of the dune.

So beautiful. Driving around Cape Arnhem and surrounding beaches was a highlight of the trip

Hi! What do you think of this for a perfect beach? Cape Arnhem.

Delightful beaches, beautiful weather. Good times. Cape Arnhem

Lunch time and it’s a sausage sizzle on the beach. Fun!

Off to explore another beach of soft, white sand. Cape Arnhem

Up and over the dunes. Cape Arnhem

Oysters, oysters, big fat juicy oysters! Yes I did sample some of these, with one eye looking out for a croc. Cape Arnhem.

Cape Arnhem

Trepang, or sea cucumber, or beche de mer. This is what the Macassans were harvesting from this coastline all those years ago.

Such interesting weathering on these cliff edges to the beach. Cape Arnhem

This is the beach where our group did a clean-up We ‘over-filled’ 9 of those bags with rubbish that has drifted ashore here. Cape Arnhem

Here’s a ghost net, just waiting to entangle a turtle causing it a slow and lingering death. Cape Arnhem

Awww. Look what I found on the beach clean-up. This little fellow was heading the wrong direction. I put her at the water’s edge and told her I’d be back in 20 years when she’s next back here laying her own eggs.

We’ve got ourselves a con-voy! Cape Arnhem

Lots of these delightful little jellyfish on the beach. The jelly-bit of it would have been about the diameter of a golf ball. Cape Arnhem

We stopped on this beach for a while to pick up the rubbish. Between us wefilled 9 big bags The beach looked great when we’d finished.

Some of the larrikitj, with others in the background in the Buku Art Centre, Yirrakala.

A few of the magnificent larrikitj on display in the Buku Art Centre, Yirrakala.

Note the intricate work that is put into these larrikitj. They truly are a wonderful piece of art.

A Donald Thompson photograph taken in 1936. These tall, strong, healthy men are preparing a ḻarrakitj for the remaining bones of a clan member who had been interred (either in a shallow grave, or a burial platform) some time ago. The ḻarrakitj is painted with sacred designs of the deceased’s lineage.

Nyapanyapa Yunupiŋu, quite a famous artist, at work on her latest creation. Look closely at the fine lines that form the picture. Buku Art Centre, Yirrakala.

Highlighted in the middle of this photograph is one of the bark paintings (ie artwork done on a piece of bark). Exquisite! Buku Art Centre, Yirrakala

A ‘dingo tree’. Haha. The bark from this eucalypt has been removed to use as the canvas for a painting.

At Macassan Beach – just prior to walking around the rock display that celebrates the activities of the Macassan who visited this area annually since the mid-1700s until European settlement.

The information board describing the stone installation that represents the dugout canoes. Macassan Beach

One of the information signs telling the story of the stone installation which represents the fireplaces and fishtraps used. Macassan Beach

Denise enjoying the little waterfall in Goanna Lagoon.

A group of school boys having fun at Goanna Lagoon. Note the boy spear-fishing.

We saw a lot of this beautiful flowering shrub. It’s known as turkey bush.

A beautiful sunset taken from the Boat Club – bauxite processing and shipping structures in the background.