{"id":7740,"date":"2026-09-30T15:20:53","date_gmt":"2026-09-30T05:20:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cuppa500.com\/Blog\/?p=7740"},"modified":"2026-09-30T17:05:19","modified_gmt":"2026-09-30T07:05:19","slug":"west-arnhem-land","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cuppa500.com\/Blog\/west-arnhem-land\/","title":{"rendered":"West Arnhem Land"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A lot has happened since our last post. Less than 6 weeks has passed. It feels longer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In our last post we remained uncertain whether we would be able to get up to the Garig Gunak Barlu National Park (aka the Cobourg Peninsula), because although the road was opened on the 7th August, it was with a vehicle weight limit of 4.5 tonnes, & our travelling weight is around 7 tonnes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A decision was required in the absence of any certainty. Either head northward from Katherine back toward Kakadu NP to visit a few spots which we have not been to before & hope that the Cobourg road restrictions were lifted whilst we were swanning around Kakadu, OR start heading southward to hopefully cooler weather. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We chose to return northward. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our first stop north of Katherine was a pleasant discovery. 3 nights at a free camp on the banks of the Edith River. This site is alongside what is now an uncrossable (by vehicle) bridge on a disused section of the old Stuart Highway, accessed via a narrow & potholed strip of bitumen taking us a couple of kilometres west from the current Stuart Highway. In the past when in this area we have always stayed at the Edith Falls campground which we love, but this time we were looking for a change, & what we found didn’t disappoint. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Edith River free camp<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

There was a fair bit of soft sand to negotiate, and as we walked the site to decide where to camp, two couples with largish caravans approached us when it looked like we might be about to choose a spot they needed to be able to reverse their vans onto to get out. They were anxious after seeing a young couple in a 2wd Hiace get bogged the day before. We didn’t have any concerns about the OKA getting bogged, but were happy to wait for the caravaners to leave so we could nab their ‘prime spot’, & to offer the reassurance of assistance if they needed it to get out. As it was both were sensible drivers & no assistance was required, although they were demonstrably relieved once they had their rigs on more solid ground. By the time we left 3 days later we had still heard no news re the Cobourg Road.  Online resources said that the 4.5t limit was still in place. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Pleasantly relaxing for a few days.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It was good to catch-up with Kellie in Pine Creek, a lady we had got to know at Manbulloo Station caravan park whilst waiting for the OKA to get sorted at the Katherine auto electrician’s, & who after several years of having first worked at Manbulloo, and then living there for an extended period as a result of unfortunate circumstances, she was, when we met her, excited about an opportunity she was grasping. The Pine Creek ‘Historical Site’ had wanted a ‘live-in caretaker’ & she had been accepted for the position. It was good to see her, now there , settled in, with her dog, & enjoying her life in the community. That night we spent at Pussy Cat Flats campground, (a disused racetrack) a short distance out of Pine Creek on the road into Kakadu. The caretakers there regaled us with anecdotes from recent visitors to Kakadu about horrifying clouds of ravenous mosquitoes, so thick that arms couldn’t be seen &  making lives a misery. We hoped that the Thermacell unit we had purchased in Katherine might offer us a degree of protection when used in conjunction with ‘tropical strength’ mozzie spray. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our next stop was one we were looking forward to revisiting. Earlier in the year Harriet Creek free camp had been a lovely bush spot, well away from the road , alongside a shallow pretty creek with plenty of bird life. What we found this time was the creek had dried up & fire had gone through the surrounding country. The only water was little more than a puddle by the bridge over it. We were ‘treading water’ waiting on news from the lady at the NT Parks dept about Coburg road access, so stayed a couple of nights. The camp area itself had escaped being burned, & we used water from the ‘puddle’, carried back to the OKA in a bucket for washing clothing & the windscreen, saving our drinking water taken onboard in Katherine. Pine Creek had water but our hose was not long enough to reach the public tap. Another source we had used there once before was, we learned from Kellie, not suitable for drinking due to it’s acidity, so preserving our onboard supply, not knowing where we might get our next water from was our aim. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Harriet Creek free camp. The grass now brown & the surrounding area burnt.<\/strong> Creek now dry<\/strong>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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An early morning walk up a nearby rocky hill revealed bright new growth among the burned areas.<\/strong> The only other camper had seen a small mob of buffalo passing through. We only saw their tracks<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Quite a few sites in Kakadu have remained closed for much of the tourist season this year, for a variety of reasons, & we learned that some of the smaller & more remote camps would not be accessible as roads had only been cleared to suit ‘standard’ 4wd cars, not 3.2m high OKA’s. So our first Kakadu stop was a return to Gunlom Falls, which opened just days before we visited, & which we last visited in 2008. The long drive in was terrible, we rated the corrugations as 9 out of 10, close to the worst we have endured. It was a slow trip in & out! Either it couldn’t have been that bad back in 2008 when we took our old 2wd Nissan Civilian bus in there, towing motorcycles on a trailer, or our memories have blanked out the experience!  But it was worth it back then & this time it was no different. The lower pool was cordoned off due to a the presence of a croc which had not been tempted into the croc trap, but the upper ‘infinity’ pools were marvellous. The climb up to them tested us, particularly MrsTea’s knees, but we went early in the morning to beat the heat & were rewarded by having the place & it’s view to ourselves for half an hour or so before the next intrepid climbers arrived, warning us of the presence of a large Brown snake, part way up the climb. This site has been closed for a number of years due to a ‘spat’ between the traditional owners & the Parks department.  I believe a result of poor, or lack of, consultation in regard to the construction of a new route up the cliff, presumably now resolved. For us the new walkway, with steps & rails, whilst challenging us, was far easier than it had been 17 years ago. The cool water in the deep pools was just what we needed once we reached them. The view out across Kakadu far better than can be seen from any vehicle. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The upper pools at Gunlom<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The view<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Natural ‘infinity pool’.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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MrsTea preparing for the return journey back down the cliff.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

On the way back out to the highway is a carpark with brand new toilets. It is at the beginning of the walk to Motorcar Falls, named after the first car, an old Chevy,  to drive out there in 1946. The driver, Paul Allmich, a tin miner, reached the creek but could get no further. Subsequently the creek became known as Motorcar Creek. The signs with distances are misleading, we suspect that Kakadu Kilometres are longer than standard Kilometres & the 7.5km return walk was closer to 9km. Mostly easy walking until the last few hundred metres where significant scrambling over large boulders was required. Several younger & fitter folk made it look easy. We were slow helping each other to reach the goal, but we got there & were rewarded by a stunning swimming location. Very pleased we had carried a pool noodle with us!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Views on the way to Motorcar Falls.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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We heard them coming. A small group of buffalo crashing through the bush. We stood still & watched them pass. We think a lone beast is likely more dangerous than a group. <\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Motorcar Falls. Water was still trickling over the falls. Water was a lovely temperature to swim in. Not sure how deep, but it was deep, & we each took it turns to use the pool noodle we had carried with us.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

By the time we got back to the truck we were thankful we’d ‘made it’!  I was weary, but MrsTea had significant knee pain plus blistered toes. She has since purchased a pair of ‘toe socks’ on recommendation from a friend. I was initially cynical, but they do seem to have helped on a couple of walks since. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Solar powered. We didn’t need it but thought it a good idea. <\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Kapok pods yet to swell, turn brown & then ‘exude’ their fluffy inner. I can remember pillows stuffed with Kapok from when I was a child in the UK<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Whilst sitting ‘nursing our wounds’ we got online & discovered that the annual Mahbilil Festival was taking place over the coming weekend  in the township of Jabiru about 3 hours drive away. Headline acts were to be Christine Anu & Shelley Morris. And surprisingly it was free! Our tired & aching bodies convinced us that a few days in a Jabiru caravan park, at $65 per night were in order. and whilst online we had received word from the NT Parks Dept ” The road is still limited to 4.5 tonnes on the road Dept’s web site but we have heard from the park ranger that the Outback Spirit tour buses have been getting up to the ranger station OK, (where the guests take a boat from to get to the exclusive Seven Spirit camp  across the bay) along with the comment “Make of that what you will” . This was encouraging news as the Outback Spirit coaches are significantly larger & heavier than our OKA, & we called the Parks dept & suggested that it sounded like we would have no problem getting up there. “I think you’re right”, the lady said, “Just be aware that there are a few kms of soft sand after the tiny remote community of Murganella, and beware of a few places where there are tree branches poking out into the track”. And so our waiting had proved worthwhile. The formalities of obtaining the necessary permit to visit Garig Gunak Barlu along with camping fees were sorted out there & then on the phone using a credit card. Dates were locked in with us crossing back in to Arnhem Land a couple of days after the Festival. Woohoo!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Jabiru at the campground, we refilled our water tanks, enjoyed the ‘luxury’ of an ensuite toilet & shower (every site had these ‘private’ facilities), something we have never had in a caravan park before,  & had sufficient supplies to last us for our time  up at Cobourg, so all we needed to do was to relax & enjoy the festival. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wrong!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was 3am when MrsTea woke me on our first night there to tell me that our fridge was making unusual ‘clicking noises’. Immediate examination of the fridge revealed what was challenging news. It was no longer working & the clicking was the fridge compressor trying to start up repeatedly & failing repeatedly. My diagnosis was a) the fridge has completely ‘shat itself’, or B) more optimistically it’s cooling fan has seized up & it was trying to start but the seized fan was causing a voltage spike resulting in the ‘clicking off’. I felt the latter was the most likely but couldn’t know for certain without removing the fridge from it’s built in, slideout position. This would be a big job, requiring tools (some of which I didn’t have) & a significant amount of internal dismantling of the motorhome interior. Ideally it needed somewhere with a workshop, & where I could leave the dismantled cupboards & their contents, & with proximity to somewhere to purchase a replacement fan ….. (or a new fridge if need be), once the dismantling had been achieved. The thought of needing a new fridge haunted me & I did my best to push those thoughts away. Finding a replacement of exactly the same dimensions as the one fitted during the build, in Germany back in 2015 was pretty unlikely, and modifying a replacement & the space it needed to live in – a nightmare. Jabiru was not the location to start the process! The closest place would be Darwin 250kms to our west. I should add that the fact that our fridge’s fan had been making abnormal graunchy noises for some time which gave me greater confidence that the fan was the issue & that it was something I should be able to fix myself. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We were faced with the choice of cancelling the Cobourg booking we had paid for just that day or finding a way of spending the next 10 days or so in temperatures in the high 30’s\/low 40’s without a fridge. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We considered several strategies, including dumping the almost full contents of our freezer, & using it as a fridge.  However in the end we kept the freezer as a freezer, but that left two main issues to overcome. Fruit & vegetables preservation was one, the other defrosting meat\/fish safely.  Normally we take food out of the freezer & put it into the fridge to thaw.  Google said “don’t thaw meat\/chicken\/fish in hot ambient temperatures because there is a risk of food poisoning\/ Botulism. Botulism though rare sounded horrific & not something we wanted to play ‘Russian roulette’ with, especially in an area as remote as the Cobourg Peninsula.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We either needed to survive on canned fish & meat (& fruit & vegetables) or find a safe way to thaw the contents of our freezer as needed. The caravan park folk were happy to assist. We collected a number of empty plastic soft drink bottles & froze them in the CP’s staff freezer. These would be used to make our fridge last a few days as an unpowered ‘Esky’ (we estimated the ice would last 2 or 3 days). In the meantime we would place a number of smaller flat ‘tupperware’ containers filled with water at the bottom of our freezer. These would become ice blocks we could place inside insulated shopping bags together with the food we were thawing out inside the warm fridge once the frozen bottles had thawed. The idea being to slow down the thawing out process. Taking these frozen water containers out from the bottom of our freezer one at a time, meant we could replace them to freeze another. This was the process we adopted in order to still be able to go up to Cobourg. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We also bought tinned stews & cans of tuna at the small Jabiru supermarket & somewhat rashly purchased several expensive packs of beef jerky at the festival as a backup in case our ‘food security strategy’ failed. We had just enough room to fit 2 small packs of frozen ‘stir-fry vegetables’ into the freezer too. Thankfully the plan worked well, we did try one can of tinned stew, & whilst I’m sure it would have stopped us from starving, we certainly weren’t looking forward to eating more, it was awful. We actually managed very well, & the worst thing was having nothing cold to drink for 10 days. The water in our tanks, heated by the ambient temperature was a comfortable showering temperature, so the best we could do was to leave a couple of bottles of water outside each night, laying on an aluminium table to cool. ‘Cool’ is an overstatement however, a ‘bit less warm’ more accurate. Certainly better than drinking it straight from our tap. Our ‘Yeti’ drinking bottles then kept the ‘less warm water’ less warm for a while. Describing this as I write sounds like I’m making a mountain out of a molehill, & sure we could have survived drinking hot water, but those few degrees difference felt both worthwhile & even luxurious at the time!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Shopping in Jabiru supermarket for non-refrigerated ‘contingency’ food supplies. Large shop with limited choice, but the basics were there. Staff very friendly & helpful.<\/strong> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We also needed to plan ahead in regard to removing\/fixing the fridge. If that were possible, an unknown until we had the fridge out & partially dismantled. How to achieve this would remain a mystery until we commenced the job.  Primarily we needed ‘somewhere to be’ – in proximity to somewhere we could get parts, preferably secure, & better still somewhere with a workbench rather than sitting on the ground. We looked for house sits in Darwin, but came up with nothing at the time we needed. As a last resort, and feeling somewhat stressed & under pressure, we called the only people we knew in Darwin. Chris & Megan own a travel truck similar to ours & we had met them briefly late in 2025, via a Facebook group for folk interested in truck travel. It was a long shot, they had come to the campground we were staying in in Humpty Doo to meet us for a short time, & here we were asking a huge favour of them, folk we hardly knew. We had no idea whether they had room for a second truck, let alone a workshop. Asking felt cheeky & uncomfortable, but we also felt stuck, so were prepared for a “Sorry, no” response & decided that it was worth a shot. (The only contact details we had was via Facebook Messenger). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We were sitting at the festival, enjoying a free feed of Buffalo, Kangaroo tail, Baramundi & potatoes, cooked in a ground oven when Chris’ reply came through. “Absolutely, you’ll be more than welcome”. Our shoulders dropped & we could see the relief in each other. In that instant we felt things would be OK, & now we could enjoy the festival, AND the upcoming Cobourg trip. We had no idea what space or facilities Chris & Megan would have, but hoped that at the very least they would have somewhere to work in the shade, out of the harsh sun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The festival was small & enjoyable & afterwards we left Jabiru for a couple of nights at Merl campground, looking forward to a visit to Ubirr & some croc spotting at the infamous Cahills Crossing. We also wanted to see how much time either side of high tide looked safe for crossing the East Alligator river there, preferably without risk of being washed off the crossing or of driving over a large croc!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Very sweet & yummy but messy to eat. First time we have ever seen an ice cream in a doughnut ‘cone’.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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