On waking up, I discovered that I had just under 40 mosquito bites. David and John were both virtually unscathed, so I came to the inescapable conclusion that I must be very tasty indeed. We had to be up at 5:00am, so that we could leave by 6. Thus the entire getting up and having breakfast was conducted, very unnaturally, in the darkness. We switched to a four wheel drive bus (borderline truck, actually) for the trip to Jim Jim and Twin Falls Waterfalls. Jim Jim Falls is accessible via a walking track, and only in the dry season. In the wet season, believe it or not, the only way to get there is by helicopter. Another feature of Jim Jim peculiar to the dry season, is that it is dry – the waterfall is not in flow. Despite this, it is still an amazing sight, especially at this time of the morning.

We spent about 15 minutes here, before returning along the same walking track, hopping back into the truck and going to our second waterfall stop – Twin Falls.

Twin Falls, by contrast, is in flow all year round, but is not accessible by foot at all, at any time of the year. The only way to get to it is to swim upstream from the nearest accessible point on the river’s edge. We all gingerly entered the water, mindful of the signs that littered the area, saying

Saltwater crocodiles have been known to slip into this area undetected

and

Swim at your own risk

The water was warm and devoid of either salt or chlorine, and crocodiles were soon the last thing on my mind. It was a swimming pool where you can keep swimming without ever reaching the far side, but with panoramic views of a magnificent gorge from a unique perspective thrown in as well. What’s more, even though it was a very hot day, as days in the Kakadu inevitably are, I stayed delightfully cool, and was able to enjoy the scenery all the more for it.

As we swam up the gorge, someone spotted a croc lying on a rock in the middle of the river.  General panic ensued until we were assured that it was a freshwater croc and not interested in us.  “It’s only a tiddler” was the guide’s assessment, though at about 2 metres long it was big enough for my liking.  It stayed put as we swam past.

The process of getting to the base of the falls involved “rock-hopping” – periodically getting out of the water, clambering over rocks, and getting back in again to swim some more. Eventually the waterfalls came into view, and we ‘landed’ on a beach area at the side of the pool.

We spent perhaps an hour at the waterfall, eating lunch (carried there in waterproof containers), taking photos, and generally messing around in the water. Some people even carried their cameras into the water and swam with them over to the shallow water in the centre of the pool to get a better angle, and to get close up shots of other people in the water, but I didn’t want to risk that.

By the time we had to go, the sun had got over the edge of the gorge and the whole river was now in the sun, which made for a warm swim back to the walking track. The trip back seemed to go really quickly, and I found myself wanting to stay in longer.

Back in Darwin (five hours later!) we were given vouchers for the evening meal, which would be courtesy of Adventure Tours. Sounded good to me. It was a great evening – the pub had reserved a table for the group, so it was a good opportunity to get contact details for my new friends.