In order to keep the trip as stress-free as possible and allow for some acclimatisation, we decided to fly from Sydney to Darwin on Sunday, 25 Dec, arriving late at night (the flight left a few hours late, as the incoming plane was delayed by storms in Brisbane). This gave us all Monday to relax, do our food shopping and packing for the one week hike ahead, and attend the trip briefing by Russel on late Monday afternoon.
We strongly recommend to follow Russel's advice not to arrive at the very last minute, and to count proper preparation as part of the trip. Unfortunately, one of our fellow hikers had to experience the truth of this (more in the notes below).
Russel picked us up at the hotel at 7 o'clock in the morning in his 4WD,
and as we drove out of town, we collected the rest of the party. 
Besides Russel, the
guide (if somewhat hampered being still recuperating from back surgery), there
was Stuey, 2nd in charge, a former soldier who also works as
a tour guide out of Darwin; Pam and Eric, local hiking veterans; Anita
from Melbourne, and then us, Gernot and Trudy. All were
reasonably- to well-experienced, although neither Anita, Pam nor the two
of us had walked in the Wet before.
After a stop on the way where Anita did her
last-minute shopping, we dropped off the car at at Edith Falls, our
destination, and got a lift to Nitmiluk (Katherine Gorge) Visitor Centre.
Just before lunch we were ferried across the river near the Visitor's
centre by a friendly park ranger, and commenced the walk.
That first afternoon the track already held what it had promised: plenty
of waterfalls in full flow. We marvelled at the spectacular view as we got
closer and closer to the waterfall at Northern Rockhole.
There we enjoyed our first of many natural showers and a swim in the pool.
In fact, that night we felt really spoiled when we were able to set
up camp in full view of the waterfall.
The next day introduced us fairly quickly to one particular aspect of
walking in the wet tropics: getting wet, especially when crossing creeks
or wading through wet-land. Fording creeks happened every few hours,
each time needing a decision whether take the walking boots of or
continue as is, hoping to keep the feet dry anyway.
And just in time for our lunch break did the beautiful Biddlecombe
Cascades emerge, inviting us to a well deserved refreshing
swim—albeit only after a bit of a scramble down to the pool.
And so, the swimming opportunities kept coming, more later that same
afternoon and as everyday thereafter!
The day's walk led us along the escarpment, providing several times a
grand view over the 17 Mile Valley.
The final treat of the second day was a mighty, though surprisingly only
a seasonal waterfall. It was a little off our track and final
destination of the day, and so it made for the perfect last rest stop
before the end of a very impressive day of walking.
After we set up camp,
we tried to relax with a bit of privacy from the ever accompanying little
creatures, also known as flies:
We are off again to an other day of discoveries and treats, all the
time accompanied by plenty of green vegetation and creeks full of water.
With a little bit of an explorer's nose searching around the rock
outcrops, that morning we find our first aboriginal art site.
And sure enough, after an other short walk, we stumble across our next
swimming hole.
Revitalised after a cooling swim and lunch, we pick up our packs and go
back to our business of walking—only to be, pleasantly,
interrupted by another (unnamed) spectacular waterfall.
There was one last hurdle or, more precisely, gap to be overcome: to
cross upstream the roaring contributory to Crystal Falls.
While some (like Russell) crossed the fast-flowing creek with a few
large strides, others welcomed a helping hand. Others looked prepared
for a swim, but fortunately we didn't have to practice the
pack-overboard manoeuvre.
After all that play and challenge, we set up camp nearby,
allowing us to take in another view the majestic Crystal the next morning and
be impressed by the crevasse we diligently circumvented the afternoon before.
The next morning took us across open country, with occasional grand views.
Unlike most other days, the sky was overcast early on and we were
prepared for some early showers around lunch time.
However, all these concerns blue away when just before noon we came up
to the Amphitheatre, a rainforest pocket down and along a gully. Lush
rainforest flora greeted us as we climbed down the gully, topping it off
with a magic little swimming hole at the bottom.
Unsurprisingly, we were not the first ones to relish the site:
Aborigines have left their mark from eons back and gave us a
phenomenal gallery of art works. The actual location of the paintings
indicates importance of the site to the aborigines.
Fortunately, we were in no rush to go anywhere and thus we could spend a
very long time appreciating and enjoying the huge variety of
rock art.
With a little effort we eventually emerged from that fantastic world.
After a short bite to eat, we started on our last stretch for the
day.
Little did we know what new surprise was in stall for us.
During our last stop, about 2km before the planned camp at 17 Mile Creek
Crossing, in the middle of undulating, fairly scrubby bush we
got visitors! A helicopter made its way towards us and landed, despite
Russell signalling that we were ok. As it turned out, Anita had
behind Russell's back arranged to get airlifted out for medical reasons
(really excess weight and unsuitable equipment). The whole affair took
ca. 20 minutes
after which the helicopter took off again and we were one member less.
Only after Anita had left did it really become
clear to us how much she had slowed the group down, be it by taking ages
to get ready, walking slowly, taking a very long time to negotiate
obstacles or taking many and long breaks. The remaining group turned out
to be fairly well matched, and while the unplanned departure created
some uneasiness at first (and for Russell a lot of undeserved trouble
later), this soon gave way to a feeling of relief, and the group
continued the trip in great spirit.
Shortly after the helicopter incident we turned a corner andgot
to the edge of the escarpment, where we got a full view of the
17 Mile Falls—delivering possibly the grandest view of any of the
falls we have seen on this trip.
Making good use of the long daylight, we spent ample time exploring and
judging the best vantage point of the falls, the pools and the creek
(obviously, this can't be done without immersing yourself!)
The designated (dry season) camp ground didn't look all that inviting
(mostly under water), so
we headed for some higher, i.e. drier grounds. Having found a suitable,
but maybe not the prettiest spot, we made good use of our communal fly,
allowing us to sit around and read under cover, while waiting for chef
Russell and that night's culinary delight under a very low hanging rain
cloud.
Naturally, next day, the sky is blue again and waiting for us to get on
our way. That day we walked across flat and grassy open
bushland. In particular, we stomped our way through man-tall
grass—an other special feature of the wet season up here.
We came across some easy and some not so easy creek trench crossings,
including natural bridges made of logs and old branches from fallen
trees. Some fords could be negotiated by rock-hopping while others required
a small detour to get around newly created mini-lakes.
Just right on lunch time we hit the Edith River, where after an easy
wade across we succumbed to the obligatory, cleansing pre-lunch swim.
At Channels Waterhole, the wet showed again its impressive side and
transformed a meagre hole into a fully fledged swimming pool including
spa facilities!
For the night's camp, we needed to cross the Edith River one last
time. Swollen and fast flowing, this crossing was the most challenging
one of the trip and required full concentration.
More "wet" adventure was in store for us later that evening. The
clouds had been drifting in all afternoon, and soon after we pitched
our tents, heavy rain hit us and would not stop. We put both of our large flies
up as diligently as possible and crouched underneath, ate our last meal
of the year (yes it was New Years Eve :-) and kept our spirits up.
Nevertheless, we got wetter and wetter as the wind sprayed the rain
sideways and the place got less and less comfortable.
We had already decided to celebrate the New Year in New Zealand time (20:30 local time). In the end we didn't even wait that long, had our special treat (a nut cake friends had given us for the trip), and braved the downpour into the tent, trying to leave most of the water outside.
The New Year greeted us with
magic lights and a changed landscape. The water levels in the river had
risen significantly, making it impossible to pass—good thing we
were already across. We would have had to walk several kilometres
upstream to find a safe crossing, or float the packs across the large
pool we were camped at.
That pool was itself probably half a metre higher than when we got
there, flooding the lower parts of the site (but still remaining well
clear of our tents).
On this, our last full day's worth of walking, we met yet
another side of rainfall. We crossed flat stretches which were turned
into swamps by the previous night's rain.
Because there were no clear creeks or river streams, This was the only
time of the walk where drinking-water supply was an issue. Ironically,
we lunched on a very wet patch yet
we struggled to find anywhere water to refill our bottles (we eventually
could extract some murky water; the more solid muck we let settle, the
smaller particles were taken care of by our good friends in the
Australian bush, purification pills).
That afternoon, we performed our swimming ritual in a very wide section
of the Edith River, where the waters were very calm, almost like a lake. For
our last camp we were looking for a dry spot, but not before marvelling
at some cascades a half day upstream of Edith Falls.
On the last morning, we were on one hand a bit apprehensive seeing our trip
nearing its end, on the other hand we were very keen to get moving
towards one (of the many) highlights of this trip, the grand Edith
Falls. We got early to the banks of the falls to make sure we have ample
time to absorb what nature has to offer. We scrambled around a fair bit
always looking for yet another angle of the cascades just above the
falls and, of course, of Edith Falls proper.
While it had to come to a close, we were a happy bunch and enjoyed every
minute of it—all under the superb guidance of Russel. And yes,
his body kept up, while his pack pretty much had it by the time we got
back to the car.
We picked up our vehicle at the car park at Edith Falls, just where and
how we had left it a good week before. (Which, unfortunately, cannot be
taken for granted; according to Russell it has happened in the past that
vehicles went missing or had been vandalised).
On the drive back to Darwin, we stopped at Litchfield Park and gave
ourselves to the magic of a particularly wonderful pocket of rainforest,
our "Enchanted Gorge". And, yes, you guessed it. We did get yet another swim out
of it!
We had one last night in a hotel in Darwin, where we had left a pack
with clean clothes. Unlike the contents of the packs we had with us on
the walk ;-)