Day 84 / 2025 - Dundee Beach to Humpty Doo

Leaving Dundee Beach we headed east back to the Stuart Hwy then turned north for about 12 km then turned east again onto Arnhem Hwy, our next destination is Corroboree Park Tavern.

About 5 km into the Hwy we turned onto Freds Pass Rd where we pulled into the carpark of Woolworths at Humpty Doo for a bit of grocery shopping as we had little food left. It would be about 4 days before we returned to Humpty Doo before heading into Darwin itself so need a bit of food for those days.

 After loading our groceries into the van we then headed east again for about 50 Km where we arrived at our next stop Corroboree Park Tavern. This Tavern had a Caravan Park out the back. We chose unpowered for $25.00 p/n and paid for 2 days. If we were happy with the place then we could pay for another 2 days. There were no defined sites (powered or Unpowered), just required you to find a suitable piece of grass to park on. The sites were well shaded so we had to setup our portable solar panel to take advantage of longer charging in the sun. 

 The main attractions in this area was The Jumping Croc Cruises and Corroboree Wetlands Boat Cruise. We had already done 2 Jumping Croc cruises so opted for the Wetlands Cruise. We had a choice of a number of sessions and chose the Sunrise tour for $205.00. This included pickup by a bus from the tavern as well as a 2 hour cruise. Unfortunately we were the only ones who booked the Morning Cruise for Sunday and did not have enough numbers to make it worth while. We had the option of a mid morning or Sunset cruise so we opted for the Sunset one. This was a bit more expensive than the sunrise but the tour operator waived the additional cost, not that it was that much more only about $10.00 each.

 We also took a drive out to the local Military Museum about a Km away but did n't look too inviting. We then drove another Km along the road and found the Purple Mango Cafe and Brewery. At the cafe we order coffee and cake. There was also wood fired Pizza's for sale but since we had already had lunch we gave them a miss. We didn't sample the brewed beer either and thought we could do that another time. We took a walk through the gardens and around the camping area they also had. There were some powered and unpowered options available. 

 Returning to the caravan I found I had lost the van keys somewhere but fortunately I had a spare in the car so we were still able to get in. We thought we had lost it at the cafe and Anne gave them a call. They had a quick look but could not see any keys where we were sitting or in the car park. About 9:30 that night we got a text message with a photo of the lost keys. We were so appreciative when we went back the next day to retrieve the keys we also booked in for lunch this time enjoying a Pizza and another cup of coffee. They explained someone had found them in the grass near the cabins and handed them in. I must have dropped them when pulling the car keys out of my pocket. Still haven't tried the beer yet maybe save that for another day.

Sunday was a relaxing day. Late afternoon the bus from the Wetlands Cruise picked us up from the Inn and took us out to the Billabong's boat dock. You can self drive to the area where the boats depart from but we opted for the bus as it was only 10 dollars extra and more relaxing with someone else doing the driving. As we were loaded onto the boat the very informative guide (Donny) advised us to lather up with the areo-guard as the mosquitos were very friendly at this time of year. The wet season had been quite late and the banks of the river were only just now becoming exposed so the insects were at their best. After obligatory drill about safety, it was funny as Donny explained the only use for a life vest in a crocodile infested river was to throw it at the crocodile as they apparently like bright colours.

Leaving the dock it wasn't long before the first big croc was spotted, just opposite the boat ramp. They like to keep an eye on the comings and goings of boaties, looking for opportunity for their next meal. Moving further up the river we spied more crocodiles both Salties and Freshies living a respectable distance apart, we even spied a baby Freshie sunning itself on a branch. While the Crocodiles were the most predominant thing people wanted to see there was also a plethora of other life. We spied birds such as the Jabiru, Darts and Sea Eagles just to name a few as well as wallabies all Co-habitating along the banks of the Billabong. The final part of the evening was stopping at a spot along the river just to watch the sunset with the sky turning on the different colours of the Northern Territory being reflected off the still waters in front of us.

Monday we packed up and headed off again towards our next destination, Humpty Doo only 50 Km's westward back towards Darwin. We cant get into our accomodation in Darwin itself untill the 1st July so will stay at a CMCA park on the 30th June for 1 night. We also caught up with Mick, Carley, Blake and Owen, they were staying at a low cost camp about 2 minute drive just down the road and came up to see us. We went for a swim in the pool attached to the pub then ended up having dinner at the pub. It was steak night with 400 gram steaks and a schooner size drink for only $29.00, a real bargain. We all ended up quite full with a few unable to even eat it all.

We had to be out next day by 10:00 AM sharp as the park was full and we needed to make way for the next intake. As we couldn't check into our next park until after 12 pm we parked at a large grass area outside the Humpty Doo shopping centre which conveniently had a Woolworths for grocery shopping. As it was Territory day fireworks were also available for sale. We ended up doing our grocery shopping and purchased fireworks from the same location.