Sunday, July 25, 2004
Douglas Daly
Today was my birthday which always falls on a long weekend in Darwin because it's the same weekend as the Darwin Show - or alternatively because in the Territory they know what's truly important and they know I need a long weekend to celebrate.
This year my birthday treat was to camp at Douglas Daly Park, located on the Douglas River about 2.5 hours south of Darwin. This is my absolutely favourite place in the Territory and there is no better time to camp there than July when the days are guaranteed to be sunny and warm and the nights cold enough to enjoy a campfire and a sleeping bag.
The first time I saw this place, I fell in love. I remember ringing my mum from the pay-phone (there's no mobile coverage there) and telling her "I've just found paradise and think I'll stay here for ever!" - and so it is.
The river that runs through this caravan and camping park reflects the fringing pandanus like a mirror. It flows alternatively along its length smooth with a green, silken gleam, or broken by small waterfalls and white, foaming, thundering rapids. Between, a series of defined pools allow you to swim and dive, sunbake on white/gold sand, clamber over interesting rock formations or swim between them. For the adventurous, riding the rapids or just being swept along on the fast-flowing water provides plenty of excitement, particularly when you are likely to encounter a small fresh-water crocodile or large snake along the way.
In the early mornings steam rises from the surface where the sun hits. In the night, giant cherapin (like huge prawns or small lobsters) cut the water with their red, headlight eyes.
One thermal pool is fed by a warm spring, so it's always just a little cooler than blood temperature, specially nice in the cool of the morning or evening.
Then there are the nearby Douglas Hot Springs. Here the water comes almost boiling from the ground and flows over a sandy bed as a river, gradually cooling as it moves along. All you need to do is choose a spot where the temperature is right for you, lie back in the sand, or scrub with it for a natural exfoliation. There's one spot where most people congregate. This is where the hot river meets a cold river so your back can be heating while icy currents swirl around your legs; or climb a sandhill for a temperate swim in a large billabong where the water temperature is so close to body-heat that you feel no change in temperature as you plunge in.
I like to swim in the billabong, wade back through the icy river, then lie in the really hot water (about the same temperature as a sauna) until my body turns pink. I'd like to say I then plunge back into the icy river, and people do, but I generally just keep that nice, warm glow from the hot springs.
A million dollars would not have bought me a nicer treat for my birthday. It's places like this and weather like this that make the Northern Territory a place you never want to leave.
If you've read this post - make your mark on the flashing world map - it's fun!
This year my birthday treat was to camp at Douglas Daly Park, located on the Douglas River about 2.5 hours south of Darwin. This is my absolutely favourite place in the Territory and there is no better time to camp there than July when the days are guaranteed to be sunny and warm and the nights cold enough to enjoy a campfire and a sleeping bag.
The first time I saw this place, I fell in love. I remember ringing my mum from the pay-phone (there's no mobile coverage there) and telling her "I've just found paradise and think I'll stay here for ever!" - and so it is.
The river that runs through this caravan and camping park reflects the fringing pandanus like a mirror. It flows alternatively along its length smooth with a green, silken gleam, or broken by small waterfalls and white, foaming, thundering rapids. Between, a series of defined pools allow you to swim and dive, sunbake on white/gold sand, clamber over interesting rock formations or swim between them. For the adventurous, riding the rapids or just being swept along on the fast-flowing water provides plenty of excitement, particularly when you are likely to encounter a small fresh-water crocodile or large snake along the way.
In the early mornings steam rises from the surface where the sun hits. In the night, giant cherapin (like huge prawns or small lobsters) cut the water with their red, headlight eyes.
One thermal pool is fed by a warm spring, so it's always just a little cooler than blood temperature, specially nice in the cool of the morning or evening.
Then there are the nearby Douglas Hot Springs. Here the water comes almost boiling from the ground and flows over a sandy bed as a river, gradually cooling as it moves along. All you need to do is choose a spot where the temperature is right for you, lie back in the sand, or scrub with it for a natural exfoliation. There's one spot where most people congregate. This is where the hot river meets a cold river so your back can be heating while icy currents swirl around your legs; or climb a sandhill for a temperate swim in a large billabong where the water temperature is so close to body-heat that you feel no change in temperature as you plunge in.
I like to swim in the billabong, wade back through the icy river, then lie in the really hot water (about the same temperature as a sauna) until my body turns pink. I'd like to say I then plunge back into the icy river, and people do, but I generally just keep that nice, warm glow from the hot springs.
A million dollars would not have bought me a nicer treat for my birthday. It's places like this and weather like this that make the Northern Territory a place you never want to leave.
If you've read this post - make your mark on the flashing world map - it's fun!
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