Kakadu, Gurrung

I love how the Indigenous people describe the seasons of the top end:

Gurrung (August - October)  Hot & dry
Gunumeleng (October - December)  Pre-monsoon storms
Gudjewg (December - March) Monsoon
Banggerreng (March - April)  Knock 'em down storms
Yegge (April - June) Cool, humid
Wurrgeng  (June - Aug) Cold

I went to Kakadu a few times this year, and these photos were from a trip in August (Gurrung) where I was trying out my new camera. We had an incredible time camping in Kakadu, the weather dry and not too hot.

We arrived at Gunlom in the late afternoon. The waterfall had basically dried up, just a streak of black reminding us of where it was. We sat by the main pool as the sun set, mesmerised by the colour change. We were incredibly lucky to basically have all of Gunlom to ourselves at dusk! I swam out to the waterfall end, fulfilling one of my major goals of 2017 to overcome my fear of swimming in deep water. It didn't help that I saw a flash of silver though - probably a barra, but I thought it was a croc!

Gunlom top pool

It was a short steep hike up here, for the best view in the world, literally.

How old is this incredible rock?  

Amazingly clear water

Bearacles visits Gunlom 

By the time we descended for lunch at the main pool, the water had separated into these incredible shades

The second night we camped at Burdulba, a small walk in site near Nourlangie rock. We were the only tent at the campground that night, the only other people being in a campervan.

Nourlangie Rock at sunset

Sunset over the escarpment 

 Grilled corn is the best 

The last stop on our trip was Mamukala wetlands, a place I'd visited a few times prior but always ran away from because of the mosquitoes. There were so many birds here, probably because it was approaching the end of the dry.

If you look really hard, the white dots hidden amongst the vegetation are all herons.  

Scrabble and wine at Mamukala. Sorry we dropped the F forever into crocodile infested water. 

A week in Sri Lanka

Galle

I arrived in Sri Lanka on a hot and muggy day, lucky to miss the cyclone by just one day. I had no plans in particular, so I went to the Fort train station and got on the train to Galle. The train track runs through lush green country, right along the ocean with waves washing up practically right next to the train.

It started to rain as I walked into Galle Fort, a Disneyland of epic proportions - every building was a hotel, restaurant or shop. The rain made me feel sluggish and bored, especially after haggling with a shop keeper who wanted to sell me a second hand umbrella for $10.

The next day, the rain completely cleared and I was treated to a wonderful sunny day. Galle Fort is an old Portugese fort right on the ocean, which survived the 2004 Boxing day tsunami - an incredible testament to the building integrity as much of new Galle had suffered. It was quite fun walking along the fort wall and seeing where one ended up.

There were lots of beautiful old buildings in the area and it was easy to see why so many tourists came here.

Some of the fort wall was built with pieces of coral - gorgeous nuggets set in stone.

It was a lovely day and many couples were out canoodling in corners.

I sat on the fort wall and watched local boys play cricket, whilst the professionals played in the proper cricket ground behind them.

The beach was narrow and not so nice at Galle, but I really loved these rocky steps descending from the wall.


Mirissa

After lunch I took the bus to Mirissa, a beautiful seaside ride. As the clouds cleared the sea seemed to brighten as well.

Mirissa beach is a gorgeous arc of golden sand and the waves are perfect for surfing. It's so easy to see the appeal and much of the beach has been overtaken by restaurants and hotels. The building is so pervasive that sand erosion is occurring right in front of your eyes.

This is the type of development occurring in Mirissa - guesthouses being built everywhere. This sign is from just one street in Mirissa.

Even though the beach was 80% occupied, it was still possible to find a quiet spot to read and contemplate life. I read the paper and laughed at the matrimonial ads, the best thing about subcontinental newspapers.

After a while I was adopted by this doggy that wanted to hang out with me and chew on the newspapers.

A nice sunset in Mirissa. The noise from all the restaurants wasn't so nice. I had planned to stay in Mirissa longer but the Disneyland feel had followed me from Galle, so I knew it was time to move.


Tangalle 

Sri Lankan buses are much like the buses I rode on in Central America. Refurbished from an unknown source, always brightly coloured, windows mostly broken, loud music blaring, snacks being sold at every turn, the occasional blind preacher... they were fun to ride on and I always met locals keen for a chat on every bus.

After a couple of hours I got to Tangalle which was much quieter than Mirissa. I found a guesthouse away from the main strip facing the sea and relished the quiet. A short walk along the beach brought me to the local fishermen distributing today's catch.

These fishing boats were incredibly narrow and I wondered how they balanced!

I spent the night in Tangalle, a blissfully quiet night with no noise at all. In the morning I woke to this beautiful sunrise from my window.


Ella 

The next day I woke up early and took the bus which incredibly delivered me from Tangalle to Ella without any change required. I absolutely loved Ella, easily my favourite place in Lanka this time. I went for a walk up to Little Adam's peak where there were so much green everywhere I looked. There were a fair few tourists on top of the peak but it was easy enough to find a peaceful spot to read and write.

Of course I got adopted by another doggie.

On the way down I saw this incredible sunset over the hills.

The next day I walked down the road to Ravana falls. It was a bit of a hairy walk at times as the tuktuks and buses sped around the corners and I had to duck out of the way quickly. But the scenery is amongst some of the most breathtaking I've ever seen in my life.

I saw lots of monkeys along the way, including these ones with the very long tails and black faces.

Ravana falls was gushing after wet season and there was nowhere to even dip one's feet. I sat here and finished my book, the mountain story by Lori Lansens - a gripping adventure thriller.

I walked along the train track to the nine arch bridge, a stunning piece of engineering built during the British era. 

I was a bit scared of being stuck in the tunnel when the train came! But there were so many tourists there was actually a policeman allocated to looking after us.

And of course, I got adopted by another doggie, this one followed me all the way back to Ella.


Nuwara Eliya

I had planned to go to Kandy but the train workers went on strike, so instead I took the next bus that came along and ended up in Nuwara Eliya.

This was also a British colonial hilltown. I really enjoyed wandering around here - it felt much more real as there were hardly any tourists and it was just locals doing their own thing.

I sat on the golf course to read and eat a soursop. Another curious doggie came to visit.

Sadly I had an awful evening of nausea after eating some dodgy food. I still got back on the bus though as I wanted to meet my friend in Colombo. Here is just a random hillside town we stopped at along the motion sickness road down to Colombo.

Colombo 

I was so happy to finally be off the bus after 6 hours. I didn't even mind the walk from Pettah to Fort in the afternoon heat. This random sculpture is just on the side of the street, near the entrance to the Fort area.

In the evening I went to Galle Face Green for sunset and saw these school kids doing yoga. It was horribly polluted though - traffic exhaust fumes, air pollution, plus the seaside "reclaiming the sea" building project made everything grey and dusty. 

Sunset at Galle Face Green wasn't much of a sunset...

Sunrise at Galle Face Green wasn't much of a sunrise. It was incredibly smoggy as I walked to Galle Face hotel to meet Vhari for breakfast.

Later that day I wandered along the sea and saw those train tracks I had ridden on, on my very first day in Lanka.

I stopped off in a local hipster cafe and had a cold brew whilst I did some more writing. I really had a wonderful week in Sri Lanka, where I reached many personal epiphanies. I enjoyed reading, writing and composing in all these strange beautiful places. I had planned to stay put in one place but ended up visiting quite a lot of places (especially for my usual snail-speed travel!). But it felt just right for the frame of mind I was in - I felt free, as if I had discovered my youth again... Freedom is in the mind.