Today the cook and I ventured to Jim Jim Falls expecting to drive on a fairly decent road following its opening a week or two ago. The road has corrugations deeper that some of the creeks we crossed getting there. It is advertised that the road is for 4x4 vehicles only. Given this, many travellers on the road expected a much better road considering the price charged to enter the park, $25 per head if your not a NT local. Going by the number of interstate travellers (in the Thousands) surely some of the monies could be sent on making the road safer by maintaining them. Idealy it should be sealed all the way to the Falls.
The tour operator drivers and drivers of hire vehicles can not read the speed restriction signs. They only know one speed and that is flat out. This does not help to maintain the condition of the road.
The tourist site is very popular. The car park was full at 1000hrs and there is a continious stream of traffic to and from the site.
On the way back to the caravan a grader was sitting by the side of the road. Things may be looking up. Too late for me and the other thousands who have gone there since its opening.
Hylda&Jon said
08:49 PM Jun 30, 2011
Hi!
You must be rather close to us as we're camped at Mardugal Camp Ground for the next couple of days so if you see our Jabiru caravan & white Landcruiser floating around in the generator sites then drop in & say Hi.
We decided against driving to Jim Jim Falls as we have heard it gets rather rough & we have seen so many water falls over the last 2 years that one missed will not kill us.
Cheers
Jon
Sheba said
11:57 PM Jun 30, 2011
For the uninitiated, what is 1000 hours please ?
Cheers,
Sheba.
gubby said
07:34 AM Jul 1, 2011
Sheba wrote:
For the uninitiated, what is 1000 hours please ?
Cheers,
Sheba.
10 am ....
Peter_n_Margaret said
07:44 AM Jul 1, 2011
Sheba, 1000hrs is 10am, 2200hrs is 10pm using the 24 hour clock.
Your post raises an interesting question "Two Strays". I would prefer to see these remote and beautiful places while they are still remote and beautiful. Providing a decent road destroys all of that. The next step will be a massive bitumen carpark, concrete paths everywhere and guard rails.
We have already lost the Oodnadatta Track, the Birdsville Track the Gibb River Road and many others. These routes are all truly roads now and the traffic densities have skyrocketted over the last few years and much of their appeal has been lost to history.
I say leave some places for those who are prepared to make a serious effort to see them.
Cheers, Peter
ozi2 said
07:51 AM Jul 1, 2011
Sheba wrote:
For the uninitiated, what is 1000 hours please ?
Cheers,
Sheba.
HI Sheba, it is 10am, it's used by military forces and aviation etc around the world. Starting from midnight the first hour is 0100 followed by 0200 hrs etc through to 2400hrs (mid night) In military terms the term Zulu is used when giving the time, we know it as GMT (Greewich Mean time) check out www.greenwichmeantime.com for a good explaination.
cheers
ozi2
glassies said
07:57 AM Jul 1, 2011
i agree with you margaret but i also disagree with the amount to get to see the falls what a ridiculous price 25 per head for what ,if they arent going to keep the road graded for that amount per head then what are we paying for and they call australia the lucky country ,how do they figure that when these days you have to pay for something that costs nothing, the waterfall is there and has always been there like many others next they will be charging for milla milla falls in the cairns area just because its there.
im astounded at the cost of 25 per head ive never heard of anything so crazy, oh except i did hear on the radio once that in america if you want to go to a national park for a weekend or camp at all you must book ahead and pay and that was many years ago now its starting to happen everywhere in australia as well, and has done for years yet only to get worse and yes i agree that some need to be maintained re:garbage bins, and some if they have toilets etc, but when the road is dirt and there is nothing at the end but a waterfall, im appalled at making people pay to see something that belongs to the country itself.
Not that i dont know where that money goes i do know where it goes thats a whole other story though .
_wombat_ said
08:24 AM Jul 1, 2011
Years ago there was no entry fee, then they decided to have a fee for a couple of years, people stopped going, fee was taken off, couple of more years and fee was installed again last year, we will no enter Kaka until the fee is dropped again, what is really annoying is if you live in the MT you do not have to pay anything, its only the tourist that are being slugged.
If ALL tourist stopped going there the fee would be dropped, the entry fee is ontop of camping fee's, bloody rip off I call it.
Peter_n_Margaret said
11:17 AM Jul 1, 2011
Personally I don't agree with entry fees to National Parks, however the $25 fee is not just to see Jim Jim Falls, it is to see Kakadu and is valid for a week or 10 days, from memory. If you think you can see Kakadu in 2 days you are kidding yourself and then it is expensive, but if you spend a week it is not so much. On our last trip there we spent 10 days in Kakadu and only saw a small portion of it. Jim Jim was still closed, so we have not been there. Also, there are (or were) free campsites in Kakadu as well as those with additional facilities and fees to match. We will have to go back for another week, or so, at some time in the future.
Cheers, Peter
_wombat_ said
11:29 AM Jul 1, 2011
PnM, do you know why NT residents get in FREE?
I was told it is because they are rate/tax payers, well I am also a rate/tax payer here in WA and I have to pay to enter NP here in WA, and in the NT (where locals get in for nothing)
Peter_n_Margaret said
11:45 AM Jul 1, 2011
No I don't.
Generally speaking "National" Parks are not National at all, they are State Parks and are controlled entirely by the States and the rules are different in each State (or Territory).
Uluru and Kakadu are the exceptions. They are controlled by the Federal Government, not by NT. All of the other NT National Parks (eg Litchfield, Gregory, Keep River etc) are free entry to everyone and camping charges are about $3.50 per person per day in all of them.
Cheers,
Peter
Vic said
12:31 PM Jul 1, 2011
_wombat_ wrote:
PnM, do you know why NT residents get in FREE?
I was told it is because they are rate/tax payers, well I am also a rate/tax payer here in WA and I have to pay to enter NP here in WA, and in the NT (where locals get in for nothing)
Hi Wombat.....time to put your pic up in your avatar instead of mine, everyone will think you are the good looking, sauve looking chap (did I say conceited) in it when it's me !!
gubby said
12:55 PM Jul 1, 2011
I think he might like you Vic....
_wombat_ said
01:02 PM Jul 1, 2011
PnM re National Parks:
so if the Kakadu National Park is controlled by the Federal Government, why are NT residents allowed in free?
I do realise you do not know the answer, but do you think it is fair that one group of rate/tax payers can get free access?
Vic, I don't have a picture of mtself
Hylda&Jon said
02:16 PM Jul 1, 2011
Peter_n_Margaret wrote:
Personally I don't agree with entry fees to National Parks, however the $25 fee is not just to see Jim Jim Falls, it is to see Kakadu and is valid for a week or 10 days, from memory. If you think you can see Kakadu in 2 days you are kidding yourself and then it is expensive, but if you spend a week it is not so much. On our last trip there we spent 10 days in Kakadu and only saw a small portion of it. Jim Jim was still closed, so we have not been there. Also, there are (or were) free campsites in Kakadu as well as those with additional facilities and fees to match. We will have to go back for another week, or so, at some time in the future.
Cheers, Peter
$25 per person covers 14 days within Kakadu, entitles you t0 free entry to the Aboriginal Cultural Centre & all the walks & waterfalls within the park.
There is a $10 per person site fee for camping sites with toilets, showers & drinking water plus slide show talks 2 or 3 times a week plus guided nature walks by the rangers.There is also $5 per person camp sites with only toilets. From our caravan annex in one of the paid sites we had a glorious view of a waterfall which was priceless. Where we are now we are within about 30km of waterfalls, lookouts & many nature & wetland walks.
I'm not mad on the $25 entry fee but I have seen similar fees in other places (eg: Monkey Mia) with a lot less to see.
Cheers
Jon
_wombat_ said
02:44 PM Jul 1, 2011
there is a lot less to see at Monkey Mia and it is not a National Park it's reserve run by DEC.
In my opinion that place is also a rip off, my objection is that NT residents do not pay any fee when travellers who spend $$$$$ just to get to Kakadu are then ripped off with A fee.
Today the cook and I ventured to Jim Jim Falls expecting to drive on a fairly decent road following its opening a week or two ago. The road has corrugations deeper that some of the creeks we crossed getting there. It is advertised that the road is for 4x4 vehicles only. Given this, many travellers on the road expected a much better road considering the price charged to enter the park, $25 per head if your not a NT local. Going by the number of interstate travellers (in the Thousands) surely some of the monies could be sent on making the road safer by maintaining them. Idealy it should be sealed all the way to the Falls.
The tour operator drivers and drivers of hire vehicles can not read the speed restriction signs. They only know one speed and that is flat out. This does not help to maintain the condition of the road.
The tourist site is very popular. The car park was full at 1000hrs and there is a continious stream of traffic to and from the site.
On the way back to the caravan a grader was sitting by the side of the road. Things may be looking up. Too late for me and the other thousands who have gone there since its opening.
Hi!
You must be rather close to us as we're camped at Mardugal Camp Ground for the next couple of days so if you see our Jabiru caravan & white Landcruiser floating around in the generator sites then drop in & say Hi.
We decided against driving to Jim Jim Falls as we have heard it gets rather rough & we have seen so many water falls over the last 2 years that one missed will not kill us.
Cheers
Jon
For the uninitiated, what is 1000 hours please ?
Cheers,
Sheba.
10 am ....
Your post raises an interesting question "Two Strays".
I would prefer to see these remote and beautiful places while they are still remote and beautiful. Providing a decent road destroys all of that.
The next step will be a massive bitumen carpark, concrete paths everywhere and guard rails.
We have already lost the Oodnadatta Track, the Birdsville Track the Gibb River Road and many others.
These routes are all truly roads now and the traffic densities have skyrocketted over the last few years and much of their appeal has been lost to history.
I say leave some places for those who are prepared to make a serious effort to see them.
Cheers,
Peter
HI Sheba, it is 10am, it's used by military forces and aviation etc around the world. Starting from midnight the first hour is 0100 followed by 0200 hrs etc through to 2400hrs (mid night) In military terms the term Zulu is used when giving the time, we know it as GMT (Greewich Mean time) check out www.greenwichmeantime.com for a good explaination.
cheers
ozi2
for what ,if they arent going to keep the road graded for that amount per head then what are we paying for
and they call australia the lucky country ,how do they figure that when these days you have to pay for something
that costs nothing, the waterfall is there and has always been there like many others next they will be charging for
milla milla falls in the cairns area just because its there.
im astounded at the cost of 25 per head ive never heard of anything so crazy, oh except i did hear on the radio once
that in america if you want to go to a national park for a weekend or camp at all you must book ahead and pay
and that was many years ago now its starting to happen everywhere in australia as well, and has done for years yet only to get worse
and yes i agree that some need to be maintained re:garbage bins, and some if they have toilets etc, but when the road is
dirt and there is nothing at the end but a waterfall, im appalled at making people pay to see something that belongs to the
country itself.
Not that i dont know where that money goes i do know where it goes thats a whole other story though .
Years ago there was no entry fee, then they decided to have a fee for a couple of years, people stopped going, fee was taken off, couple of more years and fee was installed again last year, we will no enter Kaka until the fee is dropped again, what is really annoying is if you live in the MT you do not have to pay anything, its only the tourist that are being slugged.
If ALL tourist stopped going there the fee would be dropped, the entry fee is ontop of camping fee's, bloody rip off I call it.
If you think you can see Kakadu in 2 days you are kidding yourself and then it is expensive, but if you spend a week it is not so much.
On our last trip there we spent 10 days in Kakadu and only saw a small portion of it. Jim Jim was still closed, so we have not been there. Also, there are (or were) free campsites in Kakadu as well as those with additional facilities and fees to match.
We will have to go back for another week, or so, at some time in the future.
Cheers,
Peter
PnM, do you know why NT residents get in FREE?
I was told it is because they are rate/tax payers, well I am also a rate/tax payer here in WA and I have to pay to enter NP here in WA, and in the NT (where locals get in for nothing)
No I don't.
Generally speaking "National" Parks are not National at all, they are State Parks and are controlled entirely by the States and the rules are different in each State (or Territory).
Uluru and Kakadu are the exceptions. They are controlled by the Federal Government, not by NT. All of the other NT National Parks (eg Litchfield, Gregory, Keep River etc) are free entry to everyone and camping charges are about $3.50 per person per day in all of them.
Cheers,
Peter
Hi Wombat.....time to put your pic up in your avatar instead of mine, everyone will think you are the good looking, sauve looking chap (did I say conceited) in it when it's me !!
I think he might like you Vic....
PnM re National Parks:
so if the Kakadu National Park is controlled by the Federal Government, why are NT residents allowed in free?
I do realise you do not know the answer, but do you think it is fair that one group of rate/tax payers can get free access?
Vic, I don't have a picture of mtself
$25 per person covers 14 days within Kakadu, entitles you t0 free entry to the Aboriginal Cultural Centre & all the walks & waterfalls within the park.
There is a $10 per person site fee for camping sites with toilets, showers & drinking water plus slide show talks 2 or 3 times a week plus guided nature walks by the rangers.There is also $5 per person camp sites with only toilets. From our caravan annex in one of the paid sites we had a glorious view of a waterfall which was priceless. Where we are now we are within about 30km of waterfalls, lookouts & many nature & wetland walks.
I'm not mad on the $25 entry fee but I have seen similar fees in other places (eg: Monkey Mia) with a lot less to see.
Cheers
Jon
there is a lot less to see at Monkey Mia and it is not a National Park it's reserve run by DEC.
In my opinion that place is also a rip off, my objection is that NT residents do not pay any fee when travellers who spend $$$$$ just to get to Kakadu are then ripped off with A fee.