Yes, this blog is completely out of chronological order and takes us back to September 2021 – our big adventure to Cobourg Peninsula in Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory.
The journey of this blog begins in Port Hedland. On his last break before the adventure my partner drove the Ute and camper trailer from Perth to Port Hedland and I flew to Port Hedland two weeks later.
We stopped along the way at the Victoria River, in Katherine, Litchfield National Park and Darwin, but more about this in another blog.
Cahills Crossing is the river crossing that separates Arnhem Land from Kakadu National Park. Arnhem Land is Aboriginal Land, and we needed a permit to pass through to get to Cobourg Peninsula (Garig Gunak Barlu National Park).
Cahills Crossing is famous for the number of crocodiles that wait at high tide for the road to flood and let the fish through that swim upstream with the tide. Naturally it is also a popular fishing spot for the same reason. Occasionally fisher and crocodile fight for the same fish. There are plenty of videos on you tube about it if you want to have a peek.
Driving into camp just before sunset we saw a road sign saying, “crocodiles crossing”. Sure enough, there was a crocodile track across the road. We did know that we will be entering a crocodile infested region but didn’t quite expect that.
After camp was set up, we went for a stroll at the beach to watch sunset but got distracted by a crocodile track.
Wow, what a welcome and what a first day in Cobourg we had!
The next day we explored the area along the coast. We encountered a herd of Banteng (Indonesian cattle) and saw the croc cruise past again.
When we reached the coast, we noticed a flat front tyre. We had no idea what we’ve run over but judging from the hole and later on noticing a ‘near’ hole on the back tyre it must have been one of the feared star pickets. Star pickets were – and still are – used for fences. In the hard soil of Australia, they are easier to drive into the ground than a common fence pole. Unfortunately, they don’t get removed when the fence isn’t in use anymore and you always have to be wary of abandoned fences and their star pickets, because they cut through any tyre.
A good thing, the tyres of our camper trailer would fit the Ute – always worth considering having the same tyres on the towed vehicle, that way you always get out!
Anyhow, tyre changed, and on our merry way we were again. We discovered Oysters which we ate straight off the rocks – the best way to enjoy Oysters in my opinion.
We explored the rock pools and their corals, and the mangroves.
Our camp oven pizza we took to the Smith Point lookout to watch sunset. Afterwards we treated ourselves to some oysters on coals – incredibly tasty too.
The mozzies were thick that night and we gave the cattle dung a go. It actually works, if you can bear the stink, hahaha.
We went on a crab hunt – bait for fishing. Sure enough we caught dinner right away – two nice Blue lined Emperors. We had leftover pizza for brekkie on the boat.
With dinner sorted we went for an explore in the Ute and discovered a massive nest on the road. The Green Tree Ants ‘glue’ leaves on a tree together to make a nice home. When the branch dies the nest eventually falls off and the ants have to start all over again. These ants are rather aggressive and don’t hesitate to bite. The bite itself is painful enough, but they add to it by squirting acid from their abdomen into the bite site – just to make sure the intruder understands who is the boss.
Check out https://www.minibeastwildlife.com.au/resources/green-tree-ants/ for more information about these feisty little buggers. I myself have performed the “Green Tree Ant Dance” exactly as mentioned on that website!
Caiman Creek is accessible by 4WD, and we tried fishing from shore. We didn’t have any luck but the place itself was worth the stop. Absolutely beautiful creek with sand banks – we nearly got locked in by the incoming tide though (on the sand bank, not the car park).
We got some more crabs for bait – well my partner did, I failed miserably despite the patient instructions of him. Tusk fish love crabs and we caught a 45cm Blue Bone more or less straight away. We were very excited about its size until we got the next one which measured 56cm!!! Stoked about our treat for dinner, actually two dinners, we retired for the day.
We cooked the deluxe Blue Bone straight on the coals and it tasted amazing!
During dinner we got interrupted by one of them venomous centipedes you get in Australia – Scolopendrid Centipedes. Their bite can be extremely painful. Thankfully I haven’t had the misfortune to be bitten so far.
The birdlife in the wetlands is incredible! So many species and in such big numbers! The flock of Magpie Geese counted at least a hundred geese.
Meatloaf and damper for lunch and off we went exploring the coast with our tinny. We went down one of the big inlets and had a look at Caiman Creek from the water. Exploring one of the sidearms we got stuck on a sandbank. In Western Australia we usually get out and push the tinny off the bank, here we didn’t dare. The water was too murky, so we wouldn’t even see a croc approaching. Fortunately, we didn’t have to wait to long for the tide to help us out.
On the way back we nearly had a heart attack. The sun was setting, we were still about 20min from the boat ramp and the motor stopped and refused to start again!
Sitting in crocodile infested waters after dark was not quite our understanding of a romantic night. We got the flares ready and then took the motor apart. Nah, wasn’t quite that dramatic. We took the hood off the motor and checked all the hoses and screws and noticed that the fuel filter had rattled loose. After tightening that up the motor was happy again and brought us home just before pitch-dark. Cant describe how relieved we were that it was such an easy fix.
A big mission in our little tinny was visiting the Victoria Settlement at the bottom of the inlet. It’s 25km across the water, the National Park brochure recommends to only undertake this journey with a motor of at least 25HP and states travel time of 3hrs. Yes, it is a fair hike.
On top of that the ranger warned us about a rather aggressive big crocodile living halfway down. We did spot it, but whizzed past him as quick as we could as we were not keen on meeting him up close.
The Victoria Settlement was the governments third try to establish a town on the coast of the Northern Territory. The British Government feared the Dutch and French expansion in the southern East Indies and Captain Philip Parker King determined possible locations for a settlement when exploring the region of Cobourg in 1818. After Fort Dundas and Fort Wellington failed, Victoria Settlement was established in 1838.
Seven years after founding the progress ceased. Expectations of trade had not been met and supplies became more infrequent while death became more common. The settlers’ spirit was drained by the conditions and climate and the settlement was abandoned in 1849.
The mortar of the buildings was made of ground shells and corals, and limestone. The ironstone was quarried on site. They also produced bricks made from clay, sand, and ironstone.
Forge, blacksmith’s shop 
Where the jetty used to be… 
Well – Captain Philip Parker King discovered the place in the wet-season and believed it to have abundant fresh water. In fact, deep wells needed to be dug to get to fresh water during dry season. 
on the hill was the hospital kitchen and bakery, below the hospital rooms – dysentery, diarrhoea, influenza, scurvy, and malaria were the main reasons to be hospitalized. 
the bakery’s oven 
some bottles and containers that were found in the settlement 
Another well
The early settlers showed incredible endurance, trying to maintain a town only accessible by water, far away from anything.
It was a very interesting walk through the remains of the settlement and I highly recommend visiting the Victoria Settlement if you are up that way and have the means of transport. We pulled in our tinny which we anchored in a special way, so it could float out with the tide, while we were still able to pull it back in without having to walk into the water.
When we came around the corner which protects Victoria Settlement from most of the swell we were greeted by waves. Nothing major, but on a 3.5m tinny you can tell the difference to the calm waters we had in the morning.
On the map I’d seen a spot called “Oyster Rocks” and I wanted to check them out. My partner took us there against his better judgement. Sure enough, the wind picked up and we had to go against whitecaps to get back to the calmer shoreline. Knowing that there are crocs and at least one big aggressive one made this a rather scary, let alone bumpy, ride back.
On our last day in Cobourg, we spotted a Sambar Deer, introduced from Indonesia. We’d come across its droppings, but this was the first time we actually saw one! What a beautiful animal. He was as curious as us and allowed us to take some good pictures.
Explored in Sept 2021, written April 2025
Just reading about your adventures is so amazing, I was gripped in suspense. Will now follow up with the videos!!!!
Hi Dee and Tom
Yes, that was indeed a great adventure 😉