[Must... Have... Coffee...]

Damo wakes us up at dawn. We're groggy, having not slept well. It's nice to sleep under the stars but not quite warm enough. We have cereal and toast for breakfast.

An hour and a half's drive (this is why you can't see Kakadu in one day) takes us to some of the famous waterfalls. En route we stop a few times to look at bush tucker and medicine. The track is very rough and Iain starts feeling queasy. We see a few Britz vans - I wouldn't have driven down here. There's deep sand and plenty of water.

[Jim-Jim Gorge]

It's a 500m tough walk over rocks. I can't keep up, and as soon as I catch up with the others when they stop, they move on. I'm wondering whether this trip was a good idea after all. It's beautiful - a deep valley with a crystal clear pool. The first waterfall (Jim-Jim, named after an aboriginal plant nearby) is dry, but we can see black on the rock where it cascades in the wet - the valley is still amazing. Iain and the group go off to explore, and I sit on a rock in the sun - it's nice to get some time alone. Every ten minutes or so another tour group comes past. I'm stuck here for two hours.

We drive to Twin Falls, back along the same rough track. Listening to other people's preference of CDs is starting to get annoying, and everyone's too tired to talk. It's extremely bumpy to drive here, we drive through a river on a stone path which has collapsed. 45 minutes later we're all bumped out. My foot is so sore I'm in tears and on painkillers.

There's another tough walk over rocks and sand to get to a small beach, where we swim to the falls. We leave clothes on the beach, and Damo takes a lilo with the Esky (cool box) for lunch, and a waterproof container for cameras etc. We swim for 300m, which is okay for me, as my foot is now coping with swimming - in fact it helps it. Iain finds it a little harder, having less experience in swimming than I do. The gorge is 50m wide, with sheer sandstone cliffs either side. There are a few rocks to climb on and rest en route. The water is clear and cool, it's a wonderful place.

[Lunch]

[Beach at Twin Falls]

What Damo forgot to tell me is that halfway to the waterfall, we have to clamber over 500m of rocks, big ones, in barefoot, having left our shoes on the beach. This I am not happy about - it's incredibly painful, hard-going and slow, there's no way I can keep up. There's also nowhere else to go, I have to follow the group. Another 250m swim takes us to the base of the huge falls - sheer and high. There's a white sandy beach, fish swimming, clear water, and it's absolutely stunning.

Damo makes lunch on a lilo - pretty unique - and we stand in the water eating. It's warm and beautiful, and we've got an incredible 360deg view. There aren't many people here, as it's so hard to get to. We have about an hour on the beach, and I sleep in the shade - there's not much else to do except sit in the sun.

[Lunch]

On the way back, it's even harder on my knackered foot. The main scar now has a red cut on it, which is worrying - this has never happened before. It takes me an age to get across the rocks, and I nearly give up. Iain is an angel helping me. We're left on our own, everyone else has gone on ahead, and the water is now colder, in the shade. We can't see into it, and it's a bit worrying to think of crocs around. We eventually catch up, and head to Yellow Water for sunset. It's scenic but we don't spend long here - we're running late cos I've held everyone up.

We have a candlelit dinner by the fire, with roast chickens, veggies, and a whole kangaroo tail which Damo cooks, skin fur and all - everyone seems to love it. I have veg risotto.

It's chilled, with a good atmosphere, we're enjoying this and my foot is recovering. Another group camping near us is playing a didgeridoo badly, which we laugh at until Damo gets his out and we're all just as bad. It's fun trying, but not easy. I sort of master the basics and vow to improve - we're going to buy one in Darwin.

A couple of guides wander over to talk to Damo, they're very friendly and tell us stories. Apparently a guy some time ago fell down the dunny when the seat snapped. There were 45 gallon drums below, and he held on to the rims, up to his chin in poo. Nice. One of the guides is Aboriginal, and has some interesting legends.

We go to bed at 11pm, shattered.

[Head of the gorge]

[The beach]

The route on to Jim-Jim Falls definitely isn't for Cathy. It's about a kilometre of scrambling. The rocks are blasted off the sides of the gorge during the wet and range from the size of a cat to a small house, all dumped at unhelpful angles and worn smooth by the hordes of tour groups that come here. Suddenly, the rocks stop just before the falls leaving a suspiciously sandy beach. You wonder if it gets replaced by the tourist board at the beginning of the dry every year.

[Getting there...]

[Getting there...]

[Getting there...]

[Getting there...]

[Entrance to the cave]

[And the exit]

Apart from the swimming, the other attraction here is a small cave formed by the water. It has some pretty small sections including a narrow opening which needs to be climbed down backwards. It's also home to a couple of bats at the moment.

And that's about it. The way back sees me leaping between rocks like a lunatic again, and we catch up with Cathy as she hears the twentieth contradictory tour guide speech about the gorge.