136-139 Kakadu NP (11/8 - 14/8)

And from one park to another.

It's strange, Kakadu has always been one of those places I have wanted to go, but never really had the strong enough drive (both personally or vehicular-ly) to do so until now. Kind of like wanting to go get take away but being too lazy to actually go get it...

But we were now in the area and with absolutely no reason not to pay a visit to one of the more famous National Parks in Australia.

I will say that we only scratched the surface of Kakadu. I feel to get the most out of it you would need to hit the boat (to see Yellow Waters) or perhaps into a helicopter to explore it's vastness. Still we stayed for 3 nights to ensure that we at least got a taste of what it was about...

Ironically this was taken on the way out of Kakadu, but I thought it would be sensible if I put it at the start as if we were arriving!

Passing through the outskirts of Darwin to stock up on the way through we ended up parking next to this set up... The Rock Truck looked practically minute compared to the big Effie!

On the way out to Jabiru we stopped in at the Windows to Wetlands Education Centre. Their caravan parking was a little on the small side...

The Window to the Wetland... And yes they are buffalo down there in the shot walking across the water. Sure, they were farmed buffalo, but that's good enough for me and we ticked them off the "Animal Bingo" card as well.

An interesting place, informative and a great place to run a session of school.

Still on my fascination of termites, I found this quote. I particularly like the reference of termite mounds being referred to as "stationary cows". Perhaps a new concept for the Moo-ving art of Shepparton?

We found ourselves at Kakadu Lodge in Jabiru. A very well decked out caravan park with huge spaces and modern conveniences.

It even had reception that allowed us to watch the footy (or in this case power to watch the next Harry Potter Movie!)

Our first morning took us to the Bowali Information Centre to get the appropriate park passes to drive around as well as attend a free Aboriginal Art session. There we sat on a tarp under a tree for the best part of 2 hours whilst we learnt and practiced our indigenous painting.

Everyone had a different style (surprisingly) but all really got into and thoroughly enjoyed our time there. Probably my favourite memory of Kakadu really. 

Sam in particularly liked the meticulousness (is that a word?) of the style. Learning the effects of different brush strokes and paint volumes. 

The lady running the session was also undertaking a painting whilst we pottered around her. Her brush work skills were nothing short of mesmerising.

From Bowali we toured up to Cahills Crossing up on the East Alligator River. We needed to time it so that we could watch the change in tide occur on the crossing itself. At this point the tidal effects can for a short moment right at high tide, affect the flow of the river. It also allows Barramundi in the river to traverse the crossing from one side to the other. And one thing we've learnt up this way, is where there are Barra, there are crocs. Big... freakin'... crocs.

This is Cahill's Crossing. A concreted path across into restricted Arnhem Land. Here also you can see one fella with a few roos loose in his top paddock. I mean... really? Fish? 

Here is another guy with not a few roos loose, but a whole pack. With the water near it's highest, he decides to drive his Variety Bash car across the waters. Now correct me if I'm wrong but I don't recall too many 4WD HX Holdens... And when it stopped mid crossing we thought we were in for a quite the show. Somehow, he got it started though, and on he went...

Which is good because he would have soon been food for this guy.

Or these guys. Not sure how many crocs we saw, but there were lots.

From there it was around the corner to Ubirr where one of the finest examples of rock art can be seen. Carefully preserved and managed, it was a very interesting place. We particularly appreciated the signing which allowed us to interpret and understand the meaning of the paintings.

It's hard to believe, out in the open and elements, that these paintings have survived.

And from Ubirr Lookout you get the most spectacular view across Kakadu. If you had a preconcieved idea of what Kakadu looks like, like I did, it probably looks a lot like the countryside from Ubirr!

It's Pano-Heaven!

But despite the million pano's we took, this remained my shot of the day. It may look a little forced but it wasn't. Just sitting there chatting and seeing what we could spot.

A return to 'camp' and we splashed out on some meals from the bistro. Slightly overpriced and not much in the way of quality, it was appreciated by all and sundry primarily for the fact we didn't have to cook or clean!

Next day was a trip out to the Anbangbang Billabong after deciding not to do a Yellow Waters cruise.

Croc warnings aplenty down here but we didn't see any. Having said that, we didn't step within 50m of the water just to make sure!

The scrub and bush around the billabong intrigued me. It was almost hypnotic. If you were to walk 40m in from the billabong, everything around you would look the same. It would be incredibly easy to loose your bearings if you were to stray off the path...

From the other side of the billabong.

From there we walked up Nawurlandja Lookout to find a spectacular view of the land we had just been walking around. The ranges dominated the backdrop whilst the billabong and trees contrasted the blue sky. It was a stunning, stunning view. We went mad with Pano's up here but this one B took with us in it is a personal fave. 

I wonder how many other people thought this rock looked like the snail from the movie Turbo, or was it just our kids?

  

After packing up the van, leaving Jabiru and then dropping off the van at Mary Roadhouse on the southern border of Kakadu, we backtracked into the National Park to see a spot I've always wanted to visit. Gunlom Falls. You could take the van in but had been told the track was pretty choppy so we chickened out and did the 70km return dirt road without the Lizard. In hindsight, there was nothing wrong with the road (or our standards have dropped?) but it was nice to travel without the stress. Here the two big kids are gearing up for yet another hike.

The view from near the top, overlooking Kakadu. You'll notice that to the south it's not as green as the north. I suppose rain will do that...

And here are the main pools of Gunlom Falls with the natural infinity pool off to the left. It was as awesome as I'd hoped and well worth the effort to get up there. We took the obligatory family shot up there but I don't think it makes the grade (that's what happens when you trust others... :) )

And to give you an idea of the height, here are the falls (more of a trickle for us) from the bottom...

A nice safe waterhole, we also swam here for an hour or so before retreating homeward...

...but not before stopping here. B's not actually posing here in this shot, but looking at the rocks, but I think most (if not all) would agree it's a far better shot for having her in it! This spot was an unmarked unnamed hideaway that we were told about by the guy working at the caravan park. No signs to show you where it was, just some dirty tracks coming off a side road. And it was all ours... 

After the lushness of Jabiru, it was quite the contrast. Still, it was spacious!

And as the kids found yet another body of water to swim in, B sat back for a wine. Since there was no glass allowed in the pool area, she was given a plastic tumbler. And I reckon half the bottle went in there. I don't think B was complaining though... :)

Kakadu was an interesting one. Vast. Ancient. Historic. Aggressive. Intimidating. Highly touristy and marketed. I enjoyed it a lot, but found a stronger synergy with Litchfield NP. It's one of the intangible things I've referred to in the past. I just preferred one over the other.

But don't listen to the "Kaka-don't" crowd. Sure it's expensive (comparitvely), and can get busy at the peak spots, but unique and amazing it still is.  And from a global perspective it's on our doorstep. A holiday to this region wouldn't disappoint.