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Kakadu-du-du.... Day 12 Kakadu Hi there Everyone from Kakadu! We're here, we're hot and sweaty and we're hiding from the mozzies. No, it's not bad really - less sweaty than we were expecting and the bugs can't get to us with the way Hild has the net over the back doors and the tent is pretty insect proof. Actually, until the sun went down there weren't many insect at all - fewer flies than we had had previously and no sign of the mozzies. Even now, apart from some big flying beetle-type things, the major problem was doing the 'eyes and teeth' run (as Rob calls it - his contact lens and toothbrush time) as the mozzies in the toilet block were pretty organised. So, this morning the humans had a serious lie-in and then had porridge so we didn't get going again until 8.40! I think they stayed up late last night watching the TV and were being very lazy. But there wasn't far to travel today and we actually entered the national park at about 9. The lady in the station (who took our money) recommended us to a camp site fairly close, but we wanted to get to the visitors centre and see what there was to do to plan things a bit better, so on we pushed and got there just after 11.
By then Hild had read all the pamphlets to us out loud and we had our basic plan worked out - three nights in three different places to see as much as possible. But we needed more information on the more organised bits i.e. when the boat trips went. Armed with this information from the not terribly well named information booth, we tried to book on the Yellow Water cruise only to find their telephone constantly engaged. So we decided to drop in to the travel agent in Jabiluka - the small town within the national park not far from the visitor centre. We also needed film for Hild, long-sleeved shirts against insects and probably something for lunch as well if I know those two.
The travel agent turned out to be a good move as not only did he book us onto the early cruise on Sunday morning (and told us that 'phoning was a waste of time), but he also suggested we take another cruise up East Alligator river and how to combine it with the sunset talk at Ubirr. So we changed our plans a bit and decided to stay at the top end of the park tonight, do the Aboriginal Culture Cruise and the Ubirr Sunset Walk today, drive down to Jim Jim falls tomorrow morning, but then carry on to Gunlom in the south part of the park to camp tomorrow night, then back to Cooinda on Saturday night to camp close to the Yellow Water cruise which we are going on at 6.45 am to catch the early morning wildlife. After that we can have a gentle drive out of the park to Darwin and check into the apartment in good time before Stewart and Kirrily arrive. Sound a good plan to you? Yes, I was thinking that as well - I thought this was supposed to be a holiday not a military campaign, but these humans have to have a plan or they just drift around aimlessly.
At least the first part seems to have gone OK. We put up the tent at Merl just after lunch and got to the boat ramp with only a short detour to have a look at a monsoon rainforest walk. Interesting if a little short and not a lot of information about the plants. The boat trip was good though. Run by aborigines to show people the river and also how they used it, it was an informative trip as well as being interesting. We saw a lot of crocodiles (as well as a few logodiles and stickodiles we mistook for crocodiles) and heard a few stories about them, as well as some nice birds (Rob took photo's so be prepared for more black specs against a blue sky).
There were lots of interesting asides about various trees and what they could be used for, and when we stopped for a short walk into Arnhem Land (probably illegally as we are supposed to have permits) we saw a really nice little billabong and heard a few more interesting bits. I guess it was all laid on very heavily just as it was in Uluru/Kata Tjuta, but done by some nice people who didn't sound too bored - even if it was their third trip of the day. The 'we use this for that' stuff wears a bit thin when you realise that they live in town and work five days a week just like anyone else, but we were prepared to forgive them that that 'cos at least it made it seem more personal and less of a lecture. After than we drove a short way up to Ubirr which has a lot of rock paintings and heard most of a talk by a (white) Ranger about the art there. Most of it really seemed to be a menu or a bragging board about what fish of game had been caught and how big it was, but maybe it was more real because it was so down to earth. An interesting bit was a picture of a man with his hands in his pockets - basically a white man as a boss paying others to do his work! A lot of aborigines worked as hunters when the area was first settled because they really enjoyed working with horses and one of the local tribes (who actually own Kakadu and lease it to the Government for use as a National Park) has brought in horses which pretty much run wild in the southern parts.
We then went a bit further up to see the sunset over the flood-plain and listen to the Ranger go on a bit more about how the park is managed in the way the traditional owners used to and want it to be done. This is pretty good, if it wasn't for the fact that it seems to stifle all discussion of how these things developed or evolved. Because the aborigines themselves believe that it was formed by the Rainbow Serpent or something, it seems like no-one is allowed to speculate how it really has evolved. I think we mentioned how hard it was to find anything about the geology of Uluru when we were there and this is the same thing. Maybe we are just too western and deterministic, but that's what we are and it would be nice to know more about some of these things. Anyway, that aside it was a lovely view and a glorious sunset. In fact probably some of the best scenery we've seen in Australia as we had a bit of height (maybe 250 metres above the plain) and some perspective on the view. Once again Rob got a bit arty with his camera so you'll have to suffer some of his slides later, I'm telling you this so you are prepared. Well, that pretty much wraps up today. We were just thinking over dinner how long we have actually been away and how long ago even things that happened just yesterday seem. It was only two days ago that we were in Bungle Bungle, and before that just three days form Alice Springs. Yet we are now into shorts and T-shirts (Rob in his thongs - not a pretty sight with his legs as you can imagine), when in Alice we had long-sleeved jumpers and coats. We reckon that with so much happening, we will need a holiday when we come home to relax and wind down! But we still need our sleep and so I am off to bed just like those two humans - who have actually managed to repair the airbed it seems - wonders will never cease. Bye Lionel |
