(Kate)
Day 38-41 Kakadu
We packed up at
the mango farm. It was hot and sweaty
work, but we are getting used to it. We
fill up our water bottles 5-6 time a day here in the tropics, because we lose
so much water through sweating. In the
SA outback we allow 4 litres of water per person per day for cooking and
drinking, but here we need to allow about 10 litres. We drove out the gate before 10am – great
team effort for us.
We drove on the
bitumen all the way to Kakadu. We
stopped at Pine Creek to refuel on diesel and a few groceries. $5 for a packet of Jatz biscuits. A good car snack. We called ahead to the Cooinda Lodge and
booked in for 3 nights in the unpowered section. It was $40 a night – not too bad. We picked
it because it’s close to Yellow Waters, and a sunset cruise on Yellow Waters
was on Ben’s “must-do” list on this trip.
When we arrived we found Cooinda to be very spacious and relaxed. We could choose our own site, so we setup
right at the back – furthest away from the amenities but quietest. Plenty of trees and shade, and
tent-peg-friendly ground. There are lots
of mozzies here but not as many moths, grasshoppers or beetles as at the Mango
Farm. After setup we went for a swim in
the pool – it was amazing. It looks like
what I imagine a pool at a resort would look like. Massive, with an accessibility ramp, a shaded
shallow area for people with small children, and a spa. In addition there was a separate pool for
parents with toddlers and babies. Lots
of sun lounges and grassy areas all around the pool, and a cool water feature,
with water cascading down over big rocks to the spa. We set up the big tent and the medium tent
since we’ll be here for at least 3 nights.
Day 39 – day trip
to Jabiru and Cahill’s Crossing. We
stopped at the Bowali Visitors centre (photos) which was fantastic – lots of
information on country, including some of the animals we have seen. Ants with green abdomens, who build nests from
leaves up in the trees. I thought these
were bird nests, but now I know. There
is a separate cultural centre (Warradjan) which has info on culture. https://kakadutourism.com/trip-planning/culture
We went to check
out Cahill’s Crossing, which is a crossing over the East
Alligator River to Arnhem Land, which you need a permit to go into. There is a platform for visitors to view
crocs. Apparently at high tide, the sea
pushes up into the river, bringing fish with it, and the estuarine crocs wait
for the food to come to them. There
were plenty of crocs to watch in the middle of the day, but we were advised at
the Border Store/Arts Store that about 5pm would be the best time to watch the
high tide spectacle.
So we decided to
come back later in the day, and drove to Ubirr, a local rock formation that you
can climb and get 360 degree views. It’s
popular at sunset for this reason. It
was superhot in the middle of the day, and the sign at the carpark recommends
allowing1.5-2 hours return for the walk, and taking 1 litre of water per person
per hour. Ben wanted to do the walk then
and there but the rest of us rebelled on account of the heat. Ben was a little salty but agreed to return
later in the day or the following morning.
We went back to Jabiru for OPTUS reception, and the visit Foodland to
get noodles in a cup, and cans of drink so we could have an early dinner while
watching the crocs at Cahill’s Crossing.
We sat on the viewing platform for a couple of hours, with about a dozen
other people, watching the crocs in their home.
We saw 2 big crocs catch a fish each.
One climbed up onto the bank afterwards to have a rest. The biggest croc crawled up onto the causeway
at one point and just sat there. Then a
road train arrived. None of us really
wanted to see a flat croc but we were interested in who would give way
first. The croc did.
Ben used the
bushman’s kettle to boil water for the noodle cups (yay Ben) and delivered them
to us on the platform with a can of cold lemonade. 6pm arrived and there were still no waves of
fish coming up the river, even though we could see the water level rising on
the downstream side of the crossing.
Maybe it wasn’t a very high tide today.
Ben wanted to go and do the Ubirr climb, but the rest of us rebelled
again but agreed to return in the morning.
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| Are they rocks or crocs?!? |
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| This is the croc that had to give way to the road train earlier. They open their mouths either as a sign of aggression or to cool themselves by allowing heat to escape from their mouths. |
Day 40 – Yellow
Waters Cruise
With some
excitement, we arrived at the Cooinda Lodge reception area at 4pm as
instructed, to catch the shuttle bus to Yellow Waters (pretty close –3 minutes
maybe, but it was still nice to travel there in an air conditioned bus). There were 3 boats going out on this sunset
tour. We had the coolest guide of them all
– his name was Dennis He identified with both his Indigenous heritage and his European
heritage, and told us lots of great stories. He was very welcoming of all of us tourists,
and welcomed us to country. He was very knowledgeable
about all the wildlife, and cracked lots of jokes. Sometimes it was difficult to tell us if he
was having a lend of us or not. We
cruised about on the water for 2 hours, stopping every time there was an
interesting animal to look at. Lots of
crocs. Lots of whistling ducks (brown
and small). There was also a black and
white duck, but his grandma told him not to ever hunt that one. $5000 duck, I
think he called it. These ducks mate for life, and if you kill one for food, the mate will starve themselves to death. His grandma told
him not to kill any animal unless he was going to eat it. Lots of Egrets (white, snake-like neck). The egret that hangs around cows and horses
is called the Cattle Egret. We’ve noticed
them a lot on our trip already. There
are 3 other Egrets up here in Kakadu. We
learned that any animal with a hoof is not native to Australia, but nevertheless
is a good food source for crocs and people.
There are wild horses, pigs, cattle, buffalo, which have been released over
the last couple of hundred years when the settlements managing them were
abandoned. We learned that a croc has
the crushing power in its jaws of 3.5 Toyota Hiluxes. We learned that Crocs have small stomachs,
and even though they eat birds, they will vomit up the feathers later, just
like cats vomit up fur balls. We learned that just because someone else is swimming in a waterway in
the NT, doesn’t mean it’s croc-free.
“Look at the signs” Dennis said.
“Drink 6-8 litres of water each day up here” said Dennis. “More people die in the NT from dehydration
than from croc attacks every year.” The
bigger crocs with identifying features like big scars or missing limbs from
fighting with other crocs have names given to them by the guides. Max.
Boofhead. Dennis described the
wide floodplains as their food bowl.
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| Spot the croc |
Day 41 – Ubirr –
finally!
Ubirr climb for
Nicole and Ben. Nicole set a cracking
pace and they made it back to the car in an hour.
.
