Entry 6 – 29th August to 5th Sept., Kakadu National Park, Northern Territory.
We spent our time in Darwin catching up with some maintenance on the tow tug and caravan. We attended the Darwin visitor centre attaining the latest information for sights to see, (what was open and what was not operating.) We enjoyed the Parap markets, some ‘city’ shopping and were delighted with time spent walking through Darwin’s botanical gardens.
The daily temperature was hovering mostly around the 33 - 35 C mark and our caravan air conditioner provided a nice comfortable air temperature of about 23 degrees in the confines of our mobile home. For us having access to mains power is the only positive from paying out unnecessary money to stay in a caravan park to operate our air conditioner during a rare heat wave. Away from Darwin and its ocean side location, most other ‘nearby’ regions were experiencing 36 – 38 daily maximums without an accessible ocean cooling advantage.
Once Steve’s Dad’s medical condition had settled, we decided to do the ‘loop,’ through Kakadu National Park. With the relaxing of recent bush fire warnings, we headed towards Kakadu with our first stop in the Mary River National Park at a bush campground just off the main road.
Late afternoon we disconnected the caravan and drove a bit further on, away from the main road to a camp we had previously visited in 2016. Shady Campground had its own Crocodile viewing hide and we were hoping to view some similar sights from 2016 when there were about 30 salt water Crocodiles sunning on the banks of Mary River a regular sight in 2016. Disappointingly we only spotted 4 Crocodiles and were pleased we hadn’t towed the caravan in as the road was much rougher than we remembered.
One thing still the same at shady campground was the number of noisy cockatoos.
The following morning our camp side river was clouded by a mist.
Heading into Kakadu our first stop was at Mamukala wetlands. What a delightful wetland with an abundance of bird life.
We arrived at Jabiru the main populated location in Kakadu National Park. This the year of covid-19 closures, we knew it was going to be a 50/50 chance with what was open and what was not. Strike one: the purpose-built information centre was closed (with a large aboriginal work force avoiding any contact with non-aboriginals) and a temporary information centre set up in the Crocodile Hotel. Strike two: it was 12.30 pm and the table allocated for information in the front foyer of the hotel was unattended with attendance between 10 & 12 noon and 2 to 4 pm.
We decided to head up the road setting camp in the National Park, Merl campground with the bonus of hot showers available but no power. The temperature was at 37 C and we did utilize the cold tap in the showers not bothering to dry off after our showers, aiding with the cooling for our bodies.
We did check out the nearby ‘Cahills Crossing,’ viewing about a dozen saltwater crocodiles moving about in the waters of the East Alligator River.
Late afternoon we made our way to the Ubirr Aboriginal Rock Art site where we climbed up a rocky lookout to view the vast Nadab floodplain and watch the sun setting over the floodplain. Our previous visit to this same location in 2016 we were set to watch the sunset but were invaded by bus loads of tourists causing us to abandon any attempt to view the sunset. We were hoping for some quiet time at the lookout without the bus loads of tourists that are now absent in these covid-19 times. We were surprised to find the carpark at near capacity, thankfully absent of buses and a large volume of mostly locals, (Australians) all with a similar idea to enjoy Kakadu without the normal crowded conditions. At least they were a polite mob, respecting other nearby people’s space.
The following morning, we were up early returning to the Ubirr Aboriginal Rock Art site where we spent time viewing the magnificent rock art in the more comfortable morning temperatures. We even climbed up the rocky lookout to view the Nadab floodplain for a final look.
At about 11 am we returned to Cahills Crossing with its opportune tide time, where the fast-flowing tidal waters of East Alligator River cause many fish to be washed over the causeway with about 40 salt water Crocodiles gathering, hoping to snatch a fresh fish meal. It was awesome viewing.
We returned to the campground, reconnected our caravan with our tow tug and cooled down with a cold shower. We returned to Jabiru where we obtained some information on available locations of interest further down the road.
The outside temperature was at 37 C, we were feeling hot and tired and set camp a bit down the road in a bush camp. There was a billabong alongside of the campground and Mary spotted a couple of Jabiru birds providing us with a delightful encounter with our first sighting of the rarely seen Jabiru bird.
The long-range weather forecast wasn’t looking agreeable with energy sapping temperatures of 37, 38, 39, 39, 38, blah, blah and just plain unbearable. Once again, we were mobile by 7 am to take advantage of the more acceptable early morning cooler temperatures. By 8 am we were walking along the Nourlangie rock art site viewing the gallery of paintings. Nearby we walked to a lookout and a billabong.
It was near mid-day and our walking was done for the day. We set camp down the road a bit utilizing the available showers several times over the afternoon to cool down. We couldn’t remember when we last used hot water since arriving in the Northern Territory. Once we were north of Tennant Creek the daily hot temperatures negated the use of hot water. Our last hot cuppa; seemed to have been so long ago. We only cooked when necessary and even then, it was in preparation for several future meals to be eaten cold. We were now camped nearby the Yellow Water Billabong and booked our places for the sunrise cruise the following morning.
We woke the following morning to the noise of our 5.45 am alarm. It wasn’t a likeable wakening as the temperature at that time of the day was far more pleasurable for providing a rejuvenating sleep.
It was a perfect morning setting with the billabong shrouded in mist for our cruise along crocodile inhabited waters.
Two boats departed at the same time and the below picture was our other twin boat for the morning cruise.
The first thing we saw coming out of the mist covered waters was a crocodile with its morning catch, a whole wild pig held tight in its jaws. The only thing missing was some dramatic background music to heighten the atmosphere.
Then the sun appeared on the horizon and on queue another crocodile appeared (on the left of picture) for the perfect “Yellow Waters Sunrise Cruise,” setting.
Even our tour guide was chuffed with their first ten minutes of work for the day considering they had no control over the wild elements of Kakadu and its nature. We continued cruising along enjoying many more crocodile encounters. It reiterated, you don’t or should we say in no way would you venture into Kakadu vast waterways other than a couple of the declared safe waterholes which are regularly monitored for any unwanted arrivals.
We did get to see a mob of wild pigs running in the distance, probably still in shock from losing one of their numbers when close to the water’s edge.
There were the many different varieties of birds.
And we even got some close-up photographs of a Jabiru.
We had spoken to many people over the last month whom all commented about their satisfaction with the Yellow Waters Cruise. Yes, it is a commercial operation located in Kakadu in a location with an abundance of wildlife. Appreciably the wildlife does put in an appearance, satisfying our desire to view the wildlife in their natural habitat, adding to our tick of approval.
After a very acceptable two-hour cruise we returned to our caravan, reconnecting it with our tow tug and we decided to head out of Kakadu, returning to Litchfield National Park where we could spend all the time we liked, in the cooling waters of Wangi Falls during these extremely hot temperatures.
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