Kakadu

The reason for no blogs the last couple of days is we have been here....

On the Australian scale it is just down the road (a mere 250km away) so Jo's arrival was the perfect excuse to go!
After a quick stop off at the Information Centre at South Alligator Ranger Station to check that our drivers licenses were adequate for Tish and myself as permits to enter the park (Jo had already bought hers in the UK) we were off to our first port of call today - Bowali Visitor Centre.
Bowali is the headquarters for the Park Administration and has a great centre. We were all impressed with the displays - they definitely follow the principle of less is more. The displays are very visual with no long interpretation panels to read.
One of the center pieces before the main displays was this calender outlining the six seasons that Kakadu experiences:

Within the centre there were yet more methods by which you can get killed or eaten or both over here

There was also a great three dimensional model of Kakadu which the children were fascinated with - it did not photo very well as light reflected off the glass too much.

From here we went off to the first rock art site of the trip - Nourlangie Rock.

Nourlangie Rock has a great selection of Aboriginal Rock art:
This is Nourlangie escarpment

The overhangs on the main section have several galleries each featuring a different subject.
Animals feature very strongly

 As do the Aboriginal traditional spiritual tales

The art was very powerful, Xanthe in particular was moved by the images

We finished with a short climb to the Gun-warddehwardde look out which offers great views of Kakadu's escarpment

Although a hole is still far more interesting......

From here via a billabong for some shade and a much needed drink we headed too

We stayed at a hotel in the shape of a croc, we were in its front right armpit!
As you need an aerial view to appreciate it we have borrowed this one from their webpage



After a swim and freshen up we headed off to Mamukala Wetlands

The absolute highlight here (and possibly of the whole trip) were the Wallabies one of which had a joey!

After that, hotel, shower, COCKTAILS (just for the adults honest!), food and collapse into bed........
Day two started early as well as we aimed to get to Ubirr Rock before both the heat and crowds arrived. So breakfast by 0715, checkout by 0745 and we hit the road for the 45km drive.
There was a far bigger selection here with some of the paintings being over 50,000 years old and still looking good!
This picture is like a menu illustrating all the food available locally

some of which is now extinct such as this Thylacine (Tasmanian Tiger)

Turtle

One of the fascinating bits here was the evidence of how they worked the rocks in particular the holes for mixing the paint

this particular image of the Mimi spirit boggles the mind as it was 40 foot off the ground...

... and on an overhang. The adults used it as a means of keeping children quiet at night -be good or the Mimi Spirit will come down. An impressive piece of paint work without the scaffolding that Michelangelo would have used on the roof of the Sistine Chapel!

After a "moderate climb" which realistically called for mountain climbing skills for those with legs shorter than about four foot we reached the half way point up Ubirr Rock and a great view point of Northern Kakadu and Arnhem Land

Aunty Jo and I then went on and climbed to the top which offered fantastic panoramic views and is rightly popular at sunset.

Although the view was spectacular we headed back to Tish and the children before beginning the major descent

You can just see the tops of their heads!

After we came down we began the slow meander back to Darwin.

These two days have given us the smallest of tastes as to what this spectacular area has to offer. We will have to come back and spend more time here.