Kakadu * Sixtyexpress

Northern Territory

Ready to be a tourist? We are taking a bus trip to Kakadu. It’s only a small bus and the driver assures us he knows lots…..it was a little worrisome that he left the door of the luggage van open ……….We are off. Kakadu is about a 3 .5 hour drive from Darwin. It is the end of the wet season so there is lots of water still around and some areas are still closed. Water lilies cover huge areas and are in flower with white and purple flowers. Salvia weed was a problem in the creeks but the Australian weevil they have introduced is gradually bringing it under control. No swimming here …..there are crocodile and although we went looking , they were shy and we didn’t see any.
We did see Sea eagles, Magpie geese and Jabiru, (Black beak stork)

It is hard to imagine that the floating grass you can see it 2 metres off the ground and will be trampled on by buffalo , pigs and crocodile in a month when the water recedes.You could be walking through here on fenced walkways instead of having a relaxing ride in a flat bottomed boat. We are on the Yellow Waters river flood plain, so called for the yellow water lilies that used to grow here.

Now you could have gone for a plane trip over the waterfalls….sorry we went to the Warradjun Cultural centre. Here is an amazing collection the local indigenous clans fish traps, tools and crafts. The language and customs of the four remaining clans are explained. I was glad we went, how about you. You are not allowed to photograph inside the centre so I took some photos of similiar things in the art workshop for you.

Fish trap made from Pandanas tree fibre.

Are you up for a bush walk? We are off to see some amazing art work.

Tonight we are staying at the Crocodile Hotel it was built in 1970’s in Jabiru. It is starting to show its age but its design is ingenious.

Early start today as we are off for another slightly longer bush walk to see some more amazing art. You can squib out but it’s only 4 km. There are examples of stencil,x-ray ,contact and line paintings.

Later today you are going to East Alligator river to watch crocodiles.
They have beautiful skin colours but as they come swimming towards you all you can think of is how glad you are you are in a boat.