Rick and Rae's Travels: Mon, 15th to Tues, 16th August

Approximately 250kms from Darwin is Kakadu National Park. We were both looking forward to this part of our trip and each had a mental picture of what we would find. I think in the end we were both a little bit disappointed, however we're glad we visited the Park. If you live in Northern Territory it is free to visit Kakadu, however if you are from anywhere else the privilege costs $25 per person.

We drove further into the park and had a look around Jabiru. This is where the Holiday Inn is shaped much like a crocodile. We then went into the Bowali Visitor Centre and spent quite a bit of time looking at the displays about the Aboriginal way of life. We picked up a hitch-hiker here Ume (pronounced You-me - emu backwards for those who are a bit slow) .

We all know the Aboriginals used to burn off the country now and again to promote new growth. All through the top end of the country this is still done ... it has been proven that to stop fires from occurring actually causes more harm than good. We often drove past fires right at the edge of the road, seemingly unattended and left to run their own course, even in and around the suburbs of Darwin . The air around Kakadu was very smoky which made it hard to get good scenery photographs.

We decided to spend the night a bit further into the park at an overnight stop called Malabanjbandju (don't ask us to try to pronounce it). Camping there cost $5 per person per night (on top of the $25 each to get into the park) and was via an honesty box. It was a nice spot with toilets and some shade that we appreciated as it had been 35 degrees during the day. There was a billabong close by, but we chose not to get too close to the water as there are crocs everywhere.

The next morning we continued on to a place called the Nourlangie Rock Art Sites. This was a fascinating walk among huge rocks with caves where Aboriginal people once gathered. All of a sudden right on the edge of the path was a small snake, curled up and well camouflaged.

At the site of one of the paintings a Ranger was giving a talk and explaining the story behind the artwork. One thing we learned from this talk was that Aboriginal people have 'skin names' which are inherited from their mothers. Certain skin names are not able to associate with some other skin names ... this is a way of ensuring in-breeding doesn't occur.

We enjoyed our walk and continued on to Yellow Water. This was the first place that looked like we imagined Kakadu would be. It was a beautiful wetland with lots of birdlife and the usual crocodiles and fish. After a walk on the boardwalk around the billabong we stopped for lunch.

We called into Cooinda to refuel on our way out of the Park. There were a lot more areas we could have visited within the Park but a lot of them were along rough dirt roads which are not suitable for the type of van we have. We said goodbye to the park and made our way to a place called Harriet River. Along the way we saw our first few wild buffalo on the side of the road. They are a bit unnerving the way they stare at you ... you don't know whether they are thinking about making a charge for your vehicle or what.