Saturday, July 08, 2006

Kakadu National Park




We then took two flights via Alice Springs to arrive at Aurora Kakadu Resort located in the Kakadu region - which is an area in Northern Australia. This Aboriginal parkland is as big as Switzerland, and encompasses 8,000 square miles.
There are only 4 resorts in this large area. Our resort had Dingos outside my door, and as I was walking to dinner, a baby wallaby hopped by me eating the flower buds off the plants. I woke up to a barking owl! I thought it was a dog.
We are in the Yellow River Flood Plain region. The Yellow Waters Billabong connects to the South Alligator River. In 1979, The Nature Preserve National Park leased the land from the Aboriginal people, We hiked to Cales Crossing and saw 2 crocodiles swimming by.
We went to the Gagudgu Crocodile Hotel for lunch (It is shaped like a croc)in the Jabiru township. In the hour and 1/2 to get there we saw no other buildings - just
bush land!
We then hiked to the Ubirr Escarpment Plateau and saw a lot of Aboriginal rock art - and looked out over the Yellow River Billabong and flood plain. We saw wild rock wallabies.
The next day we hiked the Nourlangie Aboriginal sites and caves - and saw very historic rock art. I saw the largest spider ever hanging from the rocks. There were also termite mounds all over the place - some over 6 - 7 feet tall!
We went to the Malukala wetlands en route to the Warradjau Cultural Centre for more Aboriginal presentations.
Next we went to lunch at another resort called the Cooinda - Gagudju Lodge - and then went on a ride down the Yellow Waters Cruise. We saw many crocodiles within 10 feet (very scary) and they will rip you to pieces in seconds! We also saw Jubirus (black necked storks), King Fishers, Australian Darters, and Pied Comorants. Hundreds of birds all around us - stunning! We all arrived back in one piece. No croc injuries.

No comments: