Up and at it again this morning - this time we're heading for Kakadu National Park, to view it's wetlands and rock escarpments. Along the way we visited Warradjan Aboriginal Centre for a short time - Would have enjoyed about another hour there as it was really interesting - there were displays, as well as quotes from members of the Warradjan people, explaining a bit about their thinking and their way of life. It was fascinating.
Next we took a leisurely cruise on the Yellow Water billabong where we saw birds of every description - ibis, storks, ducks, geese, eagles and many, many more. We also saw some wild horses, and quite a few salt water (esturine) crocodiles. They're huge - way bigger than the freshwater variety. The guide was very knowledgeable, and was able to get us up quite close to the birds, etc. We saw some of the most beautiful and most unusual birds that we've ever seen.
After enjoying the cruise, we went to Nourlangie Rock were some of the rock paintings were explained to us. This is a very high outcropping, that was a little difficult to climb with the shoes I had on - and it was hot! I mean, it was really hot! Too bad that this part of the tour couldn't have been done in the morning, and the Aboriginal Centre in the afternoon as it certainly would have been more comfortable temperature-wise. Oh, well, while most of the people climbed to the top of the rock, I stopped about 3/4 the way up and sat with my feet in a pool (small round depression in the rock, but I used my imagination to make believe that it had cool water in it) and looked out across the wetlands, which were rapidly drying up - probably a couple of weeks from now they will be dry. During the wet season the water would extend from the row of trees on the far horizon right up to and including the trees in the foreground - right to the base of the rock. Hard to imagine that much rain.
Next we took a leisurely cruise on the Yellow Water billabong where we saw birds of every description - ibis, storks, ducks, geese, eagles and many, many more. We also saw some wild horses, and quite a few salt water (esturine) crocodiles. They're huge - way bigger than the freshwater variety. The guide was very knowledgeable, and was able to get us up quite close to the birds, etc. We saw some of the most beautiful and most unusual birds that we've ever seen.
After enjoying the cruise, we went to Nourlangie Rock were some of the rock paintings were explained to us. This is a very high outcropping, that was a little difficult to climb with the shoes I had on - and it was hot! I mean, it was really hot! Too bad that this part of the tour couldn't have been done in the morning, and the Aboriginal Centre in the afternoon as it certainly would have been more comfortable temperature-wise. Oh, well, while most of the people climbed to the top of the rock, I stopped about 3/4 the way up and sat with my feet in a pool (small round depression in the rock, but I used my imagination to make believe that it had cool water in it) and looked out across the wetlands, which were rapidly drying up - probably a couple of weeks from now they will be dry. During the wet season the water would extend from the row of trees on the far horizon right up to and including the trees in the foreground - right to the base of the rock. Hard to imagine that much rain.
Our hotel for the night was the Kakadu Lodge - very basic accommodations, with a comfort station in a buiding right opposite our unit. I had forgotten to pack my bathing suit for this overnight stay, and said I was going to go into the pool wearing my shorts and blouse, but a girl I had never met before lent me her new, never-before-worn bathing suit. How nice was that? Really enjoyed the swim, and it sure helped cool us down after such a hot day. Had our meal beside the pool, and had an early night to bed. Only after we were in bed did we think to look at the clock and discovered it was only 7:30 pm!!!!!! Can you tell we had an exhausting day?
1 comment:
Isn't it amazing the wonderful people that you meet? Sounds like you are having an awesome time. You'll have to come home and catch up after all your amazing journeys!
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