Kakadu

We have just had an incredible 5 days in the spectacular world heritage site – Kakadu National Park. Both of us had been really looking forward to our time at Kakadu and we were not disappointed. It is amazing to think this national park is one third the size of Tasmania. It covers an area of about 20,000 km’s!! Most of the area is owned by Aboriginal Traditional Owners, who jointly manage the parks with Parks Australia. It was busy with tourists but due to its size we never felt like it was overcrowded. Of course everyone wants to experience the beauty of Kakadu.

We stayed three nights in Jabiru (Kakadu Lodge Campground) and a couple of nights at Mardukal Campground, just out of Cooinda. We saw incredible rock art and a stunning sunset at Ubiir. I thought this spot had an African wilderness feel to it. We checked out Cahill’s Crossing and were fortunate to be there to watch an old aboriginal couple crossing the croc infested flowing river from Arnhem Land in their old Holden Commodore sedan!!

Paddy did a cultural river cruise on a very small boat on East Alligator River (whilst I chose to wait in the car where the crocs could not get me!), we did a few small hikes in the heat to see the Kunwarrddehwarrde lookout and to the Nanguluwurr art site. We both experienced seeing billabongs for the first time, which had so much bird life to admire. We drove to Jim Jim Falls via a few creek crossings which was fun. I definitely had my window up and door locked (maybe even my eyes closed!) thinking a croc was not too far away. Of course we lived to enjoy the moment.

Our biggest highlight was doing the sunset Yellow River Cruise. There are over 280 bird species in Kakadu and I reckon we saw every single one of them (not quite!) Whilst our tour guide pointed out every visible crocodile, I focussed on the incredible landscape, the bird life, the wild brumbies, the buffalo and the overall beauty of the billabongs we were travelling through. There was no way I was going to miss out on this absolute experience of a lifetime in the heart of Kakadu. When the sun set over the water there were absolutely no words for it. Paddy has put together another incredible video which captures what we saw. Click on this link and hopefully you too can enjoy some of the magic of Kakadu.

It’s burning season in Kakadu so a lot of the sights we saw included a smoky sky line. The burning off is still done following traditional cultural practices. There is no avoiding it at this time of year. We were not bothered by it, in fact it added to the diversity of the place.

Our time here was spectacular and we would love to return here one day, maybe even in the wet season. We had hot & dry days this time, but if we could stand the 100% humidity days we would love to return to see Kakadu when the monsoon rains have hit and the waterfalls are flowing big time. For that to happen I would have to learn to love crocs!

Whilst in this special place we had the first anniversary of our nephew Jack’s passing, and on the same day the second anniversary of Paddy’s beautiful mum Carmel. We miss them both so much every day. Aboriginal people refer to this as “sorry business”. We were both grateful to be in a spiritual place like Kakadu on the day of their anniversaries.

Unfortunately I let my fear of crocs get the best of me and we decided to move on back to Katherine without doing a couple of special places in the south of the park. Hopefully this fear won’t be with me next time we visit so I can experience places like Gunlom and Maguk Falls, which we hear are also spectacular. Gunlom Rockpool was closed as we passed by it due to a recent croc sighting so I had no regrets that we had already decided to give it a miss.

We finished our visit to Kakadu National Park with a fun FaceTime with our great friends Will and Kelly. Had a great belly laugh with them. I also loved getting a Snapchat from my great mates – Joy, Mary and Max – saying hi from chilly Emerald. We love that we can be in these remote places and still connect with those we love.