After a few days of hiking and kayaking up and down Katherine Gorge, I headed a bit north to spend a few days in Kakadu National Park. Kakadu is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, as is Shark Bay (around Denham and Monkey Mia in Western Australia) and Uluru (or Ayer’s Rock, where I will be heading next). I have to say that I was a bit cynical about the place when I first arrived, but it has turned out to be one of the coolest national parks I’ve ever been to. It is absolutely brimming with wildlife.
Visiting Kakadu was like taking a step back in time, thousands of years, long before humans infested the planet. I hesitantly did another crocodile tour through a wetlands area at a leprechaun-like ranger’s insistence at the gate. This time I did the cruise at dawn (whereas before I did it at dusk), and it was an absolutely magic experience. There were thousands of very active exotic birds singing and flying all over the place in flocks. We saw about five crocodiles lurking just below the surface of the water keeping warm in the cool morning air. There were beautiful (and harmless) snakes hanging off of trees. There were jumping fish, and wild horses (brumbies) and water buffalo in the distance, and much more. All this could be seen within meters of leaving the dock. It was especially beautiful with the thick morning fog lingering over the open water areas. I’ve never seen anything like it in my life. What you saw looked like one of those natural history museum depictions showing every kind of wild animal illustrated together from a specific environment, altogether in one painting, purely for informational purposes. But this was the real thing and it was all taking place before your very eyes.
This morning I did a walk through a rain forest area way up north (about as far north as you can drive in Australia on paved roads). I saw hundreds more bats, or “flying foxes” as they call them here, and also plenty more exotic birds and rock wallabies. I also stopped at another wetlands area on the way out of the park this morning and I felt I could have just sat there all day watching all the activity. There were continual flocks of birds hunting and flying back and forth. It’s amazing to think that it was only the 80’s when we stopped calling them “swamps” and filling them in.
In addition to all the wildlife, the whole area is very rich in Aboriginal culture. In fact, the whole park borders an “Arnhem Land” area to its north that is off limits to non-aboriginals without special permission. There were a wide range of Aboriginal rock paintings in caves around Kakadu National Park that were believed to be thousands of years old (as some of the paintings depict long-extinct animals).
The camping was great, with really nice personalized sites and access to hot showers. It’s a bit post peak at the moment, so there was plenty of space to spread out in. The only problem with the area was the heat and bugs (flies all day, mosquitoes all night). It was very hot and dry there, but every river you came across was accompanied by large crocodile warning signs.
Overall I feel like I’ve really been rushing this trip. I can see why most people take six months to do it. I could have easily spent at least a week in Kakadu and more time in places like Kununurra and Gregory National Park.
I’ve now arrived in Darwin, which ain’t much to write home about. It’s probably the size of Allentown or Lancaster, PA. At least I was able to get myself a nice Chinese meal this evening. It is their “dry” season here at the moment, but it sure feels hot and humid to me this time of year. It monsoons up here at “The Top End” all summer long. It is a bit cooler and breezier than Kakadu National Park was, anyway. Darwin is surrounded by beautiful ocean, but I’ve been advised not to swim in it because of saltwater crocodiles and killer box-jellyfish (even though this is their off season). It’s seems crazy with the heat. People up here say “I won’t swim in it unless it smells like chlorine.” It does seem as though everyone has a pool.
Darwin was practically obliterated on a few occasions — once due to Japanese bombing in World War II, and another time due to a big nasty cyclone in the seventies. I will probably check out all that historic stuff tomorrow. I will stay here two nights before making a beeline for Uluru (about 2 or 3 days drive south of here) cause my time is running out.
