A Very Good Friday

Friday morning, 6am and man was it was hot. And yeah, I know, it's Darwin so it's always hot. But lately it has been genuinely hot. 25 degrees, apparent temperature with humidity 31 degrees. At 6am. Up here, that's about half an hour before sunrise. I stood on the driveway
sweating for all of about 5 minutes before whisked away in air-conditioned comfort to Kakadu.

You know, I have a traditional aversion to coach tours. The only reason I compromised this time round was that it's the only company that takes you to Ubirr (arguably the best rock-art site in the park) in the Wet. The road's still flooded at this time of year so no cars can get through. I have to say, our driver was very knowledgable and I quite enjoyed the three-hour drive down.

So, what's to say about Kakadu that hasn't already been said. It's 20,000 sq km of National Park. It's World Heritage Listed for both natural and cultural reasons, making it only one of about 6 such sites in the world (really should look that up but it's something like that). The name "Kakadu" is from Gagadju, a language that no longer has any living speakers. The Park consists mainly of Aboriginal land leased back to the government and jointly managed by the traditional owners. Most of it is Savannah or woodlands. This time of year, many of the floodplains are covered with water but they're draining fast and will soon be normal ground.

Photo: Photo from South Alligator River of Yellow Waters Floodplain. The bird in the tree is drying its wings after fishing.

Our first stop was actually the Warradjan Aboriginal Cultural Centre near Cooinda. I must admit I wasn't expecting much and was pleasantly surprised. The building is designed in the shape of pig-nosed turtle and the displays are about local flora and fauna in terms of their traditional cultural uses. It also has creation myths, an outline of the local tribes' kinship system (including both moieties and skin names) and I really enjoyed my time there.

After the cultural centre, it was off to Yellow Water Wetlands for a cruise with a fantastic guide. Most of the guides and rangers that work in the park are traditional owners and as such are amazingly knowledgable. Not so much wildlife around in the Wet, they all congregate around the remaining billabongs in the Dry, but the cruise was definitely worth it for the eerie paper-bark swamp and the vista of floodplains. The photo below is of the paperbark swamp. It definitely doesn't capture it, unfortunately.