Next stop....Kakadu! At the information centre we found out that Jim Jim falls is shut (roads are still under water from the wet season). Not to worry...we camped at Gunlom Falls (formerly UDP falls) in a campsite that had views of the falls. You could listen to the roar of them as you lay in bed which made a nice change from the roar of the air conditioners of the grey nomads' monster caravans at Nitmiluk...(as a side note the grey nomads are EVERYWHERE....their reign of numbers is closely threatened only by european backpackers in hire vans. At least the European Backpackers are nice to look at....I'm still trying to work out what the grey nomads are good for. I'd guess that you'd be pushing your luck to find 10% of Aussies less than 50 years old out here).
At Gunlom we bumped into a family who we'd seen at Mataranka and discovered that we're all headed in the same direction so we've buddied up and spend a bit of time together. That afternoon we climbed the steep rocky path to the top of the falls and had a swim in some beautiful rock pools on top. It was great! Upon returning to camp we found a couple of old blokes camped near us, so with the Summers Family and the two old blokes we had a decent campfire party that night!
Next morning we headed to Jabiru and just had a pretty quiet day. We booked ourselves on a boat ride around Yellow Water Hole. Again, dispite the price the cruise was really good. Heaps of Salties and bird life to see including Rainbow Bee Eaters, Jacanas (with tiny babies) Whistling Ducks, Magpie Geese and lots more. What was especially interesting were the stories and insights we got into the aboriginal culture of the area...really great to see a healthy and thrivinig aboriginal culture that are holding onto the best of their traditions.
After the boat ride we did a few bushwalks around Nouriangie Rock. The rock formations are breathtaking around here and there is heaps of beautiful aboriginal rock art...this art is the top notch stuff you see in the postcards and certainly worth the walk. Jess and Matilda loved picking out the pictures of Barramundi, turtles and kangaroos, as well as the stories about the Rainbow Serpent, Lighting Man, and the Nowinji Sisters. Jess in particular has been drawing her own aboriginal inspired artworks.
Next day we headed towards Darwin. We detoured to do the walk around Ubirr. Again there is some great aboriginal rock art here and a lookout that is beautiful....you may recognise this from the first Crocodile Dundee movie....
At Gunlom we bumped into a family who we'd seen at Mataranka and discovered that we're all headed in the same direction so we've buddied up and spend a bit of time together. That afternoon we climbed the steep rocky path to the top of the falls and had a swim in some beautiful rock pools on top. It was great! Upon returning to camp we found a couple of old blokes camped near us, so with the Summers Family and the two old blokes we had a decent campfire party that night!
Next morning we headed to Jabiru and just had a pretty quiet day. We booked ourselves on a boat ride around Yellow Water Hole. Again, dispite the price the cruise was really good. Heaps of Salties and bird life to see including Rainbow Bee Eaters, Jacanas (with tiny babies) Whistling Ducks, Magpie Geese and lots more. What was especially interesting were the stories and insights we got into the aboriginal culture of the area...really great to see a healthy and thrivinig aboriginal culture that are holding onto the best of their traditions.
After the boat ride we did a few bushwalks around Nouriangie Rock. The rock formations are breathtaking around here and there is heaps of beautiful aboriginal rock art...this art is the top notch stuff you see in the postcards and certainly worth the walk. Jess and Matilda loved picking out the pictures of Barramundi, turtles and kangaroos, as well as the stories about the Rainbow Serpent, Lighting Man, and the Nowinji Sisters. Jess in particular has been drawing her own aboriginal inspired artworks.
Next day we headed towards Darwin. We detoured to do the walk around Ubirr. Again there is some great aboriginal rock art here and a lookout that is beautiful....you may recognise this from the first Crocodile Dundee movie....
