A bright and early start today as we needed to get a space at the van park which did not take bookings. With our morning routine out of the way, about 8am we headed North into the World Heritage National Park of Kakadu. Saw lots of burnt bush, some still smoldering, where the Rangers exercise their cold burn skills in order to stop the place being an inferno when it does burn. Also saw four wild donkeys, a water bufflo and three wallabys, one of which just missed being road-kill when it jumped towards the front of the Crusier but changed its mind at the last second. Stopped for mornos in the Park at Cooinda Lodge and ended up arriving at Kakadu Lodge and Caravan Park about 11:15 am. Even though the drive was only a little over 200 km, the road was windy and seemed to take forever. We were both glad when we arrived at Jabiru.
We had visited Kakadu several times before when we lived in Darwin in the late 1990s but we are looking forward to seeing it all again.
We had lunch and an enforced rest to let the heat of the day ease off a bit, although it's not too bad this time of the year as the humidity is low. We then jumped on the bikes and explored Jabiru to get our bearings. Not a great deal to see here, but it's the wilderness that we've come to see not the towns. Although, they have painted some nice bright murals around the place since we were here last and they now have quite a lot of good bike paths. Also visited the Tourist Info Centre to get some guidance on where to go and what to see, etc. We now have at least two full days planned, so that should keep us out of mischief for a while. A couple of the places we wanted to see are closed for either cultural or seasonal reasons, however, there are plenty of other places to visit. Lots of walking to be done.
Sunrise this morning, taken from the van window
Greg's anthill sunrise shot
No water tank art here in Jabiru, but lots of wall art
Crocodile Hotel, can see his eyes and left front foot
Google Maps shot of the Crocodile Hotel
The stuff nightmares are made of! (Oenpelli python)
Not one, but two, 'Welcome' signs
