KAKADU DO DO!

Kakadu is another must see in the Northern Territory. Don't take any notice of those who say Kaka-don't it's definitely Kakadu do do 

Whether you take a day coach  trip out of Darwin (it's a big day, but worth the effort) or spend a few days driving through, it's a fabulous place. You could drive yourself from Darwin and back in a day, but why rush?

Our latest Kakadu experience began when we turned off the Stuart Highway at Pine Creek and travelled through to Gagadju Lodge at Cooinda, on the Yellow Waters Billabong. 

Our timing this year was a little off. Our two previous trips up this way had been slightly later, about mid to late June, when the weather had cooled off a bit and the humidity was not quite as high, so we did suffer a little in the 33 degree 70+ % humidity, but one advantage was that the crowds were fewer. 

Access to the East Alligator River and the Yellow Waters Billabong was fairly restricted due to the fact that the water level was still fairly high and many 4wd tracks (like the track to Jim Jim Falls) are still closed. 

A number of National Parks campgrounds are open but we like the soft option, so we checked in at Gagadju Lodge caravan park - it's no contest really in the heat - nice showers, a bar and restaurant and a powered site so we can use our fans and aircon!

Gagaju also has motel and cabin accommodation and most local attractions are able to be reached in a standard car so it's easy access for all.

The principal attraction at the Yellow Waters Billabong is the regular boat cruises out onto the billabong, up and down the river and out onto the floodplain. We chose the 4.30 cruise .
At $90 a head it's a bit expensive but well worth it. We were offered a second cruise the next day for a further $25 a head and jumped at the chance, I guess the special offer is because business was a little slow early in the season.

The best way to show you some of the highlights of the Yellow Waters Billabong is to put together a gallery of some of the many photos.

KAKADU GALLERY 1 Yellow Waters Billabong

Everyone wants to see a crocodile in the wild and we were not disappointed. This 4 metre + male was making his way up a branch of the river. He was one of around a dozen crocs we saw.

It's not just about crocodiles, the bird life is prolific. This Pied Heron was quite unconcerned at the passage of the boat.

This Royal Spoonbill  seems to be a little too close for comfort and risks becoming lunch! 

This particular crocodile is a very light colour. According to our guide, this shows that he is a fairly new arrival in the upper river, having spent a long time in the salt water downstream 

A Comb-Crested Jacana / lily pad walker / Jesus Bird, so named because he often seems to be walking on water. This male is carrying his three chicks, probably feeling threatened by the boat. That's the chicks' legs hanging below his wing!

A mighty White Bellied Sea Eagle. There's clearly plenty to eat on the South Alligator River. 


Incidentally, there are, of course, no alligators in the river, named by the explorer Phillip Parker King the first English navigator to enter the Gulf of Carpentaria. He made a number of explorations of the area between 1818 and 1822 and named the South, West and East Alligator rivers after the crocodiles which he mistook for alligators as his journals note. "On our courses up and down the river, we encountered several very large alligators and some were noticed sleeping on the mud."

The South, West and East Alligator  are all separate rivers that flow into the Van Dieman Gulf.

I was surprised also to learn that the name Arnhem Land is not derived locally. In1623 Dutch East India Captain Willem Van Colster sailed into the Gulf of Carpentaria and named Cape Arnhem (just south east of Nhulunbuy)  after his ship, which itself was named after the City of Arnhem in the Netherlands.

A glance of an atlas of the Northern Territory coast and the adjacent Western Australia coast provide abundant examples of some of the early "discoverers" of our country - Van Dieman Gulf, The Joseph Bonaparte Gulf,  Joseph Bonaparte Archipelago, The Buccaneer Archipelago, Cape Leveque, the Lacipede Islands to name but a few.

Looks peaceful enough, but we had seen at least a dozen crocodiles by this time.

Sunset on the Yellow Waters Billabong floodplain

As we neared the end of our cruise this large male crocodile swam nonchalantly alongside the boat for some considerable time. His size was estimated at between three and four metres.

NEXT TIME, Kakadu 2. There's more to Kakadu than crocodiles and birds.

Regards

TJ