KAKADU TWO

Kakadu is not just about crocodiles and birdlife, the scenery is unique and Kakadu also provides an insight into one of the world's oldest cultures and provides many fine examples of their art works.

We travelled from Cooinda towards  Jabiru, stopping to check out a number of National Parks campgrounds. These campgrounds were fine but as yet had no customers, probably something to do with the heat and humidity, my trusty Kestrel weather machine was showing 32 degrees and 70% humidity.


We were tempted by a sign to a lookout promising a view of the distant escarpment. The walk was 50 minutes return.... described as steep and rocky... it was hot... it was very humid..... but we did it anyway. 

Halfway up I considered giving it away but we persisted and were rewarded with a distant view of the escarpment and a place to recover before the perilous trip back down.

My view of the distant escarpment

The escarpment is, of course, best viewed from the air, and this shot is used to promote those trips.

Jim Jim Falls

Disappointingly, the 4wd track to Jim Jim Falls remained closed having sustained some damage during the wet. Oh well, there's always next time!

Jabiru has a strange feel. I really wonder what was to be gained by having an hotel in the shape of a crocodile, but it seems to be reasonably popular. The town itself has everything you may need but it is all a little hard to find and when we visited there was a marked lack of people, bit surreal really.

NOURLANGIE ROCK ART

We  were once again drawn to Nourlangie Rock, and the ancient rock art. What is accessible is but a fraction of the rock art in the area and many sites are restricted by the traditional owners as not suitable for general viewing by uninitiated people. Some sites are for women and some for men.

The galleries  available to the general public hold spectacular examples of works and access is reasonably easy with pathways and stairs . 

  
This is Nabulwinjbulwinj (Nar bull win bull win) a fierce spirit that kills and eats females after striking them with a yam.

This is Namargon, the lightning being. He is holding a lightning bolt. He makes thunder by hitting clouds with an axe.

This is Barrgin, the lightning  being's wife.

Family groups of men and women on their way to a ceremony

The main character is Namarndolg. He broke the strict marriage / skin laws with his sister.

Some of the galleries are very old and show signs of being painted over by subsequent generations - this is evidently a common practice. 

CHASING THE ELUSIVE BLACK NECKED STORK

During my two previous trips to the Northern Territory I have tried, unsuccessfully, to shoot a decent pic of a Jabiru. Often, when travelling through the country I had spotted a Jabiru, but by the time I had stopped the rig and walked back the Jabiru had flown or, if it was still present, it would fly away as soon as it caught sight of me.

Incidentally, a Jabiru is now described in my "Field Guide to Birds of Australia eighth edition 2010" as a "Black-necked Stork (formerly Jabiru)". 

Bit of a shame really, "Jabiru" had that nice Australian ring to it.

So, to the point of all this. I finally shot a Jabiru not far from Jabiru. This time I was able to get quite close and actually gain its attention so as to be able to have it move about for a better angle. 

Jabiru - the Black-Necked Stork

This is also significant in that I have now managed to get a shot of all of the major sized birds in Australia, the Bustard and the Brolga being the other two. Four if you count the emu !

OUCH !

One rather unwelcome part of being in the bush, especially in the tropics, is the proliferation of insects large and small. 

I do admit that my motivation for talking about ants here is the fact that I shot a half decent pic of some of the most aggressive members of the ant world - the green ant.

I was having a stroll around the Cooinda camping area and decided to sit on a log while I changed lenses in my camera.........wrong !!! It turns out I sat directly over the main street of some green ant metropolis.

Within milliseconds I was attacked by a number of green ants, although luckily I was only bitten a couple of times on the forearm, The pain is quite severe (for an ant bite). My method of dealing with bites such as these ( after brushing the ants off, of course) is to squeeze the bite to lessen the amount of venom / poison that has been injected. The bite was quite sore for a time but the pain gradually faded.

I recall seeing a story where an aboriginal fellow grabbed a green ant's nest and crushed it up to make some type of bush medicine. All the while he was being bitten by them. He was obviously made of sterner stuff than yours truly !

  Nasty little critters with quite a bite!

Well, this blog is actually a little behind. I am now in Kununurra Western Australia and tomorrow, 4th June we are leaving the caravan behind and hiring a camper trailer for a 9 day visit to parts of the iconic Gibb River Road.

My plan is to visit El Questro, Home Hill Station, Drysdale River Station and maybe Ellenbrae.It will be interesting to see how we cope without the home comforts of our caravan, although the Patrol carries a fridge / freezer and I have a ready supply of icy cold Crownies so it won't be all bad.

The next blog should be around 14th June.

Regards

TJ