Kakadu National Park - Some said "Kakadon't" but we say "Kakado"

27th to 31st August - Jabiru NT.

Before we left home some acquaintances and a few other people that we have met on the road have said that they found Kakadu to be uninteresting and they used the term "Kakadon't". We have learnt to ignore people who say things like that as we, with our interests usually find places people are negative about, very interesting. I think Kakadu is going to be one of those places. Decide for yourself!

It was good to be packed up and on the road after the unfortunate goings on at Mary River. Another short ride and early setup of the tent. The campground at Jabiru looks good and with the chance to pick our own site we set up midway between the ablutions, camp kitchen and swimming pool. With the aid of my trusty little compass I picked a site that would receive good shade all day. It is very handy to know north and south and where the sun rises and sets. What we didn't see was the hordes of green ants that descended upon us once we had set up. Strangely after being bitten in Darwin near a tree, these ones were not sticking to the trees but did not seem to want to bite. Took a bit of getting used to, always expecting a bite but not actually happening. Thank goodness. With Trishy's usual thorough research we had come prepared with wine casks as there are no takeaway alcohol sales in Jabiru. Essential supplies are a must after getting caught in Halls Creek.

With shopping done we discovered some sneaky little ants, the same as the ones that marched off with our food in Batchelor, were planning similar moves here. Only this time we were onto them a bit earlier. By now we were thinking we were in for four days of ant hell. After nuking the sneaky little ones and ignoring the not so fierce green ones all has settled to normality. In the night distant rhythmical dog barking, "woof woof" "woof woof" "woof woof" turned out to be a pair of Barking Owls in the tree near our tent.

Wednesday 28th and Trish, the social organizer has planned an early start for us. We were off to Ubirr to see the aboriginal rock art and listen to some free Ranger talks. The rock art was impressive and the talk went a long way to explaining it and the purpose of the art. With three talks available we skipped the middle one and headed up onto the lookout overlooking the Kakadu wetlands. I came to Kakadu with a fear that they would say "you have come at the wrong time of the year" and that it would look nothing like the Kakadu you see in the documentaries. To my delight there before me was the wetlands, the lush green grasses, the water birds and the rocky escarpments. If it was the wet season there would be more water but then you may not get in because of the flooding. Yes! It is like I expected.

With expectations now running high about our stay in Kakadu we headed back to the Border Store and did a Monsoon Forest walk next to the East Alligator River. Plenty of bats in the trees and monsoon forest plants but no alligators ( crocodiles ) to be seen in the East Alligator River. As we headed back to the boat ramp there were dark shadows in the murky grey water, then you would glimpse a nostril and a pair of eyes or a partially submerged body appear then slip below the water without a trace. At last crocodiles in the wild without pork chops on the end of a string to lure them out.

It was a short walk to Cahill's Crossing, we had seen a photo of a person standing ankle deep in the water of the crossing, taken moments before he was taken by a croc. There at the same place was a guy fishing standing in the same place ankle deep. 20m upstream lying on the bank was a large croc. Don't these people read the signs? It is not the one you can see, we had just seen crocs disappear into the murky water to only reappear somewhere else 15 minutes later. Well he didn't get eaten but he did hook up his lure on the rocks and had to snap the line then gave up. No repeat of history. With the Barking Owls still with us each night and morning, we have found out that they were born last season in the tree above our tent. I now call them the "woof woof" twins.

Thursday 29th and once again Trish had the alarm set early. Our Yellow Waters tour started at 9 am at Cooinda some 50km away. As I dismounted at the Cooinda car park I noticed oil all over Trish's pannier. Then as it turned out all over the bottom of her riding jeans. It appeared to be coming from the rocker cover but with the shuttle bus for the tour coming soon then was not the time to worry about it. 50km from civilization and heaps of oil of course I was worried.

A fantastic cruise on the Yellow Waters, which included parts of the Jim Jim Creek, the Alligator River, a billabong and some wetlands swamps, took my mind off the oil for a while. All sorts of wild life, crocs ( not Alligators ) Sea Eagles, ducks of all kinds, a duck that is called a goose, Jabiru, Pelicans, Magpie Geese, Darts, Egrets of all sizes, massive pink waterlilies and much much more. After the cruise it was time for food and of course the oil leak. It was the old captive audience trick at the Resort with ridiculous prices on the food but we did finally scrounge up a couple of pies and two drinks for $20.

After a bit of tightening of the rocker cover bolts and a makeshift aluminium can arrangement to try and redirect oil from Trish's leg we headed off to our next viewing place. On arrival the oil was till pissing out so it was time to head straight back home, keeping an eye on the oil warning light as we went. Once back and after removal of the rocker cover it soon revealed a poorly fitted and broken gasket. The gasket had been bent out of line and in a couple of places was barely covering the sealing area. Hopefully the local service station would have gasket goo of some sort. It did, big sigh of relief. With that applied and everything tensioned up we would give it the full 24 hours recommended to harden fully.

The night was finished off by a great slide presentation by one of the National Park Interpretive Guides. It was about the aboriginal rock art that we had seen and others that we hope to see another day. By now we were definitely into "Kakado" and not the "Kakadon't" that we had been told by a few. We had better book another night's stay.

Friday 30th With Trish's bike having a lay day and once again the alarm set early to beat the heat we went off two up on the Honda ST1300. Another trip to rock art sites and some more wonderful talks by the Ranger at the Nourlangie site. A short distance away we did a very peaceful beautiful walk around the Anbangbang Billabong then sat and ate our picnic lunch overlooking the billabong. We were very pleased to hear that one of the three mining leases inside Kakadu National Park had just been handed back to the traditional owners and of course Kakadu National Park. No threat of uranium mining in that section of the park now. Probably not the best time of day but we did another 3.4km hot walk into yet another art site. All our water was used up by the time we got back to the bike. Days are now up around the 36, 37 degree mark so we have been giving the swimming pool a hiding once we are off the bike and out of the hot riding gear. Our little fan heater that has helped up through minus 5 degrees in Canberra is now doubling as a fan to cool us while we get off to sleep and until the night finally cools in the early hours of the morning. It is nice to go to sleep to the gentle "woof woof" "woof woof" of the "woof woof" twins.

Saturday 31st and with 37 forecast it was time to test out the gasket goo repairs and do a short 60km return trip to the Mamukala Wetlands. It was a big sigh of relief on arrival and the gasket goo repair was holding. "Kakado" this is what it is all about, with peaceful beautiful 3km walk finished off with a relax in the bird hide watching all sorts of birds feeding. Finally back at camp and no oil showing we decided to wallow in the pool like a couple of lazy crocs.

Tomorrow we plan to start even earlier to beat the heat on our 309km ride to Katherine and the start of our homeward journey.

Croc spotter Dave