After Darwin, the next stop was Kakadu. We had heard a lot about Kakadu, both positive and negative, but we were keen to try for ourselves and see. The owner of the caravan park at Litchfield, when asked what is the essential things to see, replied, "Kakadu? Kaka-don't! Litchfield has everything Kakdu has, but better." But then, he may have been biased.

On the way to Kakadu, we decided to do the Jumping Crocodile cruise. This was a cruise in a crocodile infested river where the crocodiles had learnt that the boat carries meat for them. They dangle it on a stick out the side of the boat, and the crocs have to jump to get it. Apparently this is a natural behavior they do in the wild to catch prey, so it is not a trick they have taught them. But we could get very up close and personal, and take some great pictures.

Kakadu is big, I mean really BIG! Once you enter the park, you drive about 100 kms before you get to the first turn-off to anywhere. We were planning to stay the night in Jabiru, the main town in Kakadu, so we went there first to find a spot for the night. For a national park it is quite a fancy town, with a Mercure hotel. The caravan park had full TV reception, as well as a swimming pool and a bistro!

Kakadu is really designed for people with 4 WD vehicles. There are a lot of places you just can't go with a 2 WD. So we were quite limited. One area we could cover was called Ubirr, and had some aboriginal rock art sites. So we set off for this - 5 kms to the turn-off, 40 kms of sealed but rough road to Ubirr, 2 kms of walking from the car park, and some scampering over rocks, and we finally got to the rock art sites. They were nice, but not worth all the effort. Everything in Kakadu is similar - you drive for miles to the turn off, miles again after the turn off, get to the car park and walk some more. Accessibility is not their strong point.

The terrain in the park consisted of a combination of flood plains and wetlands, scrub, and a few rocky outcrops here and there, which is where all the rock art was to be found.

Many of the places we had heard about from other people, Jim-Jim Falls etc, were all on 4 WD tracks. But even those, according to the brochures, included lots of bush bashing in the car, and on foot , before you got anywhere.

So, final impressions, I really was not impressed with Kakadu. For those with 4 WD and keen on some real bush bashing, they would probably love it. For us, in our 2 WD, and limited access, it was really quite a disappointment. But, we had to do it, and now we have.

GeorgeY's bit

In this entry the camper cops a beating, we see art, and I find my roots.

We wanted to go on the Jumping Crocs cruise, seen in brochures, and people telling us about it. From the road the sign for the turn off comes where expected, but 200 metres after turning, the road disappears into a dirt track, and the beaten track seems to go on forever. Every bump got us considering turning back, but it was narrow and riskier to try and maneuver that. We made it just in time for the cruise and the rest was fun, till we had to drive back. Once on the highway, and few miles ahead, we found another Jumping Crocs cruise, run by another mob, but this one was situated right on the highway - hard to miss, no turn offs, and comes with a beautifully manicured and sealed car park.

I am no artistic buff, but I know what I like. Rock art in Kakadu is basic in substance, but the real art is making the story about it. Every indigenous artist draws a dreaming, and this acts as a visual stimulant to make up a story by looking at it. Stories in oral traditions tend to be shifting and unstable. That is why most mythologies used stars, instead of drawings. You need a hyperactive imagination to call it art. I do not say it is ****, but to me Kakadu should be spelt Caca-do.

Our guide at the art site was a very knowledgeable park ranger with a keen drive to capture and document the myths from the local elders (before they die.) She said that they would tell me a lot more than they would tell her, wait for it, because I am aboriginal. I did not want to tell her about my "Boolandjeri tribe," just my Egyptian background. She said she would swear that I was aboriginal, so I told her that most aboriginals I met had the same idea. Can not be more authenticated than here in Kakadu.