Day 2 of Kakadu tour.
woke about 7.40am, still in amazement from day one but didnt get a great nights sleep. We packed up our bags and tent, then had some light brekkie, tea, toast and cereal.
After setting off from campsite, we visited an area called Yellow Waters, just recently reopened after wet season. It was still quite wet all round (you could tell how high water had been by the grass caught up in trees and discolouration of trees) but they managed to reopen the boardwalk despite there being crocs around. Didn't see any crocs but guide told us of a time he was out on the waters we were looking at, in a 12 foot boat and a croc kept tugging at it..actually bit into boat and tried to drag it under. He said it was scariest moment of his life. Unbelievable.
Walked along 500 meter boardwalk until it was time to board again, am sure Yellow Waters is a nice place (you can also get cruises around there) but today it just seemed like a good spot to bring the tourists to waste a few minutes. Still always good to stretch the legs on these stupidly long bus trips..
We moved onto Aboriginal culture centre called Warradjan. Great to finally get an experience of methods and tools they used (and still do) to live in the bush.
I thought at the time how i wouldn't survive a day in this place like they do. I gained a lot of respect for them today, they have grown up to now with so much racism and have taken a lot of s*** for how they act but who are we to judge anyone else? They were born this way and have their on views on life and their past. Our guide explained alcohol has been in their lives for 150-200 years yet it has been abused with White people since pirate times. Of course they are not used to it, of course they will react differently to our race who are used to alcohol (abuse) but you go to any developed White town be it London, Dublin or Mallow on a saturday night and you will see lads falling over themselves pissed drunk fighting. What's the difference??! It's just a culture getting used to a new introduced substance and just because we are not at the same point at the same time (White people had abused alcohol at least 800-1000 years ago) we are in no way a position to judge Aboriginal people. They drink, get drunk , argue, maybe fight and go home. Do you see any difference to your local haunt on a Saturday night?!
After the cultural centre, we visited a place called Nourangle which had actual aboriginal paintings on rock which were preserved. We trekked about 10 mins to the rock from car park but en route, we managed to see a black male walaroo(cross between kangaroo and wallaby), something our guide said was very rare. Definitely a special feeling about seeing that.
The rock art was explained very well by Barny, who we learned had an Aboriginal girlfriend and many Aboriginal friends,
Next:lunch! Same as yesterday but i didn't mind, I was starving.
The place we had lunch was used as one of the sets for the crocodile dundee film many years back. I could see why, the views over Nourlangie and Nawurlangja were amazing. After cleaning up lunch area, it was time to visit Nawurlangja..essentially a look out area over Kakadu.
On the way the guide explained when we(white people) look into a field in Kakadu we see a field of trees and shrubs and plants. Aboriginal people see a supermarket and a pharmacy. Truly amazing. That really put things into perspective!
After about 15 min trek up rocky mountainous terrain we were greeted by one of the most amazing views ever. Kakadu. (well what I could see of it, its the same size of belgium!) Any pics we took did not do it justice one bit.
At the top of the look out a few of the group had a discussion re Aboriginal ways v White person ways and also how kids upbringing and behaviour is 100% parents responsibility.
Time to head back home! Stopped en route to get pics of black cockatoos and termite mounds (it's quite mad how they form).
We pulled into gas station about 150km from Daaaaarwinnn where we visited two crocs. One which was tiny but the other was 4.2 meters long. He came out of water and stared us through a fence. I took a few pics and left, didn't feel the need to piss the poor guy off anymore!
We finally reached Darwwinnnn and dropped various people at various Accommodations, we rechecked back into banyan view lodge, got same room-we didn't mind one bit.
The Mindell beach markets were on tonight so there wasn't even time to shower. We changed and strolled down. It was about 15 min walk.
The markets go on every Thursday and Sunday and are actually called sunset markets due to magnificent sunset over Mindell beach. The beach was packed when we arrived, every one drinking and having a laugh. Once the sun went down (got some great pics) people started clapping and cheering. We went to the stalls for food. Lots of variations around. Thai, Japanese, Chinese, Italian etc. We decided on Sri Lankan stall and we both got combos. I had battered sweet potato, chilli beef, spicy potato and Yellow rice. Absolutely lovely. Carol had something similar with chicken.
Strolled through markets tucking into grub, didn't buy any thing but was such a good feel place.
We headed home via possibly the best invention ever, the drive in bottle shop (love Oz!) and as I write this i am drinking coopers premium lager as recommended by guide today, the legend. Til tomorrow!!