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Again with Bransby and Jessica we left Singapore on a late flight and arrived in Darwin after midnight. We caught a cab to our hotel on the Esplanade, checked in and right to bed. In our original plan, we were going to rent a car and do our touring on our own. At the last minute we decided it might be better to join a commercial tour to see Kakadu Park. As I will explain later, it turned out to be an excellent idea. Even though we went to bed late, we were up at an early hour to meet out tour guide at 6:00AM. It is about a 3 hour drive from Darwin to Kakadu so a good time to catch up on a little sleep.


Shortly after a stop at the Bark Hut Tourist Center for refreshments we entered the boundary of the Kakadu National Park and the extensive floodplain. Annual rainfall in Kakadu National Park ranges from 1,565 mm (61.61in) in Jabiru to 1,300 mm (51.18in) in the Mary River region. March/April is the end of the wet season so many areas of the park are still flooded at this time of the year.





Our first stop was to view some of the Aborigine rock art. Rock art is not something you can see from the bus so we experienced our first hike in the heat and humidity. Our guide was very knowledgeable and patient with us senior citizens. It has been documented that this area has the most lightning strikes in the same place than any other location in the world.




After another short ride we left the bus and boarded a boat on the river for the yellow water cruise. So called because we would be touring the flooded rivers and billabongs. A billabong is defigned as a smallish lake, and specifically an oxbow lake, a stagnant pool of water attached to a waterway.


This area is noted for the large number of crocodiles. Unfortunately during the wet season the crocks have thousands of square miles to hunt for food so we did not see any during our trip. Because of the great expanse of water, we did not see any land animals but did see a lot of birds. The most impressive was a White bellied Sea Eagle. The White bellied Sea Eagle is Australia's second largest bird of prey. On returning to the dock, it was time to board the bus and head to our hotel at Jabiru.








The next morning we were picked up by a much smaller bus for our tour. Today there is only one other passenger in addition to our group. Today we will go further into the park and into some of the higher country. Shortly after starting out, we came to a spot where the road was completely flooded. Yesterday we boarded the boat from a floating dock. Today no dock, just some short stairs and we are headed down the creek. Our guide today is part Aborigine and in spite of a cold and a sore throat he was very informative about our surroundings and the history of the area. A short while later, we reached a spot where we could see the road again but the bus we left there was no where to be seen.


If you will remember, I said early on that we had decided at the last minute not to rent a car and do our own tour. This is where that decision paid dividends. The road ahead was not where we left the bus but was a continuation of the same road on the other side of the flooded area. The tour company keeps a second bus parked here all during the rainy season so the tours can continue. Had we rented a car, our tour would have stopped where we left the first bus.


Our driver got out of the boat and waded ashore to bring the new bus so we could continue. I was a little concerned because jumping out of the boat to wade ashore was going to be a little difficult. I should not have worried because the driver backed the bus into the water, the boat was pulled up to the door and we stepped direct from the boat into the bus and continued on our way. Our first stop was the Ubirr Art site. More rock paintings and a short climb to a high point that provided wide vistas of the floodplain. We reversed our path back to the boat, climbed from the bus onto the boat and left to board the original bus for our trip back to Darwin. We had a heavy rain most of the way back and it was evening when we finally arrived at our hotel in Darwin. By the time we were settled the rain had stopped so we freshened up and left for dinner.


I am not sure if Darwin on any given Saturday night is like we found it this Saturday night. If we where at a beach town in the USA and saw the crowds we would chock it up to being the end of Spring Break. The street from the hotel to town was filled with bars and eating places. Every place we could see was filled with young men and women out for a night on the town. It appears that Darwin does not have any open container laws because there were many open cans and bottles being carried from bar to bar. The police department has a pickup truck with a wire cage in the bed that they use to transport. We saw at least one poor sole on his way to the lock-up in the back of the truck. We had been on the go all day and were tired so I convinced Bransby and Jessica to call it a night and to escort the old folks back to the hotel.


Sunday, Easter morning Marci attended Mass at the St. Mary's Star of the Sea War Memorial Cathedral. The Cathedral has plaques inside for each of the branches of service that were in the area during the Second World War. After Mass we had brunch and then wandered down town to do some shopping. After satisfying the souvenir requirements it was time to catch a cab and leave for the airport and our return to Singapore.

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