Yellow Water Billabong Cruise

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Geo: -12.8334, 132.833

It's Mothers Day today and this morning we set the alarm and rise in the dark getting ready to head to Cooinda Lodge and the Yellow Water Billabong for a sunrise cruise. We step outside and it's warm but not hot as we depart with our headlights on for a 40 km journey to Cooinda. There is no traffic on the road but I drive cautiously in case a Wallaby jumps out in font of us. We arrive at the tour bus stop with 5 minutes to spare and it is still dark.

On boarding the cruise the mosquitoes are fierce so we lather up in aero-guard which does the trick. As the sun begins to rise we take some excellent photos and cruise out of the billabong onto the South Alligator River spotting half a dozen crocs and a magnificent eagle sitting on top of a dead tree. We awe at the bird life starting to take flight for the morning and spot some buffalo and wild pigs in the distance.

Twenty minutes into the journey we spot a big croc dragging something from the bank. On queue it dives to drown its prey and we follow the bubbles waiting for it to resurface. Some two minutes later up it pops right next to the boat and it has a three foot pig by the head. The croc now begins to swim down river looking for a secluded opening onto the bank and after following it for 100 metres it disappears into the mangroves. "Amazing" says the guide "that's the first time we have been lucky enough to catch that action".

We spend another hour immersed in this amazing place before returning to the lodge for breakfast. We consider a walk to Nourlangie Rock but it's way to hot already so we return to the Mercure Crocodile for a relaxing day. Unfortunately the Mercure doesn't acknowledge the fact that its Mothers Day so we open our own champagne, Deb opens her cards and checks messages from the girls and we ring home to wish our own mothers a great day and catch up on some news.

We head on down to the restaurant for dinner but once again the menu is less than inspiring as we order lamb and pork and mashed potatoes. Life is hard in the tropics!

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