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Published: July 14th 2009
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Crocodile
At Yellow Waters Kakadu
- a land of wetlands, waterfalls and rock art
- home to crocodylus gigantus plentyus scaryus
- a sanctuary for birds and zillions of mosquitoes
We’ve had a request for crocodile photos, so here they are. We went on a cruise up the East Alligator River and on the Yellow Water Billagong where there are saltwater crocodiles galore. They’re huge things that lie on the bank or near the water’s edge, so still, but if you look carefully, their eyelids are half open and they’re watching you. There’s a 100% chance of being eaten if you go into the water but a mere 50% if you are at the water’s edge. So comforting to know.
At Ubirr, we climbed a small escarpment and found ourselves in one of the scenes from Crocodile Dundee. It was a spectacular 360° view over wetlands and ancient rocky outcrops. The timing was perfect as the patchy clouds gave light and shade to the vivid greens, some becoming luminous, others rich and velvety. We stayed there for ages as it was too hard to leave. It’s one of those places where everyone wants their photos taken so we took snaps for other
Yellow Waters
A brolga and a small crocodile couples who made the climb.
Mosquitoes - I guess we had to have some, but really… We saw more mosquitoes in one night than we’d seen in our whole life. We shut ourselves in the van but still they kept coming. We kept swatting as we tried to plug up every tiny crack that they somehow poured through. Eventually we won the war, but there were dead bodies everywhere.
One thing we did learn was the benefit of taking Vitamin B1 before entering mosquito territory. Normally I’m the person that everyone wants to sit near as all the mosquitoes bite me and leave others alone. But not anymore. Gavin was bitten but I was only bitten by the ones that couldn’t find room on him. I was very sympathetic, really I was.
If you are going to have incredibly beautiful wetlands with masses of water lilies, huge brolgas with their long red legs, eagles, turtles and fish, then I guess mosquitoes are a small price to pay (about $12.95 in fact, for Vit B1 at the Health Food Store).
Twin Falls was a real expedition just to get there. It was about 60 km of dirt
Ubirr
Scene from Crocodile Dundee road, some sections being sandy and boggy, and the water crossing the deepest we’ve done so far. At the end was a boat ride through water so clear it almost looked like it wasn’t there. Then there was a rough hike, of course, clinging to a rocky ledge at times and climbing over boulders piled up from thousands of years of rock falls. I dream of rocks after days like that, but they are dreams where I’m stumbling and almost falling off edges. The end result was more than worth the uneasy dream I was going to have that night. The two waterfalls were very high and it was possible to stand on the sandy beach at the bottom and lean right back to watch the water tumbling down almost straight above us and to feel the spray on our faces.
It was disappointing not being able to swim safely anywhere except at Maguk Gorge, which made up for all the others we missed on. It was a huge swimming hole, complete with waterfall, perfect water temperature, and fish that weren’t at all worried about us swimming with them and watching them through our masks.
Yes, Kakadu is
Ubirr
Part of a 360 degree view. a land of great beauty that thankfully will stay unspoilt.
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