Aboriginal Adventures

July 1, 2010 - We landed in Darwin in the late afternoon. If the heat and humidity were any indication of the days that lie ahead, perhaps we should have thought twice about living out of a non-air-conditioned campervan. But, we went full steam ahead (no pun intended). After a few un-exciting errands, we were on the road to Kakadu National Park, shortly after sunset. Visitor guides suggested avoiding driving the long road at night, since wildlife is most active at that time. But, all the better for Tony and I, as we were in search for the things that go bump in the night.

The road to Kakadu was pretty uneventful, probably because it was so dark to see anything. But, as we approached closer to the park, we saw something that looked like a famished, hairless cat. But, it ran away too fast to get a close look. Oh well. We also noticed lots of small bush fires, which we learned later were set intentionally. After a 3 hour drive, we reached our campsite for the night. Campsite for us meant a electicity hook-up for our van, and bathroom facilities.

We woke early the next morning, to start our day of hiking and sightseeing.
Day 1: Rock Art
Stop 1: Ubirr Rock. Aboriginals often used art to pass on stories and lessons for future generations. The art in the rock shelters are estimated to be about 1,500 years old. We saw lots of great aboriginal art and learned a great deal about the aboriginal culture.

Stop 2: A walk to a viewing platform (yes, I forgot the name).

Stop 3: Nourlangie Rock. Similar to Ubirr Rock, Nourlangie Rock also provided several rock shelters the housed aboriginal paintings. The art style was different and older than that at Ubirr.

Stop 4. Back to Ubirr! We read that the sunset at Ubirr was the best place to go… so we went back again. At the top of the art walk are rocks platforms that overlook the wetlands and surrounding landscape. Although a little cloudy for the perfect sunset, it was the perfect place to end a long and tiring day of hiking.

Day 2: More aboriginal culture
Stop 1: Warradjan Aboriginal Culture Center was a great place to read more about the history of Australia. But, sorry, no pictures allowed!

Stop 2: Yellow Water. This area, also known as the wetlands, is well, exactly that... but no, the water was not yellow as the name suggests. We opted out of taking another boat ride and strolled along a metal grated walkway instead. We kept our eyes peeled for wild crocodiles but saw little more than birds and a lizard. But, it was a beautiful and peaceful area for the last stop on our Kakadu mini tour.

En route home, we finally saw one of the animals on our list of Aussie must-sees… a wallaroo (well, that’s what we thought it was).