Had to pack up and leave Howard Springs this morning and we were on the road by 9 o'clock. Our journey to Kakadu was expected to take about two and a half hours. We left the Stuart Highway to turn on to the Arnhem Highway and immediately noticed the change in scenery. On both sides of the highway were massive Mango plantations that were flourishing and obviously would supply many markets here and overseas. Our first large river crossing was the Mary River. We continued for some time before coming across the croc infected Adelaide River. We looked closely but did not see any crocs. A bridge took us across the South Alligator River where again the vegetation and scenery changed.
Our arrival at the Kakadu National Park saw us continue through to Jabiru where we plan to spend a night at the Kakadu Lodge and were so surprised with the caravan park. It is very lovely with plenty of lush trees and palms and great grassy sites, not at all as we had imagined it to be. After setting up and having some lunch, we drove the short distance to the Jabiru township that is quite small but surprisingly there are a number of residential homes. We saw the iconic Mercure Kakadu Crocodile Hotel which is the shape of a huge crocodile and very popular with overseas tourists.
We then drove back out of town to find the road to take us Ubirr where we were to see Aboriginal rock art that is said to be the best in the world. The actual site of the rock art is Heritage Listed and has been preserved beautifully. It represents one of the longest historical records of any group of people in the world. Before reaching Ubirr, we stopped off at the Guluyambi boat ramp where it is possible to take a river cruise up the East Alligator River. The river looks as though it would be full of crocs! We didn't see any but were afraid to venture to close to the rivers edge.
We arrived at Ubirr where we walked the 1 km circular track that took us past many fascinating Aboriginal rock art sites. We then climbed a moderately steep track that took us to the Ubirr Lookout that had superb views over the Nadab flood plain and Arhnem land. We were amazed at the magnificent 360 degree view we had at the lookout and spent some time there just taking it all in.
We were thrilled we made the effort as it will be a very special memory for us both.
No comments:
Post a Comment