Kakadu National Park, Day 3

Because of the thin day we had had the day before, we now had a packed day ahead of us for this, the last day of the trip. We were up uite early for breakfast, including bread baked over the campfire. It was delicious.

Then it was pack up and be off for our day's adventures. Gander complimented us on being the most efficient group he had had yet this year. One joker asked how many groups he had had, if it we were the first. Ha ha!!

We quickly arrived at the first site of the day, a waterfall with a nice pool for swimming under it. I had decided that a lot of changing, getting wet, then drying off, and putting clothes and shoes back on, then doing it again later wasn't really what I was up for, so I didn't bother with any swimming. But the views were nice. However, this is not really a sign I want to be seeing before I go to a swimming hole, even if I am not going to do any swimming. Gander assured though that it was perfectly safe. And it was. It was also a nice pool and waterfall.

After a short-ish time at the pool, we headed out and stopped at a lookout point. It afforded us a nice look out of the area where we had been staying in the south end of the park.

Next we headed up to another waterfall, that was actually a bit above where the first was. It was the same river feeding both areas, but it was a bit hidden and Gander told us that despite being a bit better, nobody ever went there.

 

We stayed there for about 45 minutes, during which time one couple had their camera go for a swim, and I was able to take this photo. When I showed it to her, her first thought was that it was a photo of a dying mermaid. Sigh!

After the pool, we headed off and stopped for a quick look at a termite mound. Not impressed?

How about if a person is in the picture with it?

And then it was off for a bit of a climb. We arrived at a spot very near the Burrunggui site, the Nawurlandja Lookout (Recognize the name?), and climbed up to have a view over the park. Gander suggested that we do ourselves a favour and not look backwards, so that we wouldn't have the splendour of the view be diluted. We climbed up rocks like this for about 15 minutes. Yes, it was definitely splendid. The rock there is Burrunggui.

We headed back to Burrunggui, but this time it was to climb up the back side on the start of a 12 kilometer bush trek. We didn't do the whole trek, both because we didn't have the time, and we didn't have the amount of water and other provisions that would be needed. It was a very warm day.

Then it was lunch time. And then we headed back out towards Darwin. Along the way, we passed the Adelaide River, the site of the crocodile cruises. Gander's company also has a boat, on which he takes his tours out in search of crocodiles. We collected some meat from a rest stop, the one with the crocodiles in the cages from the first day, and then got on the boat. When we passed the boat, it looked kind of small to me. It actually looked like it might be a lunchbox. For the crocodiles, that is. But once on the boat, it seemed sturdy enough, with high rails that we were told we should reach out beyond. We headed out in search of our prey. For a long while, we didn't see anything, and it was late in the day. I began to fear that we were going to be out of luck. And then Gander slowed the boat and pointed. There was a crocodile approaching.

Now I do have an aversion to feeding animals for spectacle. Wild animals are wild. To feed them is to make them a bit less wild, to make them a bit more acclimated to humans, to bring them that much closer into conflict with humans. And we all know what happens when a wild animal has the temerity to do what comes naturally and bite the hand that feeds it. The wild animal is held to blame and gets a death sentence. And here I was on a cruise to feed among the most dangerous of wild animals there is. But even so, it was pretty amazing and terrific.

Gander held out bits of chicken (on a string on a looong stick), to tempt the crocodile to hoist itself out of the water and get the bait. And he is quite good at enticing the crocs.

I saw this one first, and it seemed to be quite big. Gander seemed to concur when he said, “Oh, this one is massive.” He was apparently several meters long.

Eventually he got some chicken, then seemed to tire of the game and swam off.

We saw another croc.

And another.

We saw one more before we headed back to the dock and headed, at last, back to Darwin. It had been a satisfying day all told, and I am glad I visited Kakadu National Park.