kakadu 2

we woke up the next morning, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, ready for day two of our kakadu trip. okay, i wasn't bright-eyed or bushy-tailed (have i ever been?), and i was a little extra cranky after waking up just as hot as i was when i fell asleep. (seriously, i hadn't stopped sweating in almost 24 hours!) we got ready for the day, packed up our gear, and had some breakfast with our campmates. apparently, after we headed for bed, but before we fell asleep, sarah and i were laughing (mostly about shane's shorty shorts, if i recall)... i didn't think we were that loud, but our campmates definitely asked us what was so funny, and called us "the giggling wombats"

sarah made me camp!

after breakfast, we piled back into the 4wd for more 4-wheeling fun. i didn't mention it yesterday, but it was really bumpy! but fun! we splashed through some rivers, and kicked up a ton of dirt as we bumped and jostled our way through the national park. it was definitely an outback adventure! this morning our off-roading took us to twin falls, one of kakadu's waterfalls. it used to be that you could swim up the gorge to see the falls, but (as with any other water source in the area) the risk of crocs became too high, and so we took a short boat ride through a beautiful gorge, and then a short walk to see the falls. we didn't get any good pictures of twin falls, but i really like this one i took while on the boat.

we took a few pictures and then headed back to the boat and out to the 4wd. our next stop was jim jim falls. jim jim is an incredible waterfall during the wet season - exploding over the edge of the escarpment and filling up the river below. the falls dry up quickly, though, during the dry season, and so instead of getting to see the falls, we got to head to the pool just below where the falls usually are for a swim. it was a long, hot walk to jim jim falls. the first half of the walk was low-key, but the second half involved lots of rock-walking (i feel like it's not quite bouldering if you're not heading uphill). and when i say "rock-walking" i mean walking over rocks that were the tempature of a hot frying pan. HOT. we were literally baking as we walked to the falls. because the pool is located past shallow water and lots of rocks, there are no crocodiles, so we got to enjoy a dip in the freshwater. sarah and i just rested our legs in, but that was enough to be refreshing and wonderful. did i mention it was hot?

the pool is at the far end of the gorge, where the canyon walls meet

sadly, after our cool off we had to cross the frying pan rocks again, to head out. we stopped back at the campsite for lunch (and another shower - did i mention we had been sweating nonstop?) before heading back to darwin. on the way back, shane blasted a very eclectic mix of music, starting with lady gaga, which according to sarah, he sang and danced along with the entire cd. we also heard a song called "hillbilly shoes" (which i contest would be no shoes at all), music by slim dusty - an australia country western singer, sublime, and a lot of other random stuff. we stopped for a drink and ice cream treat about half-way home, and then piled into the 4wd one last time.

left to right:

shane (shorty shorts not pictured), scotty, burke, sergei,

clare, (me and cheryl are behind sarah's head), and sarah

we arrived back in darwin about 6pm, sweaty (seriously we sweated nonstop for 36 hours!), tired, hungry, and with very jostled butts. we got some dinner, cleaned up and hit the hay extra early. not only were we tired, but we had to be at the airport by 5:30am the next morning, so we definitely wanted to get to sleep! our kakadu dream was really an incredible experience - from the people, to the wildlife, to the scenery, it was all really unbelievable!