kakadu dreams (day 1)

we were picked up bright and early by shane, our kakadu dreams tour guide. we hopped into the 4-wheel-drive vehicle and, after a quick stop at the office, headed out for another adventure. kakadu is australia's largest national park, and has a lot to see and do. although i really did NOT want to camp, the park's location a few hours from darwin does not lend itself to day trips. so, i sucked it up and agreed to do the 2-day camping tour.

our first stop was at a crocodile cruise. before our cruise, shane brought out a giant snake and we had the chance to hold it. sarah held it and i touched it, but really had no interest in wrapping it around my arms - ew! we had some "morning tea" (i.e., toast and tea/coffee), and then boarded our little boat for the crocodile cruise. we sailed out down the river a bit, and when the crocodiles began to swim out to us, one of the guides used a piece of meat on a stick to show us how crocodiles can "jump" out of the water in a moment's notice. one of the crocs missed the meat on his first try, and his jaws made a thunderous noise as they clapped together - i would NOT want to be on the receiving end of that! although sarah got it on video, the file was too large to upload here - you will have to take my word for it. we saw almost a dozen crocs on our cruise, and the tour guide even used the meat to draw some birds of prey to our boat - the birds were whipping around the boat to get a piece of the meat - incredible!

after the croc cruise, we piled back into the 4wd and headed into kakadu national park. it was a bit of a drive, so we used the time to get to know the 5 other people on our tour. there was an older couple (scotty and cheryl) from sydney, sergei, who was in australia for the weekend from singapore, burke, from western australia, and clare, a recently graduated doctor from new zealand. we were a diverse bunch, but all got along well!

our next stop was yellow waters billabong (a watering hole), that was beautiful. here, and everywhere else that had any water whatsoever, there were signs warning about the wildlife dangers...

can you see the picture in the bottom left corner?

let's take a closer look...

after our quick stop at the billabong, we headed to an aboriginal cultural center. just as with uluru, i was fascinated with how the communities functioned and used the land. we also had lunch there, and tried to find some shade to keep cool - seriously it was SO HOT.

next up was a short hike to an incredible lookout point. shane told us about the geological history of the land, and about the aboriginal people who lived here for so long. he was really a great storyteller, and full of fascinating information. the only downside was that he was rocking a pair of seriously short shorts. honestly, his shirt, when untucked, was longer than his shorts! and shane's shorty shorts had a hole in the inseam. i wish i didn't know this information, but he was crouching while telling us all about the park, and it was like watching a terrible train wreck. once i had seen the hole, there was no un-seeing it! i just had to try and focus on the beautiful landscape of kakadu...

do we look hot yet?

we hiked back down the rocks and headed over to nourlangie rock - the site of some great aboriginal rock art. there were paintings of kangaroos, and men and women in ceremonies, but my favorite by far were the hand paintings. it is incredible to think that people so very long ago have left a part of themselves on this rock. those are the hands of real people who lived in this land long, long ago. i love it!



shane (in his shorty-shorts) told us that while it is unacceptable to change someone's drawings in aboriginal culture, it is perfectly acceptable to paint over them. so a lot of the art had multiple levels, to the point where you can't really distinguish what elements go with what story. it seems like an interesting way to approach learning and history to intermingle past and present.

after spending some time appreciating the rock art, we headed over to our campsite to set up before dark. i was not looking forward to camping, but i did enjoy the campfire, even though it was still hot outside (i passed on the kangaroo meat and buffalo sausages), and getting to know our campmates. burke even brought marshmallows to roast over the fire! oddly, it was not unusual to roast marshmallows, but no one knew what a "smore" was! sarah and i also learned that "for reals" is a uniquely american phrase, and in australia, they say "fair dinkum" instead.

i'm not going to say that i enjoyed camping, but there are worse places to fall asleep than stargazing through your tent in australia!