Today we arrived in Kakadu National Park. The Aboriginals actually called it Gagudju, but when they tried to tell this to the white man, they misheard it as Kakadu and the name stuck! Kakadu is listed as a World Heritage Area in recognition of its unique mixture of culture, biodiversity, and natural values. The park covers nearly 20,000 sq km and is home to numerous plants and animals that are not found anywhere else in the world, many of which are threatened or endangered.
We went on a Yellow Water river cruise but couldn’t walk on the board walk as the water level was still to high and there was a risk a croc might try and eat someone.
The car park was closed as well for the same reason so we were escorted to the boat with 6 foot fences either side of the walkway.
We saw crocs, Jacana (Jesus birds – they walk on water), baby Jacana the size of ping pong balls, and lots of other birds. It was very scenic.
We went on a guided walk with a ranger through the Ubirr rock art site who explained the stories represented. Creation ancestors as well as animals from the area such as barramundi, catfish, mullet, goannas, long-necked turtles, pig-nosed turtles, rock ringtail possums, and wallabies feature in the paintings.
The stories are rather harsh, but I suppose they found it necessary to get their point across. One story involved two sisters (ancient ancestors of the Aboriginals) who always used to prank each other by turning themselves into crocodiles and scaring the other sister. Finally the sisters agreed to make the change permanent, so they remained as crocodiles, and their bodies were made into constellations in the stars. Now when little Aboriginal children get too close to the waters edge, the sisters will drop down from the sky and snatch them up.
Afterwards we walked up to the lookout for a great view of the Nardab floodplain.
In some of these places, you can imagine the people sitting under the overhangs for protection from the weather and painting. The rock where they sat is worn smooth.