Kakadu and attempting to get east 🐸

From Darwin we headed into Kakadu National Park. However, as mentioned previously, with it being the wet season there was a limit on what we could get to because of seasonal flooding. Our first stop was Mamukala Wetlands, which were very wet and getting wetter! They were very pretty though and we spotted a 'Jesus bird' with his chicks, named because of its ability to appear to walk on water. We sheltered for a while in the bird hide until it cleared up and then moved on. Our next stop was meant to be the visitors centre however this was closed due to pest control, just our luck! 

Kakadu National Park is famous for its connection to the past, having been home to Aboriginal people for over 65,000 years. It's now, similar to other National Parks we've visited whilst travelling up the middle, jointly managed by the Aboriginal owners (Bininj/Mungguy) and Parks Australia. Due to its history, there is a wealth of rock art to view, which has been used to date the civilisations of the past. Our next walk at the Anbangbang Rock Shelter was the only rock art site we could get to, but we were not disappointed. The short loop takes you past a few different areas where people used to shelter and place information abour their culture upon the rock walls. It really is amazing to view and the area itself is a good place for a stroll. 

We continued on to our campsite for an early night as we had a boat trip booked the next morning at dusk which meant a 05:30am alarm and neither of us are good with early rises. The trip took us along the Yellow Water Billabong and onto the South Alligator River (wrongly named in the past as crocodiles were misidentified as alligators). We were well guided by Dennis whose Aboriginal ancestry meant he knew all about the land and the waterways. Unfortunately, we still didn't see a crocodile which is what we had hoped for but it was an amazing way to start the day on the calm waters. We were also spoilt for choice with interesting birds such as Sea eagles and Black bitterns, but as one third of Australia's bird species are at Kakadu, it's no surprise. 

We drove on stopping at a few walks and view points but it was extremely humid and a lot of the walks were over grown with long grass. We stopped to look a large termite mound roadside, they really are impressive structures. As you drive up the Stuart Highway, in these northern parts, people have put t-shirts, hats, sunglasses, and other human items on some of the people sized termite mounds and they really do make you do a double take, it's quite funny. 

Our campsite in Pine Creek meant we were back on the Stuart Highway, the road that just goes on and on and on. We got some washing done but again struggled to dry it as the rain came. The rain also bought some friendly Green tree frogs into the loo's and we do really like frogs! 

So now we were retracing our steps back south until the turn off at threeways towards Queensland. We spent 3 days mostly driving and slept at the free rest areas which are basic but have a loo and picnic benches. However, I managed to drop my phone into a toliet when we stopped for a break one day so it was straight into a tub with some of those silica gel pouches we have with us for this sort of thing. This meant I was suddenly not taking pictures but we weren't actually seeing a lot so could have been worse. 

We left a rest area at Avon River one morning after chatting to a man who warned us of some heavy rains coming which could potentially flood the road. Where we are at the moment there is only one road, if it gets flooded we're stuck. Not long after setting off we inevitably reached a flooded section of road, the man we'd spoked to was there having a look but he was in a big 4x4 so decided to give it a go. Matt and I decided pretty quick were not going to drive through any flood waters in Vanny!  We can't risk anything happening to the van out here, it's our home at the moment and luckliy were not in any rush to be anywhere. We had just enough fuel to get us back to Barkly Homestead, which was back in the wrong direction but has fuel, drinking water, and a campsite so we can assess the upcoming weather and decide what to do. There are worse places to be held up, yeah we're in the middle of nowhere but they have a pool, a pub with a happy hour, and a herd of guinefowl which are fun to watch wander about. 

So I sign this one off just having a relaxing day sat at a campsite checking road conditions and weather reports. Also, after 2 days of drying out, my phone works which meant I could access my photos for this blog! 

Lots of love, 

Lisa and Matt 💕