August 15, 2012

August 15, 2012

Since we got in late last night we start slow this morning. Our first stop is the grocery store. Since the campervan has a tiny fridge and a limited kitchen, and we are only in it a few days, we have to make some careful choices.

Leaving Darwin we head east along the Arnhem Highway. After several hours we reach Ubirr in the northeastern corner of Kakadu National Park, another Australian World Heritage Site. The drive was pretty boring through a flat expanse of trees. This is the winter dry season. If this was summer, it would likely be raining and the road flooded.

Ubirr is on the edge of the escarpment where the higher interior of Australia drops to the coastal floodplain. The cliff face is hundreds of millions of years old and it looks it. Kakadu garnered international exposure when the movie “Crocodile Dundee” was filmed here. Kakadu is also famous for its Aborigine art. The cliff walls are filled with it, mostly depicting animals found in the region. For a Stone Age culture the paintings are extraordinarily detailed. They make American Indians look like grade school finger painters. This art culture continues to this day with their wonderful blend of modern and impressionism. Even though much of it is simply comprised of dots and circles, it is unique and highly sought after. If it wasn’t so expensive I would love to buy a few pieces.

We next stop at the Visitor center in Jabiru. It has nice displays on the plant and animal life unique to the area. While filling up with gas, we notice a flock of noisy white birds in the surrounding trees. On closer inspection they turn out to be white cockatoos feasting on something in these trees. It is interesting watching them use their beak as a third leg as they climb the trees. Here I thought cockatoos were only found in some impenetrable Amazon jungle.

Our next stop is Nourlangie to view more rock art. This time we have the opportunity to hear an interesting ranger talk. I would appreciate this park much better if we had the luxury of doing it on my time. Instead we are speeding through it. Aimee is not as engaged with this famous park. She is calling it “Kakadon’t”.

We stop for the night in one of the primitive park campgrounds. The southern sky is beautiful and I can hear cockatoos squawking as Aimee cooks dinner.