Darwin and Kakadu

Our journey on the Ghan brought us to the biggest city in the Northern Territory, Darwin.  We organised a 3 day camping tour to visit the World Heritage listed Kakadu National Park, excited about spotting crocodiles in the infested waters flowing through the park.

We didn't have to wait long.  On the first day our tour took us on a boat cruise along the Mary River wetlands system, home to a massive array of birds and to this little beauty:



Saltwater Crocodile, 4m long

We saw 10 of these huge animals during our 1 hour cruise, which was more than enough to persuade us to obey the 'Crocodile Danger' warning signs advising against swimming in many of the park's creeks.

Still, there were plenty of other spots the crocs couldn't get to, and the last two days of our trip were spent warming up nicely in the 35 degree heat before plunging into icy rock pools like this one:



Rock pool above Twin Falls

We visited several of the main waterfall sites in Kakadu, bouncing along in a 4WD jeep along unsealed roads and through metre deep creeks.  We hiked up above Twin Falls and took a cruise along to its base, seeing the impressive gorge created by the force of the water:



Twin Falls gorge

As we were visiting in the dry season, many of the waterfalls were either dry, or only trickling tiny amounts of water.  However, our guide informed us that many of the places we'd visited would be underwater in only two months time once the wet season started again.  Many of the roads become impassable, and those open to 4WD's are often a metre underwater with crocs floating by the windows!

Matching the landscape of the tall sheer sided river gorges were the 3 metre tall pinnacles of sand jutting randomly out of the earth, home to the termites that thrive so well in the heat:



H and a giant termite mound

We returned to Darwin at the end of day 3 caked in ochre red sand, but refreshed by our cool rock pool swims and amazing wildlife spots.

Our past few days have been spent relaxing in Darwin, and preparing to start our adventures in our final continent, Asia, on Wednesday.  We managed to fit in a visit to the lively, bustling sunset markets at Mindil Beach, full of arts, crafts, delicious food, and some top quality local live music:



Mindil Beach Market




Local band Em Dee, with 4 didjeridoos!

Singapore beckons us tomorrow (Wednesday), before our rendezvous in China with our university friends Karen and James on Sunday.