Click to Zoom Barramundi Falls

Rus and I were up at 3:45 a.m. this morning.  Throughout the night we could hear birds of prey swooping over and around the tent.  We were to have a wake-up call at 4:30 anyway.  We continued exploring noises and discovered the bush apple tree near us full of the bread bats or fruit bats we had been told about.  They were huge and hanging upside down wrapped around a cluster of apples.  We would hear the leaves rustle as they moved about or few off as our flashlight irritated them.  There were kangaroo all through the area surrounding us.  They are so quiet when they move that you don't find them by sound... but scanning with our flashlights we'd see their eyes.   Rus would locate all kinds of spiders and critters by the glow of their eyes scanning with the flashlight over the area.  It made me wish then I was out there in boots rather than Tevas.  The stars were absolutely their finest here.  We didn't think we'd ever see them better than in the outback but we were wrong.  Just wished we could sleep out here but the critters prevented that. 

We went to Black Jungle Springs first thing and saw the sunrise on the way there.  It's a huge pond surrounded by woodlands.  The water level is rising now.  It has been bone dry.  There were hundreds of great white egrets, one lone pelican and many of the Magpie Geese again.  Sixty percent of the worlds Magpie Geese are here in Kakadu.  We realized as we left this spot that that was the coolest we would be all day!

Click to Zoom Fruit Bats

We at various times had to cross Barramundi and Jim Jim Creeks which crossed our path.  We were on 4WD paths that curved and dipped.  Soon they will be impassable with the rising waters.  There were times when it seemed we would actually rattle to pieces and we were in what seemed like a virtual tank. We had breakfast at Barramundi Gorge prior to hiking in for a 1.6K walk.  It wasn't a particulary long hike but it was plenty of work and plenty of hot!  The swimming area at the end was worth it all!!  What a water playground.  It was like we virtually had the place to ourselves.  Lee, our guide, arranged it so we went there early in the day when most folks use it to cool off in the afternoon.  We really never saw many folks were we visited in Kakadu.  The physical aspect just leaves many folks without access.   There were cliffs here for the kids to jump off, holes in the rocks to swim through and all kinds of areas to explore.  We hated to leave!!  The views of falls down the backside, and area that was lower than we were with the escarpments visible above us just made it breath-taking.  Pictures will never do justice!

We lunched in the vehicle where it was air-conditioned and had no flies and which allowed us an extra hour somewhere else.  We always pack sandwiches up the night before.  We headed for Bowali Visitor Centre Park Headquarters.  There we went through a wonderful exhibit which contains a wealth of information about Kakadu..   There's always more to do than there is time!  We traveled on to the Anbangbang Shelter, which was used for 20,000 years as a refuge from heat, rain and frequent wet-season thunderstorms.   There was a circular hike there that allowed us to view the distant Arnhem Land cliff line, the surrounding escarpments and the plains below and to see some areas of Aboriginal Cave Paintings that have been preserved and protected.  Andrew had his camera flashing! Traveling out we saw Anbangbang Billabong, which soon will be a dense carpet of lilies.

Nearby Jabiru is a township build to accomodate the Ranger mine workers.  The Ranger uranium mine is there.  Cooinda Lodge was our next destination where we made our home for the evening.  Adventure Tours has permanent campsites and this one was on property near this lodge.  We were able to use their pool etc. It was like an oasis again.  The sprinklers running kept many birds right in and around the area.  We took turns for an hour boat ride between 4:30 and 6:30.  Once again we saw both salt and fresh-water crocodiles quite at home.  Lots of birds, expecially Azure Kingfishers which are so brilliantly colored.  We saw our first wild dingo in a plain area along the side in among the Magpie Geese.  The highlight for us though was seeing four or five trees in which the Red Fox Bats roosted.  You could smell the area before you got to it.  A real sweet smell.  We were able to see the bats up close and listen to their squawking etc.  They are just so much larger than I realized bats ever got to be--- almost the wing span of a wild duck.

On return dinner preparations began.  The electricity was out at the "kitchen" and there were no lanterns so we worked and ate by candlelight which was quiet nice after we finished dicing veggies with sharp knives.  It was stir-fried rice, steaks, sausages, salad and cooked veggies.  There is always a full house of appetites!  Cabins were permanent tents again which are nice.  The "build-up" started in the afternoon and our second crew on the boat ride got drenched.  It rained through dinner and then ceased, having really cooled it down.   Made for wonderful sleeping!  Lee played his didgeradoo for a bit before the "old" folks turned in and the young folks went to the bar.