Killing time in Kakadu

Sam and I at the park entrance.

Cute Dragonfly

Me at the main gallery site

Fish art

Turtle Art

Different fish art

Sam and I overlooking Arnhem Land

The site at the top of Ubirr

Sam with the wetlands at Ubirr in the background

Art depicting the rainbow serpent

Mamakala Wetlands

Magpie Goose

Pano pic at the top of Ubirr with Arnhem over the back

Today Sam and I went to the world heritage listed Kakadu National Park.  This is a place I have always wanted to go, however didn't think I would be seeing it till much later in life.  Surprises are always nice.  Originally we were supposed to go next weekend, however a cancellation of a course I was to attend allowed us to drive over today.
The drive from our place, to Ubirr, which was the furthermost we were to travel today took about 2hrs 30min, of which most was spent at 130-140km/hr.

Wikipedia is my friend for Ubirr.
Ubirr is located in the East Alligator region of Kakadu National Park in the Northern Territory of Australia, and is famous for its rock art. It consists of a group of rock outcrops on the edge of the Nadab floodplain where there are several natural shelters that have a collection of Aboriginal rock paintings, some of which are many thousands of years old. The art depicts certain 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.
From the top of Ubirr rock there is a panoramic view of the floodplains and escarpments that is especially beautiful at sunset.
The rock faces at Ubirr have been continuously painted and repainted since 40,000 BCE.^[1] Most paintings there were created about 2000 years ago. Some have been repainted right up to modern times. There are three main galleries of art accessible to visitors. National Park rangers, many of them Indigenous, give talks at all of these sites.

All of the above was true, but cannot vouch for the view at sunset. But I would love to head back and check it out!!  The walk to the top was pretty easy really, but wouldn't be fun on a wet day.  LOTS of water is also required.  It gets bloody hot out there!

From Ubirr, we drove about 3 mins to Cahill Crossing, which is one of the main gateways to Arnhem Land.  We wanted to see if we could see any crocs, which we do at all creeks..... usually with no luck, but this time, sitting about 10 m from the boat ramp was a smallish sized croc, just cooling in the water.  We watched him for about 15 mins but he wasn't in much of a moving mood, so we moved on.
Around this area, there are some amazing rock structures, which is even more amazing considering most of Kakadu is so flat!!

We headed into Jabiru next, to check out the hotel shaped like a croc, which was cool, but first went to the Ranger Mine just out of town.  Bloody big hole in the ground it is!!
Jabiru wasn't too exciting, except for the hotel.

On our way home we went to Mamakula Wetlands, which is full of birdies sitting and eating / drinking in the water.  A nice undercover platform made our lives easier with the heat, and some seating allowed us to look easily.  What was better was the lack of people around.  A mum and young son turned up as we were leaving.  Even Ubirr was really quiet.  Perfect!!

The drive back was interesting with heavy rain most of the way through.  I can't wait for the wet season!!

Next trip, Im hoping to get to Fogg Dam, which is just the other side of Humpty Doo.  Dont know whats there, but I want to check everything out!!!!