Thursday, 15th July
Yesterday evening we undertook the sunset cruise on Yellow Waters. In some respects, it was marred a little by the large amount of smoke in the air, but the smoke did give us a brilliant red sunset! Although we travelled over the same waterways, the afternoon cruise was very different – there were more crocodiles for a start. We couldn’t understand why the guide bypassed a couple until he showed us his “surprise.” This crocodile was nearly 6 metres long, almost completely out of the water, had a large cat fish near its open jaws and was surrounded by egrets! The guide was quite happy to let the boat drift to within about 3 metres, but I must admit to feeling a little happier when we drifted further away. Being late in the day, there were plenty of crocodiles swimming, just starting the night’s hunting. There was also much more bird activity, with large numbers coming into roost. We were fortunate to have a juvenile jabiru fly across in front of us, as well as seeing a further four or five on the wetlands. We were lucky enough to also see some of the wild horses that inhabit the park, but the local barramundi weren’t as active as they were in the morning. The sunset was absolutely fabulous – such an intense red. Lots of photo opportunities here!
We wont be sorry to leave the Kakadu midges behind, they even manage to infiltrate our insect screens.
We left the dust (and insects) of Kakadu behind and turned south this morning for the drive to Katherine. Most of this was through the typical savannah, much of it burnt out too. The weather bureau issued a fire weather warning yesterday with an index of 74, but that doesn’t stop the powers that be from lighting their unattended fires.
The road from Cooinda to the Stuart Highway was similar to the road from Darwin to Jabiru, only much hillier and far more windy with the bitumen too narrow to have a fog line painted. It is absolutely crazy that such a road should have a speed limit of 130 km/h! The locals complain about having to drive so slowly – and they also complain about the high road toll!!!
With the Katherine Show being held tomorrow, the town is extremely busy with locals as well as tourists (this is the height of the tourist season). The caravan parks are full, with only unpowered sites available for blow-ins. Thank goodness we booked over a week ago. With a temperature of 30 degrees and 27% humidy, the weather is quite pleasant today. We are just having an overnight stop at the Low Level Caravan Park (the same as previously) before we commence the long drive down west.
Yesterday evening we undertook the sunset cruise on Yellow Waters. In some respects, it was marred a little by the large amount of smoke in the air, but the smoke did give us a brilliant red sunset! Although we travelled over the same waterways, the afternoon cruise was very different – there were more crocodiles for a start. We couldn’t understand why the guide bypassed a couple until he showed us his “surprise.” This crocodile was nearly 6 metres long, almost completely out of the water, had a large cat fish near its open jaws and was surrounded by egrets! The guide was quite happy to let the boat drift to within about 3 metres, but I must admit to feeling a little happier when we drifted further away. Being late in the day, there were plenty of crocodiles swimming, just starting the night’s hunting. There was also much more bird activity, with large numbers coming into roost. We were fortunate to have a juvenile jabiru fly across in front of us, as well as seeing a further four or five on the wetlands. We were lucky enough to also see some of the wild horses that inhabit the park, but the local barramundi weren’t as active as they were in the morning. The sunset was absolutely fabulous – such an intense red. Lots of photo opportunities here!
We wont be sorry to leave the Kakadu midges behind, they even manage to infiltrate our insect screens.
We left the dust (and insects) of Kakadu behind and turned south this morning for the drive to Katherine. Most of this was through the typical savannah, much of it burnt out too. The weather bureau issued a fire weather warning yesterday with an index of 74, but that doesn’t stop the powers that be from lighting their unattended fires.
The road from Cooinda to the Stuart Highway was similar to the road from Darwin to Jabiru, only much hillier and far more windy with the bitumen too narrow to have a fog line painted. It is absolutely crazy that such a road should have a speed limit of 130 km/h! The locals complain about having to drive so slowly – and they also complain about the high road toll!!!
With the Katherine Show being held tomorrow, the town is extremely busy with locals as well as tourists (this is the height of the tourist season). The caravan parks are full, with only unpowered sites available for blow-ins. Thank goodness we booked over a week ago. With a temperature of 30 degrees and 27% humidy, the weather is quite pleasant today. We are just having an overnight stop at the Low Level Caravan Park (the same as previously) before we commence the long drive down west.
No comments:
Post a Comment