8882kms, 34 degrees C
The World Heritage Listed Kakadu National Park will be our home for over a week and our first taste was spectacular Gunlom in the South. We found out about this in Jan, at lunch with Geoff and Leanne – they had other friends who had visited Gunlom last year. Thanks for the tip guys.
We came to Kakadu in 1996 with Jon and Verity – we kept to the more heavily trafficked tourist areas along the Arnhem Highway to Jabiru. We are lucky enough this time to have more flexibility to do some of the other sites.
We came to Kakadu in 1996 with Jon and Verity – we kept to the more heavily trafficked tourist areas along the Arnhem Highway to Jabiru. We are lucky enough this time to have more flexibility to do some of the other sites.
Kakadu is changing. Climate change is apparent – new fish appear in places they have never been seen before. Goannas are dying as they live off frogs and small reptiles and the cane toad venom is wiping them out. We saw one picture of a death adder lying by a cane toad – each had been killed by the others venom. But Kakadu is also changing in terms of marketing. We read an article on “Kaka-dont” in the national press recently, bagging the National Park, claiming there are better places to visit. We saw signs of a response – great camp sites, new identity and clever use of indigenous land owners. Bessie, our Ranger, comes from the Jawoyn people – she taught us lots about living on the land, its fauna and flora.
One of the joys of a trip like this was always going to be the people you meet – the good, bad and the downright bonkers. And in terms of the latter, we have seen several cyclists – one on the dirt road to Gunlom. He was over 80km from the nearest “town”, Pine Creek. We saw others negotiating dusty, rough corrugate
d roads between Hells Gate and Borroloola – that country was awful in a 4.2l turbo diesel Toyota Landcruiser, on 4 huge wheels, let alone on a bike. Stuart is into challenging bike rides, but this is a bit "out there".
d roads between Hells Gate and Borroloola – that country was awful in a 4.2l turbo diesel Toyota Landcruiser, on 4 huge wheels, let alone on a bike. Stuart is into challenging bike rides, but this is a bit "out there".The plunge pool at Gunlom is amazing – full of turtles, catfish, black bream and probably “freshies”. The South Alligator River (crazy name, there are no alligators in Australia) runs over 1km away from the pool – in the wet season it breaks its banks and floods the campsite, allowing “salties” to move into the plunge pool.
The first job for the rangers in preparing for the dry (tourist) 
season is to spend a couple of weeks fishing out the salties from the plunge pool. We saw a photo of one at least 4m long being moved back to the river. I hope they caught them all!!
season is to spend a couple of weeks fishing out the salties from the plunge pool. We saw a photo of one at least 4m long being moved back to the river. I hope they caught them all!!The video shows Stuart in the plunge pool, then the view from the top, where we could see burning off to the North – all sections are systematically burnt annually in the cooler dry months. Finally, a mob of black cockatoos, demolishing a gum tree.
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