No Borders……………………….Only Horizons
Bruce’s Travel Blog
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Posted :1st April 2019
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KAKADU National
Park
I decided to go
into the Kakadu National Park for a couple of days to get closer to the Outback
and the Aboriginal culture. Renting a car from Darwin, I eventually found my
way out of the City travelling down the main Stuart Highway which connects
Darwin to Adelaide via Alice Springs. Before long, I turned off eastwards along
the Arnhem Highway which leads through Kakadu into Arnhem Land which is the
North-Easterly of 5 regions of Oz’s Northern Territory. Arnhem Land is twice
the size of Wales and has a population of around 16,000!. Pretty empty.
The road was fast
and straight and the speed limit crept up from 80kph at the outset to 130kph
once I was away from civilization. Luckily I had Tom to keep me to the speed
limits as I’ve heard that the Aussie police give no leeway or second-chances
with breaking the law! The traffic was very light, but it was necessary to look
out for the road-trains as their “wash” could be quite unsettling if coming
towards you and they were a challenge to overtake since they didn’t go slowly!
I got into the
Jabiru in time to settle down, have a nap and explore the town which is very
basic but has everything necessary for a place serving an area the size of
Somerset, Devon & Cornwall combined.
Is is crocodile country, it was appropriate that the Hotel is
Crocodile-shaped :
The next morning I
got up to see if I could go on a “Yellow River” crocodile tour, but after
driving an hour I discovered that the only one was late in the evening and it
would be dark driving back – something I’d been warned against due to wandering
water-buffalo. No worries, though, as I wanted to go to the Warradjan
Aboriginal Cultural Centre which was just down the road. It was superb but
forbad photography and I didn’t have a notebook, so slightly frustrating
because it is a wonderful exhibition. The various aboriginal tribes have been
in existence, it is estimated, for about 20,000 years. This has been dated back
to their rock art which shows various animals and events which can be
accurately dated. Because of the nature of the sandstone, there is virtually no
fossil or other evidence. When foreigners came to Australia they regarded the
Aboriginal population as savages and did not understand about their rich
cultural history. They either killed them with their germs, killed them with
guns, or tried to convert them to Christianity. The foreigners also drove the
Aboriginals off their ancestral lands. It was only from the 1970’s onwards that
the Aboriginal Land Rights were recognised and resettlement commenced with
strong government support. It is estimated that as a result, some 3 – 4
generations were excluded from the traditions of oral learning (there is no
“writing”), and of over 30 Aboriginal languages, only a handful remain and are
in use. I came away from the Centre with a sense of awe that a culture as
unique as theirs was almost obliterated, but is experience a resurgence which I
sense will last several generations. I wish I had been able to record the final
simple part of the exhibition which summarised the Aboriginal Culture as being
at one with and respecting the Earth, people, and animals. It seemed quite
Quaker to me.
Moving on, I
decided to go to Mirral Lookout which I’d seen
signposted as I drove down. As I turned off the road, I realised I really was in
the middle of nowhere and it suddenly struck me that in an emergency THIS was the reason I should have a mobile
‘phone. Then I laughed to myself when I realised that there almost certainly
was no mobile signal here!
I parked at the
Lookout’s car park and was reassured by the presence of another car as I
started up the pathway which was quite steep. After a few minutes I met a
Canadian couple on the way down and asked whether the view was worth the climb.
On receiving an emphatic “NO”, I joined them back down and followed them on to Nourlangie where there was some wonderful rock-art.
As I drove around
the park, I photographed the array of SIGNS
Ghe next morning I
was up early for the tour to Ubirr. We were collected
by our incredibly knowledgeable guide Trevor in his high truck and we went off.
The Canadian couple were amongst the other 5 couples on the tour. Luckily the
truck was high enough to wade through the waters when needed
The Aboriginal Art
at Ubirr was closed to the public, but Trevor had the
keys and led us around the rock-paintings
His knowledge was
encyclopaedic and we were very lucky to have such an expert guiding us and
explaining the nature and reasons for the various paintings.
We
then climbed up Ubirr Rock from which we got the most
wonderful 360 views from the escarpment all the way over the wetlands which –
in the wet season – turn into an inland sea.
After a cup of tea
– it felt a bit like being on Safari – we headed for the river in search of a
sight of a crocodile.
There was lots to see
as we went along, including a demonstration of how to make the ochre used for
the rock-paintings and some incredible rock formations - including the one
known as 2-faces.
But
NO signs of crocodiles. There was the wreck of a car which had been
incautiously driven across the ford when the water was too strong, and a
possible sightin. But only a “logodile” !
At last we came to
a beach where part of the film “Crocodile Dundee” had been filmed
This was the scene
where Linda Kozlowski has to be rescued from a Croc!
That
was the high point, and we headed back to the hotel. I slept most of the way
(despite the noise of the truck), but when we got back to the hotel I just had
to have one croc-photo (in reception!)
After a brief rest
I drove off bacl to Darwin. The countryside was
varied but consistently beautiful..
And a lot of the
road was straight, straight.
I was knackered
from the day, so had to have a nap after an hour.
Click HERE
to see all my photos of Kakadu
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Comments ? send them to bruce@travellerbruce.blog
Copyright © BruceJJCadbury
2019
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