Part 2 of my trip to Darwin and the Northern Territory has taken a while because I've been focused on other projects and somehow my poor old blog gets pushed to the side, but better late than never, here is the second part of our adventures in the Top End of Australia.
In the last post I wrote about a wonderful time spent with the Darwin Quilters and our amazing visit to Katherine Gorge...
The next day we headed to Kakadu National Park, about a 2 hour drive away from Katherine.
As soon as we entered the national park the landscape changed and we were soon seeing giant termite mounds dotted through the countryside. We stopped for a closer look. Mr Daisy was fascinated but I was a tad nervous because I grew up in the 70's when there were movies like Killer Ants and I have an over-active imagination but there wasn't any termite activity that we could see. I guess they're all underground where its cooler.
The photos wth Mr Daisy give you a sense of how large mounds were.
Kakadu is enormous! It's described as larger than some European Countries. To give you an idea, from the entrance we still a 2 hour drive to reach the place that we were staying. It was a great chance to see the landscape change as we drove. It was a time of year when the custodians light fires to burn off the undergrowth. Its a management system that has been used for thousands of years in the area. At first it was quite disconcerting to see unattended areas on fire but we soon became used to it.
It was late afternoon by the time we arrived so we had had a dip in the pool underneath the palm trees. Trust me to not take a photo of the pool, but of the trees and clouds instead, but it gives you an idea of the lovely green oasis that it was.
A couple of heliconia flowers growing around the park where we stayed.
The next morning we were up early to go for a scenic flight.
Mr Daisy, the plane enthusiast, got to sit up front with the pilot.
I was happy a few seats back wearing my lucky heart glasses.
Up , up and away...
A scenic flight was the perfect way to help get a sense of the size of Kakadu, and an overall view of the different types of terrain. We flew over rocky plateaus, picturesque waterways, rivers that curve and snake their way across the landscape, all the while listening to the pilot tell stories of the land, how it has been shaped by time, and managed for thousands of years by the areas custodians.
Its always fascinating to see the world from the air. Taking it all in, knowing or learning what we are flying over but also simply enjoying the beauty of the colours and the abstract compositions created by the colours and shapes.
After lunch it was time to explore the area on the ground. We followed tracks through rocks, big open caves, saw lots of cave art, and ended up at a lookout.
The next day we visited another area wth a large rocky area to clamber up.
The ground was made of aggregate rock formed millions of years ago.
There were giant boulders.
the occasional flowering tree.
Beautiful wispy grass.
... and a spectacular view.
It wouldn't be a visit to Kakadu without seeing waterlilies and lotus flowers.
We stayed on a board walk for these photos as we'd heard lots of stories about how unsafe it was to go too close to the water because of crocodiles. These newspaper front pages are enough to make one want to play it safe.
Then it was time to drive back to Darwin, but that part of the trip deserves a post of its own. I'll be back soon with more!
*****
I can't end a blog post with scary pictures of giant crocodiles, so here are so photos of Waratah flowers.
Thank you, always, for following along, I hope all is well and happy and flowers are blooming where ever you are.
