Kakadu National Park

Wednesday 25 May: This is a two-day trip into Kakadu National Park, Crocodile Dundee country, with an overnight stay in the bush, camping under the stars, but first, once again, we make a stop at the Adelaide River. This time there is an enormous male 'Saltie' basking on a mud bank. Too lazy to jump for mere morsels he is aiming to herd one of the smaller females onto the bank to dehydrate her - easy meat. Magnificent brown Kites swoop down on the boat trying to steal scraps as we return to shore.
Once in the park our first stop is Nourlangie Rock, a sacred Aboriginal rock art site, with views over Arnhemland escarpment. Dinner is a Kangaroo stir-fry and entertainment is didgeridoo music by the camp fire. We erect mosquito-net dome tents which I share with the only girl in the party, Sharon from Banbury, Oxfordshire who now lives and works in Melbourne.
Thursday 26: Many of the four-wheel-drive tracks are still flooded from the 'wet' so today we visit three upland swimming holes with waterfalls, culminating at the spectacular Barramundi Gorge (Maguk) with superb views towards Arhemland from the upper swimming pools. The lower pool, at the bottom of the falls, was made famous in the movie Crocodile Dundee - the tree trunk is the site where he camps out with the female journalist. It was filmed in the dry season, so no waterfall. On the way back to Darwin we stop at a bar where the trained Water Buffalo that Dundee magically tamed in the movie is stuffed and mounted, nice touch.
Friday 27: Time to head homeward. I'm out of visa time and there are no freighter ships scheduled to call at Darwin, so I take a short flight back to Bali in Indonesia.
Pictures of Adelaide River and Kakadu National Park.