Australia 2014: Garnamarr to Cooinda

Day 31 – August 19, 2014 – Garnamarr to Cooinda - distance travelled: 254 kms - 33^oC high; 16^oC low. Today we visited two sites in Kakadu which display a lot of ancient Aboriginal rock art, Nourlangie Rock (Burrunggui/ Anbangbang) and Ubirr, stopping at the small town of Jabiru in between. Both sites are very accessible to tourists and large tour buses were parked in both parking lots with many people walking the trails to the various galleries. At Ubirr a scramble to a lookout rewarded us with fantastic views over the flood plains and Arnhem Land. After Ubirr we stopped at the Cahills Crossing of the East Alligator River which crossing leads into Arnhem Land and requires a permit as access to Arnhem Land, which is Aboriginal land, is restricted. We were there at high tide, when the ocean water is supposed to flow back over the concrete causeway bringing fish. Saltwater crocodiles come and feed on the fish. As the high tide was not very high, the water didn’t quite flow over the causeway resulting in limited crocodile action. We saw two, with a big one with a tracking device on its back at one point chasing another one down from the river bank into the water. When they want to move, they can move VERY fast. We ended back up at the same campground at Cooinda for the night. As it turned out, that campground had another, bigger pool as well and the kids saw in it that night. At one point they saw a dingo from the pool, walking around on the other side of the fence.