Bridget's MAF Journey: Kakadu

Kakadu National Park was first on our itinerary. It's huge, but a lot of it is only accessible by 4wd. Since we didn't have the budget for that (or the knowledge of how to drive one properly, or get ourselves out of trouble if we got stuck) it meant we were a bit limited in where we could go. Not to worry - there was plenty to see. Even if we hadn't quite anticipated just how far apart everything was...

For our first full day in the park, we started with a visit to the rock art site at Ubirr. We had booked a guided tour, but when the guide finally turned up (15 minutes late and speaking and acting like he was under the influence of something) we excused ourselves and explored on our own.

We learned that rock art had various uses. Some of the pictures are warnings to Aboriginal people about spirit forces in that area, or tell stories about how the land and features were created. Others are instructional, depicting the types of animals that are found in the area. I was interested to read that it was bad manners to touch up someone else's painting, but to create another painting over the top was perfectly acceptable. In some places there are multiple layers of painting.

Rock art in 'X-ray' styl

View from the Ubirr lookout

From Ubirr we picked up a few supplies in Jabiru, refuelled, and drove to Nawurlandja and did the lookout walk and the Anbangbang billabong walk.

Anbangbang billabong

Ibises at Anbangbang billabong

We had set aside the whole of the next day to do the 12 km Barrk walk at Nourlangie. The information boards on arrival said it shouldn't be called Nourlangie, because that refers to another place but ignorant white people keep calling it Nourlangie. It's a bit hard to not be another ignorant white person when it's written as Nourlangie on the maps and signs...