Kakadu
I finished all my data collection on time, accomplishing what
I set out to do over eight weeks in Australia.
The plan with my remaining days was to start on some data
analysis.
I wasn’t planning on working the whole
time; I still wanted to go out a bit to see some of the NT before heading home.
The best-laid plans of mice and men
go aft awry.
First the pump that feeds the station water went out.
Okay, we’ll be stinky for a bit, no worries.
Then the internet goes south.
No distractions, time to get to work.
Bring on a power-outage.
Err, I can always read by candlelight.
And the straw that broke the camel’s back?
It was a
long-weekend in the NT so we’d probably need to wait 2-3 days to get everything
back and running (If you’re wondering what the holiday was…’picnic day’...don't ask, who knows).
The universe was
clearly pointing me away from the office for my last few days in
Australia.
A colleague and I took this chance to go camping for a few days
in a local national park, Kakadu.
Thanks Universe, good on ya’.
I showed you some pictures earlier from Litchfield Park, which is
nice. But most of it can be driven through in a day.
Comparatively, Litchfield
is a blip, Kakadu is huge!
There are aboriginal rock drawings that were drawn around 1,000
years ago when Europeans were, literally, still living in the dark age.
 |
| gunbim, Aboriginal word for rock art |
Drawings were all over certain sites in Kakadu. My favorite (and coincidentally the oddest by far) was of Nabulwinjbulwinj
(Nar-bull-win-bull-win) who is a dangerous spirit who eats women after
throwing yams at them.
 |
| Nabulwinjbulwinj |
Besides beautiful scenery, rock art, and animals. We were
also on the hunt for some good swimming holes/waterfalls.
Jim jim falls did not disappoint for swimming (although the
water flow this time of year wasn’t too substantial). Tucked deep into a canyon
with walls hundreds of feet tall the cool waters were a breath of fresh air in
the hot outback.
 |
| Jim jim falls, Kakadu, NT |
Gunlam falls was just as impressive, the view from up top
was, err, a little nerve-racking.
 |
| Gunlam falls, Kakadu, NT |
From up on high the view of Kakadu is enough to take
your breath away.
 |
| Bury my heart in the NT |
The scenery was incredible.
The animals?
Hands down one of the best spots I’ve been the whole trip!
 |
| Freshwater whipray (Himantura dalyensis) |
Yes, you’re seeing that correctly. Australia has stingrays
in the freshwater and much like the park they inhabit, these bad boys are
humongous. At about 1m (3.3ft) across, there isn’t a lot known about them. I
did find out that they eat fish and shrimps and much them down with over 40
rows of tiny teeth.
 |
| Red-collared lorikeet (Trichoglossus rubritorquis) |
Aside from being beautiful, some of these birds were also
acting a little weird. Not flying very well, and about half of them seemed to
barely be holding onto their perches. I thought maybe there was some kind of
disease in the population, but after a good ol’ google search it turns out this
‘drunken’ behavior is observed in wild populations every year in the dry
season. No one really knows why, but I’m guessing they eat some type of
over-ripe fruit that has started to turn boozey.
Drunken birds.
Only in the NT.
There were cool birds all over the place in Kakadu. Not all of them were hammered though, and most were concentrated around the limited left-over water and were easy to get some
good pics.
There were stoic birds…
 |
| Channel –billed cuckoo (Scythrops novaehollandiae) |
Beautiful birds…
 |
| Pied Imperial Pigeon (Ducula bicolor) |
Goofy birds…
 |
| Partridge pigeon (Geophaps smithii) |
What can only be described as menacingly ugly birds…
 |
| Bar shouldered dove (Geopelia humeralis) |
And pretty much the most adorable birds ever!
 |
| Radjah shelduck (Tadorna radjah) |
I can’t pretend that all we saw were birds and water holes
though, the herps were out in full force too.
 |
| Yellow-faced turtle (Emydura tanybaraga) |
Not to mention a wonderfully cute pair of goannas, looking
out over their swimming hole.
 |
| Martens’ water monitor (Varanus mertensi) |
Some were, ummm, a little less inviting into their swimming
waters.
 |
| Freshwater crocodile (Crocodylus johnsoni) |
We even had the chance to see some new snake species while
out and about at night.
 |
| Black-headed python (Aspidites melanocephalus) |
 |
| Macleay’s water snake (Pseudoferania polylepis) |
And the biggie.
One of the animals I had to see in Australia.
Completing my trifecta, and the perfect punctuation to the last eight
weeks (not to mention one of the coolest snakes ever)…
 |
| Death adder (Acanthophis antarcticus) |
These snakes will lay buried in leaves, sitting for days and
waiting for food to scurry by. They use their stubby little, grub-shaped tail
to lure in prey. They possess the longest fangs of any Australian snake
and are also the fastest strik. Unlike most of the other Australian nasties,
they’re pretty mellow (and photogenic) and a force to be respected.
This has been an amazing experience and the last eight weeks
have, mostly, flown by. I can’t stress enough how excited I am to go home
though.
I’ve been away from my girls for waaaay too long and I’m bursting with
joy at the thought of seeing them soon. After, ugh, ~26hrs of travel.
So close.
