16 August - Yellow Waters Sunrise Cruise, Warradjan Aboriginal Cultural Centre, Mirral Lookout, Anbangbang Billabong and Nanguluwur Rock Art; Kakadu National Park

16 August 2016 – 182 785

Yellow Waters Sunrise Cruise, Warradjan Aboriginal Cultural Centre, Mirral Lookout, Anbangbang Billabong and Nanguluwur Rock Art; Kakadu National Park

This morning we woke early and headed to Yellow Waters for a Sunrise Cruise. https://parksaustralia.gov.au/kakadu/do/tours/yellow-water-cruises/ This was beautiful, both for scenery and wildlife.  This was a two-hour cruise and in addition to many many saltwater crocodiles (many females and one large male) we saw many different types of birds, a feral pig and an Indonesian water buffalo, as well as the various habitats that make up the South Alligator River and its floodplains.  This is difficult to adequately describe, like most spots in Kakadu there is just something grand and peaceful, timeless and special and humbling about it. We also were fortunate enough to see “Jesus bird” chicks that were about one week old – very cute! 

 

We discovered on the cruise that a buffet breakfast at Cooinda Lodge was included – so we had an unusually large and delicious morning tea, as by this time it was 9:30am and we had been up since 5:00.  http://www.kakadutourism.com/accommodation/cooinda-lodge/  

Next, we headed to Warradjan Aboriginal Cultural Centre to explore the displays there. http://www.kakadutourism.com/tours-activities/warradjan-cultural-centre/

Mirral Lookout was a solid walk uphill for 1km to reach a sheltered lookout that allowed us to look around through 360 degrees. https://parksaustralia.gov.au/kakadu/do/walks/mirrai-lookout-walk/ We then continued onto Anbangbang Billabong where we walked the 2.5km loop and again saw crocodiles.https://parksaustralia.gov.au/kakadu/do/walks/anbangbang-billabong-walk/  Last walk for the day was Nanguluwur Rock Art walk.  This was 1.7km walk each way along an old road and then a 200m climb up to the art area – the art was great!  This was an extremely hot walk.  To finish the day, we went into Jabiru and had a swim to cool ourselves down.  I think we were all exhausted, it had been a long and hot day – it was still 38 degrees at 5:45pm.