2001 was on a short organised tour in between the first two tests which were in Brisbane and Melbourne. Before i arrived i did question my choice of mid test packages available when i realised the distances i would be travelling, but i did not regret it at all when i got here. Kakadu is one of those places where you question the significance of your existence! Both in terms of the scale and beauty of the natural wonders you see, but also the brevity of the current "sophisticated" era in which we live and how little we seem to have progressed from our predecessors. There have obviously been some challenging times between the aboriginal inhabitants and those that would later decide they would take control and colonise, but that balance of power/control/respect seems to have improved, even in the time since i was last here.
My plan this time was to fly Perth to Darwin, have two nights there and then pick up a car spending two nights in Katherine and two nights in Kakadu. That would imvolve around a three hour drive between each of the 3 centres, returning to Darwin for a flight to Brisbane. I was therefore happy that the car i was offered was new, with excellent aircon and android auto giving me ability to use google maps easily. Whilst all the roads have been major routes and in good condition, this is the beginning of the wet season so the roads are fairly quiet and perhaps not surprisingly mobile reception not great for long periods. How things have changed since last visit - now its maps downloaded on my phone before the trip, that alongside downloaded podcasts kept me company the whole time.
Darwin was quite quiet - there was a large cruise ship that had docked but even they took things slowly in the heat and humidity. You could see some of the impact of recent cyclone with a number of large trees uprooted. Speaking to a couple of uber drivers, Darwin is a lot more robust fhan in the past in being able to cope with extreme weather and the information about when and where if will hit is a lot more advanced. So it just a question of being prepared to be without electricity for a few days if you are one of the unlucky ones.
The main aspects of the rest of the trip were to be on boats. The previous time i was here was dry season and i wanted to come back in wet season where the views would be completely different. I have come quite early in the wet season, and river levels will increase significantly over next few months but already previous dry creeks and gorges are coming to life. Given how heavy the thunderstorm was on my first night in Katherine - you can imagine how quickly the scenery can change.
In Katherine i booked a trip in the Nitmiluk National park - which takes you down some amazing gorges. In total i think there are 17, which gradually become deeper and open for more activities as the wet season develops. We went down fhe first two, with the second due to open for canoeing and swimming in a few weeks. There is just the small job of checking that the saltwater crocodiles have decided to go further towards the coast before opening up. Even with the warnings (which are everywhere) there seems to be a small number of fatalities each year- mainly peope who think they will see or hear a croc coming. They soon find out they wont.
There was only three tourists on a boat which can hold 60, so we certainly got a more personal guided tour - from Jamie who was an excellent and knowledgble guide.
Next to Kakadu including a Yellow Water billabong cruise. The area around here is stunning with many sites hosting historic artwork. As its wet season some areas are closed or have restricted hours but the main purpose of coming was seeing the water networks emerging. Everywhere you drive there are reminders of where water levels will reach at the peak during jan to mar.
The cruise was two hours and took in a whole range of birdlife, vegetation and the prospect of crocs. During the first half, there were potential sightings (combination of actual and imagined i suspect) but then the weather turned with rain and eventually lightning. This reduced the temperature and not sure whether it was this or just slight change of location but suddenly real croc sightings occured. They appeared either bored or unamused with boat but were quite happy for boat to come close making photos easy. They are stunning animals and even appearing docile on ths riverbank you can see their immense power.
Overall really enjoyable trip - lucky to have the most experienced guide (Mandy) who had been working for 37 years and was able to share insights into her parents/grandparents life in what were very differents. I enjoyed cruise so much i booked again for the second evening, this time with Adam. Amazing how different it can be as scenery and wildlife adapt to slightly different weather conditions compared to day before. Kakadu seems to be a place that you really need to return to a few times - at different times of the year - as its a constantly changing environment.
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