August 3rd, Australia Day 163

Leaving our permanent campsite that morning, we began our excursion into the Kakadu National Park. This famous area is named after the local aborigine tribe, but corrupted somewhat. The local people call themselves the Gagadju (GAH-gah-joo), which became corrupted into Kakadu. I'll mention here that informal terms exist for aborigine and white people, being "blackfella" and "whitefella" respectively.

We drove onto the famous Twin Falls in Kakadu in a journey that included fording a river using a submerged path; it is fortunate that we had a good 4WD. At the end of our drive we took a boat ride through the Twin Falls Gorge. The water was incredibly clear and teeming with fish. After the boat ride we hiked over rocks and were greeted by a nice sandy beach at the foot of the stunning Twin Falls. I took a photo and imagined that the falls must be spectacular under the light of a full moon. Although there was warning about crocs, none could make it over the rocks we traversed. We stayed there for a while and then made our way to the world famous Jim Jim (jym jym) Falls.

The falls were not flowing at the time so that you could see the wall behind it. During the wet season, the roar of the falls can be heard for many kilometers. There were few pools where you could go swimming but I decided against it this time. To get out of the blazing sun, I went to the next plunge pool which was located in the shadow of the waterfall's walls. I had a pleasant snooze there before rejoining the group.

Our campsite that night was located in a very nice "resort". There was pool complete with a restaurant-bar and I took advantage of this to get some fries and a coke. Before you ask, I actually ate very healthily since we made our meals the entire tour using vegetables and good meats. Not too far away there was a hotel built in the shape of a crocodile but it is expensive I hear. I settled in at night knowing that by tomorrow night I would find myself once more in my favourite city in Australia, Darwin.

Photos now available at: http://australiaday163.blogspot.com/