From Annaburroo (Northern Territory)—Creepy critters in the night (Tuesday, 3 June, 2008: 11:45pm)

We continued our drive north, past the unimpressive mining town of Jabiru, and didn’t stop until we reached the end of the road heading northeast, just off the border between Kakadu and Arnhem Land. The border is marked by the East Alligator River and separates the park from Aboriginal land, which can not be entered without a permit. Along the very dark night drive we passed two dingoes, a blue-winged kookaburra eating a baby snake while perched on a road sign, and spotted what looked to be a crocodile on the roadside (the East Alligator River is one of the places in Kakadu where crocs are most likely to be found). After all this craziness we finally made it to the camping grounds at Merl. To make a strange night much more eerie, this warm, muggy campsite was swarming with mosquitoes! It was like some sort of horror movie: we had to wear long sleeves (despite the heat) and couldn’t go outside or do anything without letting bunches into the van—we could see them pressing up against the screens, trying to get in. Even inside the van, it took us a while to swat and kill the majority of them before we felt comfortable to go to bed. To top off the spookiness, we could hear packs of dingoes howling and groups of bats chattering, which sounded like strange creatures giggling in the night.

In the morning the mosquitoes were still hounding us, but we managed to get out for a run to try to escape them. We ran through the Manngarre Walk, which twisted through rainforest close to the river and led to an Aboriginal women’s site. According to tradition, only women were allowed to visit it. There was even an alterative path for male visitors to bypass the sacred site, but it was poorly marked and Seth ended up accidentally stopping through it. The women’s spot consisted of a special variety of tree close to the river’s edge that represented an old woman sitting.

The rest of the run included Cahills Crossing (the flooded road that crosses the river to Arnhem Land), a few tracks near the crocodile infested river (we made a few brief stops to try to spot one or two sun bathing but no ‘luck’), and some long twisting path through tall grasses that ended up back at the road.

The rest of the morning was spent washing up and warming leftovers, then we left the mosquito-infested camp for the Border Store (where I tried calling home again, but with no connection), then had a lentil lunch at Ubirr. This place is renowned for its plethora of aboriginal rock art. The art, some thousands of years old, was totally amazing and told some really fantastic stories and histories. They were painted on rocky outcrops and the path led to a surprise view of the entire park—I couldn’t believe the breathtaking scenery. We took our time exploring the rocks along the overlook and taking in the panoramic vistas. This definitely completed my desire for a holiday of stereotypical Australian sites. *After spending so much time in beautiful, lush temperate rainforests, woodlands, mountains, and violent beaches, I really wanted to pick a final trip that would involve country that had the qualities of what people think Australia looks like*

After soaking in Ubirr, we drove back down to Jabiru (only to top up on petrol), and stopped in the nearby main visitor centre, now that we were leaving the park, of course. We watched the end of a film on Kakadu and loaded up on surprisingly cute gifts for young relatives, and carried on westward (via the Arnhem Highway) to the Mamukala Wetlands. Since it was getting late, we decided not to do the 3km walk and just hung out at the hide overlooking the wetlands to try to spot a few birds. We not only saw a few new ones, but as we were leaving came across a pack of black feral pigs. They were huge and totally disgusting!

As we were leaving the wetlands at late dusk I tried practicing driving the van (stick-shift), and the road took us right down the middle of the wetlands. Within 10 minutes we passed a dingo and two snakes (green pythons?) in the road! I was totally freaked out and didn’t want to hit any nocturnal animals just waking up, so Seth took over the wheel and drove us out of Kakadu—west towards Darwin. We stopped at a roadhouse (a combined petrol station/restaurant/pub/caravan park) at Annaburoo, not too far outside Kakadu. As I was hooking up the camper to a hose for water, I noticed one of the hoses on the ground was moving on its own, and discovered it was a yellow and orange striped snake! I don’t know if it was a harmless python, but it is always best to assume that any unidentified Aussie snake is extremely deadly (because most of the snakes here seem to be). Oi! After dinner we went for showers, but since all the showers we have come across so far in the NT are open-air structures (as are many other buildings), animals of all types are free to come and go. The toilets and showers had rather cute little frogs in them, and Seth’s shower included a visit from a huntsman spider (the kind from Arachnophobia)—I am sure glad they were not snakes or crocs :P

I can’t believe how crazy the Northern Territory has been. It seems so wild and even in our short time we have seen snakes, dingoes, feral pigs, brumbies (wild horses), wallaroos, amphibians and reptiles of all sorts, and giant bats—I am sure we have passed by crocs, but just have not come face-to-face with them! We have also been swarmed by mosquitoes, even during The Dry (season), as well as encountered baby humans crying their guts out at campsites, hah! As a trade-off to the wildness, we have had the opportunity to observe countless birds, many of which do not occur in the southeast. I think I will miss this crazy place, but for now it seems a little spooky, particularly at night...