Whos crazy idea was it to go hiking in 110 degree heat and 85% humidity? Oh that's right, it was my idea. I left Darwin early in the morning for a 3 day hiking tour to Kakadu, Litchfield and Mary River National Parks, all within a few hours drive of Darwin. Our first stop was at Kakadu where we did a hike through a place called Ubirr where the attraction is a large amount of rock art by aboriginals from as long as 20,000 years ago. Each of the sites we saw represented a story or a lesson of the aboriginals. The first large collection we came to was a murial of animals that showed what they ate. If a hunter was particularly proud of a catch he would sometimes paint it on the walls of the shelter. Most of the wall was covered with barramundi, and there were also a several turtles and wallaby. Another gallery told a story of a girl that didn't respect the traditional laws and ate barramundi when she wasn't supossed to. She was severly punished and a battle broke out, which killed many people. This story was told to young boys by their elders to remind them about the importance of following the traditional laws.

One of the drawings that shows that this art is thousands of years old is this one of a Thyacine. Today it is known as the Tasmanian Tiger and was a marsupial only found in Tasmania, but has been extinct there since the 1930s. They used to exist on the mainland but are thought to have been killed off when dingoes were introduced to Australia about 2000 years ago.

From Ubirr, we drove to Barramundi Gorge for a swim. On the way we saw signs for crocodiles and traps that have been set up to catch the crocodiles so they can be relocated. I was a little confused that we were on our way for a swim, but there were warning signs and traps all over. There were a few Germans on my trip that were asking our guide, Stuart, about a German girl that was taken by a crocodile a few years ago in Kakadu. I had not heard about it, but apparantly it was very big news in Germany and ever since, the German tourists always ask about it. The story Stuart told us made the tour guide seem completely negligent. It was the end of the dry season (when the crocs come out of their hibernation and need food), at night (they are night time hunters), and during a full moon (when they can see better). The group was drinking and the guide took them to go for a swim. He said it was safe to go swimming, so the whole group went in. A few of the group said they felt something brush up against them, and then one of the girls screamed and dissapeared. The next morning they harpooned the croc that killed the girl which was 4.6 meters long.

So, Stuart was telling us this story AS we were walking to the gorge for a swim, walking past warning signs and crocodile traps. When we got to the gorge, he told us that there are no saltwater crocodiles in the water. He said there was, however, one freshwater crocodile that lives there, but freshwater crocs don't attack people unless they feel threatened, whereas saltwater crocs, or salties will readily attack humans if they have the opportunity. So, given my aversion to deep water in the first place, and my doubts that anyone can REALLY know if a saltie is in the water, unless they drain the gorge, which I'm pretty sure they don't do, I chose not to swim.

Ironically, the only ones that did go swimming, were the Germans in the group.

The next morning we headed to a couple of waterfalls in Kakadu, Jim Jim Falls and Twin Falls. They are only accessible during the dry season on a 4WD track down which we drove through sand and water for about an hour, and then hiked to Jim Jim Falls. During the dry season, Jim Jim Falls is actually dry, so we just went to the gorge, and again, the Germans went for a swim. To get to Twin Falls, we had to take a boat down a river and then hike a short way to the falls. Stuart said they used to swim up the river to the hike, but then they started seeing crocs in the water so they started doing the boat ride instead. We had a special guest for our boat ride, Elsie, who is one of the traditional owners of Kakadu. She came around to visit the rangers and just hang out. We watched her kill a turtle so that she could gut it and cook it for herself and the rangers.

Our next destination on the way back to Darwin was the Mary River National Park, which has the largest concentration of crocodiles in the world. We went for a cruise on the river, where the first 5 minutes was a speech by our guide telling us not to hang our arms over the side of the boat, because a croc will jump out of the water if it has the opportunity. It won't attack the boat, because the boat is bigger than it is, but if you hang something over the edge, it can and will grab it. He said that just the day before, he had a German tourist that stood up and was leaning over as they got close to a croc and refused to sit down and keep his arms inside the boat. It seems that many Germans think they are invincible to crocodiles.

I learned from the Australia Zoo that a crocs striking distance is the length from the tip of its jaw to the base of its tail. If you are within this distance of a croc, it is not possible for a human to react quick enough to get out of the way if it strikes (unless, of course, you are Steve Irwin.) I kept all my limbs inside the boat. No problem, don't have to tell me twice.

The Mary River was very pretty, and aside from the crocs, seemed to be a very peaceful place. There were plenty of birds, some standing around drying their wings, big lilypads with pretty pink flowersalong the riverbank. The first croc we saw was a freshie, just sitting on the bank. We got really close to it with the boat, and it didn't pay any attention to us, so we continued hoping to find some salties. We cruised quietly along amonst the lilypads and all of a sudden this huge croc jumped out of the water, as if it was trying to imitate a dolphin. And just as fast as it leapt out of the water, it was gone, and the water was still again. We spotted it again with its whole body submerged and only the top of its head hiding under a lilypad. It stayed there for a while before it swam off, with most of its body still in the water. Our guide said he could tell by the size of its head that it was about 4 meters long. Yikes.

We saw many more crocs, both in the water and on land. This one was resting on the bank with its mouth open to cool off. As we approached it, it looked still as a statue, but as we crossed into its comfort zone, it jolted into the water like a lightening bolt. I got a good video of it with my camera, but can't upload it here, unfortunately. The cruise was very nice, not only because of the crocs, but the scenery was gorgeous.

Our last destination was Litchfield National Park where we spent time relaxing in the rock pools. It was a really hot and humid few days. I spent one last night in Darwin and flew to Broome, on the west coast of Australia. Broome is a nice little town and on monday I'll begin heading down the coast to Perth!