Kakadu National Park – NT

We spent the last 2 days on a tour of the World Heritage listed Kakadu National Park about 150km west of Darwin, in the Northern Territory. with more that 22.000 Km sq is one one the biggest National Parks in Australia. This national Park belongs to an aborigen community where they take care of the land, the ancient rock paintings and also they perform their rituals..despite this we havent seen any aborigen community yet..

Español: Nos fuimos de tour al Parque nacional Kakadu declarado Patrimonio de la Humanidad por la Unesco.. tiene mas de 22.000Kms cuadrados y es uno de los Parque Nacionales mas grandes de Australia … este Parque nacional pertenece a una comunidad aborigen , ellos cuidan la tierra , y las pinturas prehistoricas en la rocas asi como realizan sus rituales.. todavia no hemos tenido la suerte de estar en con aborigenes ..

Here’s the tour group as we entered the park:
From left to right: James, Miho (Japan), Paolo (Italy), Peter (the guide, from Australia), Daniel (just under Peter’s armpit!!! Austria), Quene, Paolo (Italy, Simone (Italy).
Esp: Este es el grupo en la entrada del parque.

Enter at your own risk .oooops!!!!

We had a great time, we rode up the Crocodile River, aptly named! Before setting boarding we got to handle Ollie the Olive Python, one of the local inhabitants of Kakadu!
Esp: Fue muy excitante estar con los cocodrilos..pero antes estuvimos haciendo carantoñas a Ollie la Piton, una de las locales de Kakadu..Se me nota un poco tensa en la foto..mmmm!! Saca la foto, saca la foto rápido…!! jejeje

We got to see quite a few crocs, and feed them, I even petted one (with a 2 metre pole 😉 ) closest I’ll be getting to a croc I can tell you!
Esp: Fuimos a ver cocodrilos y les dieron de comer carne de bufalo… cuando estas cerca de un bicho de estos las pulsaciones se aceleran que no veas..!

Here’s Fido as the locals call him, a big croc at over 3metres long, but longer ones exist such as Hannibal who’s 5metres long but was out when we popped by!
Esp: Este es Fido como le llaman por aqui .. un cocodrilo de 3 m largo.. con este tamaño llegan a comerse bufalos enteros no solo trocitos .. el mas grande es hannibal lde 5 metros pero no estaba cerca ese dia.. menos mal!

And another ‘smaller’ croc, easier for them to jump up like that as they don’t weigh as much as big ole Fido!
Esp: Este era mas pequeño pero a la vez mas agil y rapido y saltaba mas … no me gustaba la manera que nos estaba mirando..

Kakadu is famous for its local Aboriginal Artsites, Aboriginal people used many of the rocks as canvases for paintings of stories of the Dreaming, their local beliefs in how the earth was formed by creatures and spirits. Some of the paintings date as far back as 20,000 years and some are much more recent, this culture of rock painting is the longest running uninterupted art form. These paintings are from the Nourlangie Rock Artsite:
Left to right: Mimi Spirits, Namondjok and Namarrgon the Lightning Man:
Esp: Kakadu es famoso por sus pinturas aborigenes y yacimientos , Aborigenes utilizaban las rocas para contar historias del ” The dreaming ” , como la tierra se formo por criaturas y espiritus.. Algunas de estas pinturas son de mas de 20.000 años ..este tipo de pintura en la roca y en general la cultura aborigen es la cultura mas antigua conocida y la unica que todavia existe ( o por lo menos lo intenta) . Estas pinturas son de el yacimiento de Nourlangie Rock . Pone los pelos de punta estar enfrente de estas pinturas..
De Izq a derecha : Espiritus Mimi ( personalmente parecen extraterrestres) , Namondjok and Namarrgon , the Lightning Man( la criatura que creaba los rayos) :

One of the many waterfalls and rock pools where we stopped off to cool down after a long hike through the heat of the day!
Esp: Una de lasa cascadas y lagos que nos ibamos encontrando despues de hacer senderismo.

The guys at camp, we had a barbecue of buffalo sausages and kangaroo meat, which tastes delicious!
Esp: El grupo en el campamento , hicimos una Barbacoa con salchichas de carne de bufalo y si al final probamos carne de canguro..daba pena pero estaba riquisima..!!

Even the Dingos got a whiff of the meat and entered the tent after we had gone to bed. Quene was the first to hear them scratching and whining inside the tent! We could’nt sleep for the rest of the night! The noise of the jungle too was enough to keep you awake all night! Here’s a couple of the shy doggies!!!
Esp: Dingos que estaban en el area tambien probaron los restos de la carne cuando estabamos durmiendo entraron en la tienda de campaña.. dormiamos en otra tienda dentro de una mas grande y cuando les oimos entrar y andar entre las tiendas ya no pudimos dormir …no sabiamos hasta que punto eran inofensivos o no… yo a uno le oi olernos muy cerquita al dia siguiente vimos su firma en la tienda …la marca de las patas … Pero si solo son perritos timidos … !!

A termite mound, the whole park is dotted with these giant termite nests are made from celulosa, saliba and termits’ poo and sand is rock solid! Apparently they grow 1metre every 10 years, so this one’s about 60 years old and still growing!
Esp: Al laado del coche se puede ver donde habitan las nidos termitas .. tiene alrededor de 6 m.. y estan echos de celulosa , saliba y caquita de termita y tierra … pero es tan duro como una roca ..esto solo es la punta del iceberg porque es mas mucho mas grande bajo tierra ..crece 1 metro cada 10 años .. este tiene alrededor de 60 y todavia esta creciendo.. impresionante!

The infamous Cane Toad, is considered a major pestin Australia after de rabbits , it was introduced from South America in order to stop the spread of the cane beatle, however as it had no natural predator here in Australia, and it being poisonous to pretty much any animal that tries to eat it, it has ended up killing huge numbers of local wildlife from crocodiles to eagles, the government is still trying to figure a way to stop the spread of this animal in the wild.
Esp : Este bicho es el Cane Toad y esta considerado como la mayor peste de Australia despues de los conejos .. alguien muy listo los trajo de sudamerica para matar a un escarabajo ..no solo no servia para nada , encima esta rana no tiene depredadores y ademas es venenosa incluidos los huevos asi que todo animal ( cocodrilos , alguilas , peces ) que intente comerselo ..muere al instante..el gobierno todavia no sabe como deshacerse de ella..es bastante serio..

Another waterfall, check out that green grass, almost beats ‘the green green grass of home’!!!!
Esp: Otra cascada … nunca habiamos visto un verde tan brillante !

Ever heard of Barramundi? A giant freshwater fish native to Australia, here we got to feed them, you should have seen my face 2 seconds after that pic was taken, the speed and splash they make as they grab that sardine from your hand is scary!
Esp : Alguien ha oido de barramundi ? un pez gigante de agua dulce nativo de Australia… James dandoles de comer sardinas frescas…la verdad es que hay que tener valor no sabes si te van a comer la mano ..todos los del grupo sufrimos las experiencia .

Hope you enjoy the trip to Kakadu, we certainly did!
Bueno espero que os haya gustado tanto como a nosotros ..hasta la siguiente !!!
James & Quene!

7 Responses to “Kakadu National Park – NT”
  1. Mairead Fagan 26 January 2006 at 2:01 pm #

    Whoa that toad looks pretty scary, kinda like it’s been on the Shannon boat cruise for 4 days 🙂

  2. Quene & James 28 January 2006 at 10:54 am #

    Hi Mairead and all ,
    Are you going to the Shannon Cruise this year?? we have received Al’s mail ..the list of people is growing and growing every year … well I guess we will miss this years one … but the 2007 one we will go for sure..
    Just came back from another National Park Lichfield NP ..we rent a car and visit the area.. the place is amaizing …
    is anyone saw the film Wolf Creek ..??. we think was in this area were all these people dissapeared …
    Walking on the bushes we saw the biggest spider ever , was like my palm…and little black liches (f***ers).. were trying to suck our blood ..from nowhere they jumped on us .. was the ultimate adventure for half and hour ..saw little shy wallabies … but I am afraid after the spiders we are not very Indiana Jones type.. ( jumping and moving our arms like mad trying to get rid off the spider’s webs we were finding all the way..Sure the Wallabies were having a good time watching us!! :)..)
    Anyway..we safe back to Darwin and we will flight tomorrow to Alice Springs and were the big Red Rock is waiting for us .. Uluru.. Let’s Rock~!!!!

    Ya estamos de vuelta , alquilamos un coche y fuimos a Lichfield National Park , donde hemos visto timidos wallabies , arañas como la palma de mi mano y ..sanguijuelas?? que no se de donde saltaban a las piernas y era muy dificil quitrarlas…despues de el encuentro con las super arañas ..no pareciamos los tipicos Indiana Jones … ibamos saltando y moviendo las manos como locos para ir quitandonos las telas de araña.. todo un espectaculos para los Wallabies ( primos de los canguros)
    Mañana volamos a Alice Springs y en un par de dia veremos Uluru , la gran roca roja..

  3. Richie 29 January 2006 at 12:41 am #

    Hey guys, just a word of warning. Alice Springs can be a dodgy place. Just keep an good eye on your bits an pieces. Mate of mine had her rucksack nicked out of her hostel dorm while she was sleeping in the bed beside it.

  4. calenco 29 January 2006 at 1:21 am #

    Estoy sin… palabras !!!

    O-O

    *

  5. mel 30 January 2006 at 4:07 am #

    glad all is well. pics look really good are you goin to perth haVE a few mates if u need somewhere to stay
    well let me know wat the red centre looks like,,
    went to see red stripes kings of leon and frans fe big day out amazing
    red stripes werent great
    got to run talk soon

  6. James & Quene 30 January 2006 at 8:50 am #

    Howdy all!

    Arrived in Alice Springs yesterday, it’s bloody HOT!!!!!
    Went to see some baby kangaroos at a kangaroo rescue centre, you even get to hold them, they’re sooo cute (got some cool pics for the next post)!

    We’re off to the Red Centre day after tomorrow on a 3 day tour taking in Uluru (that’s Ayer’s Rock in local Aboriginal lingo), Kings Canyon and Kata Tjuta, another clump of impressive rocks close to Uluru, can’t wait!

    Lots of Aborigines living in and around Alice, today we were at an Art centre and outside under a palm tree was this aboriginal woman painting a canvas! Amazing in this heat too! About 40’C today…

    Richie, tell your friend it’s always good to carry small lock and chain just in case someone does try to nick your stuff!

    Mel, glad you liked the Big Day Out, would have been great to be there too… Unfortunately not heading to Perth, we fly out to Cairns after our trip to Uluru.

    Well take it easy and keep posting!
    James & Quene

  7. mel 31 January 2006 at 8:05 am #

    im mad red stripes !!!!!!!!!!!

  8. the bleeding georgeous girl 31 January 2006 at 10:35 am #

    Siguen siendo impresionantes las fotos y porque ademas sugieren que lo estais pasando en grande. Besos de los san fernandinos

  9. the bleeding georgeous girl 31 January 2006 at 10:46 am #

    Una de las teorias de control social es la de degradar a los grupos que puedieran tener derechos para que no incordien. Se les facilita alcohol o droga, primero en canutos y luego en snifado o picotazos , para que se sientan “felices” y agradecidos a los que sutilmente les machacan. No se si tendran por ahi derecho a voto esos infelices , pero en España , si lo tienen. y encima les votan. Cosas de la vida . !!Munnndo! que diria Forges
    Besos de Agus

  10. Quene & James 31 January 2006 at 12:18 pm #

    Ayer en el museo de Alice Springs leimos que los aborigenes fueron ciudadanos australianos por primera vez en 1967, Albert Namatjira un artista aborigen que pintaba paisajes en acuarela fue el primero .. esta enterrado en Alice Springs , uno de los privilegios que obtuvo como Australiano ademas de viajar a otros estados australianos ,fue comprar alcohol.. termino pasando alcohol para su comunidad hasta que una de las veces un grupo borracho mato a una niña… al poco tiempo Albert murio, su corazon se paro..
    Alice Springs esta lleno de tiendas con arte aborigen , canvas de hasta 55.000$ , me pregunto quien se quedara con todo ese dinero..
    hay aborigenes vendiendo su arte por la calle , pero los precios son alrededor de los 50$ a veces mas barato , he comprado 2 canvas de 15$ cada uno pero son pequeños.
    Mañana vamos a hacer un tour a Kings Canyon, Uluru , teniamos mas fotos interesantes que enseñaros de aqui pero este cibercafe no se puede subir fotos… kk

    Hi All,
    We go tomorrow to Uluru , Kings Canyon and all.. we have many photos to saw you but unfortunately this internet cafe can’t upload photos , I will try other one but is late 8:39 pm and this town is not very alive..
    So you will have to wait a few more days until we comeback from the tour .
    ahhh .. as I was explaining in spanish above , only in 1967 the aborigens gained the australian citizenship .. unbelievable!!! what they were before???

    Richie, what worries me is not my bags , watching Wolf Creek the other night the statistics show that 30.000 people dissapeard every year in Australia , 10% never seen again ..
    By the way we watched Munich tonight .. (There is nothing here to do , apart to go to the cinema , this place is tinier than I thought)
    Few more days and we start the Cairns – Sydney big trip
    See yous in few days .. with cool photographs
    Q&J

  11. Richie 31 January 2006 at 9:15 pm #

    As Homer Simpson once said “Statistics can be used to prove anything Kent, 12 out of 17 people know that.”

    Just keep an eye out for the lads with the cans of petrol round their necks and you’ll be fine :).

  12. aamel 5 February 2006 at 11:05 am #

    so where is it want to pictures of the rock…..
    call me if you get a chance……….

  13. James & Quene 15 February 2006 at 3:16 am #

    “That dingo stole my baby!”

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