Let’s Go For A Swim

Five in the morning is a godawful time to leave the comfort of your bed and head for the shower, but we were going to be picked up at ten minutes past six, so we really had no choice. Although we were at the pickup spot in front of our hotel at 6.05, Adventure Tours picked us up at 6.45 (technical problems or something like that, be we were exited to go to Kakadu, so we didn’t really mind). Our driver, Shaun, drove us to the entrance of the park, where we were able to buy water and breakfast in the small shop situated on that site. For those who wanted a beer later that night, this was also the only opportunity to buy it. In Australia (or at least in the NT) it is against the law to sell alcohol before mid day, a bit of a problem for the beer lovers on our tour, since it was only around nine in the morning. Luckily the shopkeeper didn’t mind selling booze before twelve, as long as it was via the backside of the store. After the shopping, we gathered around at a table were everybody had to introduce him- or herself by calling out their name and home country. Our tour group consisted of two people from Switzerland, four from Ireland, three from England and four from Germany (don’t worry, we followed Fawlty’s advise and didn’t mention the war).

A two hour drive brought us to a small billabong (body of water, like a lake) where we had a cruise in a small barge over said billabong. The weather was lovely and we saw some lazy crocodiles enjoying the shade under the Mangroves. For lunch we made fresh sandwiches after which we drove to the campsite to dump our backpacks and go for a swim. We didn’t feel like swimming, but we enjoyed some free time in front of a huge fan. Later in the afternoon we visited Ubirr. Ubirr rock is famous for its Aboriginal rock art and its magnificent views from the top of the rock itself. As far as rock paintings go, these ones were indeed pretty good (though I’m no expert in this art form of course). The views we saw from the top were nothing short of spectacular. Just sitting there absorbing the peace, quiet and the nature around us was extremely relaxing.

After we got back to the campsite from Ubirr, there was another opportunity to swim, which we again skipped. That evening we had pasta for dinner and after the food and dishes were gone, it was time for bed. Try to imagine a nice comfortable long bed with white linen on it sitting in a dry and air conditioned private room complete with minibar and television. Have that image? Our accommodation was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike that. We did have a private “room” (a cabin made out of metal tubes and mosquito net) and we did have a bed (two wooden boards, raised from the ground) but that is where the resemblance stops. On top of the wooden boards lay a plastic mattress and given that the humidity and temperature in Kakadu that time of year are both horribly high, the whole sleeping experience wasn’t that good. The sound of all insects chirping around us was comfortable and did help a little bit, but we didn’t sleep much that night.

The next morning we left early for a place where we would have the opportunity to swim, again. We drove for over two hours to a spot where we started a 20 minute walk over rocky terrain up hill. Our first stop was a cool little waterfall where the first people jumped in the water. For the people that wanted to climb a little higher, there was a possibility to climb up some really steep and sharp rocks where we, to our surprise, would be able to go for a swim! The climb up was difficult and tough, especially in the warm humid weather we were having, but well worth the effort as the panorama we saw there was excellent.

For the afternoon Shaun had a little surprise for us: He drove us to a place where we would be able to swim for a bit. We opted for the unscheduled hike up a hill, as we were getting a little tired of all the swimming stuff. Shaun was convinced that the walk up should take us no more than 10 minutes (he was able to do it in 5 minutes on his bare feet, or so he said). Either Shaun is in great shape, or we are in horrible shape, but after 45 minutes of climbing up loose rocks, we were a little over halfway up. We took some photo’s as evidence that we made it that far and decided to go down again.

As we drove back to Darwin that evening, we agreed that the tour was interesting and that Kakadu is a park you should visit at the very least once in your life, but also that we were happy to return to civilization and (maybe even more important) air conditioning.