Cooinda Lodge Kakadu, Northern Territory, Australia
The morning started off nice and cool, but it was already warming up considerably by the time we set off on the short walk down to the Yellow Water Billabong. A short walk on an elevated and well-protected walkway took us close to the water’s edge where it didn’t take long to spot our first crocodile! The walk was supposed to loop back to Cooinda Lodge, but has apparently been closed for the last 6 years, and so we wandered back the same way we’d come, mostly along the road.
We then piled into the car and drove for about 20 minutes to a dry, dusty and desolate camping ground, the location of the trailhead for a short walk to the edge of Mardugal Billabong. Gretl pushed Nola in her stroller most of the way there and back, with a little help from Michael when Nola wasn’t noticing.
Earlier on, we had stopped at another walk, but decided that the 1.5-hour return uphill walk was too much for us to do in the heat of the day. It was at this spot that I noticed that I had a weak signal on my phone. We took advantage of this rare opportunity to let everyone at home know that we were alive and well.
Our next stop was for The Bubba Wetland Walk. However, after about 20 minutes, we decided we’d had enough. It was frightfully hot, and we didn’t have enough time to complete the entire loop track anyway, as we had to be at the car park for the sunset Yellow Water boat cruise by 4.15.
Back at the motel, Gretl and I put on a couple of loads of washing in the camping ground laundry, and then joined Michael & Nola at the pool. Nola was feasting on a large ice cream cone and then had a quick dip before we all freshened up ready for the cruise. Gretl collected our wet washing from the laundry — we picked her up on the way down to the boat cruise.
The cruise took us through the main Yellow Water Billabong. Our guide provided lots of information about the wildlife in the area — the many birds, buffalo, wallabies, and of course crocodiles! He informed us that the first crocodile we came across on the riverbank was plastic — it took a few of us a while to realise that he was joking! This was the first of quite a few crocodiles we saw on the cruise.
Apparently, there are approximately 30 crocodiles inhabiting every kilometre in this area. We wisely followed instructions to keep our arms within the boat, and of course we all kept a watchful eye on Nola. She befriended 2 little girls on the boat (Ellie & Harriet) and had a wonderful time playing hand games with them and eating their crackers!
After watching the sun set over the wetlands, the boat headed back to the dock. It had been a very pleasant 2.5 hours. And now the temperature was a lot more pleasant. I hung out our wet laundry (which fortunately dried overnight), and then we microwaved our soups in the camping ground laundry/kitchen and enjoyed them with bread and salad back in our room. Gretl & Nola headed off to bed next door and we lay in bed watching TV until we nodded off to sleep.
Jane F
2020-08-27
What a great trip and with so much swimming in beautiful locations. NOLA seems to be loving her time away. Seems you have seen a lot of the top end. Will have to note your trip if Alfie and I can ever get there. It is lovely you share your travels with us all stuck in our states. We have had such cold weather over the last week including the all important birthday weekend with our kids, being hit with an “Antarctic blast” and trying to stay Covid safe spending time ‘camping’ in Georgie’s backyard. We hear there are fires and extreme hot weather in NT, stay safe xxx
melandmic
2020-08-29
Thank you, Jane. We do feel very privileged to be able to travel so freely when most people in Australia are stuck at home or within their own states. I’d really love to come up here with a 4WD, or at least with our own car (you can’t go on dirt roads with most hire cars). We did see a small area of smouldering vegetation next to the road on our drive yesterday, but nothing concerning. I’m not sure where the major blazes have been. It looks as though we have some cold weather ahead of us this coming week in Adelaide. It has been great to feel hot for a while — I love warm, balmy evenings, and we’ve had a few of those. I wonder where we’ll end up travelling next year? xxx