Mercure Kakadu Crocodile Hotel, Northern Territory, Australia
Given the extreme heat (hotter than average for this time of the year) and the windy conditions, we planned to head off early to Ubirr Rock to view the Aboriginal rock art as early as possible...which turned out to be close to 9:30am.
The Aboriginal rock art in this area was very impressive. Whilst the usual guided tours by the rangers were not being offered, there were plenty of information boards explaining the paintings and their meanings.
A moderately steep 250m climb took us to the top of Ubirr where we had 360º views over the Nadal floodplain and distant escarpments. The strong wind blew the annoying flies away, but also made it difficult to keep our hats on. After taking many photographs, we headed back down the rock and wandered on to see the last ‘gallery’ of paintings before returning to the car.
On our way back to Jabiru, we nosed in to Cahill’s Crossing, but decided not to get out of the car due to the proximity to the river (and crocodiles)! With the temperature getting up to 37ºC, it was time to head back to the hotel to spend some time at the pool. Nola didn’t seem to mind the fact that the water in the pool was quite cool, but I didn’t venture in above my thighs. Gretl and I chatted to a couple of women from Brisbane, one of whom had travelled and worked in the NT about 10 years ago. She recommended a number of places in Kakadu, but unfortunately they necessitated travelling on dirt roads which is prohibited by our car hire company. We will have to save these stunning locations for another time — or just enjoy the photos on the internet. (The pools at Gunlom look absolutely amazing!)
As Michael’s Accor membership (which comes with his AMEX card) entitles him to discount at Mercure restaurants, we decided that we would dine out this evening. Nola was well fed and then ensconced in her stroller with a Disney movie on Gretl’s iPad. We sat the stroller next to our table, and hardly heard a peep out of her for the whole time we were there. Michael and I enjoyed delicious meals of barramundi (tempur style and pan-fried) whilst Gretl had a tasty Wagyu burger. Wine was on the house, thanks to the 4 vouchers we received on arrival, and with the ⅓ off the food bill, our total bill was only $55. We left a generous tip for the waiters who had been suitably attentive, but not overbearing. There weren’t many people in the restaurant which may have been due to the fact that we chose to dine at 6:30pm, or quite possibly the hotel was just not that busy.
I uploaded more photos to my blog, but didn’t have the energy to type up the entries before nodding off to sleep at about 10pm.
2025-05-22