Yep!  I have one very happy husband!  He has caught himself a barramundi!  The fins we had with a pre-dinner drink on Saturday night, following the big catch.  Sunday night we will celebrate reaching the top of Australia, by having a feed of 'Pete's Barra' in Darwin.Friday morning we left Cooinda early, well it was early for us, to travel the 60 kms to Jabiru.  We wanted to be booked in, unhooked, and have travelled the 36kms out to 'Cahill's Crossing' by 9.45am.  The owner of the 'Kakadu Lodge and Caravan Park' asked us "If we had wet the bed"?  'Cahill Crossing' is on the East Alligator River and the river is the boundary between Kakadu National Park and Arnhem Land.The Ranger at the 'Bowali Visitor Centre' had told us that we should visit Ubirr.  At 'Cahill's Crossing' we would see crocodiles snapping to catch barramundi, as they were washed over the crossing on high tide.  There is an aboriginal community on the other side of the river at Oenpelli.  If you wish to travel into Arnhem Land you need to have purchased a $14 permit from the Visitor Centre beforehand.   It takes five hours for the change in tide to travel the 80kms to 'Cahill Crossing.  On high tide the water really rushes over the crossing.  Apparently at least one car is washed off the crossing each year and we were told 100 people are injured at this location, by crocs each year!  The guy providing the info did add "That there is one death a year".  A ranger told Peter "It does not matter how many times they tell fisherman that they should not be fishing on the crossing, they continue to do so".  Peter carefully picked his fishing spot, which was behind a tree trunk, near the boat launching area.  On Friday when we came out to 'CahilI Crossing', I chatted with an elderly couple who come up to Jabiru each year from Melbourne.  They were cleaning a magnificent Barramundi they had just caught.  In actual fact the wife had caught it!  I asked them how they managed getting the dingy on and off their landcruiser and he said "The park owner does it for them now".  They were both getting on in years!  The lady was telling me "It can be quite scary getting the barramundi into the boat, as the crocs are trying to get it"!  I went back to Peter and said to him "How badly do you want to catch a barra"?  I was thinking that could be the title for the next blog!Well Peter has always wanted to catch a barra, but surely not enough to be in a dingy with crocs snapping, as you are trying to get it into the boat!  He was also keen to get the red dot of the fishing rod.   So we went out on Saturday for him to try his luck.  We got there nice and early and Peter was the only fisherman.  He had 'his safe spot' that he had picked out the day before.  There were plenty of blokes fishing off the crossing!  I wandered down and watched as they caught little barra and threw them back.  Then one of the fishermen caught a good sized one and another fella ran to the bank to get the net.  I was expecting to see a croc come snapping for it as they were fluffing around trying to get it into the net.  A bus pulled up with aboriginals on it.  They were about to cross to the community settlement in Arnhem Land.  In a flash one of them was off the bus and he had the barramundi in the net in no time.  I was really moved when the aboriginal turned and shook the fisherman's hand, congratulating him on his catch.  I wandered back to Peter and as the mosie's still thought they could give me a nip, decided to go back to the car and start a blog on the iPad.  About 10 am I thought it was time to see how the fisherman was going!  I had just got out of the car with the camera in hand and I heard him calling.   He had done it!  I missed him getting his catch to the bank, but he said "He didn't really put up too much of a fight"!  He was a beauty and of course fisherman Pete had a grin from ear to ear!  Pete's barra catch was 70 cm long and we have about 2 kgs of fillets in the freezer.  The legal size is 55 cm.Another highlight for us at Ubirr, was looking at more aboriginal rock art.  We did this on Friday.  It is said that there are over 1,500 rock art sites in 'Kakadu National Park'.  We also climbed the highest rock at Ubirr.  The views of the wetlands and the escarpment was well worth it.  Bit of a personal challenge as well and the aboriginals are quite happy for everyone to climb this rock.  'We didn't climb Uluru, but we have climbed a rock in Kakadu'.  That's got a bit of a ring to it! There is a little Border Store at Ubirr and on Friday before we went back to Jabiru, we decided to have a coffee there.  They also had a number of didgeridoo's for sale and Peter has been looking!  Yep!   We purchased one from this little store.   Another traveller was in the shop and he has a number of didgeridoo's.  He played a couple of different ones and gave the one we purchased a tick.  So whether Pete will practice before we get home, I'm not sure.  It is all wrapped up for safe travel.  He said it was his Christmas present.  There could be a bit of real 'Aussie Fun' this Christmas.  I'm sure there will be some family members itching to try their skill!  My purchase was a small weaved mat.  The 'Possum Ssip' teapot sits beautifully on it!  Also was given a photo of the lady you had crafted the mat.  I took a photo of the details of the lengthy preparation and dying of the grasses before the weaving can begin.  These aboriginal craft articles are not cheap.  Years ago they probably were, but not these days.  I hope the biggest percentage of the funds goes to the lady who made it and the money is used wisely.  Her name was Marree and Samuel had crafted and painted the didgeridoo.  Samuel's paintings were for sale in the store and they were very expensive.   Likewise the didgeridoo was the most expensive because it was Samuel's.  We can pick em!  We also caught up with Milton and Sandra Harrison while we were at Jabiru.  They were in the camping area with their daughter, son inlaw and two grandies.  The daughter and family has been touring Oz for the last 12 months and they actually met up with Sandra and Milton at Ayers Rock.  Sandra and Milton had travelled to there via the Great Central Road.  We ended up joining with them all, at the Bar and Bistro on Friday night.  Kim and Frank were heading to Darwin on Saturday, hoping to get work.  Milton and Sandra were heading back to Geraldton.  Once again it is a small, small world.  Last year we met up with Milton and Sandra when we went to Broome.  Our paths would seldom cross in Geraldton.'Kakadu' is on the World Heritage List for both its cultural and natural value.  A rare feat because few sites are listed for both reasons.  Our visit has been enjoyable, but I have to say "Whilst we were in Katherine, Peter did start to question why we were going to Kakadu"?  I said "We are this close, why wouldn't we go'?  I found the following on a website and I think it can be very true for so many who visit. Made popular by strong marketing and the Movie Crocodile Dundee, the park can be a

disappointment to visitors whose expectations have been built up. Make sure you know what to expect before arriving. It must be stressed it is a difficult place to appreciate in a short visit and while it is as beautiful as the claims, experiencing that beauty requires some planning. To fully explore this Park you need to travel off the main road. If you were to travel straight through the national park on the main Arnhem and Kakadu Highways you would leave with a poor impression.   12 photos