I had enjoyed my scenic flight at the WhitSundays so much I did not hesitate to book another. Okay fine, two more. Today’s scenic flight was over Kakadu National Park. The Park has been inhabited by the Aboriginal people for over 50,000 years and has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Parts of the forest are also sacred to the Aboriginal people and planes are not allowed to fly over those areas.
Today’s scenic flight took us through the savannah woodlands of the national park to Jim Jim and Twin Falls. Since it was the wet season, the land was very green but most of the trails to the falls were inaccessible due to seasonal flooding. Kakadu is known as Stone Country as the terrain is very rocky and not much grows; only a few varieties of trees. I had expected a thick tropical rainforest but instead I saw a sparsely populated forest.
What amazed me most about the scenic flight was the sandstone formations. The sandstone once stood 32,000 feet or the height of Mt. Everest has now been severely weathered down due to harsh monsoons. The massive ridges are striped in layers and red in color. They formed the gorges where the water was flowing through the forest and added topography to the relatively flat area.
The most impressive part of the scenic flight was the Jim Jim and Twin Falls. Both falls fell from such a height to the gorge below and it was amazing to be able to see the aerial view from the plane to see just how large the falls were. The Jim Jim falls cascaded down from such a height there were giant clouds of mist down below. The twin falls were impressive as they led to a very deep gorge. The best way to see the falls is from above as the waters are infested with crocodiles in the wet season. In the dry season when the water dries up, the crocodiles are trapped and airlifted to different areas where they can be in water. There is not enough water for them in the dry season. Seems like a lot of work to airlift all of the crocs every season.
Sadly during the flight I got so nauseous and had the air sickness bag glued to my face. I looked over and Marco had the same thing. So I definitely could have enjoyed the flight more if I didn’t get sick.
At around noon we set out for a Nourlangie Rock Art Walk. This site was one we had flown above but now we had the opportunity to see it up close. The Nourlangie spot has become famous for its rock art paintings. The rock art paintings are hard to date and only an estimated time period can be given. Many of the rock paintings we saw were beginning to wash away from weathering and oxidation of the iron that was turning the rock a red color. In Aboriginal culture they were not allowed to alter a painting or that would change a painting's meaning. There were some paintings that had been recreated in the 1960s which were the ones in the best shape. Much of these ones faded away due to the water buffalo grazing against the rocks to keep shelter. One of note was the lightning god who was depicted with a shield around him. He controls the lightning and rain.
There was one rock painting we were not allowed to photograph as it is a bad spirit. This spirit was one that was known for raping and assaulting woman. It is thought that if you photograph the bad spirit, it will leave the cave and travel with you. Of course they have horror stories of people dying in car accidents who photographed the evil spirit to scare people from doing it. Either way, I wasn't trying to mess with evil spirits.
The rock painting trail led to a lookout point where we could see the sandstone formations towering above us. It was a very impressive sight and I wished I could have spent more time exploring the area.
On the way to our next stop we stopped at the Warradjan Cultural Centre. The culture center showcased different aspects of Aboriginal culture. There were no photos allowed as the Aboriginal people believe that certain things belong in their place and by taking photos, we are removing them from that space. It talked a lot about the Aboriginal ways of life from hunting, daily life, and family traditions. The Aboriginal people have a different way of viewing seasons as well and have 6 different seasons as depicted below.
My evening concluded with a beautiful scenic Yellow Waters Billabong Cruise. Since it is the wet season, the waters were very high today although not as high as they have been in past weeks. From the trees you could see the excess debris hanging off where the water had reached last week. Initially I was skeptical about another cruise but this one was very different and so green! The waters of the Yellow Water covered most of the grass and trees so both looked like they were floating in the water. Apparently last week it looked like an ocean as the water was so high you could go right over the trees and grass.
The waters were infested with crocodiles so we were banned from even keeping our hands outside of the boat. The point of the cruise was to spot crocodiles which we in fact did. Curled up with its teeth resting on a branch was a crocodile resting. Crocodiles are very smart creatures and observe patterns of other animals to capture their prey. There was a white bird nearby stalking the crocodile taunting him. I was waiting for the crocodile to snap his jaws at the bird but he never did. We watched the crocodile for quite some time hoping he would move but he didn’t. Crocodiles are also very good at conserving energy and will do the least to obtain their food.
The boat cruise was just beautiful cruising on the serene waters as the sunset. There were many birds in the area and the guide pointed out the names of each as we approached each one. I wondered how she was able to remember which direction we came from as it all looked the same out in the open water. Some of the areas we boated through turn into roads in the dry season and you even see the tops of the sunken road signs. The lake is completely unrecognizable in the dry season.
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