Day 38 Jabiru, Kakadu National Park

Today is our last full day at Kakadu and we thought we would go out with a bang on an all day tour into Arnhem land.  The tour was called "Arnhemlander Cultural & Heritage Tour".  

We were picked up from our accomodation right on time at 7.50pm and took our seats on the Arnhemlander.   There are only 18 seats on board our truck/bus and we all know that small tour numbers make for the best tours.  This was our tour description:

"Our Arnhemlander 4wd Day Tour is currently crossing the East Alligator River into Arnhem Land and is spending most of the day visiting scenic locations, rock art & occupation sites. Depending on tides at Cahills Crossing, a part of the day could be spent out at Cannon Hill, which is an otherwise restricted area of the National Park. The whole of Cannon Hill is a registered sacred site and for good reason has a reputation for splendid landscapes and rock art sites. Clients will travel into the entrance of Mikkinj valley with its stunning scenery of towering escarpment, wildlife & Inkiyu billabong. Enjoy lunch in a scenic location. Travelling in comfortable 4WD’s with forward facing seats with a knowledgeable guide, you will experience the region’s world-famous landscapes consisting of sandstone escarpment outcrops, rock art sites, forests, floodplains & billabongs with birdlife. Arnhem Land access permits, refreshments & lunch are included.

The tour description was spot on and we visited places exactly as described however, the rain tumbled down for a good couple of hours in the morning so it did put a bit of a dampner on our tour but our guide would not be deterred and he continued as if it wasn't raining at all!  We were really drenched a couple of times but as the temperature is very mild it really didn't matter.  For some reason, I put a lightweight towel in my backpack before we left, so Philip and I could dry off each time we returned to the air-conditioned bus.  

Our guide took us to a lot of sights to look at the rock art.  Some places were really hard to get to and we had to scramble over rocks and boulders, but it was always worth it.  We went to three different places to look at the rock art and each place depicted something different.  My favourite was the kangaroo that has been dated back to 10,000 years old.

 A lot of Kakadu has rock art that can be dated back 20,000 years that makes it the longest historical record of any group of people on Earth and it is why Kakadu has been given World Heritage status.

We stopped under a very large shady tree for lunch that consisted of a Chicken Salad with Thai Dressing and finger bread rolls.  We washed it down with Lemongrass Iced Tea and were also given a slice of lemon sponge for dessert.  The Thai Restaurant where we are staying provided lunch and it was the perfect thing to eat on a hot and very humid (after the rain) day. 

Lunch was our turnaround point and we once again crossed the famous Cahills Crossing where giant crocodiles make their way across the crossing at low tide.  Unfortunately, it is too early in the season to see the crocodiles.  They are more prevalent in the middle of the year. We sat at the crossing under some shady trees for some time and our guide gave us a description of what we should have seen so we almost felt like we had seen them.

After Cahills Crossing we stopped at the Border Store where local aboriginal artwork is displayed for sale.  There were many pieces I would like to have purchased but storage is a problem when you are travelling in a caravan so the only purchases we made were Drumstick Ice-creams!

We were back at our caravan park by 4.00pm and quite weary from all the walking.  An early night is called for.