I Survived Camping in "The Bush"!

To help bond as a group and learn more about the Aboriginals in Australia, we broke out into smaller groups (our included our class and the other small class, Imaging Australia) and went on a three day camping trip in Kakadu National Park, Australia’s largest National Park. Our group left Darwin on Thursday morning and headed straight to the Adelaide River for a Jumping Crocodile Cruise. Before we boarded the cruise, we were able to play with a few large snakes. I think I can still feel them squirming on my shoulders!! Once on the boat, a guide took a large chunk of raw meat and attached it to a stick. We drove the boat down the river and crocs started to follow us. The guide held the stick up and the crocs would rise out of the water and eat the meat. The crocs are not trained and jump because they are used to jumping out of the water to eat birds off the low hanging branches of trees. We were on the water for approximately an hour and saw over 25 crocs swimming in the river or sunbathing on the shore of the river.

The first place we visited once inside the park was Ubirr, in the East Alligator Region. We walked around Ubirr and looked at several Aboriginal rock art sites before climbing to the top. Once at the top of Ubirr, we got a spectacular view of Arnhem Land and the Nadab floodplains. After we hiked down, we found our way back to camp, which had already been set up by a few of our guides. We all showered and settled into our tents while our guides cooked us dinner. That first night, we just sat around the bonfire, talking and playing guitar. The temperature drastically drops in Kakadu at night and so Sarah and I recruited Jo to come sleep in our tent for extra body heat. I’m not the best camp sleeper (I can’t sleep when I think I’m going to FREEZE), so I didn’t get much sleep. Jo, Sarah, and I all randomly busted up laughing at 3 AM cursing the LOUD birds and lack of sunlight (we were praying for the sun to rise so we could warm back up!). After a FREEZING shower and a quick breakfast, we loaded up for another fun-filled, packed day.

We started the morning out in the Yellow Water Wetlands. There was a boardwalk that allowed us to actually go out into the wetlands safely. After getting eaten alive (the “mozzies” are HORRIBLE down by the water) and seeing some more crocs, we headed to the Warradjan Aboriginal Cultural Center. We were able to explore the center (which is shaped like a giant pig-nosed turtle) and learn more about the Aboriginals in Kakadu. To follow up, we went to Mandy’s, an Aboriginal lady that opens her home up to visitors interested in learning more about the Aboriginal culture. We got a tour of their land (and ate water lily, which tastes like celery) before separating so the guys could do “Men Business” and the girls could do “Women Business”. The girls learned to weave bracelets. We learned how weaving was important in finding a husband. If you couldn’t weave, you weren’t going to find a husband! The guys learned how to paint Aboriginal style (like the rock art) and to play the didgeridoo. They had a contest at the end, which Tommy won and was given a didgeridoo to take home as his prize. We left Mandy’s and headed to Nourlangie to do some more hiking and look at more Aboriginal rock art. I had a hard time making out some of the art at other sites, but I was able to tell what some of the pictures were saying at Nourlangie. The Aboriginals used rock art to share their knowledge and tell stories. There was a boat at Nourlangie that was to tell the story of when White people landed in Australia. We had one other hike (I can’t remember the site) that afternoon that took us to another amazing view. It was nice to reach the top and just sit down to take the view in. You can see for MILES at the top of some of these sites. We arrived back at Yellow Waters in time to watch a sunset (gets me every time!). When we got back to camp, the Tourism class had arrived at Kakadu. The first night, there were only 30 people including students, professors, and guides. The tourism class made our group count rise to 65! Before dinner, one of the guides told us the story of the didgeridoo and then played it for us. That night for dinner we were able to try kangaroo for the first time. Surprisingly, it was pretty good! After dinner, a small group of us from our class (maybe 7?) decided to sneak away from camp. The sky is so clear down here and you are really able to see the stars. We snuck away to lie in the grass outside of camp and look at the stars. We saw the Milky Way and the Southern Cross. I think we were gone for a total of 30 minutes and probably saw over 15 falling stars!! Since we were so cold the first night, we decided to add to our tent once again (please keep in mind this was a 2 person tent now sleeping 4). I don’t know if it was the added body heat or the Tylenol PM I took, but either way I was finally able to get some sleep!

We woke up Saturday morning, packed our bags, ate a quick breakfast and headed to Gunlom Falls. The falls are part of the South Alligator River that partially dries up in the dry season and creates little plunge pools. We had to hike quite a ways up to the falls, but it was totally worth it in the end!! I’ve never swam in such a serene location before. There was probably five little pools to swim in, all separated by rocks. In the wet season, it’s one huge river. You had to be careful in the last pool because it went STRAIGHT down a waterfall. We swam for a few hours before making it back to Darwin in time to watch the Quanta’s Wallabies take on Italy in an International Rugby Game. Oh, I can’t forget to mention the termite hills!! They were GIANT tower looking mounds that took termites hundreds of years to make. On the way out of the park, we stopped at one to take photos and see up close.

The three days we spent in Kakadu were amazing. We really bonded as a group and visited some amazing areas of the park. I love camping anyways and it was neat camping in “The Bush” of Australia. Kakadu was really interesting because there are six very different landscapes apparent in the park. We were in the Savanna woodlands, Monsoon forests, Southern Hills, Stone Country, flatlands, and floodplains.