Kakadu to Daly Waters

The next part of our adventure took us to Cooinda in Kakadu National Park for 3 nights. Whilst we were in Kakadu we went on a cruise down South Alligator river. Funnily enough it is called Alligator river because the man who discovered it thought that the crocodiles were alligators! He had seen alligators in South America and thought they were the same thing. By the time they worked it out it was too late because they had already named it so on all the maps. On this cruise we saw lots of bird wildlife. I liked the kingfishers. They were a beautiful blue colour. I learnt that the smallest species of kingfisher bird is about the size of you thumb! We also saw some darter birds that swim underwater and stab their prey with their very long pointy beak. After they have finished swimming / eating they stand on a branch and dry out their wings. It was lovely to take a photo of this bird.

Pretty Kingfishers

Did you that ducks on the Yellow River in Kakadu do not quack. They whistle! They are called whistling ducks.

wetlands - look at the reflection

As we returned we were lucky enough to meet a large male croc who lives in the area. He swam along the boat for a while and came very close to us.

I spy with my little eye

The next day we went to Gunlam falls. We were very lucky because they had just opened the road from the wet season and we were leaving the next day. After a very rough, rocky and rugged drive we made it the falls area. We climbed to the top of the waterfall. It was very steep and we had to climb over large rocks. When we reach the top 500m higher, we saw a small waterfall cascading into a infinity pool. The natural water hole looked out over Kakadu National Park. The water was cool after our climb but the water had  a bit of goopidy goop (moss and weed) floating around in parts of the pool. We saw a goanna sun baking on a rock. It was a beautiful sight and a MUST DO for people who are travelling in this area.

A pool with a view - over looking Kakadu National Park

Dad, Callam and I at the fall

Our next stop was Mataranka. Here we went to visit the Bitter Springs. These are warm natural springs. We floated downstream to the bridge where there was a ladder to climb out. We did this a we times searching for turtles along the way. I saw 2 small turtles and 2 large turtles near the ladder. They were very timid and hid from us. If we were quite we could get a close look at them. The next day we went to The Mataranka Springs. These were great to swim in as well, but the pool had been changed and it looked a little man made. Not like the natural beauty of the Bitter Springs. It was great to jump off the rock wall though!

Mataranka Springs

On the way to Three Ways we stopped at Daly Waters Pub for lunch. This place was CRAZY! It had lots things hanging from the ceiling and the walls. There were things like undies,bras and even ID cards back from 1895. There were also things like footy jerseys and even a thong tree. We added a thong to the thong tree and wrote 'THOMAS TRAVELS 2013' on it. This was a crazy pub and had the best food.

Milo and I at the Pub