Darwin Day 4 - Kakadu National Park

On our fourth and final day in Darwin, Saturday 8/18, we took a one day tour to the Kakadu National Park. Our tour guide, Kerry, was awesome - we learned a lot about the park and the surrounding areas on the bus ride over. The highlights included a boat ride on the Yellow Waters, visiting the Cultural Center, aboriginal rock art at Nourlangie Rock, climbing to the lookout point and visiting the cathedral termite mounds.

There were plenty of crocs about that day, sunning themselves on the shores and trying to regulate their body temperature. We saw only saltwater crocodiles, the vicious man-eating kind...The Jabiru is a large regal bird that resides in the park, we watched one catch lunch while we rode by on the boat.The aboriginal rock art at Nourlangie Rock is amazing to view - the one here is entitled "Want To Dance?" because it depicts a lot of movement. We climbed to the lookout point and took lots of photos , it was impossible to capture the amazing panoramic view on camera... :)Our next stop was the enormous Cathedral Termite Mounds - so named for the shape they form. The "wings" to the sides of the main mound are primarily to help regulate the temperature inside the mound, apparently these guys are picky about their living environment...Last stop was at Windows on the Wetlands, a small museum and observatory where we watched the sun go down over the wetlands with a glass of wine in hand~Julie and I returned to Darwin and had dinner at Duck's Nuts on Mitchell Street. Across the street, at the Hog's Breath Cafe, it was Bike Night - a traditional shared by Americans and Aussies alike~ :)

A short while later, we arrived at the airport for our overnight flight back to Sydney (read: red eye flight) and took a nap when we got back to Julie's house Sunday morning.

We have a few more adventures to share~ For now, I must finish packing, my flight leaves this afternoon to come back to the U.S.