Kakadu NP – Ubirr Rock

Samuel started his day kicking a footy with about 4 boys his age on the jumping pillow – heaven! They really haven’t had much chance to play with many kids their age as we are moving too quickly. Anyway, arrived in Kakadu early afternoon and managed to snare the last campsite at Merl Campground, a few k’s short of Ubirr Rock. Went to Cahill’s Crossing at the change of tide to see if any crocs were feeding. Nothing doing, must be wrong time of day (or season). Plenty of people fishing, some even in the crossing, despite signs up saying a man has been taken by crocs there! Crossed over but couldn’t see any crocs and turned around again as the other side of the river is Arnhem Land and we don’t have a permit (or time) to go in there.

Went into Ubirr and checked out the rock art there, listened in on a ranger talk, stories of the Rainbow Serpent and Kinship between tribes. Having the paintings explained adds so much more to the experience and one area we saw was like a fisherman’s bragging story, showing the size of their catch. Also a Tassie tiger painting nearby is believed to be about 3 – 4,000 years old.

Walked over rocks to the top of Ubirr Rock (despite my newly acquired bad back that I am willing not to get worse) to watch the sunset (with about 3 busloads of people). The ranger read a few quotes to us from the traditional owners about the place as the sun went down, which was quite moving. The kids took in lots of information about the wetlands ecosystem and aboriginal life in the area, then we scrambled down the rocks (me in my own special way) and back to camp.

Forgot to mention Samuel kindly made a tasty snack today or “Ant Butt Buffet” as Ella nicely put it. This consisted of green ant “butts”. He found the green ants at our camp, squashed them, then presented us with the green abdomen part – surprisingly tangy!