Day 12
The plan for the day was to visit Ubirr but rangers at Bowali Center (stopped there on the way to Jabiru the day before) were not sure if the road would be open. We saw smoke in this area previous afternoon. It turned out the park closed the road at 10.30 am. We decided to join Burrungkuy ( Nurlangie) ranger walk & talk (recommended) at 9-11 am, and try our luck with Ubirr the following day. We started the day on short hike to Nawurlandja Lookout and quick look at Anbangbang Billabong on our own. The ranger walk was very good, disciplined and informative. We liked rock art accompanied by interesting stories about Aboriginal history and life. Barrk Bushwalk was closed (seasonal). We drove to different parking lot and were back on Anbangbang Billabong loop with panoramic views from Nawurlandja Lookout to Burrungkuy Rock.
Anbangbang Billabong
Temp crossed 40℃ mark at noon. Another short drive and we were on Bubba walk. We had to turn back half-way around the wetland when trail (not well marked at this point) hit a patch of just burnt down bush (still smoldering in a couple of places). Passable, but not fun to walk in such heat. We stopped for photo op at Djarradjin Billabong. Water level was low in billabongs but bird-watching was great. We then looked for a “mountain” to “climb” and ended up on a short walk to Mirrai Lookout. Woodland savanna to the horizon. It was only then, around 5 pm, that temp dropped to 36-37℃. Tough going in full-sun and high temp started to wear us down. We cooked dinner at our lodge and Joanna went for a swim in the pool.
AC in our car brought some needed relief even if we only used it for short time driving between local destinations. We had AC in our room too, but outside temps at night were quite comfortable mid-twenties.
Day 13
On good tip from our lodge staff we decided to go to Cahills Crossing (recommended) to watch crocodiles. No Ubirr – at some point we actually went to check the gate, but no luck. We needed alternative program. We arrived at the Crossing shortly after 9 am when tide was low and water was flowing downstream.We saw first crocodiles along river banks as we checked-out downstream boat ramp and the crossing, stopped at Border Store for info. On another good tip from the staff, we decided to go on 11 am Guluyambi Cruise with ☞ Kakadu Cultural Tours, 4 km from upstream boat ramp up East Alligator River. It was nice and relaxing, many crocodiles were floating just a few meters from the boat.Local guide was good, sometimes hard to hear at high motor revs but we had best seats in front row. We made short landing to walk around a bit, water hole and high rocky river bank.
Cahills Crossing
Cahills Crossing
East Alligator River
East Alligator River
We came back at 12:45 pm and immediately started Bardedjilidji Walk (recommended). We considered two other walks, but both were closed: Manngarre (bush fire) and Sandstone River Walk (seasonal). We liked Bardedjilidji, some views on the river and the rest on/around interesting rock formation with some rock art. Fun place to explore and perhaps have lunch-break, but not when we were there: mid-day with 42-43℃ hiking temps in full-sun.
Bardedjilidji Walk
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We returned to Cahills Crossing at 2:30 pm when the tidal wave was nearing its high – best time to watch crocodiles fishing when sea water pours in. Timing is important (☞ Tidal predictions for Cahills Crossing). Piotr counted more than 30 crocodiles at one time!
East Alligator River upsteram of Cahills Crossing
We ate late lunch at Border Store (prawns with yellow curry and tom kha chicken soup), stopped one more time at the crossing – at 4:30 pm the tide reversed, crocodiles were fed and quietly fading away. Altogether we spent three hours watching them. After returning to Jabiru, we walked short loop to Jabiru Lake just to see what the small town is about.
