8 Sept Sat
(photos: Crocs!, Short-earred Rock Wallaby)
Split a “health” breakfast delivered to our room at 6:30 and set off at 7, driving east to the border of the park with the Aborigine Arnham Land. Along the road we saw a pack of Dingos and a few wallabies. We parked and walked around a camping area and saw a fantastic Red- winged Parrot, emerald green with deep salmon pink wings. We drove over to a boat launching area on the East Alligator River posted with “Extreme Crocodile Warning!” signs and “People have been eaten here!!!”…and saw two crocs right off, one sunning herself on a rock and one very long snout floating on the surface. A huge colony of Black Fruit Bats (Flying Foxes) was nearby very noisily roosting, bickering, and moving around in the trees. They have furry reddish backs, 4-foot wingspans and wrap their wings around themselves just like Dracula.
The road ends, unless you have permission to enter the Aborigine lands, at Ubirr, another great rock art site, overlooking lush green wetlands. We climbed up and over rocky outcroppings, stopping at several wall painting sites with detailed anatomical drawings of barramundi and other fish. Bouncing up one rocky area was a Short-eared Rock Wallaby, a small roo with a fluffy tail and the ability to hop effortlessly up rocky crags. Amazing to see four different mammals, three of them life animals, in one day!
It was almost 100 degrees so we retired back to our hotel for some restorative air con and set out again at 4:30 back to Ubirr. The light was low which made the area even more beautiful. We took a self-guided trail around hoo-doos and through rock tunnels and heard wallabies bounding away through the underbrush and returned to the car just as it got dark. Drove back listening to the quarterfinals of the great Aussie passion, footy, played between the Hawthorne Hawks and Sydney Swans. No crass commercial interruptions as in the US, just pure footy.
Soup and salad at the Croc for dinner.
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