We left our place in Humpty Doo and headed southeast. Our first stop was the Adelaide River/Fogg Dam area. We were all excited for our Jumping Crocodile Cruise! These signs were a little intimidating!
Ready to go!
We were on a pretty small boat and were very thankful for the sides…well, it was a little scary when Kyla’s arm ended up sticking out of the boat very close to where our driver was holding out the buffalo meat for the crocs! Only Kyla….
We learned a lot about crocodiles. These Saltwater (Estuarine) Crocodiles are the world’s largest and the Freshwater (Crocodylus johnsoni) Crocodile is found only in Australia. The ‘Salties’ can grow to about 6m (20ft) in length. ‘Freshies’ do not grow to more than 4m (13ft) and are more timid and will usually only attack people in defense. Despite their name, they can both be found in freshwater or saltwater.
We realized just how little the first ones we saw were when we came upon world famous Brutus. Estimated at 80 years old and 16-1/2 ft., with one missing leg (thought to have been bit off by a shark when he was younger) and many missing teeth was not even the biggest that we saw while out on our cruise.
Our driver then lured him over to our boat…a little intimidating seeing him swimming straight toward you.
Brutus likes his back scratched!
Had to grab a shot of all the Crocoratzi.
Interesting fact: Crocodiles open their mouths while basking in the sun to prevent their brain from overheating while their bodies continue to absorb the heat.
This small one jumped all the way out of the water-so strong and fast!
Hallie relaxing while crocodiles were about 2-3 ft. from her head
Baby crocodile…and some mudcrabs.
30-70 eggs are laid in a nest mound of vegetation and mud. As the vegetation breaks down, the heat of decomposition helps maintain the incubation temperature of the nest. In turn, this incubation temperature determines the sex of the baby crocodiles. Incubation at just over 89°F produces male young; slightly lower or higher temperatures produce mostly females. If the temperature goes higher than about 93°F deformities and death of embryos will occur. Only about 20% of eggs will produce viable young. Many embryos drown in the shell because of flooding during the wet season. Only about half survive their first year.
The other boat was distracting momma crocodile while we visited her baby.
The girls got to captain the boat for a bit
Whistling Kite getting tossed a nibble of the buffalo meat too.
From here, we went to see Fogg Dam Conservation Reserve-on the edge of a flood plain, built to irrigate the rice for the 1950's Humpty Doo rice farming project. The rice project failed, but the dam had become a dry season refuge for wildlife, especially waterbirds. It was made a Bird Protection District in 1959. The Wulna and other Aboriginal people manage Fogg Dam.
Window on the Wetlands Visitor Centre-very fun and interactive for the kids
We learned that feral water buffalo and pigs degrade the land and kill native plants. They have trampled and eroded riverbanks and brought in diseases.The wetlands are almost flat. There is a delicate balance between freshwater from the hills and saltwater from the sea. Large numbers of feral buffalo contributed to the breakdown of levees separating them and allowed the saltwater to penetrate far inland.
Areas of the country are purposely burned off each year to help reduce fuel load and prevent damaging fires during the dry season. During the wet season, this whole area is under water.
Rice farming area and water buffalo breeding station, man-made stationary lake
From here we drove a couple hours into Kakadu National Park. After checking into our room, we ventured a little further to Ubirr. Ubirr is looked after by neighboring Aborignal clans. Ubirr is home to one of the finest collections of rock art in the world and has amazing views over the vast landscape of Kakadu National Park. We learned a lot about these traditional paintings and the stories they illustrate as part of the unwritten library of knowledge and spiritual beliefs of the Aboriginal people. Senior clan members own certain parts of this library and pass it on to younger people via story telling, songs, dance, music, ceremonies and food gathering expeditions. These lessons have continued for thousands of generations. Some paintings are particularly important as they are believed to be painted by the First People of the creation era. We walked through the Main Gallery, Namarrkan Sisters, and ended at Nadab Lookout.
This painting of Mabuyu reminds Traditional Owners to tell a story which warns against stealing. Thieves stole Mabuyu's fish, so he killed them all later that night. He’s holding a Dilly bag, Spear thrower, Barbed spears and Goosewing fan
Long neck turtle and fish let us know that these paintings are less than 2,000 years old as these animals have only been in the area for that long.
The most recent residents of shelters often painted over older art to illustrate modern events in their lives. The act of painting was generally more important than the works of art themselves.
Favorite foods often feature in the rock art of Kakadu. If a hunter was particularly proud of the size of his catch it was sometimes painted on shelter walls. They were more than visual records of the catch. They represented the spirit of the animal and would help in future hunts.
Aboriginal people believe Mimi spirits painted these sorcery figures painted in unlikely places. They believe they simply lift the rocks down, paint them, then put the back into place.
This painting is estimated to be thousands of years old as it is of a Thylacine (Tasmanian Tiger), which became extinct after dingoes came to Australia about 4,000 years ago.
Climbing to Nadab Lookout
As children, Aboriginal people are taught to respect the traditional laws and the system of punishment which enforces them. This art reminds the Traditional Owners of a story about a young girl who broke traditional food taboos by eating Barramundi at the wrong time of her life. She was punished too severely and a battle between clans followed, killing many people. Young boys are told this story by older men pointing spears at them.
Gorgeous views from the lookout.
Awaiting the sunset
After the beautiful sunset, we headed back to our hotel for dinner and bed.
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