Kakadu National Park (9/1/2025)

Monday, September 1, 2025

We had a 6:00 pickup at a hotel a few blocks from our own, for today's excursion to Kakadu National Park, Australia's largest national park and home to wildlife, as well as Aboriginal rock paintings, dating to prehistoric times.

Sunrise about 6:50

View of Adelaide River Floodplain; the river in the
Northern Territory has nothing to do with Adelaide,
the city in South Australia 

Corroboree Park Tavern, a roadhouse on the Arnhem Highway

Our motor coach for today's excursion, making a pit stop

One of the Blue Tree Project (est 2019) trees,
painted blue to promote mental health 
awareness, which began in Western Australia
and has become global charity

The roadhouse also had resident Bubalus bubalis/
Water Buffalo, descendants of animals imported in 19C
as work animals and meat; many are now feral;
between the buffalo is a Sus scrofa/Wild Boar that
was also introduced into Australia and became feral

Petrogale wilkinsi/Wilkins' Rock-wallabies

Brutus, the Salty (head only), is a Crocodylus porosus/
Saltwater Crocodile, the largest reptile in the world

Fred, the Freshy, is a Crocodylus johnstoni/
Freshwater Crocodile

Crossing the Adelaide River

Crossing Mary River

Heading toward the outcrop of Nourlangie Rock

Aboriginal rock art of kangaroo and hunter

The rock overhang protected the indigenous paintings

What exactly is supporting the overhang? (KSS)

Modern art shows a hunter with a rifle

"Grinding bowls" in stone were likely for
grinding ochre for the rock painting pigments

Mimi Spirits of Aboriginal mythology
represent ancestral beings

The large figure at the top is Namondjok, a Creator
Ancestor, and to the right is Namarrkon, the
Lightning Man who creates thunderstorms

Above this rock painting you can see a line of silicon
that was meant to protect the painting from
water or condensation slipping down the wall

Pandanus spiralis/Screw Palm Tree (KSS)

Seed pods of the crew palm

Seed pod

Remote areas in Australia have remote
call boxes for emergencies

Spearhead made of Erythrophleum
chlorostachys/Northern Ironwood,
used by the indigenous people

Termite mound (KSS)

Cooinda Lodge Kakadu Resort swimming pool (KSS)

We had a buffet lunch at Cooinda Lodge

Animal Safety sign (KSS)

Also at Cooinda Lodge Resort is the Yellow Water Cruise

Indigenous-owned and guided, the cruise meanders through the Yellow Water Billabong

Nelumbo nucifera/Sacred Lotus is native here; beyond the
lotus are floating Hymenachne acutigluma/Mudja Grass pads

Ephippiorhynchus asiaticus/
Black-necked Sork

Crocodylus porosus/saltwater Crocodile

Anhinga novaehollandiae/Australasian Darter drying its wings

Dendrocygna arcuata/Wandering Whistling Ducks

Near the whistling ducks:

Anseranas semipalmata/Magpie Geese

Nymphaea kakaduensis/Water Lily endemic
to Kakadu National Park

Icthyophaga leucogaster/White-bellied
Sea Eagle takes off when the shutter clicks

Another saltwater crocodile

More Nelumbo nucifera/Sacred Lotus with cupped
lotus leaves that collect water, which beads and runs
off taking dirt and debris with it

Feral Bubalus bubalis/Water Buffalo (KSS)

Note the trees in the background that show how
high the water level reaches in the wet season

Warradjan Aboriginal Cultural Centre: The Six Seasons
of Kakadu as noted by the Bininj people; no photos
were permitted inside the centre

Mercure Kakadu Crocodile Hotel head (KSS)

The Crocodile Hotel is best seen from above... (KSS)

Grabbed a meat pie for dinner at the Corroboree Park Tavern

Sunset

Next: Travel to Yulara.