08.03.2023 from Katherine Gorge NP to Kakadu NP

08.03.2023 from Katherine Gorge NP to Kakadu NP

We are standing at the boat dock 10 minutes before 9 am and the 2-hour boat tour into the Katherine Gorge begins for us and the other 10 people. But the young tour guide dampens our expectations, the water level is too high, today we can only enter one gorge. We see folded sandstone formations and a lot of water, the tin boat dawdles upstream, the tour guide elaborately explains the formation of the gorge and the types of crocodiles that exist here. In the rainy season, which we still have now, we usually don't see crocodiles, but we are not allowed to swim and paddle, because a crocodile can swim up to us. We stop at a place where rock paintings of the Aborigines can be seen, in some cases we need a lot of imagination to see what the boat guide, who is now with us, explains. We recognize handprints and a snake without a doubt. He also explains the different bushes and how the fruits taste or not, he has to fill the time when we can't go into the second gorge. On the way back, the boat guide accidentally steers to a sandbank and there lies the freshwater crocodile. Everyone takes their photo and the boat tour is successful. But the guide admits that the crocodile lies here every morning at 10.30 a.m. Joke or not, Croco, his name is Justin, anyway, seeing is believing.

We drive back to Katherine to the tourist information center and have them explain where the places in Kakadu NP are that we can visit and ask what we can see there. Our map does not yet have the new Aboriginal names for the sights, so we could not find the places.

We decide to drive to Kakadu NP after all. Dark clouds threaten in the sky and soon it starts to rain, sometimes more, sometimes less, but the roadside and the green areas are already under water, everything flows in the direction where it is lowest, unfortunately, sometimes it is also the road, but the water is not deep. We are the only guests at the campsite, here the fee is still put in an envelope. We like it that way. Because it is still raining, we have bread with sausage and cheese and a fresh salad today.