Tuesday 5th June to Sunday 10th June 2012. Kakadu National Park and Barunga Festival.

Our first stop on the Arnhem Highway is Window on the Wetlands, our classroom for the day, sitting on the edge of the Adelaide River and wetlands. This visitor centre is a fantastic, free interactive learning centre about the NT Wetlands, and we had a great time exploring them hands-on with the kids. We followed this experience with something else very 'close-up', a Spectacular Jumping Crocodile Cruise along the Adelaide River.

The cruise included an hour of slowly travelling down the river on the lookout for big salties! It didn't take long to see some and then watch them as they swim around the boat, climb up onto the banks and jump (or more accurately, vertically swim) up beside the boat to grab their bit of meat! It gave us all such an appreciation for these magnificient creatures, and no encouragement to swim in Kakadu!!! They are true beasts and kings of this part of the country and deserve to stay that way. We thought this cruise was so worthwhile, especially listening to the respect and passion the guides have for these beasts and their territory.

We continued our drive up to Merl Campground, Kakadu, where after some challenging driving (and a small dent in Captain Slow from a treebranch) we were finally settled for the next couple of days. But hang on...whats that low drone sound we can hear while cooking dinner??? Aaagh, the mozzies that were promised in Kakadu!!! The mozzies are thick and vicious, coming in about 6pm and not leaving til midmorning the next day!They try and bite through clothes, in ears and under your glasses! You do not dare get out of the van during the night for a pee, as Dwayne soon found out, or you will be attacked! We had coils, repellant, candles, fire, the lot, and only just survived the onslaught each night, something you need to be prepared for if you want to see Kakadu.

On Wednesday morning we drove the short distance to Urbirr, where there are many Aboriginal rock art sites. We really enjoyed the guided talk and walk through the different sites, part of our school for today, and the grand finale of climbing to the top of Ubirr rock and looking out on the flat, green plains and wetlands of Arnhem Land...absolutely breathtaking! We sat and absorbed this experience for a while, what a morning tea spot, on top of Ubirr Rock, Kakadu!

In the afternoon, we drove down to the Bowali Visitor Centre, which had a great walk through display of Kakadu flora and fauna information and library, where the kids caught up on journals and reading.

On Thursday, after hitching up again, we drove down the Kakadu Highway and stopped at the Warradjan Aboriginal Cultural Centre where we had the priveledge of learning from Violet, about bush tucker, making damper on a fire, and making string from pandamus palm leaves to make dilly bags. After sitting and learning from Violet, I made my first piece of string...but have a long time to go before I can make a whole dilly bag! We all had a go at eating water lilly buds and bush celery, quite tasty! The cultutal centre display inside was brilliant as well, so much to take in and learn. We have noticed since travelling that the NT is very good at free, learning centres/visitor centres and we have used these a lot as classrooms with the kids.

So, apart from the incredible amount of mozzies, we really loved and appreciated Kakadu, even though so many told us not to bother if we had been to Litchfield. I recommend if you get the opportunity, to see both as they are so vastly different and both equally special places in their own ways.

We made a quick stop in Katherine to stock up on food again on Thursday afternoon before settling at King River Rest Area for the night before heading SE to Barunga Aboriginal Community for their annual Cultural Festival Weekend. Barunga is about 60km SE of Katherine, so on Friday morning we continued out and camped on land just outside the town area (a school and a small grocer shop) with other caravans and tents, ready for the weekends events. On Friday night we sat and watched an Indigenous HipHop Crew and some dance offs with the local kids which was pretty fun and of course, included all the camp dogs! Their was even an Aboriginal Michael Jackson! Its a cold night for the NT, and I have never seen so many campfires in one spot, everyone has one or more going in their frontyard or at their campsites, little orange flames speckle the whole community tonight, keeping everyone warm and a wee bit smokey! Saturday was filled with cultural activities, including learning damper cooking and basket weaving from pandamus palm leaves for the girls, didgeridoo making and spear throwing for the boys. Brie and I tried our hand at basket weaving...pretty tricky and requiring lots of patience...my work is about halfway to being a coaster, a long way from a basket! In the evening, we were treated to a great concert with traditional and contempory dancing, fire dancing, and several Aboriginal bands from all over the NT. We felt so priveledged to be able to be a part of Barunga Community for the weekend and participate in their festival. All very exciting, but by Sunday we were ready to hide away from everybody and process what we have seen and learnt over the past week, as we felt so overwhelmed and overstimulated from both Kakadu and then the Festival! We also could not wait to have showers! It has been a week...don't worry, I have been washing with a bucket, but so nice to shower again! The lovely Katherine will be a great place this week to gather our thoughts and get ready to go west!