Kakadu- Yellow Water

It is getting noticeably hotter and more humid all the time, and we find that anything more than a short walk really takes its toll.  On Saturday night, when we were discussing plans for the next day, the children groaned at the mention of a bushwalk... and we felt a bit the same! After the children were in bed we talked it over, and decided to see if there was room on and "Animal Tracks Safari". They're not cheap, but it was late and it looked like a unique experience! (click on the link!)  I went to the office to make the booking early the next morning, only to find that they had closed the tours for the season just a few days previously.  Still not wanting to do anything too strenuous, we decided to take a Yellow Water Cruise instead... and found we had just under forty-five minutes to get to the jetty in order to make the 9 am cruise!  One advantage with the hot weather is that dressing doesn't take long...
The tour of the lagoon took two hours- very pleasant, relaxing hours, before the day got really hot.  This was the Kakadu I had imagined- stretches of calm water reflecting the blue sky, large expanses of wetlands, waterlilies in bloom, all sorts of bird life.  We saw several crocodiles.  The guide explained that crocodiles who are new to the area are easily recognised by their lighter colour.  The longer they live in the fresh water, the darker they become due to the algae that grows on their scales.  One of these new arrivals had just been spotted by another male who was intending to defend his territory from the intruder. He swam slowly and threateningly towards his rival and our guide stopped the boat, hoping we would witness a fight. Unfortunately (?) the intruding male decided to submit to the territorial claim of the other and nothing happened.  Both  of them seemed to doze off, ignoring each other!
We did see countless water birds including whistling ducks, kingfishers, herons, darters, little jacanas and a few black necked storks (jabiru).  Just as we were approaching the jetty at the end of the trip, we saw a pair of brolgas who strolled along the bank in a stately manner.

Can you spot the croc?

Lotus flowers.  Not actually a waterlilly at all, but a lotus by any other name is equally beautiful!  The botanical name is nulemba nucifera.

This one is a waterlily- the Blue Lily, in fact, or nymphaea violacea!

Whistling Ducks posing for a family portrait.  The two on the right are little green backed geese.

Black necked stork. These birds are about 1.5m tall.  The white carpet is made up of thousands of tiny waterlillies.

The light-coloured intruder!

brolgas

Getting back before lunch meant that we were able to spend the entire afternoon relaxing, which we did in and beside the lovely swimming pool at the caravan resort, finishing the day with dinner at the bistro.

************

Today we left Cooinda and drove as far as Katherine.  Oom Theo had sent a parcel for Arthur's birthday (he never forgets any of us, does he!) It had arrived just after we left Darwin and we'd arranged for it to be forwarded to Manbulloo Homestead, where we stayed on the way up.  We arrived here at about lunchtime today and will stay two nights.
The children were looking forward to meeting their friend Floyd again, but when we arrived we heard the sad news that his little sister, Lauren, died two days ago in a tragic accident.  They celebrated her first birthday while we were here last time.  The family have moved away, so we won't see Floyd.  It will be a difficult time for them!