Wednesday 8 August – Well we planned for an early start and we certainly got one!  I woke somewhere in the night and woke Grant to ask him what the time was – 2.30am.  Then we both woke some time later and Grant again got up and found that it was 10 past 5am, so there was no point in going back to sleep.  Instead we got up and dressed, had a cuppa, managed to disarm our alarms before they went off and woke everyone in the vicinity, then sat and waited until it was time to walk to the bus stop.

While waiting for the bus we chatted to Sue and Richard from Queensland, who became our friends for the next 3 or so hours. By the time we boarded the boats – there were four of them, and they weren’t all full which was good – it was right on 6.45 when we pulled away from was the jetty on our morning cruise.  Our boat driver (oops! Captain) was Murray and he was a bit of a character.  It was very foggy at the beginning, but by the time we got to the spot which he described as a beautiful place to see the sunrise, the fog was lifting and we had a glorious morning.

He emphasised the point that this was not a cruise designed for excitement, but it was  a nature cruise where we would see lots of bird life, enjoy the waking up of the river, and see a crocodile or three.  Well it was all that and more.  We were out for two full hours, and Murray pointed out heaps of different species, quite a number of crocodiles, including the dominant male of the area – a five metre plus biggie and various wild life in the countryside around the river.  Incidentally we were on the East Alligator River.  We saw jabiru, several species of small but colourful kingfishers, egrets, night herons – which he referred to as Paris Hilton birds as they sit all day looking at themselves reflected in the water – sea eagles, whistling ducks, wild pigs and many other specimens of wildlife.

Two contrasting examples of our sightings.

He then took us to an area where he told us we would get beautiful photos of the still waters and duplicate reflections of the flora on the banks.  It was so peaceful and lovely.

Once back on land we again boarded the shuttle bus for return to the restaurant at the park for breakfast.  As we were about to leave the jetty on the bus, a couple came up to the door of the bus and the woman said to the driver: ‘We drove our car down here, do we come back on the bus?’  To which Dave, the driver responded (as quick as a flash):  ‘No, we can’t fit your car in the bus!’

Breakfast was really nice – similar to what you have in overseas tour travel, with a good assortment of choices.  Sue and Richard saved us seats with them, and we sat at breakfast till about ten o’clock.

Back at the van we changed into cooler clothes (it was a bit chilly on the water) then headed out to explore the area around and about.  First we went to the Mirral lookout where we did the 1.6km walk to enjoy the view.  Classed as moderately steep, it was a bit of a challenge as the day was getting hotter, so once again we had many stops on the way for a rest and a drink.  It was quite a panorama once we reached the top, so we sat there (resting, cooling down) enjoying the view before tackling the descent.  I must admit, I will have no excuses for not going on my regular walk with Sandra once we get back home.  Smooth paths and moderate temperatures should be a breeze!

From there we went to Noarlangie Rock which has a number of excellent examples of ancient aboriginal rock art.  The walk for this one was about one and a half km, and apart from doing the lookout section of the walk – one at each end, it was quite an easy one, but again, you get back really hot and clammy because of the effort to do the more challenging parts.  But they were well worth the walk and the visit.  From there we took a drive to Jabiru (a total of 54 kms from where we are staying) where we had a look around  before buying a well earned cold drink and an ice-cream.

So that was today, and of course with our early start this morning, and all the mountain climbing we have done today, we are fairly tired and won’t be long out of bed.  Tomorrow we will move on towards Katherine.  There is obviously more to see here, but many of the roads in to the sites are four wheel drive, and we know we still have lots of wonderful things to see as we move west.