ALONG THE STUART HIGHWAY INTO KAKADU NATIONAL PARK

Staying first at a camp called Mardugal - the usual dry dusty underfoot, and no more power, water, radio, phone or TV, just an amenities block -showers/toilets. We spent our time driving to local sites to view rock art, one picture would be painted over another - no reverence for another's work, except if it was deemed to have been done by a "mimi spirit" (creation ancestors). There was a drawing of a person who had - they got swollen joints (arthritis) Using rocky outcrops
sometimes they painted about their hopes for a good hunting trip - ceremonies - the native animals, kangaroos, turtles, fish, sometimes in an xray style - showing the inner organs, tracing outline of their hands or imersing them and puting on the wall as children do at kindergarten, there was ships which were the Mocassans, a white man shown with his hands in his pockets.
They used ochre, blood, charcoal, blood, iron stained clays to produce red, orange & yellow.
As they can be easily removed by natural processes e.g. rain, the rangers use lines of silicon to form a drip rail above to deter any from washing over them.
A Ranger presented a slide show one night about aboriginal languages and told how they had only 6 different names and everyone had one of them and everyone else who had that name became their auntie or uncle, and some of the facts about the rock paintings.
Pitch black night, there were no lights you had to take a torch to negotiate the uneven ground.
Moving on to another ground called Merl - same deal about conveniences, showers and toilets for a cost of $10 per head.
At Merl there was some fantastic rock formations within walking distance, a lot of the ground was blackened by the fires used to control weeds and cause the plants to grow fresh shoots.
140 million year old escarpments combined with flood plains - very beautiful and eye opening, causing one to realise what a tiny speck one is in the overall scheme.
One day we went to fish in the East Alligator River by a boat ramp and a crossing into Arnhem Land, which we were told we needed a pass to enter, however we stayed on this side.
Whilst the boys fished along this tidal river came first one crocodile then a second, third, fourth and a fifth - WOW - sometimes they just let the tidal river move them along in their search for fish and other times they rolled down into the water surfacing we knew not where. Each time they did that we moved further up the bank, because a ranger had told us they could move at 55 klms for the first 5 metres if following a possible meal. Kev fished on behind a tree which had fallen along the riverbank, but the rest of us just gawped - binoculars and cameras got a workout that afternoon. No fish were caught by anyone - funny that - I reckon they were all eaten by the crocs.

Another day we drove out to Ubirr Rock -more rocky outcrops - climbing a graduated trail for about 1 klm pausing to look at more examples of rocks and art - pausing at times as rangers were giving talks about crocks - rock art - language - aboriginal heritage - as we climbed the breeze got up and was a lovely cooling element, the aboriginals used to climb up there to get relief.
Then at the top there was a wonderful 360deg. lookout, I did not climb the steep last bit, but I still had a wonderful view of the wetlands and billabongs and further mountain ranges - Once again many photos.
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