East Alligator

Monday 27th July 2009
Today marks our 11th week on the road and it doesn't seem that long ago when we left Wodonga - I can't believe that we have already been on the road for 10 weeks. Our intention was to take 13 weeks, so today was the start of our last 3 weeks on the road.
My flu was bad today, Ilse drove the car - I was only running on half steam and found the going hard, especially during the middle of the day when the temperature was 34°C.
The mornings in Cooinda are cool and very pleasant so we had a leisurely breakfast under the awning and then got on the road heading towards Jabiru. Just outside of Jabiru is the Bowali Visitor Centre which has a fantastic display on local flora and fauna but this time all through the eyes of the traditional owners. In the middle of the centre is a large pond with all sorts of native marine life.
Our next stop was Jabiru, a small township with a population of 2000 and a number of basic facilities and shops. On the edge of town is Lake Jabiru, but as always, no swimming due to crocs.
We filled up the car and found a really good Bakery in Jabiru where we bought lunch before travelling the remaining 40kms to East Allgator and Ubirr.
East Alligator is one of the three Alligator rivers running through the park and out into the sea. The first explorers to come into the area named the three rivers West, East and South Alligator due to the high number of crocs in the rivers. As they had been to America before and knew only Alligators, they couldn't tell the difference between the Alligators and Salties (Estuarine croc).
The photo on the right is taken at the East Alligator River just downstream of Cahill crossing the entry point into Arnheim Land. On the left hand side of Andrea but over on the other shore is a Saltie sunning on the bank, every so often it goes in the water and patrols the shoreline just in case anyone decides to come into the water.
I have often wondered why crocs sit on the river banks with their mouth wide open - the Ranger says crocs have to regulate their brain temperature by opening their mouths to varying degrees and letting the breeze blow through. Their body temperature (they are cold blooded) is regulated by heating up in the sun during the day and returning to the water after sunset as water is warmer than the air during the night. In general, during the dry season crocs are a lot less active than during the wet when the water temperature in is the 30's.
At the Cahill crossing the crocs chase the fish during the tide change, quite a spectacle to witness from the observation platform at the crossing.
Next on the Agenda was the world renown ancient Rock Art at Ubirr, however, after we got out of the car and started our walk Alexander showed how unhelpful he can be, so we turned back to the car and returned back to the caravan where both kids worked on their school work and journals for the whole afternoon.
I had a badly needed afternoon rest and slept for the reminder of the day before getting up to have a shower and publish the blog.