Day 153: Kakadu National Park, Cooinda

This morning, before the sun rose, we got up for the Yellow Water cruise at Cooinda.

We had heard many a great thing about this cruise. People who we have met along the way were almost wistful about it. Yellow Water billabong is one of the two most anticipated sites in Kakadu, the other being Ubirr rock art and sunset.

Yellow Water was so named when there was an over-abundance of water buffalo in the area. They would stir up the silt in the water making it appear yellow. That is one theory, another is it is named after the algal bloom found floating on its surface. Not so many water buffalo or algal left now allowing the water to remain blue and very still.

The cruise was great. We were freezing though, even with a jumper and socks with our sandals (we were desperate!). The commentary from the barge operator was good. There were three barges in total all doing their own thing so we didn't feel like we were missing out by being behind another barge. It also enabled us to take barge free photos.

Much to our amusement there was a tiny Japanese man with a lens bigger than himself. It was HUGE. He had to use a large tripod as he was unable to hold the weight of the camera and lens. Shame we didn't get a photo!

There was a plethora of bird life. It is said that 30% of Australia's bird life can be found in the Kakadu region. We saw only about five crocs, rather disappointing as we would have preferred to see more. Croc watching is far more exciting than bird watching!

Em

PHOTO ALBUM

2007-07-01 Yellow Waters, Kakadu