Bloodthirsty mozzies, fishcakes and buffet breakfast

Next stop on our Kakadu adventure was Jabiru - the main town in the park. Bill had developed a nasty earache which he had Google-diagnosed as 'swimmers ear' for which he and Zara attended the Jabiru health clinic. In the meantime, Sash and Kate enjoyed a cold drink at a local cafe - Sash did mazes and wordsearches (latest passion) while Kate read the NT News - a dreadful tabloid newspaper filled with stories of croc attacks and such. The day's headline promised horrifying details of a fatal dog mauling - however when Kate poured over the morbid story it turned out to be a pet dog who was killed by another in a dog fight... Soon enough Bill and Zara appeared with some ear drops and we all decided to cool off and relax in the Jabiru library - an excellent place with a great Indigenous literature collection. Kate blogged and browsed, Bill read to Sash and downloaded, Zara read to herself and we were all as happy as pigs in a mudpit. Long live the airconditioned local library.

We didn't stay in Jabiru - just used the place for its amenities and then moved onto Ubir - famous for world-renowned rock art and for being the gateway to Arnhem Land. We set up and at nightfall we soon found ourselves surrounded by an army of massive mozzies grinning at us and waving their stingers hungrily. We managed to protect ourselves a bit the first night - slaughtering thousands of them by squashing them against the canvas of the trailer - leaving the roof littered with little bodies.

Next morning we visited the rock art site and saw some pretty amazing stuff. Rangers (some local and some white) gave talks about the stories behind the art which made it a lot more meaningful. We climbed past the art to a lookout and were gobsmacked at the view over the floodplains to Arnhem Land - it was gloriously green and open and unexpected. It made us wish we could visit Arnhem Land - but the only way is via a tour which are pretty pricey. Next time.

We had been told of a local secret: great Thai food at Borderstore - a little store near Ubir which happens to be owned by a Aussie guy and his Thai wife. They work like crazy during the dry season - 7 days a week from dawn until late at night, and then close up for the wet and go back to Thailand for rest and to bring back ingredients for the Thai food available in the evenings at the store. As passionate lovers of Thai food we were keen to try it - and we weren't disappointed as it was delicious and authentic. After dinner we drove up to Cahill's Crossing - the road over the river to Arnhem Land which is famous for its many salties. At high tide the crocs can be spotted standing on the roadway looking for fish. Unfortunately the tides weren't high enough and so we hadn't seen during the day, so we decided to go and look for glowing red eyes at night. Disappointingly we didn't see any but we did have an interesting chat to a fisherman who was standing precariously close to the river but who wasn't too fazed about the fact that one of the many crocs could jump up and grab him at any time... Kate was relieved when Bill decided he wouldn't chuck a line in! A drunk fisherman was actually taken at the spot a few years back - mind you he was swimming back and forth through the croc infested river so perhaps it wasn't so surprising...

That night we got massacred by the mozzies. Sash was by far the worst - he looked as though he had caught the chickenpox. We decided that we couldn't bear another night of having our children's blood sucked and so we packed up a day early. Before we left Ubir we wandered through a rainforest along the river. We were thrilled to spot heaps of salties in the water - nice and close to the path and hundreds of chattering flying foxes hanging from the trees. The walk took us towards a sacred women's site with a sign asking men to take a different path and to respect the cultural sensitivities of the area. We decided to all walk the alternative path but as we wandered along we noticed a couple emerging from the women's site. We tried to give them the benefit of the doubt and assume that they couldn't read the sign, but we weren't really convinced... Seriously, how hard is it to respect such a basic request.

Hot, sweaty and covered in mozzie bites, we decided to indulge in a night at the Gagadju Hotel in Jabiru. Anyone who knows Kakadu will know the massive green hotel that is indeed shaped like a crocodile - although this is most apparent from the air. It sounds pretty tacky but is actually kind of cool and seemed like the height of luxury to us. Really, for a family who was thrilled by a lino-floored cabin in the Sterling Ranges, a 5-star resort seemed ridiculously luxurious. We spent the afternoon by the pool where families subtly steered their children away from our son who looked highly contagious. Despite this, the kids managed to team up with a couple of friends and had a wonderful time splashing and playing. We ate dinner in the restaurant and watched Narnia in bed before going to sleep. But the highlight for all of us was indeed the buffet breakfast the next morning. The kids were practically jumping out of their skins with anticipation and we were almost as bad - just disguised it better! Something about long-term camping makes the bottomless plate of the buffet breakfast ridiculously appealing. An hour or so later we rolled out of the resort and back to reality. It was time to drive out of beautiful Kakadu and onto Darwin.

Three sleeping beauties

Looking over the plains to Arnhem Land

Rainforest walking in Ubir