Darwin and Kakadu National Park

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We headed up to the Top End of Australia for our first three day weekend... destination Darwin and Kakadu National Park. Leaving the airport, we got our first glimpse of the heat and humidity we would have to suffer through the rest of the weekend. To give you an idea, on Saturday Kakadu reached 43 degrees C (about 110 degrees F) and was near 100% humidity. As soon as we walked outside, we were already drenched in sweat. Ahh, the joys of the lovely tropics at the beginning of the wet season....

Territory Wildlife Park
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The first stop on our way to Kakadu was the Territory Wildlife Park. There were heaps of exotic birds, venomous snakes, and cute wallabies. There was also a billabong where a croc lives. Unfortunately we couldn't see her.

We continued on our way to Kakadu National park which is listed as a World Heritage site both for its natural environment and for it cultural aspect for preserving the Aboriginal culture. It's a pretty easy drive from Darwin, only a couple hours. We found out that the signs for wallabies crossing is as abundant as the deer crossing signs we see back home. And you better pay attention! A wallaby ended up darting right in front of us! We actually hit the poor thing, but it was too quick and continued on its way...hopefully it was alright.

watch out for the crocs!
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The next day we drove from Jabiru to Cooinda and took a boat cruise on the Yellow River. It was another scorcher! On the cruise we saw heaps of birdlife again and this time got a real treat seeing five different crocodiles in and along the river. We also visited the Warradjan Aboriginal Cultural Center and Nourlangie Rock. Nourlangie Rock is beautiful and houses some Aboriginal Art. However, the annoying non-stop flies buzzing around our heads made a very quick trip at the rock. We now know the true meaning behind the 'Australian salute'!!

billabong at the Territory Wildlife Park
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We spent our last night in Darwin and explored some of the nightlife. Sunday morning we visited the Nightcliff Markets and took in some views of the coast before heading back to Brissy.