Kakadu - Yellow Water And Nourlangie Regions

Friday - today we headed south to have a look around the middle of the park, we decided to give Jim Jim Falls a miss as it is a 2 hour drive in so it is really a day trip to do it and Twin Falls properly, a good reason to have to come back. We headed down towards Yellow Water wetlands, on the way is the Warradjan Aboriginal Cultural Centre, the centres large display was developed by the local Bibinj/Mungguy people and provides detailed information about Aboriginal culture in Kakadu, it is an excellent place to visit, the displays and information provided is very informative, It was then onto the Yellow Water wetlands which is part of the South Alligator River floodplain, we decided not to take the cruise as it was $90 each and we had already planned to do a tour on Katherine Gorge which we feel is better value. There is a a boardwalk that provides good views across part of the wet lands.

We then went to have a look at Gagudji Lodge  Cooinda, the lodge has a motel, camping area, general store that sells fuel and a Bistro. We decided to have lunch, I had a hamburger and Chris a steak sandwich, it was the dearest hamburger and chips I had ever had at $29, the price of beer was ok at $6 a schooner.

We then headed back up towards our camp and stopped off at Anbangbang which has rock art similar to Ubirr. Anbangbang Gallery has a number of sites that display the rock art.

During the walk through Anbangbang there is a shelter that Aboriginal people have been coming home to for the last 6000 years, it was last used about 20 years ago. Occasional use dates further back 20000 years, when the the climate of the area was drier and food more scarce. An Archaeological dig carried out in 1982 revealed organic objects not usually preserved in the hot, wet climate of northern Australia, safe in the dryness of this shelter. The dig went down 1.5 meters at the bottom section of the shelter before hitting solid rock, it was what they found in this 1.5 meters of dirt that allowed the Archaeologists to determine that the shelter was more than 20000 years old, they have found evidence within the park dating back at least 50000 years.