Katherine Gorge Day 3

Tuesday 31st May

Change of author today, so I hope I can keep up the high standard!

The park is called the Nitmiluk National Park, and is owned by the Jarwoyn people. Nitmiluk means place of the cicada, and on Sunday when we arrived we saw a Blue winged kookaburra eating what appeared to be a large green cicada. The land was returned to the Jarwoyn in 1989, and they have leased it to the federal government for 99 years. It is now jointly managed and employs a lot of indigenous people.

Invited some fellow campers ( two couples) over for a drink after dinner last night, so had an extremely late night. Heck, it must have been 10 pm before we hit the sack !

They were people with similar interests and heaps of off road experience, so we had a great time.

One couple from south coast NSW (retired teachers) are very interested in buying a Topaz. So they want a report after we get home.

A little hotter but still near perfect, so we set off early for a 2 to 3 hour loop walk up to the lookout and then along the escarpment and then back to camp. The views of the gorge were spectacular as you would expect, and birds and flowers so interesting.

Caroline used your walking stick Sue, and found it very helpful (saved her from a fall on the walk).

Lots of different coloured butterflies...bright yellow, black and white, brown and azure, and many others. Amy would have loved them. Managed to get a couple of shots of the Scarlet Jezebel and the Wild Tiger.

Scarlet Jezebel

Wild Tiger

The birds here are a real challenge. Whereas at home I recognise about 99% of calls, which eliminates the need for investigation, here I feel bombarded by unknown calls, which makes life very interesting but difficult. Many of the honeyeaters are very small and restless, which is another challenge. Caroline is a great help with another pair of eyes and ears, and when we meet Rob S at Broome, we’ll have the little blighters licked !

I had what I thought was a bright idea a couple weeks ago, and bought a bird bath to place strategically outside the van. Until today it’s been total failure, but we now have Great Bower birds drinking from it. They are very common around the camp, always looking for handouts. No luck from us.

One of the more interesting plants we saw was the Kapok tree. They are deciduous ! and flower when all the leaves have fallen.

The flowers are a beautiful yellow

 and the seed pods bust open with what looks like kapok

.

The aborigines use the tree as a calendar, as the time of flowering, leaf fall and new leaf growth lets them know when the freshwater crocs are mating, laying, and when the eggs are hatching. The tree and the crocs probably receive the same signals from nature.

This afternoon it’s off for a swim in the pool, then a chill out and bit of planning for the next stage when we will be in Kakadu.

My idea of a chill out is to be in the shade, sitting on a comfortable chair, with binoculars and Pizzey close at hand ! A cup of tea every now and again. No alcohol before 5.30 !

That’s all for now, next post hopefully Jabiru Mon June 6. Not sure if there’s coverage there.