Jabiru – Cooinda (Yellow Waters) – Jabiru – Pine Creek (ca. 300 kms)

Up at crocodile’s fart, to join the Yellow Waters Billabong cruise at 0645! Our Aboriginal host on the boat subjected us to a never-ending monologue on everything he, and his Mum, and his Dad, and his family, knew about Kakadu and Arnhem Land.  By the end of the trip, I was ready to both throttle him and embrace him as a brother. Honestly, I warmed to him, and his enthusiasm as the trip proceeded. Clearly, his Mum was a huge influence on him, and he quoted her and her stories at every opportunity.  My favourite was when his Mum was leading a tourist boat trip, noticed some snakes in the water, and proceeded to fish/hoist said snakes into the tourist boat, well, as you do! And, then there were the crocodiles and the birdlife, both amazing. At one point, he stopped the boat’s engines, stopped talking, and we drifted between the paperbarks on either side, as the sun slowly rose.

We returned to Jabiru, packed up the camper trailer (ca. 1.5 hours) and headed south out of Kakadu to Pine Creek.  We are enjoying the luxury of an air-conditioned cabin tonight. Bruce cooked a delicious dinner of salmon, sweet potatoes and loads of salad.  We headed to the adjacent pub for a refreshing beer. Good day!