Cooinda

25 July

Yesterday we got out and about and saw something of Kakadu.

We drove over to Jabiru, the national park township.  It is a well set out little village of about 1000 souls not all that far from the Ranger uranium mine, a huge open-cut pit seemingly right in the middle of the national park.

Jabiru has a very well maintained shopping centre providing all of the essential services.  It was a public holiday here in the Northern Territory yesterday and so not a lot was happening.  I suspect not a lot happens here even on work days.

We started off with a cup of coffee in the local "greasy spoon" cafe and very pleasant it was too.  We discovered that the town supports a large Foodlands supermarket selling a wide range of products.  While we were in Darwin we searched high and low for a shop that sold small fans but to no avail.  Yes, you guested it, we found one in the Foodlands store.  Not quite what we wanted but it is doing the trick very nicely.

After having a good look around Jabiru and filling up at the BP servo, we called in at Bowali Visitor Centre to learn a little more about the park.  They were showing a very informative set of films about the park in the Theatrette. We could have sat there all day watching them, they were so interesting.  But time was marching on and so we pulled ourselves away in time to get to our next port of call, the Warradjan Aboriginal Cultural Centre.

The Centre is well worth a visit.  As well as the usual shopping opportunities, it contains a series of very well presented displays that explain a good deal about the culture of the local Bininj/Mungguy people, the traditional owners of what we call Kakadu National Park.  As with most cultural centres, photography is banned here so, no photos I'm afraid.

By the time we had finished at the Cultural Centre it was more than hot enough for a swim so we went back to the caravan park.  I have to admit that we didn't dive straight into the pool.  We stopped off at the Bistro for a bowl of hot chips (french fries, for my US readers) and a schooner of XXXX Gold (for my US readers, sorry this is untranslateable) for me and a lemon, lime and bitters for Bev; most welcome.

Later this afternoon, we are going to do a two hour cruise on Yellow Water Billabong.  This is going to cut into our swimming time, but you can't be in two places at once.  I am hoping that the cruise will provide many photo opportunities in which case I should have a few pictures to attach to the next post.