Day 12 - Gunlom to Cooinda, Kakadu

Merv told me I had to drive out today - he didn't want to do the slow drive again. We packed up and were on the road by 9am. It took me 1 3/4 hours to drive the 37km. The road was still corrugated. A few cars passed us but there were 4 caravans going in at about the same speed we were travelling.

We stopped and took photos of a massive termite mound. It was way taller than us. There were other tall mounds in the same area.

We were about 100 km from Cooinda. The country is scrubby with a lot burnt off for undergrowth management. We saw some donkeys so stopped to get photos of them.

We arrived at Cooinda about 11.30 and took the pay for 3 nights and stay 4 deal. We thought if we leave after 3 we haven't lost anything. It was good to be setting up for a few days.

We booked for the breakfast Yellow Waters cruise.

After lunch we went for a drive and stopped at the Bowali Visitor Centre. We were very impressed and spent a lot of time going through the display.

The Bininj (collective name for the local aboriginals) have worked hard to have their land and are proud to share their heritage and way of life with visitors. It is very interesting. They are amazing - we have a lot of respect for them.

On the way back we decided to call into Yellow Waters and were lucky to catch half of a talk by a guide. We saw magpie geese, egrets and other birds. We found out that in the wet season where we were standing the water would be over our heads!

We saw a little croc swim by so that made our day.

We came back to camp to cook tea and a have a game of Yahtzee. Merv won.