Crocs, buffalo, birds and pigs

This morning we went to the Mumukala Wetlands where there is a large observation platform/hide to observe the birds on the water. We hoped that the Pied Geese might have started coming in as we had heard differing stories about when they arrive but we didn’t see any. However, the wetland is beautiful with lovely pink lilies and white flowers also and there are many other birds anyway. Mostly we saw ducks but there was a Heron in the distance every now and then. It is definitely a place to use binoculars to get the full benefit. There is a also a 3km walk adjacent to the wetlands which we started to do but there was no shade along the path at all and we didn’t get anywhere near the wetland after quite a while so decided to go back.
Later we drove into Jabiru airport for our helicopter ride over Kakadu. It was a cloudy afternoon and we were concerned that it would affect the flying conditions or make the views less spectacular but it wasn’t a problem at all. There were four of us on board: Scott our pilot, Jo his wife and the two of us. I sat in the front with Scott and Jo and Fin in the back. We flew with the doors off to get better views so all that was holding us in was our seatbelt. I felt a bit concerned about that at first but once we got going it was all forgotten. We had to wear headsets and press a button if we wanted to speak. Mine was on the floor under the mat near my left foot. To talk I had to press it down and if I couldn’t hear myself speak then nobody would hear me. I had to move my microphone each time because the camera pushed it out of the way.
It was a fabulous experience! We flew over so many different types of country including savannah woodlands, wetlands, rocky ridges and the Alligator River which divides Kakadu from Arnhem Land and winds its way through the countryside. There were lots of water birds including Pied Geese, Pelicans, and Herons and we saw a few crocodiles, some wild black pigs and a very big bull buffalo. The countryside in Kakadu is so diverse and so beautiful and seeing it from the helicopter was amazing and definitely worth doing. If you ever come to Kakadu allow yourself that treat – you won’t regret it! Go to Kakadu Air and ask for Scott. He was able to bring the chopper down low when there was something interesting to see and manoeuvre around so the sun was in the right place. I know we wouldn’t have got the same view from a small plane. The whole experience is one you just have to have yourself to really understand what it is like and how awe inspiring our country really is. I pressed my button at one point and just said, “Wow!” and Scott replied, “Yeah, it’s pretty amazing isn’t it?” Words cannot describe what we saw and I hope some of my photos can do it justice but the best pictures will remain in our minds and we will have them forever. Well, I will; Fin keeps telling everyone he will be senile when he is old so I guess he might forget. LOL!
When we got back we went for a walk down to a billabong just behind this resort. Fin discovered it this afternoon when he was walking around while waiting for the washing machine to finish. Unfortunately we didn’t use insect repellent since we were in a hurry because our flight went longer than expected and it was getting dark. We had a torch though and we found as we walked along there were more and more creatures moving about in the leaf litter. We saw quite a few lizards, a snake and, what was probably making the most noise, cane toads. We also saw a larger kingfisher than the one we saw last night but it flew away when we kept our torch on it too long. I guess it hadn’t settled down for the night yet. After slapping mozzies for a while and having seen a few things we decided we had better head back since we had a dinner booking for 7.30pm. It’s amazing eating dinner in the restaurant here; there are so many languages being spoken by the various tourists from all over the world it would seem but mainly from Europe. Many of the staff is from overseas also and obviously on working holidays in Australia.