​May 31 Further along the top side of the green triangle.

The road was fringed with stretches of burnt out under growth particularly spear grass which can grow to 2-3 metres tall during the wet. The aboriginal practice of spot burning was evident throughout the park. Much less severe and allows for a mosaic of new growth rather than the blanket burns that we are used to and which we had seen further down the track.

A deceptively tranquil billabong on the Mary River. Along with fish large and minute there were big bities in this water. We are scaredy cats so we kept back from the edge having seen how far crocs can launch themselves from the water . Shudder! But it looks soooo idyllic .... looks can be deceptive as we know.

The green bush was broken here and there with flashes of bright yellow flowers marking the location of kapok trees. Remember kapok mattresses and pillows?

Kapok flowers being shown by my assistant! They are so vibrant and larger than I imagined.

Everything gets eaten up here in this tropical hot house. But somehow there is always enough to keep the whole thing ticking along.

And we travelled on still crossing broad rivers and swampy wetlands including the Mary river and the West and South Alligator rivers. We saw so many waterbirds. One of my favourite was the jacana which walks across the Lilly pads (also called the Jesus bird). They are so cute with enormous long legs and spreading toes and what looks just like a bright red Bougainvillea flower perched jauntily on top of their heads.
We turned south towards Pine Creek at Jabiru and camped at Cooinda. Boy was it busy there! Lots to see including a billabong cruise which we didn't do and a brilliant aboriginal cultural centre ..... more later. ....

I'll tell you more about the seasons of Kakadu. Zoom in and read the changing seasons but will describe it all shortly if you can be patient.