Monday 11^th June, 2012

In the morning we drove to the Mamukala Wetland. Here we made a short hike through the bush. We saw a big waterhole with some birds enjoying themselves. The area around the path was mostly burned down. It is normal here that the shrubs are burned down. This is done at the beginning of the dry season, also now. Next morning the fire will be put out by the thaw. Like this the Aboriginals clean every few years a part of the forest. This reduces the changes of big bushfires at the end of the dry season which destroy everything. The Kakadu National Park is owned by the Aboriginals. They leased the country to the government to run a National Park. There are more than 5000 places with rock art in the National Park, but only two of them are allowed to be visited by tourists. One of them is in Ubirr. We mazed at the many rock paintings and hiked up and up. Already in the middle of the hill and the more on the top we had a wonderful view over the country. Then we drove to the Bardedjilidji Walk. At the start we were informed that we should not go to close to the water as crocodiles have been seen lately at the river shore. We hiked through bush to the river. It was a nice hike and we did not meet a crocodile. After we drove back to Ubirr and listened to a ranger who told us about the plain and its history and significance. As the presentation was over the sun slowly set and we enjoyed a beautiful sunset.