Australia So Much to See

Kakadu National Park - Mamukala Bird Hide and the South Alligator River

After crossing several branches and tributaries of the South Alligator River, we passed the Northern Entrance Information Site and soon sadly left Kakadu National Park.  Nine days was not enough to do the park justice, but we had seen a variety of the features on offer, from the scarp and waterfalls to the vast plains and wetlands filled with wildlife, Aboriginal rock paintings and culture and crocodiles.  

Farewell to wonderful Kakadu.

The Gungarre Rainforest Walk is a 3.6 kilometre walk through monsoon rainforest and open woodland to a small pontoon on Angurrapal Billabong. This walk remains open in the wet season and is a good opportunity to see wetlands at their most spectacular, although the pontoon may not always be accessible depending on water levels.  The walk starts near the private accommodation of Aurora Kakadu which is not far to the west of the South Alligator River bridge.  We'll save that one for a wet season visit. 

Shortly after leaving Mamukala, we crossed the South Alligator River via a high bridge.  There is a large parking and picnic area and boat ramp west side of the bridge.   The river here is wide and the tidal surge was racing in, although from the wet muddy sides of the river, it still had quite way to go.  Mud skippers hopped in the moist light grey mud.  Again we saw large crocodiles in the river here.  Two years later a woman went missing from this very spot; see the news report on the crocodiles page.