Friday 29th July 2011 (last night at Jabiru)

Reflecting on our walk at noon today, I thought of the saying "Only Mad Dogs and Englishmen go out in the noon day sun." That was what we did but we had hats and water. Down the road from Jabiru (heading towards Darwin), there's a billabong with a large viewing area for bird watchers called Mamakula Wetlands. There's also a 3 km loop walk on flat ground so after a few days of inactivity, we thought we'd have a bit of exercise.

It's quite a pretty place with the path following the loop of the billabong that can seen in the distance. Crocodiles are known in this area so it was good planning to put the walking path away from the water. In the wet, this area would be flooded.

We checked out the bird-viewing area that is well-protected but not camouflaged like a hide. Everyone was really quiet so as not to upset any birds that were close by but these 2 old codgers stomped in, talking at the top of their voices. Must have been deaf as well as ignorant.

bee-eater bird (look closely)

The blackened trunks of the pandanas palms really stand out with the bright green fronds on top as they regenerate after a burn-off. Delicate tufts of spear grass poke through the burnt soil - they don't stay delicate for long; as they grow taller, they become quite strong and flexible. They grow metres in a few weeks. No wonder the traditional owners used them for all sorts of things. They would make a good spear handle.

Plenty of bee-eater birds lived in this area as well as the intermediate egret (not the lesser or the great), willy wagtails, diamond doves, magpie geese and others we could hear but not see.

Bob hasn't outgrown the prankster. I was walking ahead when I heard this loud, crashing noise to my right coming from the scrub. He said that he hadn't seen me move that quickly for a long time. It sounded like some animal crunching through the bush and with much of the foliage being dry from burning off, the sound was amplified. He thinks he's funny!!! Not at the time.

As we neared the end of the walk, he decided to draw a line across the dirt track with large footprints on either side. I'm not sure if the next walker would notice it because most of them have cameras and are looking for birds higher than the ground.  

Stopped off to look at South Alligator River which is very muddy in colour. It's tidal and it looked to have dropped by a few metres since this morning. It looked a lot like clay on the banks but as crocs like this area too, I wasn't going to squish around in it.  

Not longer after we returned to the caravan park, Bobby hopped into the pool. I went in yesterday and it was sooooo cold that I'm heading for the shower block - a cold shower isn't as cold as the pool. 

We leave here tomorrow morning and head for Mary River Crossing and should arrive in Darwin on Monday. Jennifer arrives on Friday (2:00 a.m. in the morning) and we're looking forward to seeing her.