A flock of parrots is about the noisiest bunch of birds I've ever heard. They really liked this hotel site.
Don, our guide on the tour, explained the significance of these rock paintings. The last official Rock Painter died 30 years ago, and no local tribal member has been authorized to create this art since. The tradition lives on in other tribes, but supposedly not in this region. The picture of the hand is supposed to reveal a skull in a photograph. Amazingly, it is not visible when viewed directly, but shows up in photos. My shots do not reveal the skull very easily - another tourist got a better image of it - but with time, it appears. Don't feel bad if you cannot see it.
Darwin was 90F when I got here, and Jabiru was 95 for the first day and 100 when I left. I was glad to be back in 90 degree weather, and an air-conditioned hotel room. Sunday I move on the Ayers Rock Resort (and another hotel room for the night) before flying to Adelaide, where the weather is much more temperate.
The rainy season in the NT is Jan-Feb. That's it. The trees are short because they grow so slowly. Many are 100 years old and only 20 feet at the most. Cyclones are a real threat here, as the land is flat and open. This past Feb. the rains were so great that the water is still evident in the floodplain. Very unusual. There are posts in several spots along the roads indicating the depth of the water, and this year the water was 2 meters above the top of the depth indicator, whose pic I post here.
The river beyond this sign flows 70km to the sea, and is a tidal river. That means that it swells and receeds with the tides. When there is a 7-foot tide, the river rises to as much as 2 meters above the road, washing off semi-trailers whose drivers believe their trucks are heavy enough to make the crossing. There are 15-foot crocs here, but they were too far away and in shadow to make a decent picture. Here's an example, however, from the Holiday Inn Crocodile Hotel:
The fish is a barramundi - very tasty when grilled.
Lastly, I leave you with pictures of a poster, detailing the deadliest snakes in the world - all but 3 of which live right here in dear old Australia. Luckily, unless you step on one that has frozen to avoid detection, you are extremely unlikely to ever see one. I also include a picture of some photos posted on the wall in the recption office of the camp at which I stayed in Jabiru, depicting the damage from a cyclone in 2006 (I believe). If you want to get a feel for this place, go to Google, select "Maps" at the top of the page and type in "Jabiru, NT, AU." The Holiday Inn Crocodile was built in the shape of a croc, best viewed from the air.
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