Kakadu: Day Twenty-One (9 November)

Tents do not have air conditioning (unless you leave the flap open, which is not an option in the Australian outback)! After three days of temperatures averaging 45 degrees Celcius, I was accused of having of B(ear)O. Unfortunately they do not make deodorant for teddy bears (well they do - it's called Febreze - but we didn't have any with us).

Today we visited the famous Katherine Gorge which has now been renamed Nitmiluk, after the Aboriginal tribe from the area. Our guide for the tour was a member of the tribe and told us lots about it, including showing us how to play a didgeredoo.

Australia is the only country to have freshwater crocodiles as well as saltwater crocodiles. Freshwater crocodiles are not meant to be dangerous to people (unlike what the Aussies call Salties: the ones we saw on our first day). Nevertheless we decided not to go swimming with the ones here but waited till we got to the nice thermal pools later.

John, our guide, described tonight's campsite as rustic. That turned out to mean an ants' nest on my bed (he gave us a new mattress) and poisonous cane toads in the toilets and showers. The men checked they were safe before we used them.

We've enjoyed our Australian adventure but are looking forward to going back to Darwin and our 4* hotel tomorrow.

Barnaby