Ubirr

Sun 10^th July

East Alligator River and Ubirr Rock Art.

We were up early this morning as we were booked on the 9 o’clock cruise on the East Alligator River.  The cruise was based at the small settlement of UBIRR on the banks of the river. We had been told this was a cruise not to be missed, with a mixture of crocodile spotting and Aboriginal Culture. UBIRR was about 40kms north east of JABIRU.

Unfortunately there was quite a strong wind blowing down the river, and although we spotted several crocodiles, our progress up the river was fairly slow due to the chop and the head wind.  We spotted several crocs along the river bank, these ones had obviously not been conditioned to expect a feed when the boat came past, and just lay there watching us as we cruised by.

Our boat captain and tour guide was an Aboriginal chap, and he gave us a very interesting commentary on what foods the Aborigines could find and use around the river, and what they used the various trees and plants for.  Lots of them for medicinal purposes.

We cruised up river for about an hour, stopping frequently to photograph crocs and look at other wildlife on and around the river.  We finally got to a view point and pulled into the bank. 

This was usually the stage of the cruise where the tour guide gave a demonstration of Aboriginal Spear Throwing, and fish spearing, but unfortunately because we were running behind time we didn’t get to experience this part of the tour.

Back on shore we headed into UBIRR Township for a cuppa at the BORDER STORE, before heading off to see the nearby Aboriginal Rock Paintings we had been told about.  There were several Aboriginal men doing paintings outside the store, and we spent some time watching them and admiring their skills.

Then we headed up to the Rock Paintings sight.  We had no idea just how amazing this experience was going to be.  Quite detailed drawings, some dated at between 20 and 40 thousand years old.  It was absolutely incredible to stand there and look at these paintings and to realise they had been done by a very primitive peoples tens of thousands of years ago.  It certainly gave us a different insight into these people.

Most of the art work had been done on the walls of rock overhangs where they had lived, and under the overhangs, we saw holes in rocks, made over thousands of years, where they had been grinding grain to make flour.

The path around the paintings lead up onto a high rock lookout, with brilliant views over the nearby wetlands, and off to the Northeast the rock escarpments of ARNHEM LAND.

 It was quite a spiritual place, and standing there looking at all this magnificent scenery, it wasn’t hard to understand why the early Aboriginals had such a spiritual connection with the land in which they lived.

UBIRR just doesn’t feature on the Tourist Brochures.  To our minds it was definitely up there with ULURU and the likes of Kings Canyon and Katherine Gorge.  If you ever get to KAKADU make sure you visit UBIRR.  You won’t regret it.

After the Rock Paintings we went back to the East Alligator River to have a look at Cahills Crossing.  This is the point where the road into OENPELLI and Arnhem Land crosses the East Alligator River. 

It is a concrete ford across the river and has been the place of several crocodile attacks in the past.  One of them fatal.  We were not allowed to drive across the ford as you needed a permit to enter Arnhem Land as it is all Aboriginal Land.

From there we returned to our caravan in JABIRU, and then headed off to their Olympic Sized Pool for another swim.  We heard on the news that night that JABIRU had recorded the highest temperature in Australia for the day at 31 degrees, and tomorrow was expected to top that at 32.  No wonder we needed a swim.