Rock art in Kakadu, a uranium mine and a sad farewell

The rock art site we visited before heading back to Darwin involved a hike in some rugged terrain (with sand and gravel paths and handrails laid out though), and some rock climbing, but it was just so worth seeing.

The image that was of the greatest interest and certainly the most surprising, was that of a ‘Tasmanian tiger’. There could be no mistaking its form. Clearly the ‘tigers’ had roamed over all of Australia at one point, no doubt before Tasmania split from the mainland. However the image was far too high to climb up to. It was really hard to get a photo of it because it was small image on a huge rugged cliff face, and I do not have a special zoom lens. In any case, you had to balance fairly precariously on a rocky outcrop to capture the image. And now of course our Tasmanian tigers  are extinct - thanks to the white settlers and later populations. 

After we left Kakadu we travelled north to glimpse the large uranium mine nearby. For security reasons you are not permitted to stop and take photos of it, but I did manage to get one clear photo from the speeding bus. The open-cut mine was huge! (And I have visited many mines!)

On the way back to Darwin we saw a number of ‘road trains’, many transporting chemicals to the mine. An Australian ‘road train’ consists of a huge prime mover and four large trailers. They are massive! But without an extensive rail network, these are the only practical solution in a region that has such a sparse population.  

It was with a very heavy heart we finally arrived in Darwin and said goodbye to each other and to Chappy. It was so hard to know our wonderful journey had come to an end.  We had spent 16 days and driven thousands of kilometres with one another, mostly over rough roads,and seen some incredible sights. The rugged beauty of northern Australia really touches your soul in a way that ‘pretty’ landscapes cannot. It has unique power and majesty, and a richness of colour that is a feast to the eye. I determined to see more again, which I did two years later. That will be a later set of stories. 

But in the meantime, I am delighted to say that some of my lovely fellow passengers - from England and Queensland - have remained friends. We still exchange stories of our travels and jokes by email. I hope to see at least two of them again next year! 

Chappy explains what we are seeing.

It was great to see explanations of some of the art. 

As in other sites, it was extraordinary how trees survived on the rocky outcrops, sending their roots right down to the soil beneath. 

The Aboriginals drew wha they saw in their environment. The image on the left appears to be of white fishermen visiting the area long ago - probably from Indonesia.

The Tasmanian tiger.

A small part of the uranium mine.