Big Trip

Day one of our biggest trip so far. We're off to Kakadu National Park, and western Arnhemland with Lords Safaris. First stop: some wetlands at Fogg Dam, the site of an abortive rice-farming project. Our first glimpses of some of the amazing bird life out here. More vast horizons - the terrain here is very flat, mostly flood plain, and the vistas just go on for ever. It's impossible to photograph.
After that, we went on the incredibly cheesy-sounding Jumping Crocodile Cruise. It was actually very good. Great commentary, and highly entertaining. Varying sized crocodiles appear out of the undergrowth as you cruise up the river, and then jump up to half their body length, and more in the case of one of the smaller ones, out of the water in a bid to get a lump of pork which is being dangled from the upper deck. We didn't see any of the larger male crocs as they are too busy breeding at the moment, but they sound like charming creatures: 6+ metres long, 1.5 tons, names like Aggro, Bogart & Stumpy. Aggro only has one leg, having lost all the others in fights. Nice.
More wetlands & bird life, followed by a Yellow Waters Cruise, with more crocodiles, pink water lilies (good tucker, apparently), white-bellied sea eagles, and some beautiful little kingfishers. Ended the day at the Crocodile Hotel, a Holiday Inn shaped like a crocodile, in the national park. After dinner we were regaled with a torrential storm, with incredible thunder & lightning. By far the most spectacular we've ever seen.