Page 12 - The Islander - March '22

Page 12, The Islander

Travel

Kakadu And Arnhem Land

Walk About

By Don Kiselewski, MCC, D.S., Palm Beach Gardens Travel Leaders

There is perhaps no place Plants and animals not
on earth where the human found anywhere else in the
race is more in tune with world are located in Kakadu’s
nature than atop the Northern unique southern hills and
Territory of Australia. It is ridges. The unusual diversity
here that the indigenous of this area’s habitat is
people have learned to read created by hills with broken
nature’s signs and to live ridgelines that have resulted
in harmony with them. For from millions of years of
more than 40,000 years erosion. Stone country is
the Aboriginal culture has still another diverse area
followed these signs and of the park’s east side. The
survived without the life-sustaining agricultural techniques Arnhem Land plateau, which
utilized by the rest of the world. adjoins the park and Arnhem
That portion of the Northern Territory that juts into the Land, is made of sandstone
Van Diemen Gulf is politically divided in two. The western escarpments that range in
portion was set aside by the Australian government as Kakadu height from 100 to 1,000
National Park, while the eastern portion, under control of the feet. These formations and
indigenous people (the Aborigine) is called Arnhem Land. outcroppings form the caves
Even though Kakadu National Park is smaller than Arnhem that have provided shelter to
Land, it’s still the largest national park in Australia. The park the Aboriginal peoples and
itself covers nearly 20,000 square kilometers (7,646 square canvas for their artwork over
miles) and has the distinction of being on the UNESCO World the millennia. Twin Falls in Kakadu National Park
Heritage List for both its cultural and natural heritage. Billabongs and floodplains
Kakadu protects one of the world’s finest and most extensive occupy the South Alligator
collections of rock art. These paintings are tangible reminders floodplain. The wet season
of the Aboriginal people’s long and continuing association with leaves the areas 8 to 12 feet
nature and respect for the area. It is through these paintings, and underwater. This fresh water
the Dreamtime stories, that the recorded history and culture has makes its way to the ocean
been preserved through more than 40 millennia. in an overland river, as the
Kakadu also protects the entire catchments of the South dry season begins when the
Alligator, a large tropical river, and examples of most of water is not replenished.
Australia’s “top end” habitats. From this range of habitats a As the flood plain begins to
remarkable abundance and variety of plants and animals have dry, large areas of water are
developed. Many are rare and not found anywhere else, and trapped, forming ponds and
new species continue to be discovered. lakes that the Australians call
This harmony of culture and nature is truly symbolized “billabongs.” Yellow River
in the World Heritage emblem. The inner workings of these billabong is the largest in
two elements is depicted by a square, which represents the the park. Here is where the
work of man (straight lines and corners), intimately linked crocs and waterbirds gather
to a circle that represents nature, since there are no square as the dry season continues
corners in nature. to evaporate the water from
Contained within Kakadu National Park are six habitats, the billabongs.
each with its own unique characteristics. Most dominant are
the savanna woodlands, which consist mostly of tall grasses Travel on page 13 Tourists stand next to giant termite mounds in Kakadu National Park.
and eucalyptus. Appearing lifeless and monotonous, these
areas actually support a greater variety of plants and animals
than anywhere else in the park. At the opposite end of the size
scale are the monsoon forests, which are only found in small Home Care
isolated patches. Fruit-eating birds and flying foxes keep these
areas’ plants linked together by dispersing pollen and seeds as You Can Trust!
they move about.

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A jabiru, one of the wetlands birds of Kakadu National
Park, Australia