Page 10 - The Shores of Jupiter - March '22

Page 10, The Shores
Kakadu And Arnhem Land

Walk About

By Don Kiselewski, MCC,
D.S., Palm Beach Gardens
Travel Leaders
There is perhaps no place
on earth where the human
race is more in tune with
nature than atop the Northern
Territory of Australia. It is here
that the indigenous people
have learned to read nature’s Twin Falls in Kakadu National Park
signs and to live in harmony
with them. For more than anywhere else in the park. At the opposite end of the size scale
40,000 years the Aboriginal culture has followed these signs are the monsoon forests, which are only found in small isolated
and survived without the life-sustaining agricultural techniques patches. Fruit-eating birds and flying foxes keep these areas’ Tourists stand next to giant termite mounds in Kakadu
utilized by the rest of the world. plants linked together by dispersing pollen and seeds as they National Park.
That portion of the Northern Territory that juts into the Van move about.
Diemen Gulf is politically divided in two. The western portion Plants and animals not found anywhere else in the world are underwater. This fresh water makes its way to the ocean in an
was set aside by the Australian government as Kakadu National located in Kakadu’s unique southern hills and ridges. The unusual overland river, as the dry season begins when the water is not
Park, while the eastern portion, under control of the indigenous diversity of this area’s habitat is created by hills with broken replenished. As the flood plain begins to dry, large areas of water
people (the Aborigine) is called Arnhem Land. ridgelines that have resulted from millions of years of erosion. are trapped, forming ponds and lakes that the Australians call
Even though Kakadu National Park is smaller than Arnhem Stone country is still another diverse area of the park’s east side. “billabongs.” Yellow River billabong is the largest in the park.
Land, it’s still the largest national park in Australia. The park itself The Arnhem Land plateau, which adjoins the park and Arnhem Here is where the crocs and waterbirds gather as the dry season
covers nearly 20,000 square kilometers (7,646 square miles) and Land, is made of sandstone escarpments that range in height from continues to evaporate the water from the billabongs.
has the distinction of being on the UNESCO World Heritage List 100 to 1,000 feet. These formations and outcroppings form the Almost 500 square kilometers are tied up in the tidal and
for both its cultural and natural heritage. caves that have provided shelter to the Aboriginal peoples and coastal flats on the northern tip of the peninsula. Mangrove forests
Kakadu protects one of the world’s finest and most extensive canvas for their artwork over the millennia. that run through this area are ideal for fish breeding, especially
collections of rock art. These paintings are tangible reminders Billabongs and floodplains occupy the South Alligator
of the Aboriginal people’s long and continuing association with floodplain. The wet season leaves the areas 8 to 12 feet Kakadu And Arnhem Land on page 11
nature and respect for the area. It is through these paintings, and
the Dreamtime stories, that the recorded history and culture has “Service is our number one priority”
been preserved through more than 40 millennia.
Kakadu also protects the entire catchments of the South 561-743-0070
Alligator, a large tropical river, and examples of most of
Australia’s “top end” habitats. From this range of habitats a www.palmspoolservices.com
remarkable abundance and variety of plants and animals have
developed. Many are rare and not found anywhere else, and new
species continue to be discovered.
This harmony of culture and nature is truly symbolized in
the World Heritage emblem. The inner workings of these two
elements is depicted by a square, which represents the work of
man (straight lines and corners), intimately linked to a circle that
represents nature, since there are no square corners in nature.
Contained within Kakadu National Park are six habitats,
each with its own unique characteristics. Most dominant are
the savanna woodlands, which consist mostly of tall grasses
and eucalyptus. Appearing lifeless and monotonous, these areas
actually support a greater variety of plants and animals than
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A jabiru, one of the wetlands birds of Kakadu National
Park, Australia

The Gagudju Crocodile Hotel