Ubirr and the Need For Water

On our second day we though we'd head up to the border of Arnhem Land.

Quite a long drive along roads where the flood depth signs were there aplenty. The map showed that the plains to our left would be lakes in the wet season. On our right the landscape broke out into majestic sandstone cliffs.

Arnhem Land is Aboriginal Land, off-limits to white folks without a permit, and actually a pretty vast expanse of land. On its border is a little shop, a river with boat tours and a road to a site called Ubirr which boasts panoramic views and Aboriginal Art.

We pitched up at the almost-deserted campsite and picked ourselves a suitable spot in the middle of a forest near a disconcerting promontary of sandstone.

Once the tent was pitched and the flies acclimatised to, we set off in search of further adventure.

Eloise was v. keen to go boating so we went and checked that out, but had missed the last one of the day. We made a note to check back tomorrow and proceeded to Ubirr.

It was belting hot, guessing the mid-thirties, so hats were worn as we set off and before long Eloise announced that actually she needed the toilet so around we turned to perform that function.

Before long we'd set off again and not long after that we'd miraculously drunk half our water.

We were at our second rock art site: Aboriginal naive, dated to around 5,000 years old - when Eloise took a dive and grazed a knee.

Just around the corner though we were treated to the sight of a one-legged park ranger bearing medical supplies. He was a very nice bloke and after raising eyebrows at our hydration policy he gave us some water, with which we proceeded to climb the rocks looking at further rock art which improved as we went round and became actually quite remarkable.

We headed back to the truck to top up our water bottles and got back to the rock for some ranger talks and sunset over the plains.