In the Australian Outback the road appears to stretch to infinity. The traffic approaches as if rising from a mirage as it floats across the endless Mitchel grass plains.
In 2012 we travelled through the outback to the Northern Territory. After years of drought two good seasons of rain had produced lush pasture, hay making was in progress, we saw the outback at its best. Now a year later it is once more in the grip of drought with no rain for almost a year since we travelled through.
That winter we travelled to the Northern Territory to explore Kakadu National Park. Kakadu is considered a living cultural landscape. The Bininj Mungguy Aboriginal people have lived on and cared for this country for more than 50,000 years. Their deep spiritual connection to the land dates back to the Creation and has always been an important part of the Kakadu story.
The Aboriginals are the oldest living culture still in existence and their dream time stories say they stretch back to the beginning of creation, into the mists of infinity.
I felt privileged to have the opportunity to explore Kakadu. I felt it had an aura of the ancient Traditional Owners still lingering in the rock art and the tracks and bill-a-bongs that so many years ago the tribes had followed. Aboriginal people were traditionally hunter-gatherers and moved regularly to places where resources were plentiful. There were no permanent settlements, but favoured camping areas were used for many, many generations. Among the temporary dwellings the people used were stringy-bark and paperbark shelters near billabongs, wet-season huts built on stilts on the floodplains, and rock shelters in the stone country.

In the distance, looming over Kakadu, Arnhem Land is a place the present day Aboriginal calls his traditional home, a permit is needed for non-aboriginal people to visit here, it is like going back into the mists of time.

Be ever watchful as the crocodile is also a predator that has been around for thousands of years and will be waiting for the unwary

The roots of an ancient gum tree have slowly, over many years, worked through the rock and clung to life in the surrounding rock

When the storms rage and the lightning flashes across the sky and the violent tropical rain falls the tribes can shelter under the ancient rock outcrops, safe and secure till the storm passes. Stories can be told of the culture passed down from generation to generation. Drawings immortalise the creatures the ancestors saw and hunted
Yes Kakadu is a very special place, a spiritual country of beauty. I feel privileged to have spent 6 days discovering it and learning more about the Traditional Owners that have lived here for so long. I hope that their culture and stories can remain into infinity and not forgotten.
Love this.
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Thanks Dawn
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Stunning shots and thanks for taking me on the tour with you Pomme. I truly enjoyed it. Great post and share. 😀 *hugs*
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Thanks for dropping by Sonel and taking the time to leave a comment, I appreciate it
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What a great Croc photo, Pommepal! Kakadu looks like a wonderful place to explore, and those rock paintings are amazing.
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Those crocs are really formidable Ad you have to keep an eye open for them everywhere around water in the tropics
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wow … great pics. to city slicker like me, it’s amazing how much of Australia is rugged, almost moon-like! your roads look like those in the American midwest … they go on for miles and miles and miles … or would that be kilometers?
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The outback is a bit of culture shock for “city-slickers” and yes it is kilometres over here, but it doesn’t roll off the tongue like miles and miles…
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Beautiful writing, stunning locations and wonderful shots! Bravo~
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Thank you Cindy, it is a place that moved me with its beauty and history
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This looks a wonderful place, Amazing photos, love how those roots blend and reach through the rocks, This is one place I would love to have not only seen, but to stand and feel its vibration… Must have been magical 🙂 Thank you for sharing and hope all is well with you ~Sue xox
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G’day Sue, lovely to have you visit. I know this place would really be in tune with you. It is magical.
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It’s one of the most beautiful places in the world isn’t it. Great shots!
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Thank you Jayde. It is the sort of place that remains in your soul and heart. I feel fortunate to have visited it twice now.
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