Today we’re travelling to Kakadu National Park, about 300kms from Darwin in the Northern Territory.
C is for COOINDA
Cooinda offers one of Kakadu’s hotel options, Gagadju Lodge Cooinda. More importantly it’s also home of the famous Yellow Waters cruise which is a year-long tourist opportunity. For my money it’s a “must do” activity if visiting the Top End of the Northern Territory and this will be our visit on . Cooinda provides a hub for a variety of tourist activities from visiting Nourlangie Rock to checking out the bird life (but preferably not the crocs) on Anbangbang billabong.

Cooinda is also the neighbour to a wonderful Indigenous museum, the Warradjan Cultural Centre which offers the visitor the opportunity to learn more about Indigenous life and culture. The video-taped interviews are well worth listening to. It’s sometimes called the Turtle House because it’s in the shape of a turtle which is really only apparent from the air.

Yellow Waters is a bonzer tourist opportunity and is enjoyable in either the Wet or the Dry Season. In the Dry season, Yellow Waters is a haven for bird life as the surrounding billabongs and waterways contract. The crocs also quite like to sit on the banks to sun themselves when the water’s a bit chilly. Like any wildlife opportunity what you see varies enormously but on the early morning or late afternoon cruises you are more likely to see birds. Of course in the Dry, being peak tourist season, there’s also a proliferation of tour buses etc. Visitors who venture forth in the Wet need to be aware they won’t see as much bird life, or as many crocs, but it’s so tranquil boating through the laneways of overhanging paperbarks (Melaleucas).

Why Visit: If you love nature, have a fascination with birds, are obsessed with crocodiles or want to learn more about traditional Aboriginal life and culture.
FYI: There’s are a couple of maps on my A to Z planning post which will help you to pinpoint where today’s tourist spots are situated.
TODAY’S AUSSIE-ISMS
Cranky: cross or in a bad temper
Crank: someone who’s a bit obsessed about something (hmm another name for family historians)
Calithumpian*: a description used for someone with no fixed religious affiliation, or perhaps doesn’t want it known. eg “She’s a Calithumpian not a Catholic/Methodist/Anglican”
Cobber*: Once a vitally important word in the Aussie lexicon, this term has progressively disappeared. It was very much in vogue at the time of World War I and expresses something beyond mere friendship – a deep link between men who could rely on each other in times of great need or danger like the outback or war. “Don’t forget me Cobber” is the name of a book about WWI men at the Battle of Fromelles.
Charge like a wounded bull: an exorbitant price being charged for something. “You don’t want to shop there mate, they charge like a wounded bull.”
Crook: usually meant to signify someone is unwell (he’s feeling a bit crook today). Alternatively, it means he/she is something of a thief etc “he’s a crook, he’ll charge like a wounded bull”.
Carry on like a pork chop: make a fuss (She/he’s carrying on like a pork chop because he didn’t win the game).
Chunder: vomit aka “Technicolour Yawn” or “Driving the porcelain bus” (especially with a hangover)
Join me tomorrow for an excursion several hundred kilometres down the Stuart Highway.
I Like the virtual tour of Australia. i will be back.
Thanks Joe, look forward to your visits 🙂 Pauleen
“CHUNDER”!! I haven’t heard this in years, this one made me giggle!!
http://www.mydestinationunknown.com
AtoZ Participant
It’s such an evocative word 😉
Thanks for being part of the A-Z. I enjoyed your C post and breezed through A and B to look at the photos. Like the word definitions at the end of your posts.
Thanks for visiting Margot and pleased you enjoyed it.
A beautiful place… thank you for the lovely pictures: enticing 😉
Thanks Sisyphus, I wonder if the pictures will encourage anyone to visit. It’s a long way to come but it’s worth it:-)
Very nice post, took quite a while to load but that may just be on my end. You got me laughing out loud at the office and everyone looking at me as if I’m nuts.
Chat later, Geoff.
Sorry it took ages to load Geoff. It doesn’t seem to on other computers here and mostly I’ve downsized my photos (perhaps I forgot with one of these?). Glad you got a laugh or two even if it did raise eyebrows. Pauleen
Haha VERY cool! I love the theme. That location looks really lovely and I’d like to spend some time there! Thanks for the Aussie-isms too haha
Thanks for visiting Katka. There’s lots of lovely places to see. The Aussie-isms seem to be very popular.
Hi,
Thanks for dropping by my blog.
I love all the C words you share. Chunder, of course, has put Men at Work’s, “the land down under,” song in my head.
I’m curious what bonzer means, though!
I’ve wanted to visited Australia for ages, as much for the slang as all its natural beauty!
Tui
~Tui Snider
@mentalmosaic
http://www.mentalmosaic.com/blog
Thanks Tui…hadn’t even put the song to my mind at the time;-) Bonzer is the equivalent of great, fantastic. So going for a suggested fun outing might be bonzer (eg would you like to come for a picnic, ? Yes that’d be bonzer). Alternatively she’s a bonzer girl meaning she’s a nice person etc etc. Actually it’s a word that’s rarely used these days and the younger ones probably haven’t heard of it. Thanks for visiting. Pauleen
I love roads with views like that 🙂
We have lots of roads with awe-inspiring views or just wide open skies, but there are also some dead boring ones too of course 😉
Of course, but nice to drive on the ones with a view. Hopefully they lead to somewhere you want to go!
Indeed Pete 🙂
Interesting post. Beautiful pictures.
Sunni
http://sunni-survivinglife.blogspot.com/
Thanks Sunni.
I was also amazed at the size of many of the termite nests and have some gorgeous photos of the new growth against the black of burn off.
I look forward to reading more
There’s great images aplenty up here Sharon as you’re aware. I have a post somewhere about June last year showing exactly that…the lime green of cycads against the fire-burned bush.
Love the Chunder alternatives!
🙂