Yurmikmik

It was a long drive for a short walk but totally worth it. Today we decided to explore another part of Kakadu and ended up in the Southern Part known as the Mary River area. We decided to go for a 4-hour trek from Yurmikmik. We were rewarded by a beautiful and peaceful fall and natural pool at the end of the track. It is funny though that you cannot help thinking about the crocs that might lure from below the water while you are swimming (even though it considered to be a safe place to swim). We also noticed how dry the nature starts to look like. It will definitely be a dry, long and harsh season for some of the wildlife in this park.

Yellow River

After a wonderful sunset yesterday, we started the day with an even more wonderful sunrise cruising through the Yellow River. We did not regret waking up at 5 and enjoyed the very active fauna living along this floodplain. This had to be the highlight of our trip to Kakadu. Seeing all these birds in their natural habitat and most impressively a good number of crocodiles. We then headed for a walk to another amazing Aboriginal Rock Art Site at Nourlangie also providing commanding views of Kakadu's escarpment. Finally, we ended the visit via a 1 hour flight all the way down to the famous Jim Jim and Twin Falls which are still unaccessible by car at this time of the year. It gave us a very different perspective. A wonderful week-end exploring Kakadu overland, over water and from the air.

Ubirr

Today we decided to take a private guide to try and learn more about the Art, culture and geology of the Bininj. And we indeed learnt a lot. Our guide was so entertaining, friendly and knowledgeable. We learnt a lot about the Mimi spirits visiting the mysterious Art Sites on the way to the top of a rocky lookout offering amazing views over the Nadab floodplains at sunset. A powerful experience.

Handsome Devil

As mentioned a few days back when I posted the picture of the Green Tree frog that came to visit me, Australia has a good array of unique species. One of them is the Thorny Devil. It is a kind of lizard that lives in the Red Centre I am currently visiting. Sandplains are its natural habitat. It feeds on insects and despite its appearance is a rather friendly animal. Actually, I just noticed today that the cover of my Lonely Planet was also displaying its picture. Otherwise, I visited Alice this morning which was a bit dead. The Papunya Gallery I wanted to go to is only reopening on Monday after some long Christmas holidays. I hit the (dirt) road south to see some ancient petroglyphs at Ewaninga after having visited the fascinating Desert Park.

Nitmiluk

It really was a lovely way to spend boxing day. And what a lovely weather it was as well. We spent the night in Katherine yesterday and headed to Nitmiluk (Katherine Gorges) this morning. It is not quite the Grand canyon but it is pretty unique and undisputably australian. There are actually 13 gorges. We started by a boat ride on the 3 first gorges and enjoyed the crocodiles, the waterfalls, the vegetation and a few rapids. It gives an interesting perspective to visit the place at water level. But once back ashore we wanted to have another view over this amazing place and chartered an helicopter to enjoy the site from above. I really wish I can find time to make it to Kakadu and Lichtfield one day or the other.

Mojave and Joshua Tree National Parks

The first time I heard of the Joshua Tree was thanks to U2 when they issued their timeless masterpiece 'The Joshua Tree' twenty years ago (see the picture here). I then drove through the Joshua Tree National Park on my way from Los Angeles to Las Vegas a few years later. A classic ride. I will be crossing the same park again today but I was amazed to go through a forest of Joshua Trees on my way from Vegas yesterday. I did not know that the biggest 'forest' of joshuas was actually in Mojave Desert. A weird and beautiful sight.

Death Valley

It was a long drive down to the Death Valley but it was worth every minute. We spent the night on the outskirts since the weekenders booked out the only few rooms available in the area and had to return early this morning to make the most of this very unique park. It is the driest and hottest valley in the United States. It is also the lowest with its bottom reaching 85 meters below sea level. This season is probably optimun as the highest we got today was 24°C. In summer the average for both July and August is 46°C which means that you can easily have some peaks well over the fifties. Actually, the hottest temperature ever recorded in the United States was 56.7 °C at Furnace Creek, during a sandstorm in July sometimes in 1913.

yo-SEM-it-ee

Over 4 hours drive from San Francisco, we reached today the northern tip of the Sierra Nevada. The Yosemite park is gorgeous in all seasons but I admit that it is really enjoyable to take advantage of less crowds, cooler temperatures, beautiful blue skies and autumn colours at this time of the year. We did not see any bears as we did not stay long enough to explore the park anyway but we could still feed our eyes and memories on the glorious and classical views over the valley, the Half Dome and El capitan as you can see from the picture above.