The World Around Us

Kakadu National Park

Country: Australia by Lisette

30-10-2004

100% Humidity and 43 degrees Celsius; and that’s only one of my flashbacks. Few other instant memory sparks: the only dry waterfall I have ever seen, Aboriginal cave paintings, changing landscapes (savannah, wetlands, tropical forest), sleeping under the stars with crocodiles lurking nearby, and swimming in well hidden lakes.

The downside of traveling before the start of the rainy season was that the famous Jim Jim Falls were really, really dry! The upside was that it made climbing the rocks and finding the cave paintings much easier.

Wait a minute.. Did I say it made climbing easier? If memory serves me well, it took me a while to get better at dealing with heights and walking on rocks. I went with the group of tourists I was traveling with in the park to this enormous leveled rock to see the sunset. The sunset was beautiful, at least the little bit that I noticed of it. I was too concerned with parking my ass on the ground, hoping I wouldn’t slide off. (I know, this is quite ridiculous, but sufferers from vertigo do things slightly different once they’re up on the rocks!)

What really happened was that my face turned pale and became distorted. The guide pulled me up and a fellow traveler held my hand as we took baby-steps together to get down. Slow breathing and concentrating on about 1 meter in front of me was the best I could do. I owe my life to these wonderful people!

If you love reading about how nuts I go when on a rock or mountain, read my post about the Tongariro Crossing.

Aboriginal cave painting

Sunrise.