FROM BOTTOM TO TOP: Northern Kakadu

Ripper rock art, menacing crocs and river-crossing Commodores

Did you know Kakadu National Park is home to more than 280 bird species, 10,000 different species of insects, 117 reptiles, 60 mammals, 53 freshwater fish and more than 2000 different plants?

It’s the only park in the world that protects the entire catchment area of a whole river system, features unique ecosystems and boasts a continuous Aboriginal culture dating back as far as 65,000 years.

It’s on the UNESCO World Heritage List for both cultural and natural values and, like the rest of the Northern Territory, has a raging wet season that few of the park’s 200,000 annual visitors get to witness or could even imagine.

It’s hard to get your head around all this, but a few days in the northern, most touristy part of the 20,000sq.m park with its diverse wetlands, river systems and accessible Aboriginal art sites, at least allows you to get a feel for the place…

Settling down at the relatively ritzy Cooinda Lodge, we see more campers than our whole time in southern Kakadu. One of the reasons (apart from a well-stocked bar, big screen TV and live band) is the extremely popular Yellow Water cruises just up the road.

We put the alarm on and hop on the earliest 6.45am boat tour, and are rewarded with plenty of birds including three species of kingfisher, and lots of estuarine crocodiles including ‘Max', a 5m long celebrity saltie who comes up so close to the boat it's like he’s trying to herd us out of his territory! We also enjoy a cracker sunrise and excellent on-board commentary – almost justifying the $250 family pass…

Also well worth a visit is the Bowali Visitor Centre, just off the highway before you get to the mining town of Jabiru. The interesting and informative displays provide answers to all your questions about Kakadu, and if you still have some you can go to the information desk or grab a DVD copy of the superb ABC documentary ‘Kakadu’.

You can also access two of the 4000-odd known Aboriginal art sites in Kakadu from here. It's a nice respite from the scorching sun to wander through the rock shelters where the 'locals' lived before heading up to the look-out for views over the escarpment, at the Nourlangie rock art galleries, or visit the even more impressive Ubirr rock art galleries, about 40km from Jabiru.

We arrive at 4pm in time for a two hour free guided walk by a local ranger, which helps shed light on the significance and meaning of the well-preserved paintings, some of which could be up to 20,000 years old.

The tour culminates on top of the big rock, for stunning 360 degree views over the Nardab floodplains and Arnhem land, and it's a great perch to watch the sun go down.

After the rock art, perhaps the best free show in town is at nearby Cahills Crossing, which provides a vehicle route across the East Alligator River to Arnhem Land if you have a permit.

There are two main attractions here at high tide: the big crocs move in to chase the fish, and a range of vehicles – including low-slung Commodores and Falcons – tempt fate by crossing the concrete platform as the high tide rushes in.

With some time up our sleeves we stop at a few interesting places along the Arnhem Hwy on the way back to Darwin. These include a night at the picturesque Mary River Crossing Resort, which offers nice shady, powered campsites among grazing wallabies and a diverse bird population. Have a tasty meal or drink in the bistro and you also get the chance to handle Neiko, the six-year old Carpet Python that lives in a tank near the bar.

The wetlands around here are a birdwatcher’s paradise, and to get a taste we head out early one morning to Fogg Dam Conservation Area, enjoying a stroll through the forest and along the boardwalk where we spot a couple of River Kingfishers; our fourth Kingfisher for the trip. If you ever considered taking up the hobby of ‘twitching’ this is the place (a third of Australia's bird species are found in Kakadu)!

Next stop is Darwin, which promises a very different cultural experience to the one we’ve just had. There we will continue to take advantage of mains power, as without the cooling breeze of a roof-top air-conditioner especially at night, this Melbourne family could end up completely troppo…

FROM BOTTOM TO TOP: Devil's Marbles
FROM BOTTOM TO TOP: Banka Banka
FROM BOTTOM TO TOP: Mataranka

FROM BOTTOM TO TOP: Litchfield National Park
FROM BOTTOM TO TOP: Southern kakadu

FROM BOTTOM TO TOP: Northern Kakadu

Tags