5 days in Kakadu 22 - 27 Aug

Coming from the south you have no idea how the weather really works in the top end.  You hear about the wet and the dry, but I guess I sort of equated this to our seasons of summer and winter, even though I knew that it was hot in the dry.  The aboriginal people across the top end have a much better idea articulating six seasons which make much more sense.

It turns out that we had arrived in the Northern Territory in Wurreng (cold weather season) but this year the hot dry, Gurrung, arrived early (while we were in Darwin,)so by the time we got to Kakadu it was really hot everyday.  We were staying at the Jabiru caravan park (a large and shady park) which had a large shaded pool which we gratefully enjoyed every day.

Kakadu is a very large national park with accommodation based in Cooinda and Jabiru. The rangers have a visitor centre at Jabiru and a cultural centre at Cooinda.  We started with a visit to the Bowali Visitor Centre which is very comprehensive.  There are walk through displays, a DVD on Kakadu and even a library which the boys and I discovered while the others had a coffee at the café.  The library also had two books made about Kakadu by local primary school kids which our boys thoroughly enjoyed.  We also went to the Warradjan Aboriginal Centre before our yellow water cruise and really liked it as well, the material was not repetitive but added a new dimension to visiting Kakadu.

I would recommend a visit to either centre at the start of a stay in Kakadu as apart from the wide range of places to visit in the park, the rangers also run numbers of free talks and activities.  The staff were very helpful explaining what was on offer and making suggestions about what would work for us during our stay.

Cahills crossing and Mangarray Walk

You can only fish the crossing at low tide for obvious reasons.

We started our exploration with a drive to the east alligator river where we walked through the Mangarray monsoon rainforest walk where we saw lots of fruit bats.  We had our lunch overlooking Cahills crossing (the only crossing from Kakadu to Arnhem land) watching 3 or 4 crocs lazily swimming up and down the river.

Painting with traditional Arnhem elders

One day a week at the Border Store something special happens, anyone can paint with traditional Arnhem artists.  They teach you how they paint, tell you their stories (with the help of the ranger), make traditional brushes from the pandanus plant.  Our kids loved this so much in fact that they came home and painted Xray style paintings for father’s day and they are still picking up grass sticks to be their aboriginal art brushes.

 Ubirr with the rangers

 The rangers run a guided walk along the 1 km circular track which goes past a number of fascinating Aboriginal rock art sites before climbing up to the top of a rocky lookout with views over the Nadaab floodplain.  With the guide this walk took over two hours during which we were provided with information about the history of Kakadu and the Aboriginal art, including a discussion of some law paintings in what could be described as the oldest classroom in Australia as this is where the indigenous children learn the law as well.  The walk, unfortunately, was conducted through the heat of the day (11 – 1) but the talk was great.

Cruising the East Alligator river with Guluyambi

Because of the limitations of my stepfather we did more cruises and this time in Kakadu.  The first of these was on the East Alligator River with an indigenous company Guluyambi.  The cruise takes you down to Cahills crossing then up to the river before disembarking for a short time in Arnhem land where the guide talks about their hunting weapons.  Being later in the dry with many of the billabongs drying up through Kakadu and Arnhem land, east alligator river becomes a major source of food for crocs.  This means that there are lots of crocs here.  We were even lucky enough to spot Nigel, a croc who starred in the ABC series on Kakadu.  Up close you can see, Nigel is no small croc, I’m not sure I  would be volunteering to tag him.

Magic Maguk

Whilst the pool had been a lovely refreshing oasis at the beginning or end of our days, with the temperatures now over 37 every day we were looking forward to swimming in one of the legendary Kakadu waterholes.  Maguk is the easiest to walk too and whilst might not be as famous or scenic as Gunlom or Jim Jim, the falls were still running even this late in the dry.  After a short but hot walk in, the water was beautiful, not freezing at all.  We had brought our snorkel masks and were rewarded with a range of freshwater fish frolicking at our feet.  The icing on the cake was a swim to put ourselves under the running falls – magic.

Burrunggui (Nourlangie) art and rocks

Burrunggui is an amazing natural rock.  The colours and height make it a fantastic spectacle.  However, there is a 1.5km walk that takes you past an Aboriginal shelter that has been used since ancient times until the present day (the shelter was still used in the 1980s) and contains several outstanding  art sites.  

The walk continued past the art galleries with a climb to the Gun-warddehwardde lookout which provided great views of Kakadu’s escarpment.  

Yellow water billabong sunset cruise

When David and I were in Kakadu 11 years ago the dawn cruise at Yellow Water Billabong had been a highlight of our visit.  Staying at Jabiru this time made the dawn cruise harder to get to, so we opted for the sunset cruise.  I am not sure I didn’t prefer the sunset cruise – they were both fantastic.  The key difference between the yellow water and Guluyambi cruises was the birds and the waterscape. We saw very few in the east alligator river, but amazing birds on this cruise.  As to ‘waterscape’ this is my own word for the amazing combination of calm water reflecting the surrounding scenery that make this billabong cruise so special.