When discussing our itinerary at Kings Canyon, a couple from Queensland had offered us their advice to ‘Kaka-dont’.
Kakadu is Australia’s biggest National Park, covers 20,000 square kilometres and is World Heritage listed for both cultural and natural significance. It’s been inhabited continuously for more than 50,000 years evidenced by world-class cave paintings and rock art. UNESCO describe it as a living cultural landscape with exceptional natural and cultural values. The park preserves the greatest variety of eco-systems on the continent including extensive savannah woodlands, open forest, floodplains, mangroves, tidal mudflats and monsoon forests.
It would take a spectacular lack of imagination to not find something of interest in Kakadu. She does though make you work for it a bit. None of the instant gratification of Litchfield, a fraction of the size and other than the Lost City all accessible on bitumen. This park covers an area about the size of Wales. The main attractions are fairly well spaced out, and some require determination and a lot of shaking to get to. Some are poorly sign-posted and sadly some are closed with outstanding management disputes. The walking is hot from around 10am to 5pm, with daily tops around 35 degrees and high UV. The national park camping is pretty rough and ready and anywhere near water is bug and mosquito heaven.
We are just finishing our five night stay at the Jabiru resort. A place we’d intended on giving a few nights before moving south but where we ended up staying for our whole time here. Away from water, other than the large shaded pool, the park is almost bug free. With the pool and bar at it’s centre, the park is a set on a series of concentric circles of powered sites with unpowered camping assigned a large area on the eastern side among fairly tall shade giving gum trees. Whistling kites patrol overhead, Ibis (aka bin chickens or Gold Coast Flamingos) patrol the ground. We have enjoyed a shady site, with ground so soft you can almost peg the tent by hand. The only necessary addition to our camping gear has been the solar powered fairy lights which have some fairly hectic settings, but do impact star-gazing.
Other than Jim Jim Falls we’ve pretty much ticked the currently available boxes. Day 1 involved a visit to the beautiful Bowali visitor centre where you meander through the various landscapes of Kakadu and then on to the Burrunggui (Nourlangie) Art Site. It’s a fairly easy walk through rock shelters that have been inhabited for a long long time with seriously amazing art, some of which you’re allowed to photograph and some which you’re not.
After a relax and cool off back at the resort we then drove out to Cahill’s Crossing and a Monsoon Rainforest walk, sadly both closed. There were plenty of folk, like probably a hundred, ignoring the signs and climbing up to watch the occasional vehicle cross the crocodile infested waters into or from Arnhem Land, just like Ness and I had 13 years ago when we’d got a permit to go up to Garig Gunak Barlu National Park on the Cobourg Peninsula. Man we were adventurous in the olden days!
We made an earlier than planned visit to Ubirr, so were a bit ahead of the planned sunset, but that did mean we had most of the rock art to ourselves before the coach parties arrived. Again, great art, amazing Dreamtime stories and a super view at the top, only marginally disturbed by some people drinking wine in glasses at a sacred site where alcohol is not permitted. If Ness and I can forgo a drink at the request of traditional owners then Barry and Linda, probably from Queensland (but could have been from anywhere), should be able to as well. I’ve not worked for the last four months so I struggle to muster much of a rant these days but it doesn’t mean I don’t notice the significant number of dickheads who just do the wrong thing because they probably won’t get caught and what’s the problem if it’s just them right? Can’t avoid kama though, even this far away.
On day 2 we got up at 5am and drove down to Cooinda / Yellow Water for a replay of the highlight of our last visit - the sunrise yellow water cruise.
I’m not going to describe it, I wouldn’t want to spoil it. You need to come here and do it for yourself, James was entranced for the full two hours, stillness and focus belying his usual morning challenges. He will do well this kid (he’s currently helping some other kids create a tornado in the spa, don’t ask).
After the tour we had breakfast in the car park and then headed in to the Cultural Visitor Centre at Warradjan. Again an incredible journey and very generous sharing of aboriginal culture and stories. We smashed the bookshop on the way out. I’ve parked Ray and Moth on the Salt Path at Mevagissey and am now enjoying a collection of aboriginal Dreamtime stories.
The rest of our stay has been very relaxing, interchanging beautiful walks and sunsets with pool action / friend making opportunities. Today we made the big drive down to Maguk Falls, and hour or so for the first 120kms and then 30 bone shaking minutes for the last 10 kms along a very corrugated track. I made it out in about 10 minutes when the tyres had cooled down a bit and we’d tightened up the cargo barrier screws and fixed up the things that had shaken loose on the way in. Nissy P is a great old girl, but we need to respect her age.
The video of the way in is apparently too big and my phone is on 4% so sayonara. Hope everyone in the real world is going OK, we are..
