Kakadu and Litchfield National Parks

July 11 to July 15

Surprising "Dry Season" rain over the wetlands

The timing for being in Darwin was to go on an organised guided tour of the two big National Parks in the Northern Territory, Kakadu and Litchfield. We had booked this tour in late February while in South Australia, when it popped up at a very good price on a travel website, and we had thought about doing a guided tour to make sure we saw the better parts of the parks.

Croc spotting from the boat

So we were very excited to finally be on the bus! Monday we departed Darwin and visited Howard Springs, site of the original dam for water supply, now a tourist attraction where you can feed barramundi and do nature walks. Next stop was Fogg Dam, a spectacular water catchment swamp teeming with wildlife ….. usually. The 2014/15 wet season was the driest on record, only to be outdone by the following (most recent) 2015/16 season. The dam receives run-off from the vast wetland area, but is now very low and with two dry seasons the complete eco-culture of the area has been heavily impacted.

Ubirr Rock Art

We visited Corroboree Billabong, where we did a boat cruise spotting birds and crocodiles. The first couple of crocs took a bit of finding, but as the afternoon went on we spotted many more.

Our accommodation base for the four days was the Mary River Wilderness Retreat, a sprawling property along the Mary River at the edge of Kakadu. Tuesday we entered Kakadu proper, visiting Ubirr Rock, the primary Aboriginal Rock Art site. It is also at the top edge of the Kakadu Park where the spectacular mountain range and its mountaintop plateaus, escarpments and rivers stretch 500km’s south and 400km’s west from there.

The scenery and quality of rock art was greatly enhanced by our guide Rich, who has an incredible knowledge base of indigenous art and culture, and the flora and fauna of the Top End. We also visited the Nourlangie Rock for more art sites, Cahills Crossing (a causeway on the East Alligator River, where crocs feast on the fish, and sometimes the fishermen) where Kakadu meets Arnhem Land, Jabiru, Bowali and Mamukala Wetlands.

Spotting a 4-5 metre monster on a "Nature Walk"

I had heard and read many negative reports on Kakadu (nicknamed Kaka-don’t), but I can say I was impressed as hell with the sites we visited, and can only imagine how much better many of them would be after a decent wet season.

Learning ancient skills from the locals

The Wednesday we stayed around the Mary River area, doing more croc and bird spotting on a river cruise, a cultural walk and talk with three of the local Uwynmill Aboriginals, and doing a couple of long nature walks in the National Park. As you can see from one photo, you need to still be cautious of crocs, after we came across a 4-5 metre beast on a sand bank close to where we were walking.

Thursday was all Litchfield, a totally different experience to the cultural focus of Kakadu. Although another spectacular rocky plateau and escarpment landscape, the main attraction here is waterfalls and bushwalking. We visited the Magnetic Termite Mounds, a unique termite that builds flat, tall, plate like mounds to catch the eastern and western sun.

Wangi Falls, Litchfield NP

The two waterfalls (and rock pools at the bottom for swimming) we visited were Florence Falls and Wangi Falls. Again after a decent wet the falls would be spectacular, but with only a small volume of water tumbling and ridiculous number of visitors it was a bit disappointing. It was also a cool and windy day (26⁰C) so the swimming was a little chilly, especially at Wangi Falls. The walks were fantastic though. I’m sure on warmer days and visiting less known falls and rock pools (and more water over the falls) it could be worth spending a lot more time there. Our day was great but I didn’t feel the need to re-visit the Park on the way out of Darwin like we thought we might.

A bit of nature rangling

Our four day tour, fortunately shared with other easy going and like-minded travellers, was a real joy. Without us having to make too many decisions on what to do, having a well thought out and balanced itinerary, and having such a knowledgeable guide to enhance our experiences, we were very happy with our trip.

Friday it was back to our mo-touring, we stocked up in Darwin and were back on the road heading south to Katherine so we can turn west and head for Western Australia.