Kakadu, Northern Territory, Australia

World heritage listed Kakadu National Park is spectacular in the wet season, but certainly worth visiting in the Dry too.  And dry and hot it was when we visited earlier this week.  There’s a big variety of sights to see, and with great names to match – like Jabiru, Gagadju, Kakadu and Anbangbang Billabong.  We began with a walk along the ancient rocks of Nourlangie, featuring millenia-old aboriginal ochre paintings, before heading up to the Nawurlandja Lookout to see the Kakadu escarpment in the distance.  From there it was only a few kilometres to the fabulous Anbangbang Billabong.

In the following days we hiked around the Yellow Water wetland, Red Lily Billabong, and Mamakala, a haven for thousands of migratory birds that fly in each year from as far away as the sub-Arctic.  And we ended our time in Kakadu at the summit of the rocky outcrop of Ubirr.  It was like the United Nations up there with many different languages and accents, all expressing satisfaction with the beautiful views in every direction, culminating with the stunning sunset for which Ubirr is renowned.

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Katherine, Northern Territory, Australia

 

It’s a three hour drive on the Stuart Highway south of Darwin to the pleasant town of Katherine. The main attraction here to the thousands of tourists who pass through each year is nearby Nitmiluk (Katherine Gorge), ancestral home of the Jawoyn aboriginal people.  We spent a day hiking deep into the Gorge, and when we finally made it to the water’s edge, the shade and cooling water were a welcome respite from the blazing sun that dogged us all the way.        

  

Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia

Saturday morning before dawn we gingerly made our way down Buffalo Creek, weaving our way through a maze of hidden sandbars just below the surface. Once out in the ocean we headed for Shoal Bay where we set a line of 10 baited crab nets along the mangroves, keeping a watchful eye out for man-eating saltwater crocodiles that stalk here too. It was a fortunate morning, and with a few passes along our net line we had our boat limit of 30 big sweet Darwin mud crabs, along with a few cod and bream also trapped in the nets. There’s no substitute for local knowledge – brother-in-law Kar lives in Darwin and is a keen fisher who takes his boat out whenever the opportunity arises. With expert Asian cooks in the house, the crabs were soon steamed and turned into mouth-watering dishes that would do any restaurant proud. Sunday we travelled a couple of hours south of Darwin to Litchfield National Park to walk amongst the giant termite mounds, and along the crystal clear rock pools at the base of the waterfalls that tumble down the escarpments.