Blogs from Kakadu National Park, Northern Territory, Australia, Oceania - page 7

Day 13 - Thursday July 12th - Kakadu National Park After watching the sky turn amazing shades of pink and orange just before sunrise through our holey mosquito net, we got up and had a spot of brekkie before heading off to Gunlom Falls. As we drove in we were passed by lots of cars driving out. The camping area at Gunlom was pretty big and had we stayed there the night we would not have had the same experience as we had camping at Kambolgie. The hike up to the pools at the top of the falls was only 1km long but was classified as ‘extremely hard’ due to the steepness of the path and the rocks you had to constantly clamber over. As usual, the kids bolted to the top and the adults trailed ... read more

This morning we drove about 40 kms to Ubirr which is famous for its Aboriginal rock art. The walk along the first part of the path had us getting the chance to see the ancient rock art and marvel at the fact that these drawings are thousands of years old. We soon came across a few rangers who were giving a talk and providing some interesting facts about the area and we also had the opportunity to listen to a dreamtime story delivered by one of the Aboriginal rangers. This was clearly not his first time telling the story and he had the crowd fully focussed on him with his sensitive nature and good humour.The pathway then took us to the top of a ridge with awe inspiring views out over the National Park. Our next ... read more

Time to leave Darwin and head for Kakadu.Another selling point for Darwin is that it is in driving distance for a day trip to either Kakadu or Litchfield National Park but we are intending on staying in the former for a few days. Kakadu is not as easily accessible as Litchfield so unfortunately there is a bit we are going to miss due to not having 4WD access. The terrain is also quite different and instead of water falls and swimming holes, Kakadu is flatter and home to sensational billabongs, swamps, creeks and sweeping plains filled with greenery and unique bird life. By the time we reached our camping destination there were only a few hours left in the day so we set up shop and settled in. Already during the afternoon we sensed the temperature ... read more

We were up early as the bus came to pick us up outside our hotel at 6.30am for the long drive to Kakadu National Park. First stop was at the Bark Hut Hotel for breakfast. This was fairly rugged with several cattle skulls and a buffalo head peering down from the walls, very 'outback'. Then back on the bus. There was a lot of driving .. we stopped at last in a pretty spot with nice gums where people were led to view aboriginal rock paintings. Some of these are 1500 years old, some a lot less. It involved some climbing so I stayed behind to feed the midgies. Once more they discovered and love me .. I'm covered in bites that are unbelievably itchy. We did buy insect spray at the next stop, very annoyed ... read more

We have had a blast on our top end adventure. We call it the top end adventure because Anthony calls out “top end” and we all have to say “adventure”. He has called it out in all sorts of places like our favourite, Gunlom Falls in Kakadu. We stopped in at the Window over Kakadu Tourist info centre to find out what was open etc. We were a bit disappointed cause lots of things were still closed because of the wet season. The 2 families sat outside to work out our plan of attack and to have some snacks. Of course I had my trusty friend Fred with me. Daniel yelled out “look out Billy!” I looked up and saw heaps of hawks and kites circling around to try and get Fred. I quickly put him ... read more