When we started planning for this trip, if you can call it planning at all, there were two areas we wanted to make sure we saw as thoroughly as possible – Kakadu and the Kimberley.  Kakadu National Park is a vast area roughly south and east of Darwin in the Northern Territory and west of monstrous Arnhem Land.  We finally made it after more than 20 years of talking about it and were super-charged to explore this fabulous UNESCO World Heritage location.  And to top it off, it coincided with our 30^th wedding anniversary.  A double treat for us!

Kakadu is the ancient land of the Gukburleeri people who have lived on this land for tens of thousands of years.  About 35 years ago the government handed back this land to its traditional owners on the understanding it would become a national park and would be co-managed by the two parties.  By all accounts this has been a very successful partnership and today visitors can enjoy some of the most spectacular scenery in all of Australia and learn of the culture and history of the local people at the same time.

We entered Kakadu from the south near the old mining town of Pine Creek.  We bought another permit upon entry and followed a dirt road which turned into a dirt track and eventually ended up at a beautiful camping area called Gunlom.  Gunlom was previously known as Waterfall Creek and is the home to a magnificent waterfall that in the wet season plunges almost 100 metres into a huge pool surrounded by high red rock cliffs and pandanus trees around the edges.

We arrived in Gunlom in the middle of a long weekend for all Territorians and the campsite was packed.  But the huge pool was still divine and we climbed the rough track straight up the escarpment to see the upper pools and stunning views of the valley at sunset.  The next morning we swam across the huge pool at the base of the waterfall and touched the 100 metre cliff where the waterfall flows earlier in the year.  We knew in our minds that the park rangers have declared this pool safe from crocs but it still takes a small amount of courage to swim 100 metres across bottomless dark water to get to the other side.

From Gunlom we travelled to another gorge called Maguk without as much fame but scoring high in remoteness and raw beauty.  From the campsite the two kilometre walk up the gorge ended in another huge plunge pool with a strong waterfall falling off the rock cliffs.  Of course it was another perfect chance to wash off the dust and sunscreen and repellent, then spend a beautiful night in a campsite almost all our own.

We woke the next day to mark exactly 30 years since we were married in Sydney, two young people with high hopes and low bank accounts, living the dream as most have done before us and since.  Three beautiful kids followed, now all young adults following their own aspirations, and we are trying to spend their inheritance as adventurously as possible.  I highly recommend it.

From Maguk we travelled north to the Aboriginal rock art site called Nourlangie.  This was spectacular stuff, not just the art which is some of the best we’ve seen, but also the way the people lived in these caves and survived so many years ago.  We love the rock art and Nourlangie’s wide range of figures, colours and scenes were really a standout.

From there it was on to Cooinda, along with Jabiru one of the two major tourist centres in Kakadu.  We had previously booked a sunset cruise on what is called Yellow Water, really a series of creeks and wetland water flows from the South Alligator River.  This was a special treat, booked on our anniversary, and something we had really been looking forward to.

 

Yellow Water is famous for its wetland bird life and on this open boat cruise we were able to see dozens of birds in their natural habitat, including white bellied sea eagles, spoonbills, jabiru, all the egrets, forest kingfisher, Australian darters (shags) and jacanas.   But the overwhelming highlight of the cruise was seeing many saltwater crocodiles, the aggressive carnivorous reptiles that are part of what make Kakadu famous.  We saw many of them, include a huge male sunning himself on the banks of the water, totally oblivious to our presence.  With no predators and such an aggressive behaviour it is no wonder they have survived for milieu.

The following day we made our way to two of the Kakadu’s most famous sites.  Jim Jim Falls and Twin Falls lie approximately 60 klms from the main road on a dirt track that eventually deteriorates to a rough 4WD track and then becomes a walking trail.  Jim Jim Falls in particular is a landmark site for Kakadu but the two kilometre track over increasingly uneven ground and huge boulders forced us at times to climb like spiders across the terrain.  But we were rewarded with the most spectacular setting, an almost dry waterfall spitting the last of the wet season’s water over a 150 metre cliff into a series of stunning swimming holes.  This is tingling stuff, sitting on the sandy bank, looking up at these huge cliffs all around us, cooling off in the deep clear waters.  Unreal.

From there we detoured off to Twin Falls, another narrow rough track across a deep crossing which ended at the base of an escarpment.  From there we took a short walk and boarded on a little skiff.  The local ranger slowly motored us upstream, pointing out the huge fish in the clear water and talking about the sacred history of this land.  The walls rose straight up above us and we couldn’t escape the feeling we were alone in one of the most beautiful places in the world.

When we hit the shore we still had a walk of a few hundred metres over boulders and through soft sand until we came to an amphitheatre with rock walls almost 200 metres high. At the far end was not one but two waterfalls, still flowing with a surprising amount of water.  We couldn’t swim here due to cultural sensitivities but it was enough to stare awestruck at this amazing setting.  On the little boat ride back we saw a young freshwater croc sunning himself on a log along the bank.  What a spot.

That night we celebrated our 30^th anniversary with a night in the Cooinda Lodge (one night late due to them being full the night before) and ate again in their bistro.  It was a bit of modest luxury for us in the middle of our journey, not so much a necessity but more just an acknowledgment of a very successful partnership which hopefully will have at least another 30 years to go.  Imagine the places we could visit in that time!