Joanne

We will be traveling Australia in June and our itinerary includes 3 nights in Darwin. Is that too long?

merriem

We were in Darwin a couple of weeks ago. Arrived by cruise ship, and spent the day there. I think you length of time depents on what you want to do. There is a great deal of interesting history in Darwin, and if you want to out to the big park area (can't remember the name) then you would need more than one day. It was VERY hot and humid there, but a nice place. Again, it's all up to what you want to do. I don't know if this is any help to you, have a nice trip. Be sure and spend plenty of time in Sydney!

Sue

Darwin is fantastic! You will love it. <BR>We were there just a couple of weeks ago. <BR>If you are spending three days there you will have plenty of time. Look into Litchfield National Park, we spent the entire day there and could have spent two. Fantastic waterfalls and rainforests. We found a small travel agency where we booked the tour to Litchfield for $99.00pp and it included a great lunch at a small cafe where seating was under a huge Banyon tree. <BR>If you get the right tour guide, he can take you to wonderful waterfalls with rock pools suitable and safe for swimming. And the right ones know where the uncrowded, out of the way spots are. <BR>There you can also view the termite mounds along with abundant wildlife. <BR>We only had one day there so I can not tell you what else there is to do. There is much more information about Darwin on the net and it might be worth researching it beforehand. <BR>Have a wonderful time.......we enjoyed it and would love to return someday. <BR>Sue

Joanne

Thanks for the info. We did some reading on Darwin as well and decided to keep the three days that we have planned. Thanks again!

Sue

Great Choice Joanne. <BR>I am sure that you will love it. Since you are going in June, it will (or should be ) a lot cooler than when we were there. <BR>Enjoy your trip. Sue

Bobbie

Hi Joanne! <BR> <BR>I see you have already had a couple of replies. Those comments are very correct. <BR> <BR>Darwin and the "top end" is one of the world's best kept secrets. Darwin is a modern capital city, with a harbour 5 times the size of Sydney Harbour. The Top End has an enormous range of tourism attractions, including particularly the 2 major national parks of which Kakadu is of world heritage significance. It has records of culture there going back 60,000 years. It is very beautiful place particularly at that time of the year. <BR> <BR>June is the ideal time to come here (by the way I am a Territorian - and not involved in the tourism industry). <BR> <BR>The weather will be "fine and 32 degrees Celcius", with cool nights (around 22-23 degrees C). Best of all, no humidity! <BR> <BR>It is actually the peak time of the tourist season and we get over 1 million visitors per year. <BR> <BR>You may like to look up the NT Tourism website and the NT Govt website. Address is: www.nt.gov.au <BR>(You can get to the Tourism site from there). <BR> <BR>As for 3 nights, that would be enough to get a quick snapshot of the Top End only. <BR> <BR>You may not be aware that the major tourist attractions (eg. Kakadu, Katherine Gorge, Litchfield etc) are a considerable distance from Darwin. Each is at least a full day trip and if you wished to visit all 3 it would take you 3-4 days (they are about 300kms apart). <BR> <BR>The Territory is a very large place being 1.5million square kilometres and our 2 major centres (Darwin & Alice Springs) are 1500 kilometres apart. <BR> <BR>Alice Springs is in the centre of Australia and also is an area of very significant and beautiful natural tourism. <BR> <BR>Please let me know if you would like any further info. <BR> <BR>Cheers .. Bobbie <BR> <BR>

lovingretirement

Although it's been many years since this post was made, hoping someone is still reading it. We're planning a trip to Australia in late August, 2009 for 3 1/2 wks. We will spend about 6 nights in the NT. After spending 2 nts in Darwin, I thought we would drive to Kakadu and spend 1 nt in Jabiru visiting Ubirr Rock and Bowali visitor center. NExt day, off to Nourlangie Rock and then do yellow river cruise in Cooinda. Can we then drive on to Katherine (don't know driving time) or should we spend the night midway in Pine Creek? We would then explore Nitmiluk National Park and take a cruise on the Katherine Gorge and spend another night in Katherine. On the way back to Darwin, I thought we would spend a night on the road in Batchelor (?) so we could explore Litchfield Natl Park. Does this sound reasonable?? Does anyone know the driving time from Darwin to Jabiru; Jabiru to Katherine (or to Pine Creek); Katherine to Batchelor; Litchfield Park back to Darwin? Sorry for asking so many questions but couldn't find a good time and distance map that included these cities. Also, we were planning on doing this as a self-drive unless someone thinks a booked tour would be better. Any suggestions welcomed.

longhorn55

I absolutely love Darwin and the Top End and it sounds like you have a great itinerary.
There's a distance chart for the Northern Territory at http://www.australianexplorer.com/nt..._distances.htm
It doesn't give driving times, but I'd say you'd be driving at an average of 100 km/hr (slower in the park--higher on the highway). If you want more exact driving times, you might contact the official Northern Territory tourism site at www.travelnt.com I'm sure they can help you with that.
As you will see from the driving distances, you don't need to stop at Pine Creek for the night. You can easily make the drive from Jabiru to Katherine in a few hours. (I've done it.) Also, you can stop in Batchelor if you like in order to make a day trip to Litchfield, but you don't have to. If you got an early start from Katherine, you could do Litchfield and then continue to Darwin for the night. Or you could drive from Katherine to Darwin; sightsee some more in Darwin and then go to Litchfield as a day trip the next day. (It's an easy drive from Darwin.)
Here are some of my favorite things to see and do in Darwin and Katherine:
Darwin--1. Litchfield (plan to swim at all of the falls. Wangi Falls has the best picnic area.) 2. Territory Wildlife Park and Berry Springs Park (another great day trip) 3. Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory (Not to be missed. Plan on lunch at their excellent cafe). 4. Mindil Beach Sunset Market (Another must. Held on Thursday nights. Might be a smaller version on Sunday nights.) 5. Fish feeding at Aquascene--it's not just for kids. 6. Australian Aviation Heritage Center (If you like airplanes, this is the place to go!) 7. Fannie Bay Gaol--something you won't see back home.
Katherine--1. Katherine Gorge. (You can rent canoes there in addition to taking a boat ride. But they do need to be booked in advance.) 2. Edith Falls National Park (Great hiking and swimming in natural pools with a waterfall. Good picnicking area too. Can get crowded on weekends, but quiet on weekdays.) 3. Crocodile Night Adventure (River cruise, spotlighting crocs, BBQ under the stars--what can be better. Book ahead through your accomodations or at Travel North).
Finally, do this all as a self-drive trip. It's easy to do; gives you more flexibility; and it's cheaper than a tour.

lovingretirement

longhorn55:
I love you. thanks so much for the help. Any good suggestions as to where to stay in Darwin, the park, etc. We're not on a limited budget and won't be camping. How familiar are you with western australia and the Adelaide/Kangaroo Island area? We're also heading that way (flying into Perth and Adelaide) and will also have about 6 nights in each location. If you are, I'll share my thoughts so far and get your opinion. As I said, we're very open to suggestions as we have lots of time for fine tuning.

Bushranger

www.travelmate.com.au is a site that is good to use for putting place names into and it can give you driving distances and times, but roughly:
Darwin/Ubirr/Jab - 330k/4h.
Acc. http://www.ozhorizons.com.au/nt/kak/gch/gch.htm

Noulangie Rock is a fairly stiff sort of a climb over some rough surfaces in place, first part being a huge rocky slope and there's a lookout position halfway up - my recommendation is compared to Ubirr - skip it, but if deciding on doing it, take your time and plenty of water (get yourself a small daypack if you haven't one and then after buying a couple of 2L soft drinks - fill them with water and put in freezer overnight - it'll melt gradually in time for drinking)

Unless you hire a 4WD, hire company regs will limit where you can go, and except for limited time I'd suggest with a 4WD you head into Jim Jim and Twin falls (check on whether they're falling), some serious rockhopping for JJ to have a swim, and less so for Twin where there is a little gorge cruise.
If doing that, stop at Cooinda O/N after a sunset cruise.
Jab/Katherine (w/o falls)300k/3.5h
Cooinda/K - 240k/2.5-3h
About the same Kath/Batchelor.

Good idea to stay at Batchelor for you do not really want to do an extra 180 km. return drive if it can be helped - not enjoying retirement by my standards.
Litchfield to Darwin 1.5 h

I spent five days in Kakadu in July this year and though it was unseasonably humid, the countryside was already dried out and you will notice that more so in August and along with the fairly monotonous countryside between points of interest, you will want to stay focused on driving, not just to be aware of any careless locals but also some accidents happen because of international drivers forgetting which side of the road centre they should be on - will happen when they have pulled back on to a main road from a side road.
Two golden rules should help you:
. Driver and steering wheel should be adjacent to and on left of centre.
. Doing right hand turns you turn across path of oncoming traffic.

Rottnest Is., Fremantle and chasing some wild flowers about the SW ought to be on your Perth agenda, but I'd start a new post for there and Adelaide region - going to be chilly down there.

longhorn55

Lovingretirement--We have stayed at two different places in Darwin. Since we are a family of 4, we always look for serviced apartments. The first time we stayed at the Parap Village Apartments. These were fine for us, but they are located about 10 minutes from the city center. The next time we stayed at the Cullen Bay Apartments. These were nicer and closer to the city and I'd certainly recommend them. If budget is not an issue for you, I'd recommend looking for either a hotel or serviced apartment on or near the Esplanade as that will put you in a great location.
Yes, I have been to Western Australia (a week from Perth to Margaret River to Denmark) and to Adelaide and KI (twice each). If you want info on these locations, I'd recommend starting a new thread so you can get info from more people who might not look at this Darwin forum.

Bokhara2

Lovingretirement, I've stayed at the Novotel Atrium, Darwin. It's on the esplanade and just a few minutes walk to the city centre. www.accorhotels.com.au/Novotel-Darwin

lovingretirement

Thanks Bokhara2. I'll look into that. Have you been down to Katherine?? If so, any suggestions for that area?

Bokhara2

Yes, but was on a small group tour and stayed on their own property.

longhorn55

Hi again, lovingretirement. We've been to Katherine twice and stayed at the St. Andrews Serviced Apartments both times. (As I mentioned earlier, we are a family of 4, so always try to stay in serviced apartments in Australia.) These are nice apartments with covered parking and a small pool in a nicely landscaped area. The apartments are only a block off the main street, so it's easy to walk to the supermarket or takeaway restaurants, if you like. The management is very friendly and helpful--had some nice conversations with them and they gave us some good recommendations for places to eat (aren't that many in Katherine) and things to see/do. I see on their website that they have a studio apartment, so that might fit your needs.

lovingretirement

thanks again longhorn 55. Any and all info is much appreciated.

lovingretirement

Just a few more questions concerning driving distances. We plan on spending the evening in Jabiru and then driving to Cooinda for the 6:45am Yellow River cruise. Can anyone tell me how early we should leave Jabiru to not miss this cruise (since you fodorites suggested this was the better time to see the animals)? Also, after the cruise, how long will it take to drive to Nourlangie Rock area? Last stupid question. In mid to late August, when does it get dark in this region and does anyone know what the approixmate weather will be (temperature/rain)?

Bushranger

It's just over 50 km. Jabiru to Cooinda and even at peak time of year, given distances apart of everything traffic is extremely sparse so 45 minutes is sufficient for driving/parking etc. but I'd allow a bit longer to take it easier seeing as it'll be early morning and you'll want to keep an eye out for wildlife, and to give you some comfort margin, so leaving at about 5.30 am. would not be insensible.

Cooinda back to Nourlangie Rock is abpout 40 km. and so a tad over half an hour.

Dawn/dusk around sixish for both.
Weather - little to no chance of rain and temps will be about high twenties in Centigrade with it cooling significantly at night, possibly down to about 10C.