Amanda

We have 12 days in June and thought we'd fly Bris-Darwin, stay somewhere (how is the Holiday Inn?) for 2-3 days, then rent a car and drive to Kakadu, maybe Katherine, and back via Makaranka or Batchelor to Darwin. What is there to see here and where would you stay eg is Hol Inn on beach a nice spot?

ALF

Here's a potential road trip:

- Arnhem Highway to Mary River National Park, stop at the Window on the Wetlands Visitor Centre
- Continue into Kakadu National Park. Turninto Mamukala Wetlands, to view birds
- Continued to Jabiru. Frontier Kakadu Lodge
- Visit Bowali Visitor Centre
- Drive northward to Ubirr, to view ancient aboriginal stone art and climb overlook for great views
- Drive southward to Cooinda. Stay in Gagudja Lodge
- Take Yellow Water Billabong boat tour on the South Alligator
- Visit Warradjan Aboriginal Cultural Centre
- Drive to Nourlangie Rock to view more impressive aboriginal rock art
- Continue south on Kakadu Highway to Pine Creek on the Stuart Highway.
- Drive to Katherine on the Victoria Highway, then on to Nitmiluk National Park and visitor centre
- Take day-long boat tour along Katherine River through spectacular gorges
- continue south on Stuart Highway
- Drive into Eva Valley and aboriginal town of Manyallaluk. Take tour of town and surrounds
- Return to Katherine, continue north back to Darwin

AndrewDavid

Dear Amanda,

We've just returned from this area and would add the following refinements to Alf's itinerary:

Coming from the SW of the USA where rock art is well preserved due to the dry climate, we found the viewable art at both Ubirr and Nourlangie a litttle disappointing, although the walks are wonderful.

We booked a day trip w/ Lord's Kakadu Tours to Arnheland. Seb Lord the owner grew up there an has an arrangement w/ the inhabitants based at Oenpelli to go up Inyalet (sp?) Hill w/ aboriginal guides. The rock art is spectacular and the explanations are very good. It's also a beautiful climb. The art coop at Oenpelli has beautiful aboriginal art at very reasonable prices.

We also did a 2 hour float down the E. Alligator (Gulanyabi (sp?) that was also excellent aboriginal lore and croc's.

At Cooinda, I'd recommend your reserve the 6:45 AM yellow waters cruise, lots of birds and crocs at dawn

We also did an afternoon into evening "Animal Tracks " tour that is bookable through the Lodge w/ a white and aboriginal pair of guides that did bush tucker and animal spotting on the local group's buffalo ranch.

In Jabiru we stayed in non AC tented cabins ($85/ night) that were comfortable the first week in May at
Lakeview Park. We ate at the Jabiru Sport and Social Club across the road where we become guest members ; great dinners for $15. and swam in the enormous community pool.

It's a grand part of the country.
AndrewDavid

RalphR

Amanda: Some good suggestions there from ALF and AndrewDAvid. I've been to Darwin and surrounds a couple of times, most recently in 2000, when we went to Kakadu and Litchfield NP. We saw most of the big sights in Kakadu, though we did not get to Arnhemland. JimJim and Twin Falls are another must see in Kakadu - I thought they were awesome. Not accessible unless you go on a 4WD tour or rent your own. We took a 4WD tour with a small group on Kakadu Gorge and Waterfall Tours. As part of the trip to Twin Falls, we kayaked up a beautiful gorge for 1/2 mile or so. There we swam and had lunch on the lovely sandy beach at the base of the massive falls. We had it all to ourselves for a couple of hours until another group showed up.

We really loved Ubirr - the view was breathtaking, at least at the time we went - at sunset. We went back again a second evening just to experience it again. At Nourlangie, we also stopped at the nearby Anbangbang Billabong and did the walk-round. There are nice views from the shore over to Nourlangie Rock. If you've ever seen "Crocodile Dundee" you'll recognize it.

We did the Guluyambi River cruise (Alligator River) that Andrew suggests. We thought it was excellent - our aboriginal guide was great.

Litchfield NP is another place the other's haven't mentioned. It is probably most famous for its tracts of giant magnetic termite mounds. I found them facinating. There are also some lovely waterfalls and swimming holes in Litchfield. The locals like it there for swimming - no crocs to worry about.

ozzybuds

Oh dear AndrewDavid,
You poor bloke, I can't believe you were looking at one of the oldest and most historically significant records of mankind on the planet and were thinking "we got bigger n better back home in the states". Its gotta be yank thing. Some of the art at Ubirr is 3 times older than anything discovered in North America or southern Europe. The climate has had little effect on most of the art because the ochre chemically reacts with the stone to bond them permanently. The place is a timeline in art telling a 50,000 year old story, from creation to the european invasion, there is nothing like it, anywhere.
William
Jabiru
Northern Territory
Australia

AndrewDavid

Dear William,

I certainly wasn't commenting on bigger or better, but rather different than the condition and availability that we encounter here in NM. ,Colorado and Arizona and Utah. I understand there is art at both Nourlangie and Ubirr, that is better preserved however off limit to visitors.

We just found the artwork at
Injaluk (nr Oenpelli) more impressive than what we were able to see at Ubirr and Nourlangie. With aboriginal guides from the art coop we were able to scramble around Injaluk hill for almost 3 hours and crawl under 4 m deep overhangs. We saw hundreds of well preserved images, up close and personal that we were unable to experience in the same way as at Ubirr or Nourlangie where I understand portions of the site are off limits at the request of local inhabitants.

AndrewDavid