Touring the Darwin and Kakadu areas
 

Hi all,

We'll be taking a 3 week vacation to Australia this May and were planning on spending 4 days in the Darwin/Kakadu/Litchfield areas. I have a few basic questions:

1. I'm assuming it is more convenient to stay inside of Kakadu NP and take tours from there compared to wasting 3 hours back and forth every day from Darwin. Is this accurate?

2. Because of #1 above, I'd like to stay in Jabiru while touring Kakadu. Without renting a car, how does one get from Darwin's airport to Jabiru/Kakadu? I'm assuming a taxi would be prohibitive, so would there be any buses/shuttles? What have others done?

3. If I stay in Kakadu, would two day tours be sufficient to see the highlights of the park? Day 1: Twin Falls/Jim Jim Falls. Day 2: Yellow water cruise, Nourlangie, Ubirr rock sites. Would I be missing anything?

4. How do people feel about Litchfield? Is it worth it? Would one day suffice? Can one stay in a hotel in that park as well?

Thanks so much for the info,
Dave.

1. Yes, it would make more sense to stay in Jabiru. There are several places to stay there. We tend toward the more economical side of accommodations - we liked the tourist flats located at the Frontier Kakadu Lodge.
2. Greyhound Pioneer, McCafferty's, and Blue Banana operate coach service between Darwin and Jabiru. It might be more economical to hire your own vehicle. You could then take the well-sealed roads through Kakadu to all the sites you want to see, except for the Falls, which require a 4WD vehicle.
3. You could do it in two days, although three days would be more leisurely. If you aren't going to hire your own vehicle, you should check out some of the 2-3 day tour packages offered out of Darwin. This could save you some time and money.
4. Personally, I would spend another day in Kakadu instead of going to Litchfield.

ALF,

Thanks for the reply. OK, sounds like renting our own car might be the way to go. I suppose I'll need to drive from Jabiru to all of the sights within Kakadu.

I know Jim Jim/Twin Falls will require a 4WD tour, but is there really enough stuff to fill another two full days?

Litchfield's not worth it?

Thanks,
Dave.

We're also going to that area in April, and I've debated what else to see, apart from Kakadu. The choices were either Katherine or Litchfield. Both sounded good, although after hearing from several people, we finally decided to go to Katherine for a day. Both places seem to have their fans.

Nitmiluk (Katherine) National Park is really quite impressive. I would make a big loop, starting in Darwin, then over to Jabiru, then down to Cooinda (Yellow Water) before heading over to Katherine and Nitmiluk. You then take the Stuart Highway back to Darwin.

You can do all of this in your own vehicle, taking tours at Jim Jim, Yelllow Water, and Nitmiluk.

We've done a similar trip twice in recent years. I'd suggest hiring a car in Darwin which can then be used to get to most of the sights you want to see. Jim Jim Falls is definitely 4WD and so much better to take a tour. We also did the boat trip on the East Alligator River - this is run by the local aboriginal community and so we got information on their way of life. This goes from near Ubirr Rock. We had three nights in the park which gave us ample time.
From Kakadu head across to Litchfield. This park is completely different to Kakadu. I'd advise staying in Batchelor and going out for the day. Visit Florence Falls and Wangi Falls - you can swim in both. You can buy food at Wangi Falls but as far as I know, there is no accommodation in the park other than a camping ground. We did a trip from Wangi Falls to Reynolds River some years ago - this was really fantastic as we saw so many animals and birds. This tour was run privately and I don't know if it is still going.

I hadn't planned on going to Katherine Gorge. How is it better/different than Kakadu? We only have 3 days, and so I don't want to miss out on something in Kakadu unless it was something spectacular.

Thanks,
Dave.

This is how I see the differences between Kakadu, Litchfield and Katherine. Kakadu has dry countryside, stunted tree growth, some very interesting rock art and Yellow Waters for crocodiles and birds.
Litchfield has dry countryside, stunted tree growth and some beautiful waterfalls. You can swim in Wangi Falls and Florence Falls.
Katherine Gorge is a series of (I think) 13 gorges. You can canoe or take a boat trip. The boat trips vary from 2 hours to all day. The gorge is truly spectacular and well worth visiting. That's the problem with travelling - always the decision as what to visit and what to leave out for next time!