The Top End: Crocodiles, Waterfalls and Rock Art

After recovering from my outback adventures I spent a few days wandering Darwin. The capital of the Northern Territory, Darwin is used to rebuilding after being destroyed twice – first by bombs in WWII and then again by Cyclone Tracy in 1974. It is a tropical city in which the threat from crocodiles is ever present – you would be very foolish to swim in open water or stray to close to the water’s edge. The waterfront is a great place to spend an afternoon, and the Mindil Beach markets have a wonderful view of the sunset. The markets are very popular, offering every type of food imaginable, plenty of shopping and didgeridoo and whip shows.

After exploring the city I headed out to the national parks – first stop Litchfield National Park. Our first stop was a visit to Wangi Waterfall which had only been opened for the season 10 minutes earlier. During the wet season the crocs move around so extensive checks of plunge pools have to be done before swimming is allowed. Wangi was a beautiful place for a swim, and thankfully croc free! Our second stop in Litchfield was another waterfall – Florence Falls. It was very different to Wangi – full of clear water so you could see the fish swimming beneath you. Our final stop in Litchfield was to look at the magnetic termite mounds – termite mounds exactly lined up with the earth’s magnetic field so as to keep it at a constant temperature throughout the day.

We then began the off-road trip to Kakadu National Park. Along the way we spotted a baby freshwater croc and an adult in a creek. Freshwater crocs are not naturally aggressive like the saltie (estuarine) crocs, but are still formidable predators. We drove through miles of Savannah woodland – the orange salmon gums sticking out amongst the rest. We camped in Kakadu national park amongst millions of mosquitos and many cane toads. The night time silence was only disturbed by a wild horse trotting through our camp.

Early the next morning we went on a cruise on yellow water billabong, which was magical. Watching the sun come up was amazing, we saw so much wildlife- tree snakes, a Rufous Night Heron, a white bellied sea eagle eating a catfish, snake-catchers, magpie geese and Jesus birds. We even found a saltie.

We spent the rest of the day exploring Kakadu’s waterfalls. Gunlom was my favourite – after a steep climb we reached the top plunge pools with their spectacular views over the national park. It is like swimming in a natural infinity pool – definitely work the impressive bruises I collected getting down again. We also stopped at Magook falls – only accessible by wading through a creek by foot and saw the very impressive cathedral termite mounds, some of which are over 7ft tall. The sunset on the way back to camp was beautiful.

Our final day was spent at magnificent lookouts and seeing some Aboriginal rock art. Some of the art we saw is thought to be over 20,000 years old, preserved by the oil seeping into the rock from the animal fat in the paint. The art depicts everything from creation stories to health warnings and food. The views from the lookouts we visited were spectacular.