Kakadu, Australia – Day Two

Our second day in Kakadu National Park was just as good as our first. After our laid back breakfast in our bush bungalow in Jabiru, we headed out for a long drive to Gunlom – a spectacular infinity pool, free from crocodiles. The majority of the drive was on the nice sealed Kakadu Highway. But from the turnoff to Gunlom, it was 4WD territory. A sedan could handle the first part of the unsealed road, and although the latter part didn’t require the 4WD capacity of the car, the road was extremely uneven, which required the height clearance of a 4WD to pass.

Gunlom plunge pool is located at the top of a mountain, and it’s a steep and strenuous 45 minute walk to the top. But it is worth the hard work and effort, as you arrive at a beautiful waterhole with a spectacular view as a backdrop.

After Gunlom we headed back north to Cooinda to embark on a sunset Yellow Water cruise. If I had to give a Kakadu highlight, this would probably be it. The two hour cruise takes you down Yellow Water were you see a plethora of birdlife and the odd crocodile or two. The river and the surrounding vegetation is spectacular, especially against the orange and purple hues of the top end sunset.

Back at our bungalow we had a BBQ dinner of local barramundi to top off our day.

Kakadu, Australia – Day 1

So it has been a month or so since we went to Kakadu National Park, but I’ve been so busy that I haven’t had the chance to do any posts. And with a long-weekend in the Adelaide Hills planned for October, and Myanmar over Christmas and New Year, I better get cracking on these Kakadu, Litchfield and Darwin posts.

We spent a long weekend in the top end and absolutely loved it. Neither of us had previously been to the Northern Territory, so it was all new and exciting. We arrived very early on a Friday morning into Darwin, taking the red-eye Jetstar flight from Sydney, picked up a hire car from the airport and drove into Darwin for a few hours sleep. By mid-morning we we up and ready, and after a quick breakfast, we started making our way towards Kakadu National Park. The drive from Darwin takes about 2 hours, but it’s a nice and easy drive. Our first day in Kakadu was spent in the northern part, visiting a few billabongs, the rock painting at Nourlangi Rock and Ubirr Rock, looking out for crocodiles at Cahills Crossing and finally ending the day with a spectacular sunset from Ubirr Rock. We visited in late August – being the dry season, the weather is the most favourable, but this also attracts the tourists. However, Kakadu was not crowded at all – we almost felt as though we had the place to ourselves. We were so impressed with day one, that our second day in Kakadu couldn’t come quick enough.

 

Essentials

Getting There:
Jetstar and Qantas fly daily to Darwin from Sydney. The flight is at about 8pm from Sydney and arrives in Darwin after midnight. You can collect a pre-reserved hire car from the airport, as we did, or there are buses and taxies which will take you into town.

Stay:
We stayed at Anbinik Resort Kakadu (formerly Lakeview Park Kakadu) in one of their amazing bungalows. We absolutely loved the accommodation – it was clean and tidy, with great BBQ facilities. Fantastic value for money.

Eat:
We frequented Jabiru supermarket for our meals – picnic lunches and BBQ dinners. You can’t go wrong with that.