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DETAILS
Getting there
From Darwin, drive
250 kilometres east along the
Arnhem Highway to Jabiru in
the park’s northern corner.Playing there
Kakadu Air (kakaduair.com.au)
and The Scenic Flight Company
(scenicflight.com.au) operate
scenic flights during the wet
season. Yellow Water Cruises
offer year-round cruises through
Yellow Water Billabong wetlands.
http://www.kakadutourism.com/
tours-activities/yellow-water-cruisesStaying there
Bed down at Jabiru’s 100 per
cent Indigenous-owned Mercure
Kakadu Crocodile Hotel, shaped
like a giant saltwater croc;
http://www.kakadutourism.com/
accommodation/
kakadu-crocodile-hotelCLOCKWISE FROM
LEFT: The mirrored waters
at sunrise; A croc glides past
in Yellow Water Billabong;
Even in the wet, the park is
ripe for exploration; The vast
plains, just south of Jabiru,
are lush at this time of year.
OPPOSITE: A sea eagle
surveys the scenery.Anthony nods and points at Gunlom, where
a landing strip sits away from the falls – built to
accommodate the Crocodile Dundee film crew.
I’m reminded of my chat with Bessie. She’d
mentioned that very crew and said they respectfully
worked with Kakadu’s Indigenous elders. “We
want more movie-makers to come and see our
beautiful place, see how we do things,” she’d said.
Our plane heads north to stone country, where
the escarpments again shift in appearance. They’re
lumpy and sculptural. Tear-shaped boulders
balance beside crumbling rocks shaped like fingers.
Again, I’m struck by the fact Kakadu contains all
six of the Top End’s ecosystems: as well as stone
country, there are wetlands, savanna woodlands,
tidal flats, hills and basins, and floodplains.
We drop down to the ground, and soon, when
the croc hotel’s eyes flicker red, I drop into bed.
It’s a good thing I do. At 5:15am, the alarm
sounds to ready me for the final leg of my
wet-season exploration mission: a sunrise cruise
at Yellow Water Billabong, 30 minutes south.
CRUISING IN WETLANDS COUNTRY
The sight of the creek – a calm, ice-blue mirror
that on its face reflects paperbark trees – dissolves
any residual resentment about my early rise.
Local cruise captain, Donny, is the son of a
traditional owner. “See those teeth marks on the
buoy over there? They’re from crocodiles. Let’s
just say I recommend you all stay in the boat.”
He steers us into a paperbark forest. Branches
poke into the cabin and things start to feel intrepid.
A freshwater croc slinks by, and, at last, I see the
Kakadu I’d first imagined: my waterlogged jungle,
a tangled mess of branches, beasts and nests.
As we exit the forest and enter the plains, steely
clouds collect above. “The rains are coming,”
Donny says wryly. The sky loses colour, the
paperbarks bend in the wind and the water’s
surface grows spiky. A sea eagle and two jabirus
glide past en route to more peaceful territory.
As fellow passengers coo in delight, I put my
camera away. When I do, Bessie’s voice is with
me. “In wet season I love just to sit and look at
the lightning, waterfalls and systems,” she’d said.
“People want to see breathtaking things here,
but remember to listen to the stories, too.
Respect the earth, the country and its spirit.
See birds and wildlife. Be quiet and watch.”
I’m still. My eyes and ears are open. And as
more prayer beads begin to dance sideways into
the boat, I know I’ve fallen for wet season – with
all its mad, monsoonal magic.GETAWAYS | Kakadu