Kakadu NP

Campground 1: Merl Campground
Facilities: Toilet, Showers, Non-potable water, Fire pits, Picnic Benches, Bins.
Good stuff: It had all the amenities you need and close to Ubirr.
Not so good stuff: SO MANY MOZZIES!
Price: $10 per person per night plus $25 Kakadu Pass Fee per person

Campground 2: Garnamarr Campground (4WD Only)
Facilities: Toilet, Showers, Non-potable water, Fire pits, Picnic Benches, Bins.
Good stuff: Lovely campground, a lot quieter and amenities were well looked after compared to Merl Campground. Great spot to stop off before Jim Jim and Twin Falls.
Not so good stuff: Few spots where you can park your car directly next to your tent but not really an issue.
Price: $10 per person per night plus $25 Kakadu Pass Fee per person.

Ready to explore again we headed to the world heritage site of Kakadu NP. Unfortunately we’d had some negative feedback on the place with people complaining about the visitors guide suggesting you spend extra money on helicopter rides and boat cruises to get the most out of your trip, in some ways that is true… but there is still some cool stuff to see if you make the effort.

The first stop was to check out the smoking sunset at Ubirr.

We concentrated our time in the Northern of Kakadu… If you were coming in from the North end it would be a good idea to top up your fuel in Jabiru. We didn’t and as a result were limited in the Southern section when Cooinda fuel station was out of diesel!  At least we made it to Mary River Roadhouse in the end…

At every body of water we were treated to many lilies- this was taken at Jim Jim Billabong.

At Nourlangie there were many things to get excited about...

... a quartz rich conglomerate...

...pretty flowers...

...and some world famous rock art!

Anbangbang billabong had a lovely scenic walk around it...

...and the most birdlife that we have seen in a long time.

Our favourite part of the trip was the 4WD journey down to the Twin Falls area. From the Kakadu Highway turn off you go along over 50km of dirt road to Garnamarr Campground. The last 10km or so to the falls becomes a bit more off-roady with a relatively narrow track, tight bends and some hard sandy sections but nothing that any 4WD would have any dramas with.  There are two falls to see, Jim Jim left at the T-junction and Twin Falls that is right of the T-junction. The Twin Falls drive was a LOT of fun with a 0.8m Jim Jim Creek crossing, which she sailed through  (boat pun intended…). Before the trip Kyle replaced the front door seals and they worked relatively well. The rear door seals weren’t replaced so Margaret left with two decent sized internal wet patches as well as the dual battery system isolator fizzing and is currently drying out- maybe it is a good thing we are not tackling Cape York this time around!

The 2km return walk to Jim Jim Falls was a rock scrambling affair but worth the few at the end.

Where as the drive to Twin Falls was when Margaret had her second boat experience during our ownership...

...if you walk to the top of Twin Falls you get to see some pretty fault breccia (we think)...

...and stunning views although we decided to walk a little further by accident in true Kyle and Liz fashion.