Darwin e Kakadu National Park - MyAustraliainfo - Information about Australia

Darwin - Kakadu National Park


10/14 July 2001

Darwin is the capital of the Northern Territory and is a city full of life although not very big. All the action takes place in the center and in the adjacent streets. Although it is winter and in the dry season, the temperature is high enough and the humidity is unbelievable similar to July and August in Italy., I cannot imagine what it would be like in  summer when it is the wet season the sultry heat and humidity would be unbearable What a difference in temperature between one city and another as in Melbourne it is very cold in winter and here it seems like the middle of summer even though it is the middle of Winter.. The pedestrian area is very lively with  shopping centers catering for all budgets and tastes. The esplanade is a nice walk but swimming here along the esplanade is not very good with the beach being furuther away.. Darwin is a stop over and you have to really come here to get to various excursions to go to one of the most famous parks in Australia's Kakadu National Park and the other destination being the wildest and least populated region of Western Australia. The city is modern with many buildings of recent construction, in fact, in 1974 Cyclone Tracy devestated the area and damaged buildings beyond their repair and so new buildings were constructed cyclone proof.. Days 12  13 and 14 I attended an excursion in a 4x4 vehicle to Kakadu National Park spending the entire time in amongst nature with very few services that we are accoustomed.  Sleeping under the stars in an enclosed park  to avoid any attacks from crocodiles because it is strictly prohibited to camp outside this park as it is too dangerous to camp and the only services we had was only one toilet for men and one for women and we had no water we had to wash ourselved in the river!!!! From Darwin the park is about 2/3 hours by car with a lot of dirt roads and several  rivers and streams that are now possible to cross because of the dry season, while in the rainy season, many attractions are closed because you cannot reach them. The first stop was to Adelaide river to see the crocodiles that come out of the water because they are teased from the boat with pieces of meat tied to a stick and unexpectadly leap out of the water biting and gripping.  It is dangerous to lean out of the boat to see better as they creep up in silence and some of them are huge!!. Continuing the journey we arrive at a swamp which they call billabongs and during the rainy season there are some places where the water reaches to 3 meters in height and during the dry season it retires leaving here and the the billabongs, where there remains many species of birds that would otherwise have problems to survive withou these. Going forward we get to a cliff called Nourlandjie Rock where you can see the Nowulandjia Lookout, a beautiful view of the never ending park and we are right in the center of this. The  Nourlandjie Rock contains some of the most important examples of Aboriginal art. We head to the camping site  crossing various streams it was all very exciting. Excellent dinner on the BBQ and then a  sleep under the stars well protected with mosquito cream as there are many in this area.. In the morning we all head to the river to wash as best we could and to the restroom.. The second day is dedicated to visiting the waterfalls of Twin Falls. To get to the falls you have to walk along a path quite tiring between large and small rocks, steep paths and various bushes but that was nothing compared to what layed ahead. Arriving at  the top there is a spectacular view with  rocks with small ponds, small waterfalls, and even sand and some of us take a bath. The view is wonderful, there are no crocodiles here. The guide tells us that we have to go down to see the waterfall from below and because there is a beautiful inviting lake.. We all agree it was not a simple thing to do, infact there is no path or anything to go down.  The backpacks and luggage are tied to a rope and slowly dropped to the bottom of the rock, and we think what about the people? Do they think we are Rock climbers?? We find a small passage in the rock, if someone has a few extra pounds on them I think that they would need a miracle to pass through this small passage and with little or almost no support very easy to fall down and it's so hard for me never having done anythong like this before.. Done the first part and we are in the middle of the path. From here without being able to turn around and hoping that we are on the right side you have to go through on your side holding on to the walls avoiding slipping down  and try to avoid slipping down and scraping your skin on these walls..  However, after all of this you finally arrive in paradise!! The waterfall is beautiful and  the bottom of the river is spectacular!!  Well worth the climb down to paradise. I would do it again to be able to see a once in a lifetime opportunity!! Seein this in a photo is not the same as seeing it in person. Very tiring and not an easy task but definitely recommended. Lunch in paradise and and then a refreshing bath. Towards evening and all in despair as we had to go up that passage again but it had to be done if we did not want to sleep there... Once again sleeping under the stars and wonderful grilled steaks and sausages for dinner very much deserved after that intense climb down the rock. The last day of this excursion was much quieter as we visited another famous waterfall but it was much easier to reach with only several rocks to pass.  Compared to the rock of yesterday it seemed like a walk in the sand. This waterfall is called the Jim Jim Falls and has a vertical drop of over 200 meters and at the bottom there is a beautiful lake with very cold water, I could not take a bath in this cold water, unlike others!!. We returned to Darwin tired but very happy with the visit to Kakadu National Park.  Tomorrow I will journey on the bus for 2 days to get from Darwin to Cairns!!!