My Holiday - Northern Territory
Margaret Sharpe travelled with Austravel to the Northern Territory and here she recounts her travels through Kakadu National Park as part of an escorted tour including Kakadu, Katherine Gorge and Litchfield National Park.
The scenery on entering Kakadu National Park was just too wonderful to describe. Lakes covered with pastel water lily blossoms, towering red cliffs, brilliant cloudless blue skies, bright green pandanus palms and dozens of types of eucalyptus and acacia trees. The landscape varied constantly from lush tropical lakelands to craggy hills, thick bushland or open savannahs. A great variety of birds populated the water and sky, and lizards and water buffalo the land. At one time our bus screeched to a halt and our guide, Kylie, leaped out to rescue a turtle, marooned at the roadside far from water, probably abandoned by a predator.
After a quick stop at our campsite we headed 30 minutes north to Ubirr, an outcrop of rugged hills and caves adorned with aboriginal art. We scrambled up the rocky outcrop where we sat on smooth sun-warmed rock seats, just in time for a grandstand view of the most breathtaking sunset. The lake below the cliff edge reflected the sky as it turned every shade of scarlet, orange and gold, duck egg blue, pale mauve and finally a delicate pink. As we watched we nibbled on cheese and crackers and sipped a good Australian red wine, a perfect end to the day.
Back at the campsite we found it to be far less primitive than expected. A group of metal framed tents with wooden floors and comfortable cots surrounded a larger tent with a long table, chairs, gas barbecue and a sink. The camp even boasted a swimming pool and bar, hot and cold water and flushing toilets. Our ever competent guide soon had fresh barramundi steaks sizzling on the ‘barbie’. The food was plentiful and after clearing up we sat around a camp fire under huge brilliant stars, talking, as newly acquainted strangers do, of our travels and experiences, homes and families.
The following day we travelled south west across Kakadu to our first waterfall. It was beautiful, twin skeins of silver falling over rich red rocks to a deep pool beneath. A sandy beach edged the water and in places it was overhung by trees. Our guide made the necessary checks and discovered that the ban on swimming (because of the risk of crocodiles) had been lifted. We had the all clear! On such a warm day we did not hesitate to take the plunge.
Kylie suggested that it would be worthwhile to climb a path to the top of the waterfall, through dense trees we came out at the top of the plateau and what a sight! After a series of cataracts the stream formed a chain of pools in the rock surface, the crystal clear water glided over each smooth rock lip into the pool below.
We slid into the cool water and worked our way down the pools until we were sitting on the very edge of the precipice, the waterfall dropping to the pool hundreds of feet below. From there the whole panorama of Kakadu spread out below us to the far distant horizon, hills and lakes, trees and red earth, and apart from the road, no sign of man’s despoliation of nature.
