Kakadu National Park
- Introduction
- Fact file
- A look at the past
- Aboriginal culture
- Natural features
- Native plants
- Wildlife
- Parks Australia Kakadu (08) 8938 1121
- www.ea.gov.au/parks/kakadu
- Bowali Visitor Centre (08) 8938 1120
- VISIT Bowali and Warradjan centres for a better understanding of the park’s Aboriginal culture
- TAKE a journey back in time at the Aboriginal rock-art galleries of Nourlangie
- CLIMB the escarpment at Gunlom and enjoy the pools above the falls
- WATCH the sun set over the spectacular landscape from Ubirr Rock
- CRUISE the Yellow Water wetlands by boat to see beautiful waterlilies, astonishing birdlife and predatory crocodiles
Introduction
World Heritage-listed Kakadu National Park is a landscape of unsurpassed beauty, with world-renowned wetlands attracting extraordinary numbers of birds, thundering waterfalls that plunge from towering escarpments into natural rock pools, and open woodlands that offer a refuge for a wide range of native animals. It is also a very spiritual place, with a cultural heritage that reflects the unique relationship between the Aboriginal custodians and the land itself.Kakadu, Australia’s largest national park, has entire ecosystems within its boundaries. More than one-third of Australia’s bird species are found here, along with hundreds of plant, animal and marine species found nowhere else on the planet.
Fact file
Access
From Darwin via Stuart Hwy then Arnhem Hwy; from Pine Creek via Stuart Hwy then Kakadu Hwy; daily flights operate between Darwin and Jabiru
Best Season
May to September
Location
235 km east of Darwin (to park HQ)
Park Information
Size
1 900 000 ha
Where to Stay
Gagudju Lodge Cooinda
(08) 8979 0145
Gagudju Crocodile Holiday Inn
(08) 8979 9000
Aurora Kakadu Lodge and Caravan
Park (08) 8979 2422
Aurora Kakadu (08) 8979 0166
Winwinmirla Mary River Roadhouse
(08) 8975 4564
A look at the past
In 1818 Phillip Parker King sailed up the Alligator rivers and named them. In 1845 explorer Ludwig Leichhardt was the first European to traverse the Kakadu region, during his expedition from Moreton Bay in Queensland to Port Essington on the Cobourg Peninsula. He said the country was beautiful and bountiful and the inhabitants populous and friendly. In 1862, explorer John McDouall Stuart crossed the south-western edge of the park when he neared the end of his epic south–north crossing of the Australian continent.European infiltration of the Kakadu region began in the 1880s when pastoralists, buffalo hunters and missionaries began to settle around the East and South Alligator rivers. Aboriginal people were paid in goods such as flour, tea and tobacco to help shoot, skin, transport and load buffalo hides onto ships. The park attracted prospectors when gold was found at Pine Creek further to the west, but mining did not become really active until uranium was found near the headwaters of the South Alligator in 1953. Rich deposits of uranium were later found on the Ranger, Jabiluka and Koongarra leases, and the township of Jabiru was established to service the controversial industry in the late 1970s. In the early 1970s there were moves to protect Kakadu within a national park and in 1972 much of the area was declared a wildlife sanctuary. In 1978 the Gagudju people were granted title of their land, which they then leased for use as a national park. Stage One of Kakadu National Park was declared in 1979, along with the establishment of the Ranger Uranium Mine and strategies for its control and management. In 1981 Stage One became a World Heritage area (WHA). Stage Two of the national park was added in 1984, which acquired WHA status in 1987. Stage Three of the park was proclaimed the same year. Today the entire park enjoys World Heritage status, classified for the immensity of its natural wonders and rich cultural heritage.
Aboriginal culture
Rock art of the region indicates Aboriginal people have occupied Kakadu for between 40 000 and 60 000 years, the longest record of continual human occupation of any area on Earth. The rock-art galleries show early Indigenous groups had a strong culture based on deep spiritual beliefs, and that they had access to a rich larder of food. The name Kakadu comes from an Aboriginal language, Gagudju, spoken in the north of the park at the beginning of the 20th century. Although no longer spoken by Aboriginal people in the area, surviving dialects include Kunwinjku (in the north), Gun-djeihmi (in the centre) and Jawoyn (in the south). Aboriginal people of the region know themselves as Bininj (pronounced Bin-ning). Kakadu is jointly managed by the Bininj/Mungguy people and Parks Australia. The main Aboriginal rock-art sites are at Ubirr Rock and Nourlangie Rock (see feature, page 284), while an excellent understanding of Kakadu’s Aboriginal culture can be gained by visiting the Bowali Visitor Centre and Warradjan Cultural Centre.
Natural features
The eastern boundary of the park follows the East Alligator River and the 140-million-year-old Arnhem Land escarpment, which is the western edge of the Arnhem Land Plateau, an imposing geological feature that stands some 300 metres above the tropical woodland of the park and extends for more than 500 kilometres. Scientists believe the sandstone escarpment was created either by the continual wave action of a vast sea that once stretched inland or by volcanic uplift. The escarpment is the edge of the ‘stone country’ of Arnhem Land and many rivers in the Top End have their headwaters here, including the East and South Alligator, which flow through the tropical woodland of Kakadu, across the flood plains and out to the Van Diemen Gulf. The plains are broken up by impressive rocky outcrops, or outliers. Areas of the escarpment and massive rock formations, such as Nourlangie Rock, were shelters for Aboriginal people, who often used the rock walls and overhangs as a canvas on which to depict their daily lives and spiritual beliefs. Compared to the escarpment, which dominates the landscape in the east of the park, the rivers and coastal areas are more modern formations, built up over thousands of years as silt was carried out of Arnhem Land. During the wet season rivers and creeks break their banks and flood the plains, creating Kakadu’s famous wetlands that also include monsoonal rainforests, swamps and billabongs. It is these areas, rich in plant and insect life, which make Kakadu National Park one of the most abundant areas for wildlife in Australia. In the north, where the park meets the sea, estuaries, tidal fl ats and dense mangrove forests rim the coast.
Native plants
Biologists have recorded more than 1600 species of plants in the park. Most of the woodland is dominated by eucalypts such as Darwin stringybark and woollybutt, with an understorey of bunch speargrass and native sorghum. Large paperbark trees grow in swampy wetland areas and around billabongs, while colourful waterlilies – including the majestic lotus lily – blanket the flooded plains and waterways after the wet season. More than 30 mangrove species grow along the coast and in the estuaries. All three species of pandanus are found here, while palms such as the Carpentaria are common in monsoonal forests. Many of the lush monsoon forests lie hidden in deep gorges that have been carved in the escarpment.Allosyncarpia ternata, a species restricted to western Arnhem Land, is an evergreen tree found in varying habitats, from monsoon rainforest on ravine floors to open forest and woodland on cliffs, ridges and hilltops. Other hardy trees include the native kapok and red kurrajong, while the rarely seen and aromatic plant, Pityrodia jamessii (found near Nourlangie Rock), is the only plant to attract Leichhardt’s grasshopper, Australia’s most colourful insect.
Wildlife
In the park there are over 280 bird species, more than 50 fish species, over 120 reptiles and amphibians, 60 species of mammals, 100 species of termites and more than 300 species of ants. The beautiful Oenpelli rock python can be found on the escarpment, along with the chestnut-quilled rock-pigeon, black wallaroo, northen dibbler (sandstone antechinus) and a variety of bats including the orange leafnosed-bat and the ghost bat. The open woodland is home to a variety of parrots, honeyeaters, fi nches, and raptors such as the whistling kite that rides the thermals looking for prey. The agile wallaby and antilopine wallaroo are two common mammals seen during the day, along with reptiles such as the frilled lizard, Gould’s sand goanna and various geckos and skinks. The rivers and coastal areas of Kakadu are populated by saltwater crocodiles and visitors are warned to stay out of the water, unless there is clear advice to the contrary. The only places likely to be free of these dangerous reptiles are located up in the escarpment country. Keep children away from the water’s edge in crocodile-prone areas.
Featured Activities in the National Park
Introduction
There are tours of wild places and Aboriginal cultural sites, as well as scenic walks, some swimming away from crocodiles, and camping. Many waterways are open to boating and fishing, and there are unsurpassed views from spectacular lookouts or scenic flights. In order to get your bearings, the notes below offer a guide to specific attractions and walks in each of the main areas of the park.
Fishing
The South and East Alligator rivers and Yellow Water are popular fishing destinations and there are boat ramps at the South Alligator near the Arnhem Highway, the East Alligator River, Yellow Water, Mardugal and Jim Jim Billabong. Saltwater crocodiles are present at most fishing spots and visitors are reminded not to wade in the water or to clean their catch near the water’s edge.
Scenic touring
The Kakadu Highway, which runs from Mary River Roadhouse in the south to meet the Arnhem Highway near Jabiru, is a scenic drive that also offers access to most major attractions. On entering the park in the south, it is not far to the turn-off to Gunlom, a large camping area and beautiful waterhole that can be reached via a gravel road. A 4WD track travels further south to Koolpin Gorge and Guratba and Gimbat day-use areas. Lookouts are dotted along the highway, including Bukbukluk, some 10 kilometres north of the ranger station. Further along is Maguk camping area (4WD access only). Old Jim Jim Road, linking Cooinda with the Arnhem Highway, is a gravel track that turns off the Kakadu Highway 90 kilometres north of Mary River Roadhouse, shortly before the turn-off to Yellow Water. Old Jim Jim Road joins the Arnhem Highway just east of the Bark Hut Inn. The turn-off to Yellow Water is 99 kilometres north of Mary River Roadhouse and 52 kilometres south of the Arnhem Highway. Six kilometres north of the Yellow Water turn-off is a sidetrack to Jim Jim Falls, a 60-kilometre gravel road leading to a carpark near the base of the falls. From here another track leads 10 kilometres to Twin Falls. Access to Twin Falls Gorge is by prepaid, guided boat shuttle (contact Bowali).Most bitumen roads are open year-round except when bridges and causeways are flooded. Gravel roads and 4WD tracks are usually impassable in the wet season, between December and May.
Campsites
Alligator Billabong (bush camping)
Bilkbilkmi (Graveside Gorge) camping area
Garnamarr (Jim Jim Falls) camping area
Giyamungkurr (Black Jungle Springs) camping area
Jarrangbarnmi (Koolpin Gorge) camping area
Jim Jim Billabong camping area
Maguk (Barramundi Gorge) camping area
Red Lily Billabong camping area
Waldak Irrmbal (West Alligator Head) camping area
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