1. From Darwin: 2-Day Kakadu Tour with Hotel, Cruise & Rock Art
Shared experiences are richer. This small group (max 8) 2 Day Kakadu Tour is all about experiencing, understanding and expanding. Experience the unique wildlife and environments of the Top End. Understand the cycle of life that has played out here for aeons. Expand your awareness of indigenous people, culture and history as it has played out across this rugged, remote landscape. DAY 1 - FOGG DAM / KAKADU NATIONAL PARK TOUR An early morning start gets us out to greet the sunrise on the dynamic Adelaide River floodplains. Nearby is the enigmatic Fogg Dam Conservation Reserve. On display here is a massive variety of birdlife, reptiles, mammals and more across wetlands, floodplains, woodlands and monsoonal forest. Enjoy breakfast with the birds and coffee with the critters! Moving on, our destiny takes us to the edge of Kakadu and Arnhem Land and the award winning Guluyambi Culture Cruise for 90 minutes of wildlife spotting, indigenous culture instructions and anecdotes from a local aboriginal guide. Bare in mind to keep your hands in the boat as this river has one of the highest populations of estuarine crocodiles in the world. Surviving this enjoy lunch overlooking infamous Cahills Crossing before venturing to our accommodation for the evening and a short break. Freshen up, go for a swim in the pool or take a short nap … your time to relax. Late in the afternoon we meander down to Nawurlanja for a visual treat as the setting sun explodes off the ancient Arnhem escarpment in shades of ochre. Returning to Jabiru for dinner at the inhouse restaurant (Thai). DAY 2 - KAKADU NATIONAL PARK TOUR Up before the birds, we are off to Cooinda where we join the world-renowned sunrise Yellow Waters cruise. This is the perfect cruise to witness the wakening of wildlife on the wetlands backed up by expert local commentary. Enjoy the full buffet breakfast at Cooinda resort after the cruise before spending some quality time in the comprehensive aboriginal culture centre, Warradjan. Featuring stories, images, crafts, art and much more Warradjan is a place to go quietly and slowly. Absorb the knowledge and then sit down with female elders and learn the craft of string making and weaving afterwards (not guaranteed). Following this we journey towards Anbangbang Billabong and Nourlangie. Both Anbangbang and Nourlangie are rich in natural values and are significant areas of past and present areas of environmental interaction for the local indigenous people. A wealth of rock art adorning the sandstone massifs of Nourlangie provide the perfect depiction of life through the ages for Australia’s first peoples. Take your time and ask those questions of your guide. Following the walk enjoy lunch by Anbangbang Billabong before getting back to Jabiru and your 30 minute scenic flight over the region. No better way to put it all in perspective than from 2000 ft ! Departing Jabiru around 330 pm expect to be back in Darwin around 7 pm.