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Early start to head out of Darwin for a three day trip focused on Kakadu National Park. The first day we spent in the other parks in the area: Litchfield and Mary River. First stop in Litchfield National Park was Florence Falls where we had a nice swim. From there we went on to Buley Rock Holes which is basically a cascade of swimming holes. Another refreshing swim (we've left the hot/dry area for the hot/humid area so nice cold water to swim in is greatly appreciated). For the afternoon we drove to Mary River National Park where we took a boat trip on the Mary River. The trip was awesome...we saw a bunch of salties and freshies (crocs)...some really big ones too a 12 foot saltie! There was also abundant exotic birdlife and the river was quite swampy which when put all together kind of made me feel like I was taking a boat cruise through Jurassic Park. In the evening the dark gray clouds and humidity won out and it poured down rain.
The next morning we headed into Kakadu park where we did a hike up a rock hill that led to 360 degree views of the Kakadu flood plains which were pretty cool. Its the beginning of dry season (despite the previous night's rain) now so there was some water out there, but drying quickly. The main draw of the hike was the aboriginal rock art all over the place, some of which was thousands of years old! In the afternoon we went to Jim Jim Falls. Getting there involves driving down a narrow, rutted sand/dirt track that is semi-flooded out. It was quite a ride. Then a 1km scramble over some huge boulders to the beach where you swim through some rocks to get to the plunge pool. The water was freezing...we swam right under the falls which was coming down from 200 meters above. It was pretty cool!
The following morning we went to Gunlom falls which was a steep hike up to the top where there were swimming holes with amazing views out to the falls and the valley beyond. We swam in each of the pools which eventually led to a little waterfall up above. The next stop was a secluded little pool and falls which I don't think has a name. The water was again freezing which was again extremely refreshing. Then a long drive back into Darwin and a few beers to say goodbye to some new friends who were all parting ways.
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