The local Aborigines who lived there knew it as Gagadju. Today the world has a new name for it — Kakadu, Whichever name you use the mystic and beauty remain. Kakadu. The name alone conjures up so many images.

Ancient Aboriginal rock art and paintings, massive flood plains overrun with stampeding water buffalo, fearsome saltwater crocodiles waiting patiently for a feed by the creeks and billabongs (water hole), dozens of graceful and colourful bird species, plant communities and fauna so unique, and thunderous waterfalls cascading down hundreds of feet from escarpment to rock pool all add to its attractions.

In reality there is all this and more.

Kakadu National Park has become the realisation of a rare opportunity to protect, within a single par, a system of massive unspoilt waterways and environs together with a rich heritage of Aboriginal culture stretching back thousands of years. This 19,000 square kilometres of the Alligator Rivers’ region, in the tropical north of Australia, has been judged of such outstanding universal value it has the unusual qualification of World Heritage Listing for both its natural and cultural values.

The park stretches from just past Waterfall Creek Falls in the south, to the mouth of the South Alligator river in the north. From the Arnhem Land escarpment in the east it also reaches to within about 200km of Darwin in the west.

Kakadu has been home to various Aboriginal tribes for at least 25,000 years. Their name for the area — Gagadju, comes from the several languages of the Aborigines whose traditional lands and culture laid the foundations for one of the world’s finest national parks.

Kakadu is one of the few places where the original inhabitants maintain close ties with their traditional lands. Scientific evidence suggests that for at least 25,000 years Aborigines have lived within the area now known as Kakadu. Some of their 1000 rock art sites have been carbon dated to 23,000 years and through their “Dreamtime” legends the first Australians claim to have been part of the land since the beginning.

Sitting atop the lookout on the famous art site of Obiri Rock, as the sinking sun lit up a lone dingo crossing the floodplain, I couldn’t help but imagine the Aborigines living and sheltering there. Their presence is not just in the rock paintings, but everywhere.

Many of the older paintings around the park depict the various animal species which were hunted, while others represent figures of spiritual significance. Newer ones show the coming of balanda (European man) and as late as the 1960s the Badmardi clan painted in the Nourlangie Rock area. Today the park is visited more for its scenic beauty and its prolific wildlife. So far, more than 1000 kinds of plants, 50 mammals, 275 birds, 75 reptiles, 25 frogs and 55 fish varieties have been identified. Species unknown to man are discovered regularly.

The park can be divided into four different landscapes with the vegetation roughly following this topography.

  The Arnhem Land Plateau is dissected with gorges and ravines which host the torrential rivers and creeks of the wet season, and it is here the monsoon forests can grow. Without a permit Australians can’t enter through the escarpment into Arnhem Land.

Stretching to the north and west lie the rolling lowlands covered in open forest. The lowlands occupy the largest slice of Kakadu and the forests are home to more animal life than the other habitats.

Further north, the lowlands are interrupted by the wide floodplains which flank the major rivers and creeks. Regular flooding during the “wet” transforms these plains into inland seas and this habitat is under attack from the destructive activities of the water buffalo, so much so that there is now a culling project to eradicate the introduced Asian buffalo.

The floodplains in turn change to saline tidal flats, housing mangrove forests, before meeting the sea.

For me perhaps the most fascinating aspect of Kakadu was the chance to see and photograph an incredible variety of wildlife. It was for this reason I was drawn to the Yellow Waters’ billabong, near the township of Cooinda. I found that by taking a trip out on to the waters just after dawn, and before the heat became unbearable, was the best time to observe the park’s inhabitants.

Birds of all types were seen by the water edge, from the numerous magpie geese, grey whistle duck and jabaru, to the rarer great billed heron, pie cormorant and adult night heron. White egrets and sea eagles would occasionally swoop low over the boat as prehistoric goannas searched the waterside for something to scavenge. A barramundi would be caught by one of the larger birds as a pack of brumbies (wild horses) looked on.

Then, of course, there were the crocodiles. Only the larger saltwater crocodiles — some over 5.49m long — inhabit the freshwater billabong of Yellow Waters. It is a common, and sometimes fatal mistake, to believe only freshwater crocodiles inhabit freshwater rivers. While “freshies” are not found in saltwater, the “salties” are found in both. Young crocodiles between 1.83m and 2.70m long eat frogs and small fish. Those over 9ft eat mammals such as wallabies and dingoes and the very large crocs eat anything!

Freshwater crocs, being more timid and shy, are not so easy to spot during the day and swimming is generally quite safe in areas they frequent. Around the majestic rivers and rock-pools of Jim Jim, Twin Falls and Barramundi Gorge there is evidence of “freshies” around. Night-spotting freshwater crocs with powerful torchlights in the pool where you earlier swam can be a disconcerting feeling. However, the rock-pools at Barramundi and Twin Falls in particular have water so inviting you soon forget any misconceived fears.

  When planning a visit to the park, remember that with a monsoon climate there are definite wet and dry seasons. The landscape and the pulse of life changes substantially throughout they year. January to March are the “mid wet” months with April being “wet”. In May and June, the dry southerlies come, and the coolest season then stretches to August. From August to October the temperatures hot up and October to December is the humid “build up”. Whichever season you choose to visit in, you will always be guaranteed the beauty of the unique natural environment and diverse wildlife of the remarkable Kakadu National Park.

Fact File