TOD Tour 2.0 Day 49 - Into Kakadu

There are certain places on this tour that are big ticket items, either because of significance to do with family or their significance to Australia or mostly because they are just so damned amazing.

Kakadu is one of those.

We arrived at its southern entrance near Mary River Roadhouse, turning off the Stuart Highway at Pine Creek after the distraction of a cup of coffee at Mayse's. Actually the cup of coffee wasn't so much the distraction as was the collection of movie star memorabilia. Elvis and James Dean seemed to be particularly favoured and I had a chat with a life-sized model of Dean, the man who made only four movies and died when his Porsche Spider collided with a truck. He has been an icon ever since.

There was a good blaze going in the national park when we arrived at the border but then its the burning time at the moment: that time when the dry season is ending and just before the "build up" begins. Its the coolest four or five weeks of the year so mosaic burning is applied in the time honoured way of Bininj (the traditional owners of this land). We kept an eye on its location and were glad when we motored away from us.

Its a big place, something that runs many a tourist foul. From entry, it would be over 100kms until we reached out camping spot at Cooinda. The national park occupies some twenty thousand square kilometres: from the Mary River in the south to Field Island at the mouth of the South Alligator River in the north; 100km west on the Arhem Highway to the escarpments of Anhem Land itself. Those that drive in from Darwin on the hope of seeing its treasures in a day are disappointed and leave without the "Kakadu Experience". As such, its not hard to see how some chose to refer to the place as Kakadon't. This is our third visit. Their comments are invalid.

Click for today's photos

We've not stayed at the Cooinda Lodge before. We've visited and done the cruises from here but previously we stayed out in one of the many bush sites, some of which now have hot water showers and flushing dunnies. Very flash! However, they also still have billabongs with crocodiles, flies, mosquitoes and lots and lots of red dust. We'll take the easier option of power, laundry facilities and happy hour $5 schooners, for about $10 a night more.