So just to recap, I booked a bus tour which loops around Australia, starting from Sydney then heading north to Cairns, then across to Darwin and Kakadu, then south to Adelaide through the red centre, then back to Sydney via Melbourne. By this stage (May 24th), I had done the tour to Cairns run by Oz Experience and the tour from there to Darwin by Desert Venturer. The remainder of my trip all the way back to Sydney would be on Adventure Tours and although this second half of my loop wasn't one large continuous tour (more like five), I'll bundle them all together under one heading because they're run by the same company. Still following what I'm saying? Awesome!
After spending the night in Darwin, I departed on a two day tour of Kakadu with Adventure Tours. It was another early start to meet the bus, this time a small 4x4 vehicle and my new driver guide, Celia. Our first stop on the way to Kakadu was in the Mary River Wetlands, where we went on a two hour cruise in a small motorboat. Here you'll find the highest concentration of crocodiles in Australia, if not the world. Although Cyclone Monica had been through not long ago, there was still plenty of wildlife to see including sea eagles, jabirus (a stork-like bird) and of course crocodiles. The cruise was a bit quiet at some points, but it was enjoyable nonetheless and we got to see animals that you're very unlikely to spot on land or on your own.
After lunch, we headed east into the main park. Kakadu National Park has a double World Heritage listing - only Uluru and Kakadu have two in Australia - and covers 19,804 km² which is the same size as Switzerland. It's one of the country's most important habitats for wildlife and we headed straight for its eastermost border.
Our main stop for the day was at Ubirr Rock which we climbed, looking at the Aboriginal art there on the way up. A lot of the art is used for teaching kids about laws, morals and wildlife. Kakadu has a huge variety of wildlife and this is reflected in the art, showing the different types of animals, which can be caught and when (even the Aboriginals regulate hunting to seasons). On top of Ubirr Rock, you're greeted with some of the best views to be found in the park. The sheer diversity is most apparent here, with escarpment, forest and wetlands on display in all their glory. It's here that one of the scenes in Crocodile Dundee was filmed and you can see why; it's the perfect place to show off the wonders of Kakadu.
From there, we headed south west to a hostel where we would stay the night. We were originally meant to camp in Kakadu, but because of Cyclone Monica, the campsites were still closed. We were also meant to go to Jim Jim Falls for a swim, but that was closed as well for good reason; they pulled a 4m crocodile out of it the next day!
