Kimberley July 2022

Darwin

Overnight in Darwin.

Darwin to Kakadu

Depart your Darwin accommodation at 07:00am for Kakadu National Park. En route our first stop will be Fogg Dam. Originally built as a rice-plantation the area has become a conservation reserve and is now an important refuge for various bird species including Comb-crested Jacana, Magpie Geese, Pied Heron, Intermediate Egrets and Pigmy Goose. 

Next, we will join a morning 1.5hr cruise on the picturesque Corroboree Billabong. On this scenic cruise you have the opportunity to view a large variety of birdlife as well as salt water crocodiles in their natural environment. Learn more about the wildlife on the billabong from your knowledgeable guide who will make the cruise both fascinating and informative. 

Continue on to Kakadu via the old Jim Jim Road and stop for a picnic lunch as White Lily Billabong. Covering almost 20,000 square km of exceptional natural beauty and unique biodiversity, Kakadu is one of very few places World Heritage listed for both its cultural and its natural values. Kakadu is home to the Bininj and Mungguy Aboriginal people who have inhabited this area for thousands of years. 

Then this afternoon we’ll 4wd into Maguk (Barramundi Gorge). Enjoy a scenic 1km walk along the edge of Barramundi Creek before arriving at the base of Barramundi Falls. Here you have the opportunity to swim in the large plunge pool below the falls or for the more adventurous hike up to the top of the waterfall. Your guide will also give you a pair of snorkels so you can explore the underwater world, home to a variety of species such as fish and turtle. 

Depart Maguk late afternoon for Jabiru and our accommodation for the next 2 nights. 

Overnight: Anbinik Kakadu Resort – suite (cabin) 

Kakadu

Today we will four-wheel drive into Jim Jim and Twin Falls, where we’ll spend the day at two of Kakadu’s most famous waterfalls. 

Today offers excellent hiking, swimming and photographic opportunities. 

Enjoy a short, fully guided boat cruise to Twin Falls where you can view these impressive waterfalls cascading over sharp cliffs and meeting the water and sandy beach below. 

After lunch we’ll depart Twin Falls and hike in to Jim Jim Falls. Jim Jim comprises of a huge cliff face where a single stream of water continuously falls from the Arnhem Land escarpment above into the plunge pool below. 

Late-afternoon we will make our way to Nawurlandja Lookout. A short climb takes us up the sloping sandstone to provide views of the sun setting across Anbangbang Billabong, Nourlangie Rock and the Arnhem Land escarpment. 

Overnight: Anbinik Kakadu Resort – suite (cabin) 

Mount Borradaile Safari Camp

After breakfast we travel from Jabiru to the northern region of Kakadu National Park to Cahill’s Crossing on the East Alligator River and enter Arnhem Land. A 15 km scenic drive to Gunbalanya Aboriginal community provides some of the best driving views in the Top End with floodplains covered in bird life and water lilies running up alongside the Arnhem Land escarpment. 

Once reaching Gunbalanya our first stop is the Injalak Arts and Crafts Centre where you have the opportunity to meet and see traditional local artists in action. This art centre has a reputation for producing fine quality Aboriginal works with many displayed in galleries around Australia and overseas. 

Next, we will be joined by a local Aboriginal guide for a hike around the Injalak Hill rock art sites. A moderate climb takes us up into one of the most spectacular Aboriginal rock art sites in Australia. It’s here where we spend time exploring the many rock shelters which are covered in Aboriginal x-ray art dating back over 20,000 years. Relax under the shelters as your Indigenous guide shares and interprets the stories of their ancestors and helps you to understand the meaning behind their ancient tradition. 

At noon we’ll travel to the nearby airstrip for your charter flight deeper into Arnhem Land, to Mt Borradaile. Mt Borradaile is a registered Aboriginal sacred site in a remote 700 sq-km, exclusively leased area. Nestled against the Arnhem Land escarpment and the tropical woodland is this remote safari camp. 

After settling into your accommodation, enjoy lunch and discuss with the Mt Borradaile team the activities for the coming days. Depending on your 3 | P a g e 

interests these may include; rock-art tours, cruising the nearby creek systems, barramundi fishing, wildlife spotting, bird watching, viewing exotic flora or a traditional bush tucker and medicine walk. 

This afternoon you may like to visit Mt Borradaile’s most well-known art site; the Rainbow Serpent. A spectacular six metre long rainbow serpent dominates an awe inspiring rock shelter. The Rainbow Serpent is one of the most powerful and dominant creation spirits of the ‘dreamtime’. Lie down and gaze at the shelters rooftop as your guide depicts and interprets the meaning behind the many layers of art. 

Overnight: Mount Borradaile Safari Camp (deluxe cabin) 

Mount Borradaile Safari Camp

This morning we prepare for a full day of exploring the regions must see attractions. Travel in open air 4WD vehicles through the rainforest and floodplains before arriving at the sandstone escarpment which is home to an area known as ‘Major Art’. 

Major Art is one of the largest recorded rock art galleries in the world, covered with layers of paintings dating back thousands of years. Illustrations depict not only ancient spiritual beings but a huge array of more recent art painted throughout the ‘contact period’. The contact period refers to periods when Aboriginal people had either a direct or indirect contact with non-Aboriginal people. 

As a result Macassan praus (boats), rifles used by buffalo hunters and many intricate hand stencils were recorded on the sandstone. This gallery is so extensive it’s possible to spend hours exploring it at your own leisure. 

Further into the shelter are a series of catacombs and grottos forged by nature over millions of years. This site was once occupied by the local Aboriginal people who have lived in the area for millennia. Artefacts of stone tools and weapons are still scattered through the living areas as well as several burial sites, which may be viewed in accordance with the traditional owners. 

A picnic lunch is served en route. 

In the afternoon you will have time to relax at the lodge before heading down to the Cooper Creek Billabong for a scenic sunset cruise and evening drinks. The billabong is home to both saltwater and fresh water crocodiles as well as a large array of waterbirds including the jabiru, brolga, magpie goose and the intriguing jacana or ‘Jesus bird’. Take in this majestic landscape as the sun sets over Mt Borradaile. 

Overnight: Mount Borradaile Safari Camp (deluxe cabin) 

Mount Borradaile Safari Camp

Today, enjoy another full day of touring at Mt Borradaile with your local guides. 

Overnight: Mount Borradaile Safari Camp (deluxe cabin) 

Darwin

After breakfast enjoy one last morning of touring before travelling to the local airstrip for a 1hr scenic charter flight back to Darwin. 

Upon touching down in Darwin at approximately 1pm you will be transferred to your Darwin accommodation. 

Darwin to Ship

Morning transfer to ship