Driving Nature’s Way

Start in Darwin and wind through a wetland wilderness steeped in Aboriginal culture and pioneering history on the Nature's Way touring route. It takes you from World Heritage-listed Kakadu National Park to Litchfield National Park and Nitmuluk National Park. Canoe down the Katherine River, swim in waterfalls at Litchfield and see the world’s largest collection of Aboriginal rock art at Kakadu. Here you can hike to the top of Gunlom Falls, made famous in the movie Crocodile Dundee as Echo Pool, explore rock pools and cook a campfire meal at the base of Arnhem Land escarpment. For photographic, wildlife and bird watching enthusiasts, this is a dream drive, all on a fully sealed road that suits a two-wheel-drive.

In tune with the seasons

You need to visit Kakadu more than once to appreciate its dramatically different seasons. The local Bininj people have classified six, beginning with the thundering waterfalls and dazzling lightening of the Gudjewg monsoon season between January and March through to the hot dry weather of the Gurrung months in August and September. See blossoming paperbarks next to billabongs filled with waterbirds in the Banggerreng season of April. Enjoy pleasant temperatures and clear skies in the Wurrgeng cold weather months between June and August. Soak up this changing scenery on a sweeping flight over the landscape or up close on a bushwalk, billabong or river cruise.

With the spirit of adventure

Four wheel drive to Koolpin Gorge or the base of the Arnhem Land escarpment and camp overnight. Or join a four wheel drive tour to key locations such as Jim Jim Falls and Barramundi Gorge. Take in Kakadu’s majesty and size on a scenic flight or catch a barramundi with an experienced sports fishing guide. Glide down East Alligator River on an Aboriginal culture cruise or paddle a canoe to majestic Twin Falls. Bushwalk through monsoonal forest, past waterfalls and clear plunge pools.

With rare and ancient flora and fauna

Take the Gubarra Pools Walk past sandstone cliffs to shady monsoon forests or the Bubba Walk through wetlands rimmed with paperbarks, pandanus, cycads and lotus lilies. See the spectacular Jim Jim Falls which drop more than 250 metres. Cruise the East Alligator River and Yellow Water past crocodiles, barramundi, and birds such as magpie geese, brolgas, jabirus and white-bellied sea eagles. See jacana and jesus birds flying between lily pads. A quarter of all Australian freshwater fish species, and over one third of Australian bird species can be found in Kakadu.

Rocking out with Aboriginal art

Kakadu is home to one of the world’s highest concentration of Aboriginal rock art. See rock crevices cut by Dreamtime ancestors at Nourlangie Rock. Or view a painting of Lightning Man, the Dreamtime ancestor who still controls the violent wet season lightning storms, in the nearby Anbangang Gallery. Check out a painting of the Rainbow Serpent and some of the world’s finest examples of X-ray art at Ubirr Rock. You’ll see hand prints of animals, hunters and Dreamtime figures, as well as shelters, stone tools, grindstones, rock art and ochre for ceremonial paint. Learn how the art depicts Kakadu’s social, cultural and natural history on a guided tour or through the interpretative signs.

Go castaway

Join a day tour to the tranquil Muiron Islands, classic desert islands with tropical waters teeming with marine life and complex coral reefs. Dive or snorkel at Turtle Bay, a nesting sanctuary for turtles. You’ll find many other great dive sites just offshore, with colourful coral gardens in depths of 3 to 20 metres. Laze on a deserted beach or cast your line in the shallow waters for a giant trevally. For the ultimate in solitude and romance, get permission to camp overnight.

Have adventures on land and sand

Four-wheel-drive the Shothole Canyon Road or Charles Knife Canyon to Cape Range National Park, just 35 kilometres from the centre of Exmouth.  Here you can camp where spectacular gorges, carved by ancient rivers, meet Ningaloo’s coral reefs, clear blue seas and sandy beaches. Walk to Yardie Creek past wildlife and wildflowers, watching out for rare black-footed wallabies crouching on the steep walls. These mangrove areas shelter many bird species and marine animals. Or follow the three-kilometre walking trail through Mandu Mandu Gorge for panoramic ocean views. When it's time to dry off, explore more of the coastline on a four-wheel drive or quad bike.

Stay in salty seaside towns

Stay in pretty Exmouth, where you can hire a car, join an eco safari or a beach, reef and game fishing tour. Learn to surf on the gentle waves of Wobiri, catch a left-handed swell on The Bombie or ride the reef breaks at Dunes Beach and Murion and Montebello Islands. Back in town, you’ll find accommodation to suit all budgets, from self-contained apartments to backpackers and campsites. Wander the yachting marina and visit the town's cafes, restaurants, boutiques and wine bars. Then have a yarn with the locals or other travellers over a beer at the local tavern. In the idyllic seaside town of Coral Bay you can stroll to everywhere. Snorkel, swim and feed fish off the beach, do a dive trip or take a scenic flight over the reef.

Slip on a snorkel and flippers

Snorkel through coral lagoons and gardens in calm, protected Coral Bay and meet graceful manta rays, dolphins and brightly coloured fish. If you’re ready for deeper waters, jump on a glass-bottom boat or join a snorkelling tour from Exmouth. Head to Lighthouse Bay or the classic desert Muiron Islands for spectacular reef diving. See sea creatures from small to big in the reef sanctuary of Bundegi Bombies, which has shallow waters perfect for entry level divers and snorkellers. More experienced divers can discover the diverse collection of large sponges, gorgonians and sea whips in the sponge gardens at the entrance to the Exmouth Gulf. Whatever level you are, Ningaloo has a piece of underwater Eden for you.

Meet intriguing marine life

Swim with the docile whale sharks, the world’s largest fish, who visit between April and June. Watch humpback whales between June and November and see rare turtle species hatch on guided, eco-interactive trails in January and February. Sea kayak fromExmouth and spot migrating whales and visit remote sites teeming with dugongs and turtles. Or join a boat tour to watch the spectacular mass coral spawning in March and April. You only have to step off the beach at Exmouth or Coral Bay to see clownfish bathing in anemone tentacles, lionfish and predatory moray eels as well as hundreds of other species of tropical fish.

SPIDER

SPIDER

Nature

Whether you like spiders or have an aversion to all things creepy crawly, you have to admit, their webs? Pretty cool. Especially when they are bejeweled like this one! Great capture by Flickr photographer Charles Larry1, who photographed this dewdrop-covered spider web in Nachusa Grasslands, Illinois.