Kakadu & Top End
Kakadu Highlights
Cooinda and Yellow Waters (Ngurrungurrudjba)
Cooinda is a resort situated in the heart of the Kakadu wetlands. This is an area noted for its wildlife - and mosquitoes. The former make it a great place to visit, the latter make it an uncomfortable place for an overnight walk. The attractions at Cooinda include the Yellow Waters cruises, and the Warradjan Aboriginal Cultural Centre.
The Yellow Water Billabong (known as Ngurrungurrudjba (Noor-roon-goo-rooj-bar) by the people of the Murrumburr clan who own the area) is part of the Jim Jim – South Alligator River system. The cruise there provides the best way to see the wetlands and allows you approach the wildlife (especially birds and crocodiles) much closer than you could do on foot. The dawn and dusk cruises are especially good for birds.
The cultural centre is a few hundred metres from the hotel and provides an insight into the lives of the Aboriginal traditional owners of the park. The nature walk offers a pleasant way to spend an hour or two, especially early in the morning or late in the afternoon.
We include a Yellow Waters cruise and a night at Cooinda in many of our Kakadu trips. Please refer to the trip list for details. If time permits, a visit to the Aboriginal art sites at Nourlangie (known as Nawurlandja (Now-oo-larn-ja) in the local Gun-djeihmi language) and/or the Warradjan Aboriginal Cultural Centre is included in the sections which do the cruise. There are links to park brochures about the rock art at Nawurlandja and Ubirr on the official Kakadu rock art page .
See a Yellow Waters photo gallery. Every cruise is different, but this will give you an idea of what they are like.
Ubirr and Mary River
On two of our Build Up trips, we include a visit to the famous Ubirr (Oo-beerr) art sites where we do a short walk or two along marked tracks. We also include a night in a houseboat on the Mary River. Our Mary River houseboat photo gallery says more about what that's like than we can possibly put into words.
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