Kakadu and Katherine - Nature's Way - Britz

Five nights and 653 kilometres in a loop from Darwin in a campervan, through Kakadu and Nitmiluk on sealed roads, with Litchfield on the way home.

Corroboree Billabong comes first, where the cruise goes out among lilies, jabirus and a very high density of saltwater crocodiles, then Kakadu itself. Ubirr and Burrungkuy hold the two great rock art complexes in the park, painted and repainted over tens of thousands of years, with the Ubirr lookout taking in the Nadab floodplain at sunset and the Anbangbang shelter beneath Burrungkuy.

The Yellow Water billabong follows with a boat trip, and Jim Jim Falls, which drops two hundred metres off the escarpment, though the track in is 4WD only and from a sealed-road itinerary it is better seen from the air. Katherine comes next with its free thermal pool and Nitmiluk’s thirteen gorges, then Leliyn, the Edith Falls, and Litchfield before Darwin.

Britz supply the camper and the day-by-day plan, and the hire is priced live per vehicle rather than per person; campsites, fuel, ferries, park fees and activities are all extra, with a nil-excess insurance pack available at booking. Six days covers both parks at a reasonable pace, and keeping to the bitumen means a standard camper rather than a 4WD. The dry season is the window, since the wet floods roads and closes access tracks. Where swimming is allowed changes through the season, and the park notices are the only reliable guide to it. Six days also makes this the shortest itinerary that takes in both of the Territory’s major parks, which is why it is the one most first-time visitors end up on.