Kakadu National Park 4WD Explorer Itinerary - Britz

Six nights and 1,100 kilometres in a loop from Darwin in a 4WD camper, through Kakadu, built around the swimming holes that only 4WD tracks reach.

Jabiru comes first, then Yellow Water at Cooinda, where the dawn boat trip crosses a floodplain holding saltwater crocodiles and several hundred bird species, and which is among the best wildlife hours available anywhere in Australia.

Maguk follows, a gorge with a plunge pool at the end of a rough track, then Gunlom, where a series of pools step down the escarpment and the top one looks out over the whole park, and Jim Jim and Twin Falls, which are the set pieces: Jim Jim drops two hundred metres off the escarpment and the track in is 4WD only with a river crossing on it. Ubirr closes the loop with its rock art and a lookout over the Nadab floodplain.

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. The tracks into Jim Jim, Twin Falls and Maguk open and close with the season, which makes timing the whole question on this route: too early and they are shut, too late and the falls have stopped running. Crocodile risk is managed by the park rather than by guesswork, so the signs decide where swimming happens. Seven days is a reasonable allowance for a park the size of Wales.