It is very popular to enjoy a motorhome hire from Darwin with many excellent tourist attractions and sights to enjoy, such as world heritage listed Kakadu National Park.
If you find yourself visiting the Kakadu National Park, you won’t be disappointed. Darwin is hwere you pick up your motorhome hire, and in just under 2 hours from Darwin, you’ll reach the edges of the national park. This area is timeless and recognised as a global treasure for both its natural importance and living Aboriginal culture. It also happens to be the largest national park in Australia at a size of 20,000 km2. Did you know that is half the size of Switzerland and a third of the size of Tasmania?
Once you’ve picked up your motorhome hire from Darwin, you’ll find it’s an easy drive along the sealed Arnhem highway to reach Kakadu National Park. When you get there, you’ll find that Jabiru is the main tourist town in the world heritage listed Kakadu National Park and a great place to base yourself.
There are a few commercial caravan parks in Jabiru which are all suitable for you to base your stay at, with ease of access to explore the Kakadu National Park. Some of these do not take advance bookings for powered sites. That shouldn’t be a problem as there are a number of campgrounds in this area, with many having a number of sites, such as Kakadu Lodge which is a lovely caravan park with some shade and the all-important swimming pool!
Jim Jim Falls
Before setting off to explore Kakadu National Park, you’ll be required to purchase a permit. The price does vary depending on your circumstances, such as if you are a senior or not as concessions are given. It’s easy to purchase your permit beforehand, if you roughly know your dates, as it can last up to 14 days (so should be easy to enough to guess your travel dates with a buffer on each side). You can also purchase online when you get to the park if that is easier for you, and show the rangers the pass on your phone, or pop into the info centre within the park to purchase.
The entry fee not only gives you access to the world heritage listed Kakadu National Park, but also to the Bowali Visitor Centre and Warradjan Cultural Centre. The cultural centre is a great place to gain further insight into one of the oldest living cultures, the Aboriginal people.
If you are heading out to Ubirr, you’ll find this easy in 2WD motorhome hires as the road is sealed. It is very popular to visit the amazing rock art and stunning vistas over the floodplains from Ubirr. If you are someone who only has limited energy, the walk up to the lookout, is a good one to concentrate your energy to, as the view is worth the effort (there are steps on this walk). There is a flatter walk to view the lower area and some of the rock art too. Sometimes there are ranger led talks in this area too. Our advice would be to check online or at the Bowali Visitor Centre in the park for up to date times of the talks which you may find further enhances your Kakadu National Park experience.
Ubirr – Kakadu National Park
There is plenty to see around Jabiru and Ubirr. You may like to enjoy one of the other many walks or take a scenic flight over the escarpment for a totally different perspective. It is also a bit of fun to spend time at Cahill’s Crossing which is the river crossing through the East Alligator River to Arnhem Land. This is not somewhere you’ll be taking your motorhome – you firstly need a special permit to enter Arnhem Land and there is a fairly treacherous river crossing, at times. You may see one of the casualties if the tide is low enough. That aside, spend some time on the banks of the river and watch out for any croc action. Pretty common to see a few eyes floating around in the river here, especially in the dry season. You might even see some people fishing for barramundi. If you decide to pull out your rod and have a go at fishing, remember your toes should be nowhere near the water – even if you don’t see any crocs, you can guarantee they are there!
Aboriginal Art Nourlangie – Kakadu NP
You’ll want to spend some time in your motorhome hire visiting Nourlangie too. There is amazing rock art to be viewed here as well as well as a chance to see evidence of Aboriginal occupation of at least the last 20,000 years. There are some excellent walks here too and also some others nearby. You’ll find a sealed road access here, so again perfect in your motorhome hire from Darwin.
One of our other favourite places in Kakadu National Park to visit in your motorhome hire is Cooinda and Yellow Water Billabong. There is a caravan park here with powered sites, or nearby you can stay in national park camping. There are quite a few national park camps in various sites throughout Kakadu, however they are all unpowered and unable to be booked in advance. If you are happy to ‘wing it’ then they may suit you. While at Cooinda, a cruise at Yellow Water is a must do – our team have done these many times over the years and are always amazed by the variety of wildlife and birdlife seen on this tour. Our favourite is the dawn cruise and the big brekkie after – but all are good. Usually wildlife is more active at the start or end of the day, rather than around the middle.
While you are driving your motorhome hire through the southern sections of the Kakadu National Park, you will find many large cathedral termite mounds too – they certainly are impressive in size.
Kakadu National Park is a great place to travel from Darwin in your motorhome hire, so if you are looking for a short adventure, or the perfect start or end to a much longer adventure then get in touch with us to find a motorhome and book your exciting trip!
