Kakadu is big in a way that is hard to take in until you have driven in it. The national park covers nearly twenty thousand square kilometres of the Northern Territory, about the size of Wales, and holds a whole series of landscapes: sandstone escarpments, floodplains, billabongs, monsoon forest, tidal rivers and open woodland. It is one of Australia's few World Heritage Areas listed for both natural and cultural values, and it is owned by its Aboriginal traditional owners, who lease it to the government and manage it jointly.
People have lived here for at least sixty-five thousand years, according to archaeological finds, and the rock art galleries at sites like Ubirr and Burrungkuy are some of the most remarkable in the world. Paintings of fish, animals, spirit beings and even early European ships cover the rock shelters, in some cases layer on layer. It is a living culture, and visitors are asked to respect restrictions on certain sites and to follow signs.
The wildlife is spectacular. Saltwater crocodiles are common in the rivers and billabongs, and swimming is dangerous except in designated, safe pools, so obey the signs. Yellow Water Billabong, near Cooinda, is full of birds, with jabirus, egrets, whistling ducks and sea eagles, and a dawn boat trip is the best way to see them. In the late dry season, grass fires are lit deliberately by rangers, and you may ride through smoke.
The Kakadu Highway and Arnhem Highway are well-sealed but long and straight, with heat, sun and road trains, and distances are large. The dry season, from May to October, is the time to go. From November to April, the wet season brings floods and road closures, humidity and storms. Fuel is available at Jabiru, about eighteen kilometres from here, and at Cooinda, and you should fill up whenever you can, since the next station could be a hundred kilometres away. Carry plenty of water, and buy a park pass at the entrance.