Darwin To Kununurra Roadtrip - Britz

Six nights and 1,208 kilometres from Darwin to Kununurra in a 4WD camper, taking in Kakadu, Nitmiluk and the Victoria River.

Jabiru comes first inside Kakadu, which is roughly the size of Wales and holds rock art galleries that have been painted and repainted over tens of thousands of years. The 4WD tracks matter here: Jim Jim Falls and the Karnamarr campground are reached on unsealed road, and the falls run hardest just after the wet, when that road has only recently reopened.

Gunlom follows, where a series of plunge pools step down the escarpment and the top one looks out over the whole floodplain. Nitmiluk and Katherine come next, with thirteen gorges cut through sandstone by the Katherine River and best seen by canoe. Gregory National Park and Timber Creek follow on the Victoria River, then the Keep River crossing into Western Australia and Lake Argyle, which holds many times the water of Sydney Harbour.

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 crocodiles here are a practical matter rather than a novelty, and swimming is only sensible where the signs say so. This is dry season country: a good many of these roads are closed between about November and April, and the gorge walks shut when the heat gets up. Seven days is tight for a route with Kakadu in it, since the park alone could absorb three, so the choice is between seeing it properly and keeping to the schedule.