In a way Kakadu isn’t as easy as Litchfield. For one – it’s larger. Covering around 20,000 square kilometres – it’s Australia’s largest National Park. And where Litchfield is famous for its waterfalls and rock pools – there are a lot more options at Kakadu and so more planning is needed.
From memory, we didn’t plan much at all, throwing caution to the wind and deciding on the day what we wanted to do.
The downside was we probably missed out on a lot of cool stuff.
Nevertheless, we saw plenty during our day at the World Heritage listed park.
We had another early start as we made our way 150 odd kilometres east down the Arnhem Highway towards the national park. The drive takes just under two hours and the roads are in great condition.
We stopped off for a Spectacular Jumping Crocs cruise on the way. Unfortunately the boats only leave a few times a day (at 0900, 1100, 1300 and 1500) and so we had to hang around for the 1100 trip.
Thankfully there wasn’t a shortage of things to do while we waited.
$35 buys you tea and coffee and an hour-long cruise on the Adelaide river. During the trip staff bait the huge crocodiles with bits of dead chicken. It’s pretty thrilling to see the huge creatures launching up at the boats and is worth a look. 
After the cruise we hopped back in the car and made a b-line for Kakadu National Park. You have to buy a Kakadu Park Pass which’ll set you back about $25 but allows you 14 consecutive days in the park. Days of poor weather again rendered lots of the attractions out of action for us as swollen rivers meant road and swimming spot closures.
We continued right across the national park towards Nourlangie Rock – one of the most pristine public sites that feature Aboriginal rock art.
Nourlangie is about 30 kilometres south of Jabiru – Kakadu National Park’s main town.
When you arrive you can do a 1.5 kilometre circuit walk – which takes you past paintings and previous dwelling shelters.
Some of the sites are said to date back tens of thousands of years and feature vivid paintings that detail aboriginal mythology, behavior and local law.
The sites are open from 0800-sunset.
By the time we finished up at Ubirr it was about time to head back. It’s a fair drive to Darwin and after waiting for the Croc cruise it was already getting on in the day.
For details, schedules and Croc Cruise pricing, check out the attractions official website.
The Kakadu National Park website is a great source of information. It has maps and suggested itineraries, camping and accommodation options, a place to buy your park pass, and most importantly up-to-date details about road closures.
For more information on Nourlangie Rock and the aboriginal art found there, check out out the park’s site resource.