Kakadu 27th- 29th Aug

So finally to Kakadu- the big draw card to Australia's top end. A national park of 20 000 square kms with varying and spectacular scenery and a double World Heritage listing for the natural and cultural riches (to paraphrase and hopefully not plaigarise The Rough Guide) 2000 plants, 120 reptiles, 68 species of mammals, 10 000 insects and one third of Australia's bird species

An early start to the tour and first stop a crocodile cruise on the Adelaide river. Impressive beasts but the boat feels safe!

Then into the savannah woodland that makes up much of Kakadu. Parts of this had been burnt off and some still burning (they try to burn most areas in small chunks and due to the different eucalpt species the fires are nothing like the ones which can ravage the southerly parts of Australia).

Ubirr rock in the afternoon to see the rock art. It's intensely hot. Darwin was 30 degrees C, here it's nearer 36. We move from patch of shade to see the paintings. The best are those painted where indigenous people once lived. Some are almost in layers, with newer covering older- in this culture it was the act of painting that mattered most. There are the x-ray style pictures showing the insides of an animal which I'm later told mean that the animal was eaten, Mimi spirits and a Tasman tiger- extinct in this area about 200 years ago. Some of these pictures are thought to be many thousands of years old.

We climb up a lookout and the view is simply breathtaking- panoramic with woodland behind giving way to escarpments of sandstone in turn replaced by lush wetlands.

As evening falls there's relief from the heat finally, we're swagging it out under the stars. In just a thin sleeping bag I can feel the gentle warm breeze in my hair and whenever I wake up there's a new display of bright stars as the night progresses.