"Kakadu and Arnhem Land with "VT... " a Kakadu National Park Travel Page by tiabunna

There’s only one way to begin some stories (LOL).

Once upon a time, for nine days a group of twelve assorted VTers and partners travelled on a camping tour called “VT Survivor” but which became something like the "Trip of a Lifetime” for the participants. With them they took two lumbering Landcruisers, a number of Virtual Attendees, a mountain of food, water, camping gear and luggage, and a trailer for all the bits that wouldn’t otherwise fit. Oh, and two curious travel mascots, a penguin and a German bear.

Zig (aka 1+1 in VT) had volunteered at the 2007 Perth VT meeting to arrange this trip. In the outback parlance, any kind of group is called “a mob”. So “Zig’s Mob” was conceived. Word gets around in the bush and Zig is well known, so that became our collective identity during our travels. Zig himself (and I hope this description doesn’t embarrass him) is a true ‘bushie’ with a deep affinity with the Aboriginal culture. He also is a long time Ranger at the Kakadu National Park and has an encylopaedic knowledge of the ‘Top End’. For our trip he combined the roles of Pied Piper, Peter Pan, teacher and guide: we were in excellent hands and were fortunate to experience far more than would be possible on any conventional tour. I guess the request from several participants, as we returned to Darwin, sums up the success: ”Can’t we just refill the fuel tanks, top up the food and do it all again?”

Before we go any further, I must tell you who was on the trip. From the left in this photo, Mrs tiabunna; tiabunna; Mr adelaidean; rosie235; Mr kiwi; Gillybob; kiwi (front); aussirose; Mr aussirose; 1+1; adelaidean; feelingfabulous

And where did we go? The photo was taken back in Darwin after our return and the map in the middle shows our route, which I’ve highlighted with red spots. Starting from Darwin on the left, we headed out toward the east into the Kakadu National Park, then turned north into Arnhem Land. After a detour to Mt Borradaile we continued as far north as it’s possible to drive, up the Cobourg Peninsula. A few idyllic days there passed quickly and we headed south again to visit more of the Kakadu National Park, before continuing to our most southerly point at Adelaide River which is on the main road. Then we again travelled OTBP to some points along the Ghan railway, before again joining the main road and returning to Darwin. Maybe it doesn’t sound much, and it may not look far on the map, but we travelled 2500km on this trip! I'll add separate pages for our travels outside Arnhem Land and Kakadu

You also might care to visit the pages on this trip prepared by Aussirose (who also has some great video footage); Rosie235 who has some hilarious video footage; and Kiwi with some great photo galleries - but I reckon her heading photo (and added titles) is a classic.

NB - because Arnhem Land is somewhat more difficult to visit than Kakadu National Park, I have included the 'to dos' for it as "Off The Beaten Path".*