Northern Territory Waterfall after a tropical wet season
The “green season”. The “waterfall season”. Territorians have so many euphemisms for their monsoon it’s natural to be suspicious when they tell you how good it is.
But you should believe the hype. The wet season in the Northern Territory isn’t constant rain like you might expect. Showers tend to be brief, dramatic diversions, coming down hard and heavy in the late afternoon. At other times, conditions are often clear. The months between November and April are more about the effect that rain has on the landscape. It’s remarkable: floodplains fill, foliage thickens and the countryside blossoms with new colour and life.
Author Sue Moffitt is so passionate about the monsoon she wrote a guide book, Darwin in the Wet, to encourage people to experience it for themselves. “It’s the most magical time of year,” she says. “The Top End transforms from dry, smoky land to lush, verdant green. Water cascades off escarpments. Wetlands become seas of water with birds and flowers. It’s just very lush.”
It’s also cheap. The wet season is low season, meaning operators offer generous discounts on hotels and tours. These 10 experiences are perfect for anyone looking for a different take on the Top End.
FROM DARWIN…
1. Fish in Darwin Harbour (and maybe win $1 million)
Photograph: Kelly-Marie Monger/Getty Images
The wet season is a great time to cast a line in the north. The heavy rains of the monsoon fill the floodplains, connecting billabongs and tidal rivers, allowing fish to swim towards the open sea. Wild barramundi are a prized catch, and one of the best places to fish for them is Darwin Harbour. Darwin Harbour Fishing Charters offers half-day, full-day and group packages, on custom-built vessels that give you plenty of access to the harbour’s mangroves and estuaries, where fish often lurk. If you’re feeling competitive, the Million Dollar Fish competition runs from 1 October to 31 March. Australia’s richest fishing competition gives one lucky angler the chance to win $1 million, simply by hooking a specially tagged barramundi.
2. Get in touch with Northern Territory culture at MAGNT
If you need a primer on local history, geography and culture, the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory (MAGNT) is a great place to tick off early on a tour of the Top End. This fabulous facility gets to the heart of what it means to live in the Territory, a place shaped by ancient customs, colonialism, war and the awe-inspiring drama of its own geography. MAGNT over-delivers for its size, with impressive Aboriginal art and World War II exhibits. You can see Sweetheart, a preserved five-metre-long, 80-year-old saltwater crocodile, or stand in a darkened room and experience the roar of the museum’s permanent Cyclone Tracy exhibit. It’s an essential attraction.
… TO KAKADU NATIONAL PARK…
3. Experience the rock art of Ubirr a different way
The wet season cuts off road access to the world-famous rock art of Ubirr, but the unlikely payoff is an even better way to witness this extraordinary UNESCO World Heritage site. Kakadu Cultural Tours takes advantage of the seasonal flooding to run a punt boat tour on Magela Creek, through paperbark forests and the connecting billabongs on the Ubirr side of the waterway. There are opportunities to view the rock art – which gives a rare and precious insight into the world’s oldest continuous culture – as well as absorb some traditional indigenous knowledge and mythology, and take in the flood plains from Ubirr Lookout. The limited access makes this an intimate and hugely rewarding way to experience the park.
4. Jump aboard a Yellow Water billabong cruise at daybreak
Photograph: Andrew_Deer/Getty Images/iStockphoto
Kakadu’s other must-do cruise shines during the wet season, with the park’s Yellow Water Billabong coming alive against the spectacular monsoonal skies. Yellow Water Cruises runs up to six trips a day but the sunrise option is the pick: the endless sheet of water with its beautiful flowering lilies becomes a playground for an enormous variety of birdlife, mammals and reptiles (you might even see a saltwater crocodile or two). The morning mists and mango-coloured skies – not to mention the crowd-free boats – add a nice streak of contemplation to the whole experience.
5. Take in a waterfall, from the air
Northern Territory Photograph: JanelleLugge/Getty Images/iStockphoto
This is what Territorians mean by “waterfall season”. The monsoon transforms Kakadu’s popular Jim Jim and Twin Falls into surging displays of nature’s raw power. It also cuts off ground access to the falls, but you can still witness the magic with a Kakadu Air Services helicopter tour. Operating from December to May, a special flight takes in both waterfalls with incredible views from above. Hovering over the heaving 200-metre Jim Jim Falls, rainbows shimmering amid its mists of spray, is a remarkable experience.
… VIA KATHERINE…
6. Jet boat up the gorges of Katherine River
You may have already experienced a boat tour of Nitmiluk National Park – but probably not like this. At the green season’s peak, Nitmiluk Tours swaps its flat-bottomed vessels for jet boats to power guests up the first three of Katherine River’s 13 spectacular gorges. The water levels rise and fall quickly at this time of year, so whether the jet boats operate changes by the day (or the hour, even) – keep your eye on the company’s webpage and social media for updates on seasonal launches. Whatever the mode of transport, the experience includes opportunities to encounter numerous species of birds, fish and freshwater crocodiles, and take in the fabulous rock paintings of the local Jawoyn people.
7. Head south-west to Bitter Springs and Mataranka Thermal Pool
Photograph: Kazuki Yamakawa/Getty Images/iStockphoto
Remaining open for much of the wet season is Bitter Springs, an easy one-hour drive from Katherine. Floating along through the paperbarks and cabbage palms of this spring-fed, 500-metre waterway is a special kind of bliss. When Bitter Springs inevitably floods late in the season, opt for its neighbour, Mataranka Thermal Pool. Set amid a Livistona palm tree reserve, this popular dry season attraction is relatively quiet during the summer months, making this an ideal time to visit.
… ON TO LITCHFIELD…
8. Take a dip in Buley Rockhole and Florence Falls
Sunrise over Florence Falls in Litchfield National Park, Northern Territory Photograph: Posnov/Getty Images
Litchfield National Park is popular with green season daytrippers from Darwin, who love relaxing at Buley Rockhole and Florence Falls. Both remain safe for swimming unless they are shifting particularly large amounts of water, in which case just standing at the lookout above Florence Falls and witnessing its surging double cascade is a breathtaking experience. Allow some time for the Shady Creek and Florence Falls walk, a half-hour circuit that begins and ends at the Florence Falls picnic area.
9. Seek out the natural infinity pool at Tjaetaba Falls
Tjaetaba is one of the smaller creek systems in Litchfield National Park, meaning year-round it doesn’t tend to attract big crowds. During the wet season it’s a serene spot and a bit of a favourite among the rangers. Their tip: take the shady Greenant Creek walk to the top of Tjaetaba Falls, where you will find an Insta-worthy natural infinity pool with postcard views across the surrounding park. At this time of year, there’s a good chance you’ll have the place to yourself. Just don’t swim at the bottom of Tjaetaba Falls – it’s a sacred site for local Aboriginal people.
… AND BACK TO DARWIN
10. Catch an electrical storm over Darwin Harbour
Photograph: Louise Denton Photography/Getty Images
A favourite pastime for Darwin locals during summer is to watch the electrical storms gather over the harbour at dusk. Flashes of lightning illuminate the evening sky, with the electricity sometimes so dynamic that it wires its way between roiling cloud banks. These jaw-dropping light shows inevitably blow in on to the mainland, the winds laying blankets of rain across the harbour. One of the best ways to witness the drama is over dinner in one the casual eateries at Stokes Hill Wharf. Yes there’s cover for when the cooling showers finally hit.
Plan for an endless summer. Experience the NT in the green season.
