The perfect time for an endless summer
The vibrant landscape of the Top End is magical in the wet season. Monsoonal showers transform the land. Stunning electrical storms light up the sky, wild berries and luscious plums glisten, creeks and billabongs teem with fish and bird life, and vibrant green foliage contrasts against the rich, earthy tones of this timeless landscape. The low season is one of the best times to see the Northern Territory – you can find great deals on flights, accommodation and tours, and you’ll have a chance to fully explore some of the world’s most beautiful World Heritage sites without the crowds.
Dramatic Darwin
During the green season, the tropical capital is ablaze with colour. As the sun dips below the horizon, brilliant reds, purples and pinks flood the sky. Stokes Hill Wharf, Darwin Sailing Club at Fannie Bay, and Cullen and Mindil beaches are the prime spots from which to watch the vivid sunsets. Mother Nature regularly lights up the sky with breathtaking electrical storms, and afternoon showers transform the city into a verdant, cool oasis where the sweet scent of frangipanis fill the air.
Lush Litchfield
A Salt Water Crocodile (Crocodylus porosus) basks in the sun on a rock near Hunter River in the Kimberley Region of Northwest Australia. Photograph: Ralph Lee Hopkins/Getty Images/National Geographic
Tolmer Falls is one of the most magnificent waterfalls in Litchfield National Park, cascading over two high escarpments into a deep, cool plunge pool. Between the picturesque Florence Falls and Buley Rockhole is a three-kilometre walking track, taking in several small waterways. If you’re after a hidden gem, it doesn’t get much better than the beautiful natural plunge pools at Tjaetaba Falls. The view from the second pool – overlooking the rocky bluffs and ridges of verdant Litchfield National Park – makes this a must-do experience in the Top End. Immerse yourself in the cool, refreshing water while the falls thunder and tumble behind and below you. Even better, in the wet season it’s likely you’ll have the place (and that enchanting view) all to yourself.
Fall in love with Katherine
Photograph: Artie Photography (Artie Ng)/Getty Images
The Katherine region is where the outback meets the tropics. Flying low along the escarpment towards Arnhem Land are 13 dramatic gorges dotting the landscape, their surging rivers and spectacular waterfalls carving through this ancient land. Just south of Katherine, set among palms and tropical woodlands, spring-fed, crystal-clear thermal water bubbles to the surface at Mataranka Thermal Pool and Bitter Springs. Lie back and watch the clouds sweep over the land; there is little better than being under a northern sky when the fat droplets of water begin to fall.
A cool change in the wetland wonderlands of Kakadu
Touring in the green season means experiencing the Top End in a way that few travellers ever see it. The monsoonal rains make the rivers great for fishing and wildlife spotting. There’s little better than hooking enormous and sleek barramundi, catfish, bream or mullet and cooking them over a crackling fire while lightning illuminates the sky. The wetlands of Kakadu come alive on Yellow Water, a lush, tropical billabong where you can spot the glinting eyes of half-submerged saltwater crocodiles, wild buffalo grazing and regal brolgas strutting in the reeds.
Go chasing waterfalls in Kakadu
The helicopter hovers over a serpentine river, following its path through a vast carpet of green. Water buffalo gorge themselves on abundant, juicy fodder while spear grass rises from the earth, its blue-green leaves spread wide like glossy umbrellas. Even above the pulsing chopper’s rotor blades, the sound of Jim Jim falls is unmistakable. The helicopter pulls back, revealing a series of waterfalls, each mightier than the one before. White mist rises from the bottom of the falls, flinging water onto the towering stone escarpments, before the glittering river calms and settles.
Ancient art rocks
The rocky shelters overlooking the Nadab floodplain at Ubirr are usually humming with tourists in the dry season, but during kudjewg (monsoon season), visitors to this World Heritage rock art site slow to a trickle, offering opportunities to have this remarkable expression of the world’s most continuous culture more or less to yourself. The ancient rock paintings include intricate depictions of fish, turtles and goannas, but perhaps the most striking is the painting of a thylacine, which became extinct on the mainland more than 2000 years ago. In the wet, the most magical way to arrive at Ubirr is by boat, gliding silently through paperbark forests to this deeply moving site.
Call of the wild
A pair of Australian sea eagles perched in a tree. Photograph: Randy Olson/Getty Images/National Geographic
Home Billabong, Yellow Water, South Alligator River floodplain, Kakadu National Park, Northern Territory, Australia. Photograph: Jason Edwards/Getty Images/National Geographic
Life springs forth in the green season, making this the perfect time for wildlife spotting. Vibrantly coloured butterflies flutter over the track at the Moline Rockhole, landing for quick sips on the surface of the glassy, rock-hewn pool, while the iridescent Leichhardt’s grasshopper is abundant along the Yurmikmik walks in southern Kakadu. Evening kookaburra calls unfurl as the sun sets, and keen eyes will see rock wallabies flit about on rocky outcrops as the day sinks into evening.
Time to plan for a summer well spent. Experience the NT in the green season.
