In 2002 a tour guide took a group of backpackers to a billabong in Kakadu for an evening swim. The guide checked the water for signs of deadly saltwater crocodiles and gave the all clear. They were all quite merry after having a few drinks but the party came to a sudden end. A croc brushed passed several people before dragging a German girl under the water and killing her. So where were we planning to go? Kakadu!

We planned to explore the area for a few days as Kakadu is a massive national park the size of a couple of English counties. Our main aim was too see as many crocs as we could, but the park is also home to lots of bird life and Aboriginal cultural sites.

One of the first things we noticed when setting up our tent at Merl was the temperature. It was definitely the hottest place we've been to in Australia so far. At least a couple of degrees warmer than Darwin. My guesstimate would be about 34-35 degrees as it was still very warm in the shade - something I always find a good indicator. The aborigines have six seasons for the tropical climate and we were in the 'cold dry'. I suppose cold is a relative term, 'cos god knows what it's like in the hot.

Close to our first campsite was Cahill's Crossing which goes over the East Alligator River. We'd heard this was a good croc spotting place. Sure enough as we edged our way passed all the crocodile warning signs and down the boat ramp, on the other side of the river we saw a couple of crocs sunning themselves on the muddy bank.

So far so good, but we wanted to see a few more specimens so we booked ourselves on a boat trip in the Yellow Water Wetlands. All the crocodiles in Yellow Water are saltwater ones which are bigger than the fresh water variety and can kill you. Their jaws are capable of exerting two metric tonnes of pressure so once they've got you they don't let go!

We picked the late afternoon cruise as the wildlife is more active either early morning or late in the day and those who know us are fully aware we don't do early mornings. Getting on the boat we grabbed the front row seats giving us the best view. I was very jealous of the woman sitting next to me with a foot long zoom lens on her digital SLR camera.

As we left the jetty we saw a croc almost immediately. Just its head was showing above the water and we all took a few pictures, but soon headed off as the guide said we'd see much better ones. Sure enough I was up and down in my seat taking more photos and videos of the crocodiles. We saw some laying out of the water so you could see just how big these creatures are. One was sat there with its mouth wide open, cooling its brain off. We had others swimming just feet away from the boat looking at us with their bulging eyes. The biggest we observed was around four and a half meters long. They all looked rather lazy and it was hard to imagine how aggressive they can be, but they stay motionless to conserve energy and then explode into action when they see their prey.

None of the crocs seemed bothered by us or the boat but these are pretty tough creatures. They were around at the same time as dinosaurs and survived whatever wiped them out.

On the boat trip as well as the crocodiles they was also an abundance of birds. Although that wasn't our primary reason for the trip they were just as fascinating as the crocs. We were lucky to have the woman with the big camera sitting next to us as she knew the names of the species. My favourite were the Rainbow Bee Eaters which were brightly coloured like their name suggests. They darted around the water collecting insects. In one day they eat up to 250. We also saw some Djagalas which hopped from lily pad to lily pad, including two cute fluffy babies only three weeks old doing the same. There were also Whistling Geese making quite a racket, Kites, Sea Eagles, Jabirus (kind of Stork), and a couple of types of Kingfisher.

After we got down part of the South Alligator River floodplain we headed back to watch the sunset. The guide explained the misnaming of the rivers in Kakadu was down to an Englishman who thought the crocs were alligators and no one has bothered to change the names.

In Kakadu there are some of the best Aboriginal rock paintings. One of the main sites is at Ubirr where we followed a walking track around several examples. They tended to be on the underside of overhanging rocks to protect them from the weather. Three main colours were used - red, yellow and white. These were made out of ochre which is a ground up mineral, mixed with animal fat/sap/saliva/blood to make it stick to the walls. The red is the most vivid colour as is soaks into the sandstone up to 6mm deep.

The best paintings we saw were located in a shelter which Aborigine people have lived in for thousands of years. Most of the drawings were of food such as fish and animals. They were layered over each other with the new ones painted over the old, some dating back up to 20,000 years ago. There were also two more recent paintings of white men with their hands in their pockets. These were from the time when local Aborigines first came into contact with European Buffalo hunters in the 1800's. The shelter was a lovely spot and caught the sun beautifully in the evening showing off the red sandstone. Just before sunset we walked up over the rocks to get a 360 degree view which included the Nadab floodplain in Arnhem land.

Another rock art site we visited was at Nourlangie. As well as paintings of food such as crocodiles and wallabies, there was a picture of dancing mimi spirits which was rather colourful, and the 'lightning man' which had been retouched in 1964. While looking at the art, a male Black Wallaroo came hopping along quite unconcerned by our presence. These animals are only found in Kakadu and only ten minutes later whist walking up to a lookout we saw the female and it had a little baby in its pouch. Unfortunately I didn't manage to capture the baby on the video footage as the wallaroo turned away and bounced off when I turned the camera on.

All the main areas in Kakadu have free daily talks by trained rangers explaining about Aborigine culture. As well as being told more about the rock art paintings we learned how they use plants rather than fixed dates to do certain things. When a particular plant flowers they know the fresh water crocs are laying their eggs so can go and dig in the sand and collect them for food.

Another insight into the culture was when a ranger explained about the Kinship system. It's a very complicated system where you don't just have your parents looking after you, people older and younger can also be responsible for your welfare. Part of the system also determines which group you are allowed to marry. It's worked out by your 'skin name' - a group you are allocated to at birth following the Kinship laws. I can see how this system would be of benefit to the old Aborigine hunter-gatherer lifestyle where they lived together in a clan. We only touched the surface of it and that was hard to get your head round.

In the East Alligator River region I'd read there was a colony of Flying Fox bats. We'd seen some already in Litchfield and I wanted to see some more, but this time at dusk when they fly around. We managed to locate them but it was still a little early for them to wake up. We hung around and almost at the same time as they started to leave the trees the mosquitoes came out and began to bite us to pieces. I managed to get some video clips of the bats as Richard tried to distract the mosquitoes.

We did several short walks including one around some sandstone layered rocks. The best walk was a steep climb from the Gunlom plunge pool to up to the top of the falls. This area is one of the filming locations in the 80's film Crocodile Dundee. At the top of the falls there are a series of pools with water flowing through them and an infinity pool effect towards the edge. It was a very picturesque scene with people cooling off in the water. The photos don't really do it justice.

We couldn't come to Kakadu without visiting Sandy Billabong which is the location of the crocodile attack I mentioned. We drove down a four wheel drive track about six km from Muirella campsite where we were staying. We came to a large billabong covered in lily pads and it didn't look like a place you'd want to swim in. Further down at the end of the road we came across a sandy area with a clear pool of inviting water. We had a quick look for crocs and scurried back to the car. Our lack of finding a croc there was made up by seeing a dingo in the woods on the drive back. I did have a video of it but shortly after I accidentally deleted it.

Our guide book and some people we've spoken to say Kakadu isn't as good as Litchfield. However, now having been to both I don't think you can compare them. They are both very interesting and nice places to visit in their own right. At Litchfield you can interact more with nature by swimming in the plunge pools without the fear of getting eaten by a croc. Kakadu is more spread out, but has great wildlife and the added attraction of the Aboriginal culture. It's a place we'd both like to revisit in the wet season to see how the landscape changes and experience the extreme weather conditions.

Katy