The Top End: Darwin, Litchfield NP, Kakadu NP

Even though Australia has some more northerly corners, the area around Darwin is known as the 'Top End'. This is where our vacation begins.
Darwin itself is not particularly exciting, and if time is short (which is usually the case for us on vacation), you can check out the city in a 2-hour tour. We did this on the day of arrival, even though we only arrived at 3:00 pm.
So we had day 2 free to visit Litchfield National Park: a collection of valleys, waterfalls, and pools, with some shorter hikes (which can be tiring at 30°C). We followed the Australian custom of swimming in any reasonably clear water (ignoring the presence of freshwater crocodiles) and jumped into the natural pools multiple times.
Day 3 marked the start of the big journey, which we enhanced with a visit to Kakadu National Park (actually located on the wrong side of the route). Swimming is not allowed here, as it is the realm of large saltwater crocodiles. We saw up to 8 at Cahills Crossing, and later felt countless more at Yellow Water Billabong.
We haven't spotted any pouch-bearing or jumping animals in the first few days, but they will surely make an appearance soon...

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Even though Australia has some more northerly bits and pieces, the region around Darwin is called the 'Top End'. Here we start our holiday trip.
Darwin itself is not the most interesting town in the world, and if you are short on time (which we usually are during our holiday trips), you may see all its highlights in a 2-hour walking tour.
So we did this on the day of arrival (even we arrived only at 3pm) and had day 2 saved for a trip into Litchfield National Park. Litchfield NP is a collection of gorges, waterfalls, and little ponds, and provides a number of hiking possibilities. Even those are usually rather short, they are nevertheless strenuous in 85 degrees Fahrenheit. We follow the Australian habit to dip into each water which looks clear enough (existing freshwater crocodiles are simply ignored) and did multiple swims throughout the day.
On day 3, our journey is launched, and we started by quickly making it a bit longer by doing a detour through Kakadu National Park. Here, swimming is rather impossible, as (the big) saltwater crocodiles are living here. We see 8 at one time at Cahills Crossing, and later, on the Yellow Water Billabong, countless ...
What we missed during the first days were the pouch-bearing or jumping animals, but we believe those will soon be on stage ...