Surrounded by stony cliffs and verdant monsoon forests, the tranquil pool of Maguk Waterfall in Kakadu Nationwide Park is a chunk of paradise in Australia’s wild Prime Finish. Right here’s extra on how one can get there and what to anticipate.
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There are just a few indelible guidelines to journey writing. One, after all, isn’t flip down a lounge go. One other is that you just by no means name a spot ‘breath-taking’.
That’s except you go to Maguk Waterfall in Kakadu Nationwide Park.
The second you emerge from the steaming forest to see the glowing plunge pool within the rugged hug of the ruddy sandstone cliffs and the spectacle of the cascading waterfall, nothing however that much-maligned cliche will do.
Try our video of Maguk to see precisely what I imply:
– Right here’s a hyperlink to our Kakadu library. for extra of our tales on this superb nationwide park.
– We stayed at Cooinda Lodge, the closest lodging to Maguk. You’ll find the very best offers on Cooinda Lodge right here.
– And to ebook superb actions and excursions in Kakadu, click on right here.
Maguk Waterfall, Kakadu Nationwide Park
We depart our stunning safari-style Yellow Water Retreat at Cooinda Lodge because the solar peeps above the horizon.
It’s an vital trick to travelling within the Northern Territory: get as a lot finished as you’ll be able to earlier than it will get too scorching.
The drive to our turn-off takes simply 35 minutes. The street is well-maintained and there’s no site visitors this time of day. After that, issues take a bit longer.
From the turn-off, it’s 10km of unsealed street, which is easy-going for essentially the most half, however there are sections {that a} two-wheel-drive automotive may battle.
The Stroll To Maguk
A part of the journey of this place is the hike to get there. It’s solely a 1km stroll to the waterfall, however there are components which can be fairly rugged the place it is advisable clamber over rocks and tread fastidiously all the way down to the underside of the gorge.
And because the warmth of the day builds, the decision of the waterfall and a swim in its pool will get ever louder.
The trail takes you thru dramatic monsoon forests of peeling paperbark timber, broad sprawling palms and gigantic anbinik timber, that are solely discovered right here in Kakadu and in Arnhem Land.
The hike additionally runs alongside a darkish stream {that a} native Bininj information warned us about.
“We don’t swim in black water,” he instructed us, and after we see this creek, we perceive his level.
The water creeps alongside slowly, its darkish depths unknowable. But when there was ever a spot for a crocodile to cover in wait, it’s right here. We keep properly away from the financial institution.
We supply on to the stony shoals of Barramundi Gorge and its shallow river. Right here, we spot every kind of wildlife like diving birds and bitterns, butterflies and tiny frogs.
We even spy barramundi in a number of the deeper swimming pools alongside the way in which. Within the dry season, this a part of the river is protected to stroll alongside, cross and even swim in when you really feel the necessity. Crocodiles can’t journey this far over the rocky terrain.
That is additionally why Maguk Waterfall and its plunge pool is protected to swim in.
Through the moist season, nevertheless, roads change into impassable, the waterways filled with salties and the mild waterfall a torrent.
Maguk Waterfall
We lastly arrive at Maguk. There are already a few different guests right here, however that doesn’t take something alway from the sweetness.
Surrounding the pool are excessive cliffs of the escarpment—a part of the plateau that runs for 500km from Nitmiluk (as soon as referred to as Katherine Gorge), by means of Kakadu to its coast and as much as the Coburg Peninsula and Arnhem Land.
The cliffs create a ‘hidden paradise’ really feel to the pool and it’s straightforward to know why it’s sacred to the Bininj and Mungguy. And though they don’t swim right here, they permit guests to take action, respectfully after all.
The cool water washes the mud and warmth from our our bodies and the sing of the waterfall clears our minds. It’s arduous to go away this particular place.
Again within the automotive, we drive the unsealed street till we come to a set of cathedral termite mounds that we noticed on the way in which in.
These monumental constructions are at all times so spectacular, and properly value a photograph.
The drive again to Cooinda is stress-free, and we’re quiet as we replicate on what a magical place Maguk is.
