Access to Jim Jim Falls and Twin Falls Delayed!

Dear travellers and friends of Kakadu,

I sincerely wish I didn’t have to write this particular post today as I know quite a few people will be disappointed when they find out what this is about.

Every year in the early dry season we’re responding to the same anxious questions when people enquire about our day tours in the dry season:

Will Jim Jim Falls be open? Will we be visiting Twin Falls?

If you’ve enquired about availability on our tours in June you would have received a reply stating that Jim Jim Falls and Twin Falls might not be accessible to the public in the early dry season:

“Every year, right at the start of the dry season, the waterfalls, creeks and surrounding areas have to be checked by national park rangers for any saltwater crocodiles that might have moved into areas visited by travellers.

These crocodile surveys are an absolute necessity and usually take several weeks to complete.
Work can only commence once the 4WD track into the area has been repaired after the heavy rains and floods of the wet season and once water levels in the creeks have dropped to a safe level!

Alternatively, we visit the sites of Gunlom, Motor Car Falls, and/ or Maguk (Barramundi Gorge) in the southern region of Kakadu National Park – all of them absolutely gorgeous!

Please check the information on our itinerary ‘Kakadu’s Early Dry’ ”

When we started out this little family business in 2006, Steve and I were thrown in the deep end when Cyclone Monica ripped through Kakadu National Park in late April, resulting in the delayed opening of Jim Jim Falls and Twin Falls in mid July. We were facing a whole range of issues and a great many cancellations.

This year we’re facing a very similar situation.
After a very slow start to the wet season we finally received some much needed rain in March… and then again in April… and then even more on the last weekend in May!

While this last episode of localised heavy storms seemed to have impacted mainly on the southern parts of Kakadu National Park, we were able to continue our ‘Kakadu’s Early Dry’ day tours, visiting the beautiful Yurmikmik area and Gunlom, where the annual mandatory crocodile surveys had already been completed.

Mandatory crocodile surveys started in the Jim Jim Falls and Twin Falls area around mid May but had to be put on hold again towards the end of the month due to rising water levels, the late rain had struck here as well.

This fact has only been brought to our attention late yesterday afternoon. Some frantic phone calls followed today to get clarity rather than more mixed messages from Kakadu National Park officials. Up until yesterday it was expected that Jim Jim Falls would open to the public in mid June at the latest. Since the site preparation at Twin Falls is more laborious, it didn’t seem unreasonable to have to wait until late June, as stated in the official access report.

Steve just saw a few aerial pictures of the Jim Jim Falls area taken earlier today, the amount of water coming over the edge not looking much more than on the image heading this page. But apparently the “long pool”, a part of the Jim Jim Creek which we walk alongside on our way into the gorge, has gone under again – and at least one more Estuarine crocodile has taken the opportunity to get comfortable in there. We are in full agreement with park rangers on the necessity of running thorough crocodile survey, visitor safety is paramount!

Anyhow, both sites are now expected to open to the public as late as early July. I sincerely hope you understand the situation is beyond our control.

This might be a blow for quite a few return visitors who have missed out on a visit to Jim Jim Falls and/ or Twin Falls before.
We are sufficiently frustrated that we haven’t been able to pass on this crucial information sooner, fully understanding that your travel plans might have looked a bit different otherwise. Of course, if you would like to cancel your booking on this background and make other arrangements, we will oblige without charging any fees.

However, if you haven’t been to Kakadu National Park before, we hope that you’ll stick with your original plans and come for the drive with us to a couple of the other beautiful waterfalls the park has to offer.
Yes, we are operating!  We will be touring to equally beautiful places when you get here!

It looks like Maguk (Barramundi Gorge) might open in the near future (I’m being cautiously optimistic here) and, yes, I am really looking forward to this beautiful walk through lush monsoonal rainforest and a swim in one of Kakadu’s most gorgeous plunge pools.

And this year I’ll be carrying a pair of goggles to check out how many of Kakadu’s over 55 freshwater fish species I can come face to face with!

Boh boh
Anja

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