The Top End
Page 2 of 4
FOGG DAM CONSERVATION RESERVE
After World War II, the Federal Government, which then governed the Northern Territory, planned to turn the Top End floodplains into the rice bowl of Asia. Dams were constructed on the western Marakai Plains to hold water for irrigation. The project failed when myriads of magpie geese descended upon the rice fields for the easy pickings. The army was called in to help clear the menace, but the hungry birds just kept on coming and the project was abandoned.
Fogg Dam is a remnant of this project, and being only 60km from Darwin the reserve is a popular spot, particularly with birdwatchers, as over 180 species have been recorded on and about the dam. The abundance of water all year round makes the reserve a favourite dry-season holiday spot for myriad flocks of magpie geese, ducks, black-necked storks (jabirus), brolgas and many other water birds. The reserve is especially beautiful during the Wet and the early part of the dry season, when much of the surface is covered with giant lotus lilies - their colourful blooms in sharp contrast with the surrounding dominant green vegetation.
The reserve offers some of the best sunrises and sunsets in the Top End. Parking bays, boardwalks, walking tracks and bird hides allow visitors close contact with wildlife. Fogg Dam is believed to have the highest mass of animal life, particularly reptiles and rodents, per hectare in the world.
DJUKBINJ NATIONAL PARK
This wetland park is relatively unknown and escapes the hordes of visitors that Kakadu and Litchfield National Parks endure. It commences on the east side of the very muddy Adelaide River. The river has a tidal reach of over 100km and is one of the few tidal streams that flow into the Van Diemen Gulf all year round in the upstream regions. The river is notorious for its ‘jumping crocodiles’, which have been ‘trained’ by cruise-boat operators to leap at pieces of meat held on the end of a pole for the entertainment of clients. Tour boats depart from the Darwin side of the bridge that spans the 100m-wide tidal stream.
Djukbinj National Park consists of two sections. The Marakai sector is bordered by the river to the west and the Arnhem Highway in the south. Both sectors are divided by Woolner Station. To the north, the protruding Cape Hotham sector is fringed by the Adelaide River and the Van Diemen Gulf. It is inaccessible by vehicle and can only be reached by boat. Cape Hotham protrudes far into the gulf and features broad tidal mudflats that range up to a kilometre across with 3m-high sand dunes running parallel to the coast. A varied ecosystem of monsoon and open forest, swamps and billabongs lies inland.
Its inaccessible nature has helped to preserve the natural ecological features of the region, and it is well worth the visit if you have a suitable boat to traverse the muddy tidal stream and the 8m tides that roar in and out twice a day. Cape Hotham was the site chosen for the first settlement by the South Australian Government in 1868 after it annexed the Northern Territory, and it is thus of significant importance to our historical heritage.
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