EXPERIENCES / KAKADU
Gulf Country: Limmen, Lorella & Abner
Overview
Russell's 80 th Birthday
Until Christmas, bookings are restricted to people who have walked with Russell before.
First draft. Limmen National Park, Lorella Springs & the Abner Range
We drive to Mataranka & spend a day exploring Elsey National Park. We then drive to to Limmen National Park where we do an overnight walk as well as visiting some interesting geological formations before driving to Lorella Springs where we spend a week where we do a mix of day and overnight walks.
We return to Limmen and do a 7-day walk along Tawallah Creek and its tributaries after which we return to the vehicles and drive to Cape Crawford where we spend a night before flying into the Abner Range where we spend the final week.

Note. To keep the price as low as possible, we won't include a number of variable expenses. Details in the PDF trip notes. Please do not book until you have read the notes. They will be prepared before Christmas.
TOP END
May -June 2025
We leave Darwin on the first morning and drive south to Mataranka Hot Springs and/or Elsey National Park. We spend two nights ther, taking a full day to explore the park.
From Mataranka, we continue to Roper Bar and take the track south into Limmen National Park. We visit both of the 'Lost City' rock formations and do an overnight walk to a wonderful pool we should have to ourselves.
Next, we drive to Lorella Springs where we will spend 7 nights, 3 in accommodation at the homestead, 4 camping n the bush.
We’ll do a number of day walks and possibly a longer one. Lorella has so much to offer, we can't be sure which we'll do until we get there and see what the conditions are like at the time.
If we have some very energetic people in the group, we may arrange for some of the group to do multi day A to B walks where the others drive them to the start and pick them up at the end.
We were pleasantly surprised by the good condition of the land in Limmen in 2021, 2023 and 2024, even more so by how good it was on Lorella in 2023 and 2024.
After Lorella, we return to Limmen for a seven-day trek along Twaallah and Fish Creeks and their tributaries. It may be possible for some of the group to do a through walk back to Lorella.
We will spend two nights at one camp and explore some amazing country that we first visited in 2023 and 2024.
Lots of water and lots of pools make the Tawallah-Fish area the most attractive part of the park for extended walks. The photos in the gallery below give you a little taste of what it's like.
The last few are from the Abner Range.
We return to the vehicles and drive to Cape Crawford for the final section of the trip -- the Abner Range. We flew over a part of it and did a very short walk there in 2024.
We could see amazing rock formations and pool after inviting pool. We wanted to do a longer walk and have managed to get permission for this one. We expect relatively short walks with full packs and lots of walking without them.
We then return to Darwin, spending one night somewhere along the way.
For those who want to do on;y part of the trip, there are regular (very expensive) flights between Darwin and Borroloola as well as a bus from Palmerston to CapeCrawford to Borroloola.
Details
DATES
May - June
PRICES
Full price: TBA
*discounts available
There will be additional expenses. Details in the trip notes.
GROUP SIZE
4 - 12 guests
CAMP SITES
On the overnight walks, our camps will be on sand, rock ledges or grassy areas depending on water levels at the time. Some campsites will be in managed or unmanaged campgrounds.
ART
Unknown. We didn't see any on the parts of this trip we've done before but we will be visiting a number of new places.
SWIMMING
Should be very good on the overnight walks. Some swims will be possible in other areas but there will be a few days where swimming won't be possible.
WILDLIFE
Birds are always present but spread out at this time of year. You are unlikely to see many large animals but there are many small lizards. Tracks in the sand shows that there are a lot of small animals active at night.
CLIMATE
It should get into the low 30s most days and mid teens most nights. Temperatures have been known to drop below 5°C so you need to be prepared. Sleeping bags are essential. Rain is relatively unlikely but it can happen and it can be heavy. You must be prepared for rain.
COOKING
We will have campfires on our overnight walks and in some campgrounds. We will have a stove for those times when camp fires are not possible.
WALK RATING - MODERATE
Terrain
The walks at Elsey are on marked trails. The ones in Limmen and on Lorella are mostly off-trail. Some sections of these walks are fairly flat and straightforward but there are some longish sections of rock scrambling and a couple of short but sharp climbs. If you have never done this before, you may find this fairly difficult.
Vegetation
Much of the walking is through relatively flat, open woodland with a grassy understorey. Some short sections of grass may hide a broken rocky surface where you will have to be particularly careful. In 2021, we had one short section of very thick scrub we had to bash our way through. The vegetation can vary from year to year depending on when last burnt.
Distance
Generally 4-6 hours, not including breaks. A few days might be longer.
Pack Weight
You need to carry up to 7 days food on the longest walk. Much less on the shorter ones. Day packs some days.
Download detailed trip notes
Click the link below to send us an email and ask for more information.
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Itinerary
*This itinerary is subject to change
The first ten images below are from the Abner Range. The rest are from Limmen & Lorella.
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