Fording Magela Creek in a Toyota Landcruiser at the end of the Wet Season in Kakadu National Park. During the Wet season, Magela Creek cuts the road between Jabiru and the East Alligator area of Kakadu. The creek usually starts running sometime in December and the last water on the road is usually sometime in April. During the Wet this part of the park can be difficult to access. At the start and end of the Wet the area can be accessed by 4wd, but during the main part of the Wet it is generally not possible to ford the Magela as it gets too deep (the water level fluctuates daily and on occasions it is possible to get through, but you also need to be aware of being caught on the other side). Sometimes tour operators run a boat shuttle through the Magela and leave a bus on the other side for the remaining 25km trip up to the East Alligator. Of course during a really good Wet even this is not possible as there are other creeks to cross on the way and the East Alligator river can flood much of the area further up. For the rest of the year the road is dry and most tourists speed across the creek unaware there is even a creek there as during the dry there is little if any sign of water. During the Wet, the once dry paperbark forests are transformed with an under carpet of beautiful lilies and the whole area comes alive. To visit the East Alligator in the wet season is a fantastic experience.
The East Alligator area is a particularly beautiful part of Kakadu with rugged rocky escarpments, beautiful floodplains, stunning rock art and wild tidal rivers. It is particularly well known as the home of Ubirr artsite and the area where some of Crocodile Dundee was filmed.
The video shows 2 separate crossings, it's all Magela Creek but first there is the main channel and then the s-bends which is a much longer crossing. The first crossing here is around .7m and the s-bends a little deeper. Of course when the river comes up more these channels just join together. The deepest I have been through here was 1.1m at the first crossing and not sure at the s-bends, but the big bull lights were underwater and water was lapping along the bottom of the windscreen for several hundred metres. No evidence of any road markers then, basically just stay in the middle of the gap in the trees! Probably not really smart as it's not an ideal place to sink a vehicle (many have been sunk here), the area is frequented by large Saltwater crocodiles! When its much shallower it's a great night drive as you often see crocs swimming in the shallows and fish jump everywhere in the headlights. Vehicle is an old Landcruiser Troopcarrier (known locally as troopies) HJ47 diesel.
You can't just judge the water crossing on depth. Early in the season, the creek flows very quickly as water rushes to fill the floodplains below. At this time even shallow water can be dangerous as it exerts an enormous force on the sides of vehicles and can easily push them off the road. On a couple of occasions when it has been flowing strongly I've had to open the back doors to flood the vehicle with water to get some weight in it and stop it from floating!. Once the floodplains fill with water, the flow slows down making it safer to cross even deeper water without the threat of being pushed sideways. This video was taken near the end of the wet so there is little flow in the water.
A mate used to dangle his fishing rod out the window during the crossing and regularly drag a barra or saratoga up on the other side! He also had a croc swimming alongside the troopy one night, someones camera flash went off and the croc swung its head against the side fender with a thump!!
