Kubara — Burdulba — Baroalba

What's in a name?

• According to the topographic maps, Baroalba is the official name of the creek.
• The local Aboriginal people refer to the creek as Burdulba — this is the name on the sign where the creek crosses the Kakadu Highway.
• Kubara (formerly spelled 'Gubara') refers to the springs and pools found where the creek leaves the Brockman massif.

Whatever you call it, it is a magic area during the wet and early dry seasons

A three kilometre walk along an old 4WD track takes you from the car park to the pool. Most people have a swim, then turn around and go back to their vehicles. Only a few carry packs and visit the wonder that lies beyond.

Althought Gubara Springs flows all year, the upper reaches of Baroalba Creek stop flowiing fairly early in the dry season. This is why we only visit the area in the wet and early dry seasons the two photos here show one of our wet season campsites and a sunset we saw while we were there.

The walks to Hill 420, the highest point on the Arnhem Escarpment, give spectacular views as well as showing you the best waterfall in the area. Although it is relatively long, the walk across the plain to the escarpment is flat and relatively easy. The rewards are more than worth the effort.

The photos here show a sunset view from our campsite below Hill 420 and a Leichhardt grasshopper. The Leichhardt grasshopper is named after explorer Ludwig Leichhardt, who first discovered and wrote about this species in 1845. Modern science only rediscovered it in the 1970s. The Jawoyn and Gundjeibmi people of Western Arnhem Land call the grasshoppers Alyurr, children of the lightning man, Namarrgon, a powerful ancestral being. It is Australia's most brightly coloured grasshopper and one of the most spectacular in the world. Their appearance is a sign that the wet season is on its way.

Sadly, the walk across the plains to Hill 420 was closed in 2020. We are unsure if or when it may reopen.