Northern Territory gem

One of the stars of the Jumping Crocodile Cruise.

Waldo Bailey quips "It's like an adventure - walking into the unknown. I failed English at school - now I'm Waldo, the Bush Poet."

It's strange but true that this man, who had never written a poem five years ago, now receives commissions from all over Australia, has three books out and a Time Warner movie. Waldo has run the Barra Shack at Humpty Doo, south of Darwin, for 30 years, handcrafting barramundi leather goods and polishing water buffalo horns.

"On the 3rd of March, 1999, I suddenly felt inspired to write Ode to Pauline Hansen, because I felt sorry for her."

The Kiwis want her over there, Some say Pauline and Kiwis make a pair, That's not bloody fair, A flock of Pauline Hansens.

After being discharged from the Navy, Waldo spent many years working with some rough diamonds and fair dinkum bushies at the Humpty Doo pub. He called them the 3Ds - derelicts, dickheads and dole bludgers. The pub was fertile ground for germinating bush poetry. In one nostalgic poem he laments; Humpty Doo, down The Track from Darwin, has mobs of things to do, a Brahmin bull named Norman walked into the bar and sat, and downed a Darwin stubby in 30 seconds flat. (For the record, a Darwin stubby is two litres).

Bulls, buffalo, and crocodiles feature prominently in Top End rural legends, as I learn during a jaunt on the 460km Arnhem and Kakadu highways (Nature's Way). This spectacular drive through wetland wilderness is steeped in pioneering and cultural history and well sprinkled with strange and colourful wildlife, and even stranger human characters. These are genuine Aussie battlers, who love the Territory. They are at home negotiating black bogs and bulldust in their trusty Landcruiser "troop carriers", sitting around a bushies' campfire telling yarns and sipping billy tea.

Max Davidson is one of those who knows the hidden creeks and billabongs of unseen Australia. Max was one of the first men to hunt wild Indonesian banteng cattle in Arnhem Land. Mt Borradaile Camp, in the remotest part of Arnhem Land, is a 700sqkm wilderness of savannahwoodland, escarpment country, wild monsoonal rainforest, paperbark swamp and floodplain. Max's Arnhem Land Safaris, based at the camp, examine ancient Aboriginal rock art sites, traditional bush tucker, bush medicine and bird-watching billabongs. "Arnhem Land, the last frontier, is my life," says Max.

From Max's place, I join the perfectly straight Arnhem Highway, dividing the horizon into two expansive, open woodlands, smouldering after a recent deliberate burn-off. It is October, when the savannah is tinder-dry, but by May, monsoonal rains will have created a shimmering inland sea across these plains, creating anew a habitat for migratory waterfowl and foraging crocodiles.

Fogg Dam is the first nature reserve I come to. Birdwatchers have recorded a staggering 230 species here. This place is unique. Sheltering in cracks in the floodplain, is the highest known biomass of predators and prey of any ecosystem in the world. The dominant wildlife characters here are thousands of water pythons, engaged in a neverending struggle for survival by predating dusky rats, which have a staggering concentration of eight tonnes per square kilometer. Hannibal the Cannibal is the quintessential Aussie battler, bearing numerous scars from close encounters of the saurian kind. His home is a muddy stretch of the Adelaide River, which he shares with 200 other saltwater crocodiles.

Seventy-year-old Hannibal regularly thrusts his 5m long, one-tonne body out of the water to satisfy thrillseekers on the Jumping Crocodile Cruise.

Down the road at Corroboree Park Tavern, Brutus, a 4m croc in captivity, keeps an eye on Annaburro, the albino buffalo in a separate enclosure. Big crocs think nothing of seizing a buffalo in the wild and death-rolling it underwater. On the highway again I pass the historic Bark Hut Inn and the Mary River Park, where the legendary Tom Cole once made his living shooting buffalo and crocodiles.

At Kakadu, the lily-topped wetlands meet the towering red cliffs of the Arnhem Land escarpment. This monumental "stone country" is home to Johnny Reid, an Aborigine officer at the Bowali Visitor Centre. Johnny's clan reveres the white-breasted sea eagle as their Dreamtime spirit creature. "When you die he takes your spirit up into the sky," Johnny says. This is the ancestral home of the Lightning Man and Rainbow Serpent - the original being in Aboriginal mythology seen as the creator of all things.

Roman Chaloupka identifies closely with his Aborigine heritage. This is evident in his animated commentary on the East Alligator River wildlife cruise. Pointing to the muddy waters, he says: "Eric rules this river. He's an estuarine saltwater crocodile, 5m long. He's been around for 70 years, and has even been spotted floating downstream with a whole buffalo in his jaws."

This 50m wide river spreads to 25km in the Wet. Along its banks are 10 of the world's deadliest snakes. Sharks and stingrays swim 70km from the sea to this point, to prey on baby crocs and fish. Our passengers quietly absorb Roman's catalogue of dangerous critters. One has the temerity to ask about our lifejackets. "Oh! Bright orange will attract the crocodiles. We could throw the jackets across to the Arnhem Land side and swim like hell for Kakadu," Roman says.

A dusty side road off the Kakadu Highway leads me to David Lindner, another buffalo hunter who supplies meat to 300 Kakadu Aborigines. Dave once staked himself out as "bait" to entice a monster rogue croc to attack his boat, before snaring him with a noose. "Sweetheart," the most infamous crocodile in history, attacked 15 boats on the Finniss River without causing loss of life. He now resides in peaceful repose in the Darwin museum. David's Aborigine wife, Patsy, is a bush tucker guide for the Animal Tours Company and recently featured on the United Travel Getaway programme.

Guide Kevin Lyons loves the Top End passionately, as I discover on the renowned Jim Jim and Twin Falls 4WD tour. Kevin grew up in Darwin and moved around a bit, but always returns. "We of the Never Never, never want to leave," he says. And he has "the best office in the world". Kevin's mother was one of the Stolen Generation of half-caste children moved to remote mission stations. "Mum still feels acute pain because of her failure to trace her own mother." Kevin recites a moving poem, lamenting the fact that he doesn't know where he came from.

Cooinda is Gagadju Country, where local people manage their lands through the Parks Board and run an impressive wildlife tour on Yellow Water Billabong. Aggie Page became a legend this year, winning an award for guiding excellence. She capped this honour by rescuing two fishermen who capsized their dinghy. They were found clutching floating buffalo grass while two big crocs disposed of their barramundi catch.

Nature's Way takes an abrupt turn on its triangular route at Pine Creek and heads back to Darwin. Adelaide River Inn is home to the legendary Charlie of Crocodile Dundee fame. The old water buffalo's spirit has gone to the great billabong in the sky, but the old battler's stuffed remains stand proudly in the Inn's 303 Bar.

As Darwin draws near, I recall the sights, sounds, wildlife and genuine Aussie characters I have met on Nature's Way. How many adventurous souls have struggled to survive in this spectacular wetland? I leave Kakadu with a deep respect for the battlers who have passed on and those who remain.

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NEED TO KNOW ...

Getting there: Qantas operates regular flights from Auckland to Darwin via Sydney and Brisbane.

Getting around: Normal two-wheel drive rental vehicles are suitable for driving Nature's Way as all the main roads are sealed.

Accommodation: Darwin, Jabiru and Pine Creek have a range of motor camps, backpackers, motels, B&B's and hotels with reasonable rates. There are numerous roadhouses between the main centres with overnight facilities.

More information: www.deh.gov.au/parks/kakadu