Marrakai: Wetlands and Military Museum

Marrakai offers two distinct starting points for planning a trip: trips through wetlands with wildlife watching and a distinctive exhibit at the Marrakai Military Museum. Nature experiences and a specific military-related object thus sit side by side, without either theme replacing the other.

Houseboats and wildlife watching

Corroboree Billabong Houseboats offers houseboats for six people. They are fully equipped and have a kitchen, refrigerator, oven, barbecue, toilet, shower and beds. Guests can use the boats to explore the Mary River wetlands and observe crocodiles, birds and other native wildlife. The trip and wildlife watching are part of a shared nature experience: the focus is on both the waterways and the animals that can be seen there.

No special boat licence is required to hire the boats. Check the booking and licensing conditions again before travelling. This lets you plan according to the conditions in force, without tying the boat trip and wildlife watching to a fixed itinerary or specific duration.

A distinctive exhibit

The Mark 8 Cockleshell Motorised Canoe is on display at the Marrakai Military Museum. This clearly identified exhibit offers a different thematic perspective from wildlife watching on the water: here, a motorised canoe takes centre stage, while there, the journey through a wetland does. If you are considering a holiday apartment in Marrakai, you can take these different interests into account when choosing your destination and consider which one you would like to shape your stay.

Northern Territory: nature and culture on a broader scale

Across the wider destination of the Northern Territory, national parks and reserves range from the arid Red Centre to the tropical Top End. More than 80 parks and reserves cover a combined area of over 50,000 square kilometres. This scale gives the region as a whole its own diversity; the following examples describe places in the Northern Territory, not additional features of Marrakai.

Kakadu National Park brings together cultural and natural World Heritage values and includes internationally significant wetlands. It contains around 5,000 recorded Aboriginal rock art sites. The park is jointly managed by its Traditional Owners and the Australian Government through the Kakadu Board of Management and the Director of National Parks. Landscape, cultural significance and management are thus interconnected aspects of this distinct park.

Water shapes the ancient landscape of Litchfield National Park. Several waterfalls plunge into crystal-clear pools. At Tolmer Falls, there is a path along the edge of the falls and an accessible path to the viewing platforms. This offers a different perspective on water and landscape from a houseboat trip: here, the paths lead to viewpoints at the falls, while in Marrakai, the focus is on travelling through wetlands and wildlife watching.

Nitmiluk National Park lies on Jawoyn country. From there, the Jatbula Trail can also be understood in terms of its key details: the 62-kilometre long-distance walking trail runs one way from Nitmiluk Gorge to Leliyn, also known as Edith Falls. To reach the start of the trail near 17 Mile Creek, walkers must take a ferry from Nitmiluk Gorge. As transport arrangements can change, it is advisable to check the ferry service again before travelling. This trail and ferry logistics concern the Jatbula Trail in the Northern Territory and are a different planning consideration from hiring a houseboat in Marrakai.

Discover more destinations: Nhulunbuy, Desert Springs, Malak, Petermann, Stuart Park, Mt Zeil, Marrara, Nightcliff.

See the broader travel overview: Northern Territory.