WALKING THE ROCK COUNTRY IN KAKADU

Walk with us through one of the Top End's stunning rock country, in Kakadu National Park, learning about the plants, animals and Kundjeyhmi culture along the way.

Let's go walking in kunwardde, the rock country, today. We pack our bags with food and water, a billy and some matches, and a couple of crow bars for digging. We drive to our special spot, and begin to climb the rocks. Diane Lucas, Ben Tyler and Emma Long - the team behind the CBCA-shortlisted Walking in Gagudju Country: Exploring the Monsoon Forest - share their knowledge and love of the Top End in this enchanting and accessible book about one of Australia's most ancient and beautiful ecosystems. It offers a fascinating, collaborative way to vicariously experience one of the unique habitats of Kakadu National Park. Diane Lucas grew up exploring the bush in New South Wales. She moved to Kakadu in her late twenties, worked as a schoolteacher on an Aboriginal outstation and in turn was taught many things about the bush. She was encouraged by the elders to write about the land and get stories to children. They have supported her efforts as an educator with her children's books, the first being Walking with the Seasons in Kakadu. Since then she has had seven other publications. Ben Tyler is a Bininj entrepreneur and founder of bush food brand Kakadu Kitchen. He currently lives in Darwin on Larrakia country. On his breaks he returns home to visit his mum and family at their remote family outstation at Patonga Homestead, located beside the Jim Jim Creek in Kakadu National Park. The community includes close relatives from Tiwi Islands and has always been a place that welcomes family, friends and visitors into their busy, noisy, joyful billabong home. Emma Long has exhibited regularly in exhibitions across the Northern Territory. She is inspired by the fresh, raw beauty of nature and feels most at home in the bush with a brush in hand. Emma lives in Darwin and continues to work as an illustrator and an art educator.