North Australian FISH FINDER TM forums

From the NT News ...

FALLING visitor numbers have forced one of Kakadu National Park’s longest standing resorts to close its doors for good, due to the business no longer being economically viable.

The Aurora Kakadu Resort — which employs about 12 staff — is set to close at the end of September.

Visitor numbers had fallen by about 40,000 in recent years, said spokesman Tony Quatermass.

i reckon it would be a great fishoes resort .dedicate it totally for fishoes who visit and live in the the NT ,cater for them with access to guides ,boats if needed and accomodation for travelling fisherman and women .there is a lack of those kind of places that arent way out of the way .

I think they already get a lot of fishing business. It's the run-of-the-mill tourists that were keeping it going.

Someone at Bark Hut told me a few years ago that Kakadu was losing its tourist allure.

That said, the tracks open so late in Kakadu it would hurt fishing tourism.

I deal with lots of tourists during the dry, a very common question I hear after a visit to Kakadu and other top end destinations is "where is all the wildlife"
The impact of toads is hugely underrated and massively understated.

Nearly the start of September and Pococks beach access is still closed after a poor wet season.
Definitely Kakadon't.
Aurora is old and Tired, needs a good overhaul and upgrade to meet current expected standards.

Reality is most of Kakadu is off limits, not surprised tourism is down out there. Agree with above about the lack of wildlife compared to what people imagine.
I've been a regular customer of the aurora, but I've been surprised it was running. A pub and some dongas and basic tent sites would probably do OK business, minus the overheads of breakfast restaurant, lawns to maintain, piles of empty cabins etc. Knock most of the place down and start again on a small scale
Shame to see it close

Apparently no one wants to come visit the road closed signs.
West alligator head CLOSED
Twin falls still CLOSED
2 major attractions of Kakadu closed, and its almost September.
West alligator head, where Kakadu meets the ocean
Twin falls, the Jewel of Kakadu. The road, the boat trip, the escarpment walk...... all closed. Twin falls was open for a total of 29 days last year.
All those years ago, labour should have accepted it back off the feds. NT Parks are soo much better at running a park.
Litchfield s...ts all over Kakadu.
As does kings canyon over Uluru.
Feds want to spend millions on saving jabiru, if they sorted Kakadu, it would fix its self.
Kakadu is now the 4th most visited park in the Nt. Should be one by a country mile. It should be a major draw card for the Nt. Now it’s just an afterthought.

From a FFFer who can't log on ...

I fished the Wildman and South Alligator billabongs since 1980 up to 20+ times a year, it was a wonderland of fishing, camping and magnificent floodplain full of flora and fauna. Starting from Easter and every long weekend after there would be plenty of people camped on 2 Mile Hole and the billabongs between it and 4 Mile, You could motor from 2 Mile to 4 Mile with ease, fishing all the way.
On the South Alligator, in the wet, you could motor from the Arnhem Highway bridge to Twin Falls and Bucket Billabong via Red Lilly.
Then the roads started to be shut, access channels restricted and prime camping areas closed down.
When roads were left closed for longer periods the water between 'bongs disappeared which made access by boat difficult. Finally, in the last few years the roads stayed closed until July or later, regardless of the wet.
The Grey Nomads and groups of older fishos who used to come every year simply stopped coming, sick of not getting access until later and later.
Last year I had one trip to 2 Mile, I was amazed, it was the long weekend and no one was there fishing for the whole weekend. Two lots of Southerners drove in while I was there and expressed disgust about the exorbitant entry fee, the lack of facilities and the restrictions on where you could go. They all said that they would never return to Kakadu and will advise people not to. I do the same with every one I talk to about the place......it certainly is Kakadont.

With no venue or organisers that's the end of the Klash comp i reckon.

A club could organise it, but still no venue, unless it is sold to someone who scales it down to a more affordable operation.

Interesting what you say about the toads.

My views are the same here as most....it is about access, or more to the point the lack of access. Why would you drive all the way out there to then not be able access places of interest and beauty! It is an absolute disgrace, tax payer funded mind you....and it is not new, people have been complaining about for a long time. What have our Federal Members done about it....bugger all! Open the place up and let people use it, yes yes yes on the dedicated 4wd tracks...keep them rough....if your vehicle can't do it then don't go....this should be one of Australia's premier 4wd destinations....but no....mini bus heaven!

It’s not just keeping the gates into the Wildman and South Alligator bongs closed until July that really peeved me, it was the fact that on the day they were opened the roads were not only as dry as a bone but already well travelled. I pursued this situation over a number of years with the Parks Administration but it was like talking to a brick wall....seriously, the responses were naive if not idiotic, claiming they were too wet to open. I even took photos of the once wet areas and gutters that used to keep the gates closed which showed they were not only bone dry but covered in bulldust. I wouldn’t even get a response when I sent them into Administration.
So what has been going on....?
Obviously the areas have been kept closed to all except a chosen few

Matt Flynn wrote: ↑Thu Aug 29, 2019 10:34 am A club could organise it, but still no venue, unless it is sold to someone who scales it down to a more affordable operation.

Interesting what you say about the toads.

Yes Matt the toad impact on tourism, specifically nature based tourism, that is THE draw card to Kakadu, is according to P & W the driver of visitor number crashing.

The official position from NT government is do not talk about it or acknowledge the fact that we have been defeated by an amphibian, that has virtually destroyed one of the major industries in the top end, tourism.