EZTrip.com International Destination Guide and Hotel Listings

JABIRU , a couple of kilometres east of the Park HQ, is a company town, originally built to serve Kakadu's uranium-mining leases before the park was established. There are four mine leases in the park (and another in Arnhemland) but only one or possibly two are operating at present. As a result, Jabiru is less than half full of mineworkers and park employees. There is a tourist information centre (tel 08/8979 2548), a small supermarket , a takeaway, bakery, post office and Westpac bank, all found in the shopping plaza . You'll also find a Health and Dental Clinic (tel 08/8979 2018) and a swimming pool (daily 9am-7pm; $2).

Kakadu Air (tel 08/8979 2411) operates out of the airport at Jabiru East (as the original town site 6km east of Jabiru is known), offering one-hour scenic flights along the escarpment and wetlands from $75. From Kakadu Air's office you can also take a one-hour tour of Ranger Uranium Mine (daily at 9.15am, 10.30am, 1.30pm & 2.30pm; $20). However, the mine is nothing more than a pit, pipelines and mysterious-looking buildings where the ore is processed, while the tour itself is largely a public-relations litany designed to assuage visitors' misgivings. Australia's only other productive uranium mines are in South Australia and across the park boundary in Arnhemland.