As the Northern Territory opens to more Australians, more travel-starved eyes are set to turn to the Top End.

Quarantine restrictions for greater Sydney’s 4.8 million residents lift on 9 October, while regional Victorians’ quarantine restrictions are set to do the same on 2 November. And right now it’s the territory’s wet season – but the weather is not what you might expect.

First, there’s the Build Up, generally in October and November, when it’s very hot and very humid. Then there’s the Wet, generally from December to March. This year, the Wet has started early, which is good news for visitors, because once the rains begin, the heat and humidity eases. And it’s not wet all the time.

Throughout what Territorians call the Tropical Summer, there are fewer visitors, and prices are often discounted, too. That is especially the case this year, with Northern Territory Tourism offering visitors $200 back on every $1,000 spent, as part of a $5m tourism campaign.

Weather watching

The spectacle of ever-changing weather takes centre stage.

As Tess Atie, a tour operator and Marrathiel woman who advised Trent Dalton about the region for his new novel All Our Shimmering Skies, says: “I love that everything’s green and the water is pumping. Vast flocks of white cockatoos fly across the black sky and there can be wild storms with lightning crackling and the loud crash of thunder. The sound of the heavy, warm rain is phenomenal.”

In Litchfield national park, watch lightning shows from roofed shelters along the track to Tolmer Falls.

In Kakadu national park, Ubirr and Nawurlandja lookouts are great vantage points to catch spectacular lightning storms and colour-saturated wet season sunsets across the flood plains. At the Burrungkuy (Nourlangie) rock art site (below Nawurlandja lookout), you’ll also discover paintings of Namarrgon (the Lightning Man) and his wife and children, which take on a whole new meaning when you can witness for yourself the lightning strikes over the wetlands heralding the big rains that bring life to the Top End.

Do not stay out in the open if the lightning gets too close. Seek shelter if the lightning is less than 5km away (15 seconds between lightning and thunder).

Waterfalls

Unsurprisingly, the biggest wow attraction during the Wet are the waterfalls crashing down the escarpments.

In Litchfield, you can check out Tolmer Falls and Wangi Falls and even go swimming at Florence Falls, either in the warm waters above the falls or in the deep plunge pool at the bottom (so long as you’re happy to walk down and back up 135 stairs).

In Kakadu, Maguk, Motor Car and Moline falls are accessible by road 90% of the time during the Wet, while Jim Jim, Twin and Gunlom falls are generally visible only from the air.

Conditions change quickly during the Wet, so always check park websites and local signage.

Wildlife

“In the eyes of the locals, it’s the best time of the year,” says Kakadu Cultural Tours director Liam Maher. “The environment comes alive. It’s a time of plenty. The waterlilies look like they’re on steroids; there’s an orchestra of bird calls; and you might even see crocodile hatchlings. On some of the escarpment walks you could catch a glimpse of the rare black wallaroo, too.”

The most culturally immersive (and safest) way to see all this wildlife, as well as rock art that depicts animals still living and long gone, is on a combined Guluyambi cultural cruise and Ubirr tour offered by Kakadu Cultural Tours. With a pick-up in Jabiru, boat ride along flooded Magela creek into the billabong and four-wheel-drive transfer to Ubirr rock art site and lookout, Aboriginal guides explain their Dreamtime stories, reveal bush-survival skills and show guests the abundant bush tucker, tools and medicines of the wetlands while you admire azure kingfishers, kookaburras, jabiru, egrets and more.

Atie runs Northern Territory Indigenous Tours, 4WD adventures in and around Litchfield national park focusing on flora, fauna and living culture. “In the early Wet there are wildflowers and lots of fruits to sample, like plums and red and white apples, and at Florence falls the water is so clear you can see fish and yabbies.”

As for birdlife, 60km from Darwin, the Fogg Dam conservation reserve on the Adelaide river flood plain is the only wetlands in the Top End that is accessible during the Tropical Summer without a 4WD. At the height of the Wet the water often runs over the dam wall, creating a feeding frenzy for egrets, spoonbills, terns, herons and cormorants, which scoop up small fish and invertebrates before they make it to the floodplain below. The Wet is also the best time to see helmeted friar birds, banded fruit-doves and emerald doves at Nourlangie.

Fishing

After the Wet, there’s the Run Off (roughly March to early May), when the water levels start receding. This is when nutrients drain off the flood plains into the ocean “like a sushi train for fish”, says Dean Cooper, who coordinates Tourism Australia’s Great Fishing Adventures of Australia. And that is prime fishing time, especially for barramundi.

Charters range from a half-day trip on Yellow Water in Kakadu to fishing safaris at Coburg Coastal Camp, which offers barramundi and blue water pelagic fishing. The sixth season of Million Dollar Fish is running from October to March with 100 barramundi tagged with $10,000 prize money and six worth $1m. Once the first million-dollar barra is caught, the other five will revert to $10,000 a fish.

A daily essential

Rain can cause road closures, so it is essential to do a daily check on the Kakadu website and the Northern Territory parks website (for all other parks) to be sure of accessibility to attractions, waterholes and trails. 4WDs are recommended during the Wet.