sand, sea and solitude

Summer holidays in Australia are synonymous with the beach. With more than 50,000 kilometres of coastline there's no shortage of places to go, some are wilder than others, plenty are inaccessible and, at this time of year, a fair few of them are crowded.But a beach can be more than a pretty place for a dip and a spot of cricket. It is the place to go for some once-in-a-lifetime encounters with wildlife, offbeat adventures and genuine back-to-nature-style experiences.Beachcombing in Arnhem LandThe Top End is not the first place you think of in terms of beaches. It is, after all, a place of crocodiles and billabongs, wetlands and waterfalls. But the Cobourg Peninsula in north-western Arnhem Land has some of the most hauntingly beautiful beaches I've seen.Rugged and isolated, Cobourg is one of the Top End's last frontiers, surrounded by wild and largely uninhabited country. UGG Boots Outlet Most people who visit this area fly into one of the luxury wilderness resorts but that means you miss out on the adventure of driving across the wild expanse of Arnhem Land, skirting the rocky edge of the escarpment, driving past lily-covered billabongs and paperbark swamps and splashing your way through rocky creeks while crocodiles watch from the muddy banks.Much of the peninsula is protected by Garig Gunak Barlu National Park and only 20 vehicle permits to enter the park are issued at any one time, so you know you have the place pretty much to yourself.We spent four days there, exploring the ruins of Victoria Settlement - one of four ill-fated northern outposts abandoned before Palmerston was finally established in the mid-19th century - and driving the coastal four-wheel-drive track that threads through the monsoon forest along the shore line.We also wandered the beaches, marvelling at the litter of enormous shells washed up by wet-season storms, while keeping one eye out for any crocodiles lurking in the dunes.It may not be a good place to swim but it's a deserted beach paradise you'll have to yourself.