We only had a short 45 mins before finding ourselves crossing over into Litchfield National Park. It was interesting that leading up to our arrival we hadn’t come across too many brochures of the NP but Nay had rummaged around to gather what we could. The first small stop in the park was at the Termite Mounds. Having seen so many grand variations of these on our journey up the Cape we were still impressed by the size Litchfield had to offer. Even the crazy thin magnetic termite mounds were again a sight to see.
Needing to escape the arvo heat, we went looking for one of the many waterfalls ahead of us. The tourist Parks must complete all their maintenance work just out of the dry season before the real wet season hits. As a result, one of the two major attractions, Florence Falls, was closed but the look out was still spectacular. Only a short 5 minute drive around the corner was endless entertainment at Buley Rockhole. The car park was chock-a-block with tourists and we quickly discovered why. A long series of waterfalls flowing into deep plunge pools allowed everyone to spread out and relax in their own space. We still managed to find all the spots to take selfie bombies!
We set up base camp at Wangi Falls (the most popular site) as the maintenance at Florence hadn’t given us many options. We couldn’t complain as in the mornings, we had the most impressive ‘bath’ to wake us up. Opening up from the bush, Wangi was a vast swimming hole with two cascading falls enclosed by lush vegetation. We knew why this was popular but to our luck (until a school bus rolled up just as we left) there was never more than a handful of people swimming!
We swam around to explore both waterfalls and found a deep little plunge pool 10m up the waterfall cliff. A small climb gave us amazing views looking back from the falls – if only glass bottles were allowed! We spent a lot of time floating around the base of the falls which to us, really put them into perspective, imagining what they would be like as Litchfield flooded in the wet.
One of the nights spent at Wangi Camp we enjoyed a fire with a few backpackers around the area. The Dutch bloke that organised it explained to us how he was hitch-hiking around Australia – what an adventurous fella!
Once leaving Wangi, we backtracked a little through the park for some sightseeing. With no access for swimmers, the Tabletop Swamp and Tolmer Falls were still great spots for lunch. Fortunately for us we could escape from the main drag and went further south down a 4×4 track to Tjaynera (Sandy) Falls. Along this path was the Blyth Homestead which was definitely worth visiting. A couple of small 400mm deep river crossings (nothing like the Cape!) we came to the quaint homestead which seemed to be built for midgets as we had to duck as roof was so low!
There was a small display of old assorted tools and a ‘Family Album’ that was very well presented. Reading through the book we learnt that the husband and wife had a total of 14 children! The extracts through the album explained their hardships of growing up so remote and how they quickly improvised out in the bush. One of the boys also had an entry that explained how he had a pet freshwater croc! As it was hard to muster cattle in the wet, they also owned a Tin Mine a stones throw away to keep a steady income. With an ore sample near the site, it was interesting how heavy a small clump of it could be!
When we arrived at the Tjaynera Falls camp ground, there was a 3.4km return walk to the swimming hole. As soon as we left for the walk, the sun magically disappeared and it started bucketing down! This didn’t ruin the experience but just kept us a little cooler. The falls at the end were very rewarding with us both agreeing that it would have been one of the better spots at Litchfield. The only downfall was that the population of march flies seemed to have quadrupled. They were monstrous falls with sheer cliffs hugging the pools edges, Mark looked so tiny in the big picture.
We crawled out from the 4×4 trail to enjoy a morning stroll to Tjaeteba Falls. Litchfield was a gift that kept on giving. Just as we rolled up a couple was leaving and we had the entire place to ourselves. There were different levels with waterfalls of various sizes. It started off with a small trickle through a paperback tree root system to a lower pool that flowed off to a sizeable waterfall. In the larger pool we were shocked to see a goanna dive in the water with us! We quickly shot out and went to another pool where he ended up following us! He then put on a spectacular show for us as we watched him swim in the shallows chasing fish.
The floating from waterhole to waterfall had come to its end as we took the northern road to Darwin. We dropped into the Cascades and Walker Creek on the way out to have lunch and Nay nearly stepped on a snake while wading in the shallows! A bit disappointed by National Parks for having no rubbish bins, we had to carry our rubbish with us for the better part of 5 days. On the menu over this period included tuna, chicken, steaks and mouldy pumpkin. You could imagine what the bin was smelling like!
On the way to Darwin we went to Berry Springs which was said to be a great place for swimming. Upon arriving, the waterhole was closed because our croc mates had made a recent appearance. Continuing along, it wasn’t long before making it to Darwin! It is such a small capital compared to the others along the east coast. We had planned our arrival for the Sunday arvo where we just made it to the famous Mindil Markets, the second last before they closed for the wet season. This was a great evening watching entertainment, browsing the stalls and of course, watching the sunset as everyone gathered around – some even applauded once it slipped past the horizon!
The next days were spent around Darwin fixing up a few minor mishaps from past adventures and gathering everything together for the next two weeks. Being budget smart, we found ourselves on the awfully cheap 1:40am red eye flight to Melbourne! We’re going home to catch up with family and friends. It will be interesting to see how we fare in the cold 18-20 degree max temperatures that Melbourne has to offer…
19/10/2016 – 27/10/2016
