24. August – 9. September

Litchfield National Park

We decided to take some “loop-tours” around Darwin and the first one was to explore the Litchfield National Park just 100km south. The Park has three entrances (from the north and south via a gravel road and from the east via a sealed road) – we used the north entrance and had a first glimpse at some magnetic termite mounds. We had our lunch break at the Walker Creek. You have a possibility to swim in the creek and to camp close to the creek. Unfortunately the designated swimming areas were already crowded so we didn’t go for a swim. We didn’t stay for the night as the camp areas are walk-in only about 500 to 2000m from the car park away.

Our night camp was erected at the Wangi Falls and went directly for a swim. You can swim in the big plunge pool just underneath the waterfalls. This waterfall has water all year-round – of course during the wet season much more water is coming down and the fall itself should be wider. There are actually two falls but one was just more like a trickle. There are also two steps you could use to enter the pool. We named one the “ghost track” as you had to swim underneath several spider webs…  I don’t know how deep the pool is – it ranges from 30cm to some meters deep. The current is forming a “wandering” sandbank. It’s unbelievable that there is a current in a pool – but there is. The water is flowing in clockwise direction although the creek exists just to the right of one fall. The current increased the more water is in the pool which is one reason you should not swim during the wet. The other is of course the salties. Freshwater crocodiles, turtles, fishes and lizards all live in that area but we only saw the fishes.

It’s possible to do a 3.5km loop walk which we did in the morning. The walk starts at the viewing platform and meanders through the forest to a treetop viewing platform. Unfortunately you can’t see the fall from this platform but you’ve nice views into the surrounding. Continuing on the walk you reach the top of the plateau but still you can’t see the fall – it’s just possible to hear it. Then the walk continues down to the plunge pool.

The Tolmer falls can only be enjoyed by the viewing platform some 100m away. You can also look for miles into the open land west of the falls. We saw a big smoke cloud and were not the only ones to watch it. The ranges were watching it as well. Later in the afternoon we really saw the bushfire – it went uphill close to the road. All rangers were on fire alert and they had to cancel the slideshow… what a bummer.

We just stopped briefly at Buley Rockhole and Florence Falls. We just got a parking spot and then we had to walk a fair bit to reach the campground and the swimming area. At the Florence Falls you had to climb over 150 stairs. This means you really enjoy the swim but you need another one when you’re back at the car or tent (much nicer at Wangi Falls where the pool is just 200m away). We walked to the viewing platform and one bloke was preparing to jump the waterfall (of course you shouldn’t do it but boys like to impress ;-)) We’ve waited for over 10 minutes and he didn’t decide to jump just when we turned away we could hear the thud and the crowd.

Do you remember that I informed you about the Lost Cities in the Northern Territory? We had a look at another one which was reached via a 10km 4X4 track which was quite slow going. And then – the lost city was not as nice as the other one. It lacked structure! There had  been a crossroad to the other 4X4 track which goes to the Blyth Homestead and another waterfall – but this road was closed so we decided not to visit the Tjayerna Falls and not to do a 3km walk in the afternoon. Swimming was the much better option.

We had a look at the Magnetic Termite Mounds on the way out. There is a big termite field with hundreds of mounds – some might be as tall as 3m. But you can’t get close to them – only visible via the short boardwalk. Apparently these mounds a build in a north-south direction so they won’t heat up as much during the day. They only get the morning and afternoon sun which enables a steady temperature inside. These termites don’t have any underground walkways to avoid the heat.

Then we drove back to Darwin gathering more information about Kakadu and the Kimberly. We also learned that they fear the Wet Season will start earlier as it’s a “La Nina year” – the first big rain happened by end of August. Let see how many we’ll encounter while in Darwin… will let you know.

Bye, bye,

Tom and Anja