Leaving Darwin it was time to get back into National Park mode, and headed off to Litchfield National Parks, with Wangi Falls being the campsite of choice. Thankfully friends of ours had worded us up that this brilliant spot was very popular and booked out as a "first in, first served" basis. Without that we might have been like some of those that rocked up around 10am and missed out. At around 9am we had no real issues and had a pick of a few sites.
Litchfield is a brilliant place, we loved our time there. Everything seemed accessible, well maintained and within reason, in striking distance of each other so that days could be jam packed. Both B and I agreed that we preferred our time in Litchfield more than the few days in Kakadu following.
There was something more relaxed about it all. The staff, the features and attractions. It just agreed with us that little bit more.
Except the mozzies... Stuff that. They're were a lot of them, and being free camping meant that with no aircon, to stay 'cool' we retreated to the van, turned the lights out and opened all windows and vents. It was kind of like being in witness protection from insects... And with that, it was early night all round, including yours truly.
But overall it was brilliant, and certainly I feel we could have spent more time had we had a mozzie coil or the newly discovered Thermocell repellents.
It was pretty tight parking to get our spot, and this was the second site chosen after pulling the pin on the first choice. It's not often I concede on parking difficulty, but one thing I can't so is make the vehicle shorter! Still we got in here pretty much first go with some great communication on the radio. I suppose by now, we really should be getting the hang of it!
The sites at Wangi Falls are brilliant and secluded. Nearby facilities, including a shower (albeit a cold one) meant the permit to camp was money very well spent. Despite having neighbours you still felt like you were isolated enough to reflect the vastness of Australia.
And these are Wangi Falls. A beautiful pool with dual falls of water cascading from the table lands above it. Was refreshing to swim and loll around on both afternoons that we were there. It also has a day area with a cafe nearby which allows those with a penchant for 'shop coffee' to get their fix! There were quite a few tourists but given the size of waterhole and falls, it was certainly bearable.
A small boardwalk that went up and around the edge of Wangi Falls. A great little walk with informative boards and plenty of wildlife to spot. We actually ticked wild pigs off our "Animal Bingo" card on this walk after spotting a small little pair walking off in the scrub.
One of the 'little' water crossings on our way out to Blythe Homestead. This was actually quite long and tricky in parts. Not quite as well travelled as those undertaken at El Questro the base was solid but a little more unpredictable in places.
Here you can see the crossing on the way back, after B hitched a ride with another car infront so she could get out and record the crossing.
Blythe Homestead, a historic house previously used to house the family of miners and farmers that used to live of the land that has now become Litchfield NP. A very cool little historic house that for something that had a short life (1920s-1960s) told some great tales.
We always love when places like this have books and boards for the kids to read. If not only for the reading practice, it's nice for us all to understand how harsh and unpredictable life can be up this way. I believe this was a story about how one of the daughters had her hand crushed by a horse, and had to have the bones reset (without any medication) by her brothers, and was back on the horses later in the week!
The eaves, practical from a thermal and materials perspective, weren't great for those of us nudge past the 6ft mark. Evie, for the time being, had no issue.
We did the 4WD trek out to the Lost City, a rock formation that is named after the shapes the stones make, appearing to create a whole range of buildings and structures. We were wondering driving out if we'd made the right decision as there wasn't much as we initially drove on. But we came to the main "city" part and it was far more impressive that I ever thought! And as we found out, a great place to play around with some panoramic shots again!!
A strangely ethereal and magical place, it was as if people had the ability to be in more than one spot at one time....
James in a 'doorway'... Some would say a 'James-sized' doorway!
The Lost City should be a must for anyone going to Litchfield. Whilst most parts of Litchfield are accessible by 2WD car (which is great) effort should be made somehow to get here. Really unique and impressive.
Just how many kids do we have...
Always a chance to 'lie around' in the sun like a lizard.
I even decided to get in on the panoramic fun and games. I am not built like the kids though and more than one of these shots would take a rest break!
Geology lesson for the day.
A great shot that shows the magnitude of some of the rocks as well as the kids learning more about how they were formed. Obviously Evie's turn to read.
Not really that lost... we found it.
We had been told about free ranger talks and here the kids were getting a crash course in termites and termite mounds. I never knew the critical importance these insects in balancing the ecology of the planet, not just this particular park. Incredibly smart creatures, I have a new admiration of them. And as we found out, these are grass eaters, like most termites and it's only around 10% of the species that eat wood and give the others a bad name. We always love sessions like these and really applaud the relevant parks departments for making the efforts to putting them on.
The Magnetic Termite mounds are brilliant. Aligned to ensure that the temperature within the mound is as constant as possible, all year round. maximises sun at the ends of the day and minimises it during the peak of the day.
Click on to enlarge and hopefully you can learn a bit about the mounds yourself!
This Cathedral Termite mound was enormous!
We took a walk from Buley Pools (above) to Florence Falls (below). A beautiful walk and as we were told by other campers, we found a couple of great secluded pools away from the crowds to cool of in! Don't be afraid to mingle and socialise on trips like this, you can often get a couple of little gem tips.
Florence Falls was spectacular from the lookout. It would have been quite the site during the wet season with water thundering down. We actually saw some bloke backflip off the rock in the bottom right of the shot (where it appears to jut out of the trees). Mental. Florence Falls was nice but we didn't stay too long for our swim. It was far too crowded and when some bloke got up on a rock and started spouting some "religious enlightenment" story, we decided that we would head back to the space of Wangi!
It amazes me the effort to get steps and infrastructure to places like this. There were a LOT of steps!
A lot!!!
We took a drive back via Tolmer Falls which provided a great lookout across the plains of Litchfield NP. Just how many trees are in this shot?
Strange, like the Lost City, this place has the ability to have strange effects on the kids...
Access to Tolmer Falls is restricted to Rangers due to a rare ghost bat species found nowhere else on the planet. It looked like quite the trek down there so we were call with that. Another case of a waterfall that would look epic during the wet season.
Beautiful and must do for any visit to the Top End.
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