Day 62: Litchfield National Park
5AM we woke up to a complete downpour: we’re talking big, fat drops of water, tropical deluge type rain. When Lindsay tries to shake Igor awake, he tries to tell her, “It’ll pass like last night – just sleep through it.” Uh, huh. After about 5 minutes of waiting, there are puddles in our tent, our sleeping bags are soaked, and the rain is coming down harder. Lindsay finally runs out of the tent to the car, finds the missing fly, and desperately tries to hang it over the tent. (Luckily we did learn a little bit from our misadventure the night before, and all the electronics were safe and dry in the car already) We had some pitiful shelter from the rain, but couldn’t go back to sleep in our wet sleeping bags. We gave up trying after about 15 minutes, and started carrying our clothing bags (which we had been using as pillows) to the campground dryer.
Since we didn’t need any of the camping gear after Australia, we offered the tent and sleeping bags to the campground owner. He said he would happily take it for his communal borrow shelf (for the odd camper who forgets / breaks their own gear). We hung the tent and sleeping bags on his drying racks (Hey! At least now they are clean for the next camper!) and headed out to Litchfield before most of the campground had woken up.
Litchfield is an awesome little park – highly recommend for anyone visiting Darwin – because almost every trail or point of interest includes swimming! Such a relief in the crazy heat of the Top End! After a very brief stop at the Giant Termite Mounds at the park entrance, it was swimming hole after swimming hole all day long.
Two types of termite mounds – Magnetic (flat, narrow structures about 5′ high, oriented North-South to make sure 50% of the mound is always in shade) and Cathedral
Our first stop was at Florence Falls – we parked the car at the Buley Rockhole and walked the 3+KM to Florence Falls along the Florence Creek Trail. As it was early morning, we had the plunge pool to ourselves for a good 20 minutes before other tourists showed up
Chillin’ under Florence Falls
Walking back along the creek we passed a dozen tourists on their way to the falls – but everyone was passing by perfectly good swimming holes in the creek that were completely empty! Lindsay couldn’t understand it – she jumped in and can verify it’s just as good as the falls
Igor jumping into the Buley Rockhole – which is really a series of many waterfalls and rockholes – we climbed up the creek until we found an empty one
While the rockholes are small, they are really deep!
We stopped at Wangei Falls – the most popular swimming hole in the park due to its size & easy access – but opted not to swim as there were about 50 people in the pool. We walked the short 1.5KM jungle trail to the tree top platform and would have completed the loop up to the top of the falls down, except the signs warned that there was no view of the falls from the top. As we didn’t see the point of hiking in the noontime heat if there would be no view, we headed back down for lunch and continued to a less traveled part of the park.
Wangei Falls – the big & crowded
Charming gifts for sale at the Wangei Falls café
Our next two swimming holes required more effort. The walking trail to the Lower Cascades took us about 3KM through the bush and then along the creek where the trail went over some very jagged rocks (not flip-flop-friendly). We passed one couple leaving as we reached the plunge pool, but otherwise had the area to ourselves again. We swam around for about an hour until another couple arrived, and we decided to let them enjoy the solitude and headed back.
Another private pool for Lindsay & Igor to play
Igor enjoying the waterfall
A relaxing hot-tub sized pool above the Cascades
Our final swimming hole was at Walkers Creek – which as the name suggests – requires a walk to the pools. The path runs through the (shade-less) bush along the creek, and passes 8 campsites along the way – each one about 100M off the path next to the water. The trailhead recommended going to campsites 6 or 8 for the best swimming. 6 was full with a huge family with kids, so we ended up at 8, tired and overheated. Once again, there was only one couple in the pool, and they decided to leave when we arrived, so we had it to ourselves.
Crystal-clear water of the Walker’s Creek – our final swimming hole
When it was time to get out, Igor refused to believe Lindsay that he couldn’t climb up the waterfall. Dude, just listen to your wife – she’s right
Rather than backtrack to the Stuart Highway, we headed back to Darwin via a dirt road at top of the park which passed through Berry Springs. We stopped for a sad Dominos Pizza at a strip mall along the way (Dominos abroad does not taste as good as Dominos at home), picked up a large tube of sunscreen at the pharmacy, and arrived at the airport at 8PM – 4 hours before our flight and an hour before check-in.
We found out there was a shower in the handicapped bathroom outside security, so we had a chance to clean up before boarding the flight. After check-in, Lindsay ran around the terminal trying to find a Post box for her final postcard to Barbara without any luck. After a pitiful show of disappointment to the Jetstar managers, one of them offered to drop it in the mail for her (but will it show up?). Just before midnight, we passed into the International Terminal (which made us pass through a second security where our new bottle of sunscreen was confiscated) and boarded our short flight to Bali.
Farewell, Austraila!