0037 Litchfield NP to Darwin 27th July

Woke up and still no wildlife around this place – Not sure if it is the wildfires, or just a general lack of animals !!  Anyway, having walked almost to the swimming hole the previous night, we saw no reason to do the same 3.4 km walk again, and decided to go and explore some of the other gorges and water holes.  We can’t quite see the point of walking 1/2/3 kms to a water hole for a swim, and then having to walk ALL the way back in the heat, so by the time you get back to camp, you are hot and sweaty again !!!!  So we went off to search for some pools that were closer !!

 On the way out from our remote 4 WD only campsite at Tjanera Falls, we passed the (closed) road we had INTENDED to go down last night, and saw the sign that said “Snorkel advisable for Reynolds River Crossing” !!!  In other words, it was DEEP, and I am glad we weren’t tempted to go there !!   Then it was giant termites nests – They get bigger and bigger as we go north – This last one was more than twice the height of Troopie !!   And interestingly, when you look closer, you can see the individual bits of grass and stick that the termites had collected to mix with mud to make their mound.  Amazing. 

After the termite mounds it was back across our river crossing (no snorkel required, but still a bit exciting !!), and then on to Wangi Falls.  We had tried to stay here last night but it was packed out (long weekend in Darwin, school holidays, etc etc). It is the most commercial of the falls in Litchfield, but it is also the closest to the campsite / parking (ie no long sweaty hike to and from !!).  It really is gorgeous, but gets VERY crowded with weekenders trying to get out of Darwin, plus every tour bus visits here.  But if you picked your time (ie mid week, in term time, not in middle of high season) it could be absolutely stunning.    We settled on about a 4 km walk over the top of the falls, and it was gorgeous.  They have been doing a lot of controlled burns to restrict the possibility of out of control fires from lightening strikes – Controlled burns are smaller and not so hot (ie intense) so plants can survive and re shoot.  Uncontrolled burns are much hotter and basically kill all the plants, making regrowth impossible. 

Then on to Tolmer Falls which you can only see from the top due to some protected bat species living in the caves behind the Falls – Impressive, but only from afar.  After that it was the Lost City.  These amazing sandstone rock formations are like Angkhor Wat or similar !!  In the middle of no where, at the end of 14 kms of bumpy, windy dirt track, they suddenly appear, and are just unworldly.  Apparently this sandstone layer once covered the whole area, but this is now all that is left.  Several amazing flowers and blossoms amongst the dryness of the surrounding bush – One being a wild hibiscus, the bud of which some people add to their champagne for effect !!  And one tree with exquisite, almost orchid like, tiny pink flowers in clumps on some kind of Ti Tree bush.  Just amazing when you see these amongst the dusty dry surroundings.

We then went to Buley Rockholes which were very popular with the young ones.  Very slippery on the rocks, so best not tackled by old farts who are unstable on their legs at the best of times !!  But a lovely spot, nonetheless.

Last stop was Florence Falls which again are about a 2 km hike down the cliff from the car park, so we were satisfied with the view from the top.  It may be the dry and “cooler” season up here, but it is still well up in the 30’s, so you work up quite a sweat walking around !!  We also saw these enormous ants nest in the trees where ants had moulded the leaves on the branches into a next about the size of a small football !!   Bet there were a lot of ants inside there !!!

Coming out of the park, we stopped in town called Batchelor for a quick picnic lunch.  This town is yet another on the old Telegraph / Water holes line north and south in Australia that made exploration of the continent in the 1800’s possible.  This town was also famous for some guys in the 1800’s who were hauling a wagon load of Rum south, who decided to wait out the wet season here – And drank most of the rum while they were waiting for 3 months !!    In the small park where we had lunch, within 10 minutes there were some 35 black kites sitting in the trees around us waiting for tit bits !  These kites are the size of small eagles, and it is funny – Elsewhere seagulls sit around squawking for a tit bit – Up here in the North you get bloody great raptors eyeing up your chips or sandwiches !!!

We then headed for Darwin, and on the outskirts the road was almost blocked by a sizable bush fire burning beside the road.  What was amazing were the large numbers of Black Kites swarming in the smoke – They are looking for small animals trying to escape the inferno.  But there are so many of them that several very nearly flew into the windscreen of the car !!  We then drove into town and found a campsite to set up for the night.  We will explore Darwin tomorrow.

Pics here   https://picasaweb.google.com/117739775480775657932/0037LitchfieldNPToDarwin?authkey=Gv1sRgCND0zYikvr-I_wE#