Litchfield National Park: in a word - "beautiful"

Litchfield NP is within spitting distance of Darwin (well - relative to the distance we've travelled it is!) but we were still going to stay there for three nights before actually going to Darwin itself. I'd heard the opinion that Litchfield was better than Kakadu, which I thought was a pretty big call, given all the publicity that Kakadu has - but seeing it was my father-in-law who said it, I was willing to keep an open mind......... On the way in, we stopped at the Adelaide River war cemetery, which was quite moving, especially (for me) the graves, side-by-side, of three members of the same family (all women and all civilians) who died when the Post Office in Darwin was bombed in 1942. The girls were shocked to find that the youngest person (soldier) to die was just 18. With some 700 graves or memorials in the place, it is the third largest war cemetery in Australia - but Kendall asked if it was the third largest in the world, which just shows how limited their perspective on WW11 is. What would they think of the cemeteries in France or Belgium?

Ironically, the first photos I took in Litchfield NP were of the magnetic termite mounds, which are always built in a north-south plane, with very smooth faces, so they look just like gravestones. Andrew was surprised to find that you could no longer drive between the mounds and touch them, but had to remain on a boardwalk behind a fence. I suppose if they didn't do this then there'd be nothing left for the girls to look at if they came back in 10 or 20 years' time.

The main beauty of the National Park was all the hidden waterfalls and associated plunge pools. All crystal clear, cool and free of crocodiles. We hardly noticed the heat of the day as we travelled from one glorious spot to another - in and out of the water. There was Florence Falls, where a 400m descent down 135 steps took us to the plunge pool below the falls, and then a leisurely 1km walk through monsoon forest (a variation on rainforest - thanks Kirralee) took us back to the carpark. Then there was the Buley Rockpools - a series of plunge pools where you really just took your pick depending on your preference for sun/shade, size and rockiness. LOTS of people there, though - and some real idiots jumping out of trees and off rocks into the pools. From there we went to Wangi Falls - probably the most famous in the park, where the falls are about 100m high and the plunge pool is at least 150m across, cool and clear. There was also a boardwalk up through the rainforest, and lots of flying foxes roosting in the trees above us. On the same day we also managed to fit in a walk to Tolmer Falls, where you look across from a fantastic vantage point at the top of the falls and down (down, down, down) into the plunge pool way below. Despite the fact that you couldn't swim at that one, I think it was the most beautiful. The funny thing about the park is that while you are driving around, the scenery is really drab (to the uninitiated) - dry and scrubby - and you can't believe it when you pull off the main road, walk 100m or so, and suddenly there is this amazing gorge and/or waterfall in front of you.

On our second day, we went "off road" - four-wheel driving through some sand (which I thought was quite adventurous at the time - but wait until you hear about Kakadu!) to a place named Sandy Creek (good choice!) - where there was a camp site (I couldn't believe that anyone would want to camp there, actually, because it was so dry and hot - with the scrubby woodland that affords no shade, and a creek with no water in it and apparently a threat of crocs) and a hot 20 minute walk along the creek bed to a fantastic waterfall and plunge pool that left Wangi for dead! Definitely well worth the trip. We also visited another place where you walked through the woodland and some monsoon forest to the top of another waterfall with an unpronounceable name and swam in a small plunge pool right at the top - with the water disappearing over the edge and plunging down at least 50 metres........ The girls were really good about all the walking through hot sand and rocks in the heat, carrying their towels and goggles.

I think that was five different swimming holes in total - and then we finished with another swim at Florence Falls, where it was still lovely, although rather crowded, being a public holiday, and there were lots of "heros" jumping off rocks - some from the top of the falls!

I've got to give a plug to the Litchfield Tourist Park. It was probably the best so far - in terms of atmosphere and attitude of the staff. Not the flashest or newest, but the facilities were clean and the sites were flat and a good size (two of the top three criteria for a good caravan park).

So Litchfield gets an 'A' in our book. Can Kakadu possibly beat that? In a few days we'll find out........

Captions for pictures

- Magnetic termite mound "graveyard"

- Cathedral termite mound estimated to be at least 50 years old

- Buley Rockhole

- Wangi Falls

- Rainforest walk above Wangi Falls (watch out for bats' droppings)

- Tolmer Falls - absolutely spectacular

- A very tired possum at dinner-time

- Swimming hole at top of Tjaetaba falls. Drop over the edge is at least 50m

- Plunge pool at Tjaynera falls

- Florence Falls