7th - 10th September, 2020
Litchfield National Park, wow, the only thing i can say is that everyone should put this on their bucket list as it is truly one of Australia’s most beautiful places. Around every corner there is a waterfall or waterhole, so much to see and so many places to swim and relax.
We based ourselves at the Litchfield Tourist Park on the edge of the Litchfield National park and only about a 20 minute drive to Buley Waterhole. The caravan park is surrounded by big shady trees and lots of green grass. Right next door there was a paddock with Brahman cattle and a few horses. In the evenings hundreds of wallabies could be seen in the paddock waiting for it to get dark so they could sneak in and nibble on the green grass in the caravan park. A great place to spend a few days and do day trips into the national park.
The first day we pretty much explored the area, first stop at the termite mounds. Although they are everywhere in the NT the further north you go the bigger they get. The lookout over a suggested stop in the park looks like a mass grave site with hundreds of them in the one area. Something to see that’s for sure.
Next stop Wangi Falls about 80km from the caravan park and a little bit more commercialised than the other falls we visited as there was a kiosk and lots of people swimming here. It is only a short walk to the falls from the car park and there is lots of green grass and picnic areas to have lunch. There are two waterfalls at the very rear of a large waterhole, luckily the kiosk sold pool noodles which made it a lot easier to swim out to the waterfalls. Wow what an amazing experience to swim under a waterfall.
Our favourite place was probably Buley’s Rockhole as it was like a long flowing creek with little waterfalls all the way down the hill and you could choose to swim in a deep pool or a shallow pool some were deep enough for jumping from a high point into a waterhole. On one of the days we found our own little personal waterhole that was deep in the middle but not big enough for any more than 6 people. We spent about five hours lazing around in this spot and mostly had it to ourselves the whole time. Unfortunately we both got a little bit sunburnt on this day but it was so worth it.
Another great place was Florence Falls, just down the road from Buley’s Rockhole. This was a little more difficult to get to as you had to walk down 135 steps to get to it or do a 1.5 km walk the other way. That of course meant you had to walk back up them on the way back – luckily because we have walked up and down so many cliffs etc we did it easily !!! At the bottom you wander alongside a stream for about 50m and then you come upon a very large and deep water hole with two spectacular waterfalls at the back of the hole – See Video below. Now this was probably one of the most spectacular places we swam. When we got out i went to reach for my backpack and almost peed my pants when i saw a black tail near where i was reaching. Fortunately for me it was only a Water Monitor who was curious as to what i had in the bag !! He probably got more of a fright than me and headed into a small pond of water and put on a display for everyone – see video below !! I don’t think i have ever seen a lizard swimming before.
All i can say is if you are ever in the NT definitely put this on you list as a place to visit.
Next stop Darwin…..