Definitely our last day in Darwin today. We decided to take this last day and do one of the main things we wanted to do here but just hadn’t been able to, for one reason or another. That thing was Litchfield National Park. It can be mostly done in a day, but its a big day … so we had a big day!
Up at 6 and on the road by 7. First stop was the Magnetic Termite mounds.
Interesting critters. Unlike regular termites that build a haphazard column, these guys align theirs north/south. This enables them to maximize the heat in the mound. I guess they like the heat.
Our next stop was the Bamboo Creek Tin Mine. It’s abandoned now, actually they gave up on it in 1951 and just walked away after a monumental wet season flooded the mine.
Getting a bit hot and bothered by this time, so we were pretty happy that Wangi Falls was up next. Before we could enjoy the pool at the bottom though we had to do the 2.6km circuit walk up to the top of the falls. Hot work.
We got to see quite a few Golden Orb spiders up close as they have a habit of building their webs close to (or across) the path. These gals are big! About 20 cm from leg tip to leg tip. The boys of the species are only about 5mm across.
After the hot walk, the cool waters at the base of the falls were irresistible.
No crocs in here. Perfectly safe for swimming. Litchfield is Darwins natural water park.
A short 4wd track away was Tjaynera falls. More swimming to be had here at the end of a 1.7km walk.
After walking back out for 1.7km and then driving another 25 or so we were ready for lunch. Florence falls picnic area was just the ticket. Despite the cooling waters B&H were still managing to annoy each other thoroughly.
Blake! Don’t Blake!
Florence falls themselves are magnificent, as is Buley rockhole. Darwin is pretty lucky to have all these pools nearby to escape the heat in.
Back to the van so the kids could get stuck into their diaries. They hadn’t done anything of Bali so they had plenty to catch up on. To give them a bit of a push to hurry it up they weren’t allowed in the pool until they finished it properly.
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