Litchfield National Park

August 2021

Wangi Falls

All I can say is, I have never been in a National Park that has more waterfalls and swimming holes than Litchfield. It is stunning! We have arrived towards the end of the dry season so we have seen it at its driest but there was still water flowing so it must be spectacular after the wet season.

We headed south on Litchfield Park Road with plans to exit the park on the southern side and drive through Batchelor. On the way, we visited Berry Springs (60km SW of Darwin). We were still travelling with the Cozbiels who love the water as much as we do. We swam in Bitter Springs each day, which has a small waterfall and a selection of pools to swim. I wish I had brought some champagne and a floating glass holder as it was a perfect place for this.

We spent a day at the Territory Wildlife Park, which was impressive. It has been developed on a large area of land and all the exhibit are a long way from each other but the shuttle bus laps around the park all day. The nocturnal house, aquarium and monsoon forest and aviary were all very impressive and all the staff were so friendly and informative. I can see why this wildlife park is one of the biggest attractions in the NT.

Our camp for the two nights was the Darwin River Tavern, just down the road in Tumbling Waters ($10 a night with showers and toilets). It was a large area of land, sparsely treed, behind the tavern where all the tourist helicopters land. It was awesome seeing them glide into land, passengers waving down from the doorless helicopter. The kids loved it! The only downside was returning later in the afternoon to find the vans were as hot as ovens. On the upside, our solar panels were working at 100%!

We spent the next 6 nights camping in Litchfield National Park. Wangi Falls was our first national park campsite. The plunge pool and falls were about a 300m walk from the campsite, which had toilets, showers and a small Café. Wangi consists of two separate waterfalls entering the same massive pool. It is surrounded by pandanus palms and forests. The 2km loop walk up and around the top of the falls takes you through varied forest types and is best enjoyed in the morning before it heats up – at 8am we were the

only people swimming in the falls below!

We spent the next few days exploring the wonders Litchfield has to offer. We headed south on the 4WD tracks down to The Lost City which is reminiscent of ruins of some lost civilisation. Sandstone blocks and pillars are all that is left after thousands of years of wind and rain erosion creating passages and domes to marvel at.

The Lost City - Where is Craig?

Further south is the Blyth Homestead Ruins built in 1929. The homestead was where the teenage children of the Sergeant family worked in the tiny tin mine behind the house. They lived here independently (several kilometres from the main homestead), working in the tin mine and feeding themselves from a small veggie garden and native plants.

Next, we drove a few kilometres further to Sandy Creek (Tjaynera) Falls which were spectacular nestling in an open valley luxuriant with paperbarks (pics to left). It was a decent trek for the kids but the 3.4km return walk was worth it!!

Another 20km south (some creek crossings and soft sandy sections) were Surprise Creek Falls (pics below). These were easy to reach after a short walk through Shady monsoon forest, past a crocodile trap, leading to a tranquil pool. Just above deep rock pools are sunk into the rock face where one can jump from the falls into the pool below.

The long walk to Sandy Creek Falls

Florence Falls Plunge Pool

Our next campsite was Florence Falls - a spectacular double waterfall set amidst monsoon rainforest involving 135 metal steps down to the base of falls. It was magnificent down there and Mali surprised me by racing up the metal stairs and being the first to the top. Perhaps all the little bushwalks are paying off. Buley Rockhole (below) was only a short drive (and a half hour walk along the tracks) and we spent most days here in one of the many shallow pools below the small waterfalls. I forgot the champagne again!!

We saw many Termite Mounds that were all lined up like gravestones in a cemetery – Magnetic and Cathedral Termite Mounds are found on the floodplains standing up to 2m tall in a north-south orientation. The configuration acts as a built-in temperature control mechanism, allowing the least possible surface area to be exposed to the heat of the sun.

Magnetic Termite Mounds

Roxy and I spent many early mornings walking some tracks we knew would be a punish for the kids and Mali, Amauri and Zenjiro had great fun together eating ice blocks, watching movies to cool down in the afternoon and bashing soft rocks with harder ones to make sand – little emerging geologists. Scott, Craig and Amauri went fishing and caught a fish!!

Scott, Craig and Amauri get a fish!

Spending 2 weeks with the Cozbiels was wonderful. Mali, once again, had an awesome time playing with her new friends and was sad to say goodbye.

Mali and Amauri