Litchfield

Litchfield is a great National Park and being so close to Darwin, it is really easy to access. As the build-up to the wet season had hit Darwin quite early this year, we were struggling with the heat and humidity.  Luckily there are so many fabulous waterfalls and gorges to explore, it isn’t hard to hop from one location, have a swim and then go onto the next.

We stopped to explore the magnetic termite mounds and although they are blind, these little termites sure know how to use their inbuilt compass and build cool (literally) structures. Thousands upon thousands of these magnetic mounds can be found throughout the park and sure enough they all point north and are testimony to how clever nature can be.

Already hot and sweaty after doing very little work, we were planning to venture to Florence Falls but settled with a swim and exploring the pools and waterfalls at Buley Rockhole. The kids were reluctant to hike much further and I could have stayed there all day just sitting on the rocks with the water flowing over my shoulders, watching the boy’s leap into the deep pools.

We had more swimming holes and falls to see and the most impressive was Wangi Falls. It has easy access from the car park so everyone could visit but despite this, the swimming holes and falls were so large there was more than enough room for the droves of tourists. Sitting on their pool noodles, the boys swam to both the falls and yet again found rock ledges to jump off into the cool pools below. The best spot was the perfectly round hole, just big enough for three-people to have a dip next to the waterfall and just above the swimming area.

Refreshed again after our swim, Ashley was keen to check out the 4WD track and we made our way past masses of termite mounds and through several river crossings as we continued to Surprise Creek Falls. This place definitely lived up to its name as we found one of the best swimming holes of the day. A wonderful circular pool which was so deep we could not see, let alone touch the bottom of the pool. As the sun began to fall, it was difficult to extract the boys away from this rock hole and its infinite launching platforms, from the low to the very high. It was a wonderful way to finish of Litchfield Park, although we could definitely return and explore more in the future.