Litchfield

Saturday 11^th June

The jets flying over Darwin were Air Force Jets – and they really screamed over! Lots of complaints in the local paper about it! The normal flights were ok and didn’t bother us at all.

As we were a little ahead of schedule, we decided to spend a night at Batchelor to see Litchfield N.P, rather than just a brief visit passing through. Then we will spend time in Pine Creek to look for the Hooded Parrot, and stay a night at Katherine. As it was a long weekend here in Darwin as well as Vic, it was really busy, so we booked ahead.

We arrived at Batchelor early, and our site was not vacated, so as there was a car washing area with hose, we decided to wash the car and the van – there was quite a long line of people waiting to use it when we arrived,  so we thought that was a good idea!

Once we were set up and had done some washing, we went to the cafe past Wangi falls for lunch – had a Caesar salad with grilled Barramundi....delicious!

Then we went to all the sites in Litchfield N.P., on the way back to  Batchelor. 

The Wangi falls were spectacular

 – really flowing fast, into a plunge pool where usually you can swim, but not at the moment, usual reasons.

We did the climb up to the top where there were lots of little pools,

and lovely views of the surrounding country....our daily walks at home have paid off up here, as we have been able to do walks and climbs that we normally would not have done.

There were very few birds on the walk – mid-afternoon, and quite a few people at the car park, but not many did the walk. Two young Euros with full hiking packs on their backs, climbed up to the top....quite a feat!

There were some pretty wildflowers,

That was enough to virtually finish us off for the day, but we called in to see the other places without walking far. Greenant Creek, Tolmer Falls,

Tabletop Swamp, where the country around it was all burned and very few birds,

and Buley Rock Pools. Here the creek cascades down a gentle slope, forming pools where people could swim, some deep ones where they could jump in etc and there were lots of young people there enjoying it.

Finally we called to see the Termite mounds, where there was a very interesting information board...but by this time we were ready for home!

R  took a photo of a little Northern Fantail

Luckily the day was not so hot, and we could do the walks etc that would have been impossible in Darwin.