Carole and John had moved on a day before and held a spot for us at Florence Falls campground. They had tried to get the more popular one, Wangi Falls, but it was way too busy so ended up here. And it was the perfect location from which to see most of Litchfield. It also had flushing toilets, hot showers for $6.60pp per night, so can't complain about that.
On the way into Litchfield we stopped off at the Magnetic Termit Mounds - so called because all of the very thin mounds are aligned North-South, so that at all times one of the sides is in shade, giving the optimum living conditions for the termites. Very clever. They also looked a lot like gravestones.
After setting up camp, we walked to the Florence Falls viewpoint which was quite spectacular - a series of three waterfalls dropping into a large plunge pool. Then we walked down to the pool to cool off - 126 steps down and back, but well worth the effort. The water was cool and refreshing, and there were huge fish all around us. It was quite rocky in the water, but wearing watershoes made all the difference.
Back at camp, travellers were coming in thick and fast and fighting to get a spot - so much so that a group of young French people asked us if they could pitch a tent in our area, as no-one else would allow them to. We said yes, of course, and they joined our little area.
Over the next couple of days we visited Buley Rockhole, Tabletop Swamp, Blyth Homestead, the Tin Mine, The Lost City, and Wangi Falls.
There were some spectacular swimming holes, and all of the waterfalls were flowing, unlike Kakadu which had lots of dry falls.
On our last two nights there we shared our camping area with a young Dutch couple, Emma and Moos, who had been travelling Australia for about 14 months. They were great fun, and on our last day there (Carole and John had moved on to our next spot) we took them for a trip into Blyth Homestead and Tjaynera Falls, which were on a 4WD track. They were travelling in a rented motorhome and they were excluded from driving on designated 4WD tracks, so they were really happy to hitch a ride with us. The road to Tjaynera was winding, corrugated, and had two quite deep water crossings, so they were most impressed. The walk into the falls was 3.5km return, but quite easy, and the falls and swimming hole were gorgeous. It was a great day out. Our last night we also shared the camp with a French/Belgian couple, who built a fire, and we had a really interesting little 'united nations' evening with them all.
Litchfield was quite different to Kakadu in that all of the places we wanted to see were within easy reach, lots of waterfalls, but not as much wildlife to be seen. Using Florence Falls as our base was a great idea. Next up, we were heading to Douglas Springs.
Over the next couple of days we visited Buley Rockhole, Tabletop Swamp, Blyth Homestead, the Tin Mine, The Lost City, and Wangi Falls. 
There were some spectacular swimming holes, and all of the waterfalls were flowing, unlike Kakadu which had lots of dry falls. 
On our last two nights there we shared our camping area with a young Dutch couple, Emma and Moos, who had been travelling Australia for about 14 months. They were great fun, and on our last day there (Carole and John had moved on to our next spot) we took them for a trip into Blyth Homestead and Tjaynera Falls, which were on a 4WD track. They were travelling in a rented motorhome and they were excluded from driving on designated 4WD tracks, so they were really happy to hitch a ride with us. The road to Tjaynera was winding, corrugated, and had two quite deep water crossings, so they were most impressed. The walk into the falls was 3.5km return, but quite easy, and the falls and swimming hole were gorgeous. It was a great day out. Our last night we also shared the camp with a French/Belgian couple, who built a fire, and we had a really interesting little 'united nations' evening with them all.Litchfield was quite different to Kakadu in that all of the places we wanted to see were within easy reach, lots of waterfalls, but not as much wildlife to be seen. Using Florence Falls as our base was a great idea. Next up, we were heading to Douglas Springs.
No comments:
Post a Comment