Lichfield Excursion - Termites, Waterfalls, a lost city, and a night in the wilderness ?

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Today we headed to Litchfield National Park, about 130km south of Darwin. We had our lunch packed for a picnic, and our swimmers ready to explore some of the waterfalls and rock pools that had been recommended.

Our first stop were the magnetic termite mounds. The magnetic termite builds these 2 metre high mounds and a blade shape. This is done to best take advantage of the environment in which they live – the sun beats down on the mound only in a few places, and it also catches the cooler wind currents.
There were hundreds of these mounds in the field we could see. Across the road were the taller and more rounded cathedral termite mounds. The tallest we saw was over 5 metres. These have the appearance of a dribble castle that you might build at the beach.

Next stop was Florence Falls. The plunge pool underneath the falls was deep. We walked about a kilometre through the shady creek and noticed the changing temperatures and humidity as we approached this pool. There were lots of tourists sitting down here – diving into the cool waters, and paddling in the creek that flowed from the pool. Anthony & Katrina swam all the way to the falls, and found it rather hard to get under the splash, as the current was continually pushing against them. The water was teeming with fish, some of which were quite about 40cm long. It was an oasis on a hot day.

Next we visited Buley Rockhole – ate lunch, and then swam in the rock pools.

We then got into the car and drove down a dusty 4wd road to see the lost city. 10.5kms of dirt and bumpy road and sand. Was a great drive. The lost city are these rock formations that look as if they could have been an old city, long since abandoned. Anthony and I talked about where people may have sat, lived, or conducted business. A fun game to play in the hot sun (it had reached 37 degrees by this point in the day).

We arrived back at the car to find that it wouldn’t turn on. Yes, the car was dead. I tried it several times, and even checked the fuses, but alas, it just wouldn’t turn over. There was one other car in the parking lot, getting ready to leave. They were a group of locals who ran the Wangi Falls Kiosk, enjoying their day off. They didn’t have jumper cables, and neither did we. They told us that by this time of afternoon (4pm) there’d be no further tourists or locals, and we should be prepared to stay the night. Good thing we had packed too much for lunch, as it could sustain us overnight. They left, taking our details with them, but did not give us much hope for the night. So we sat, and walked, and drank a bit of water, ate some strawberries. We couldn’t do much. Bailey had the whole thing planned in his head – who would sleep where, and when we’d eat, and even what entertainment we’d have in the bush.

After just over an hour or so of waiting, a white hilux appeared. Could it be a mirage? No, it was Joey, an angel in disguise. A local council worker who willingly helped us – he’d heard about us from the locals, and drove straight away to our aid. We eventually got the car started, and drove back down the track, closely followed by Joey, making sure we were OK. He headed back to his campsite, and we thanked him with strawberries. We then drove straight back to Darwin in the dark, thankful that we didn’t have to sleep in the car.

Song of the Day: I Don’t Like Mondays by Bob Geldof (Boomtown Rats)

Game of the Day : Ok, so where are we going to sleep, and what are we going to do next?

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