Edith Falls to Litchfield National Park

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Edith Falls (Leliyn) - Litchfield
The first town we passed by was Pine Creek, known for the it's railway museum and water gardens.
We then took a scenic route on the Daly River - Adelaide River Road. Along the route we noted the termite mounds were bigger than we had seen in a while.
We accidentally hit a young male wallaby who darted out onto the road, no damage to our vehicle but he was killed on impact.
We also visited Helen falls, but did not walk the creek with no knowledge of distance and crocodiles in the area.
We stopped at Adelaide River for fuel, 134.9c/l , odometer 89770kms. We stretched our legs and took in the small street market. Crossing the large bridge over the river, we moved on to Coomalie Creek on the Stuart Highway, where we turned off to Batchelor.
Batchelor is the small township, 'the gateway to Litchfield National Park.'
The first inhabitants in Batchelor were the indigenous owners Warrai and Kungarakany. The farming history began in 1911.
In 1941 Batchelor played an important part in WW2. The heavy duty airstrip built in 1933 for aviation, was utilised as a base for General MacArthur's bombing force and thousands of troops were stationed here.
1949 brought the discovery of uranium. The mine operated from 1952 until 1971. The major industries in Batchelor today are tourism, education and horticulture. With a population of 360 people the town is lush and quiet.
We ate our lunch in Batchelor on the thick lush grass.
Peter made some phone calls regarding his unwell mum and we drove on into Litchfield National Park, where we camped at the Safari Camp.
I would not highly recommend it. The only thing good was the electricity to run the air-conditioning.

We set up camp, dressed in our bathing suites and travelled the short distance to Wangi Falls

Wangi Falls
The most popular attraction in Litchfield. The 50 - 80metre falls flow into an accessible swimming hole which is surrounded by monsoonal rainforest. The is a grassed picnic ground area, WiFi and at least 3 walks which we did not attempt.
Our swim there very refreshing, the pressure of the waterfall making it difficult to get under the falling water. Here we bumped into a Bendigo/Durum Ox family and they gave us advice on Darwin.

Back at camp we ate chicken drumettes and sausages, salad and potatoes for dinner. The camp, full of insects and the Cane Toads in the 2/10 rated toilets welcomed us to the Top End.

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