| Unclear paths, waterfalls, and termite mounds. On Saturday Roger and I headed out to Litchfield National Park, which is about a two hour drive from Darwin. There is one road and one road only in an out of Darwin. It does not take long for civilization to become a thing of the past. Even cell phone reception is nonexistent. As we drove, we passed landing strips that were used for planes in WWII, an area on the side of the road where people bring cars, boats and trailers to sell along the highway, and a ton that had a castle--which Kaye told me about--which was no bigger than the playhouse castles for kids in the states. We went in the back way to Litchfield so that we could make the complete circle around the park. Luckily, we took their son Blake's truck. I'm not sure Roger's little car could have survived the dirt roads we endured entering the park. On these dirt roads, I had flashbacks to the time in Hawaii where mom swore there was something great to see at the end of this dirt road, and dad Chris and I decided after seeing a burned out truck that looked like it had been there for fifty years, abandoned, that whatever was at the end of the road was not worth it. We didn't believe we'd ever make it back from the road alive, and this experience was not much different. There were no other human beings in sight: no cars, no people, not even any animals. If our car had broken down, we would have been out of luck for hours, days. Regardless, we made it to the entrance of the park where we started with the Cascades. Basically, you drove to each destination and then did the hike that you were after. So, this one was parking to go for a hike to the Cascade Falls. Upon arrival at the car park, there was a nice white European bum peeking out from behind the trees that weren't very well hidden. Apparently the only other people at the Cascades were a European couple, and the young gal really needed to pee. This was the most intense hike we did at Litchfield, as the path was not a nice, even, clearly marked path. Instead, we had to climb through trees, over rocks, and through rivers to get to the Cascade waterfalls. It was definitely worth the view, and it was an experience I'm thankful to have had at 10 in the morning rather than 2 in the afternoon. It gets hot. From there, we moved to the Wangi Falls which was a very different experience. There was a nice, clear, even sidewalk directly from the car park, past the toilets and picnic area, straight to the falls. The entire walk probably took 2 minutes. It was clear that this was a popular spot to swim, for there were a lot of people in the water, and there was even a gift shop and cafe. This was also the spot where they had a "wifi" sign posted, available to post your pictures with a Litchfield Park hashtag. Technology really has taken over the world. We decided against swimming here, for we were going to swim at a later waterfall. Instead, we went to the shop where I purchased post cards and an ice cream, and as if it wasn't hot enough outside, Roger ordered a coffee, since we left so early he did not have time to have one that morning. After Wongi we went to Tolmer Falls, which was up high. There were breathtaking views of the rainforest down below and the waterfalls to the left. Since there has been so little rain so far this Wet Season, the waterfalls were not flowing very heavily, but they were still there. Florence Falls came next on our list. We decided to take the lunches we had packed from home and eat them down at the bottom of the Falls. We brought chicken and cheese sandwiches and banana bread for dessert. To get to the Falls, you first passed a lookout point that looked out over the Falls from above, and then you walked down 135 stairs to get to the bottom where there were little pools and then the pool at the bottom of the Falls. There were a lot of people there swimming, relaxing, and eating, and apparently this is very uncommon for this time of year. Since it was so hot, Roger did not expect that many people to be there, but there they were, jumping off the rocks and swimming in the pool at the bottom of the Falls. After we ate, Roger and I went for a dip to cool off. There were huge fish swimming at our feet, and the rocks underneath my feet were very slippery. Without the rocks though, I could not touch the bottom. After swimming for a bit, we were going to head to Bulley Rockhole but as we entered the carpark there was a sign that said "If the carpark is full that means the hole is full too. Come back later." Since the afternoon was moving quickly, we decided to head to the termite mounds and then head home. This Rockhole was little pools like at Florence Falls, without the big pool at the bottom of the Fall. Unfortunately, the car park was full, and we moved on. The termite mounds were HUGE. There were two different kinds that they had identified at the park: the ones that I was used to seeing in the states, and then flat, skinny mounds that looked like graves in the distance. These were a bit creepy to see because there were so many of them in this field that it really did look like a cemetery with a bunch of grave stones. All in all, the day was wonderful. It was hot, but it was so beautiful, and so inspiring to be so up close and personal with nature. The rainforest cooled things off, as did our dip in the Florence Falls. The company was great, and the scenery was so different than anything I've experienced in the States. And the funny part is, I've been waiting for it to rain ever since I arrived in Darwin. Turns out there was a huge storm while we were at Litchfield, and we missed the entire thing. |