Litchfield National Park, NT
Last weekend, we were finally able (after 7 years
of living in the Territory) to visit Litchfield National Park.
It was only an overnight camp and travel through
but was well worth it.
Dry season here in the Territory means a lot of fires
and burning off. Makes you want to roast marshmallows!
Well, it does for me anyway.
This was the first time for Maddie to get her Cruiser
off road properly. We travelled down the Reynolds River Track
to Litchfield. This track is apparently challenging when you
do it after the wet, but this being the 2nd time we've done it, we
found it once again not much more than a 'station' type road
with a few water crossings. Still, it's a great change from the
Stuart Highway and a lot of changing scenery.
Starting out Saturday afternoon after everyone had finished
work, we headed down the track to make camp somewhere
along the way.
Being the school holidays and also the weekend, there
were a lot of other local travellers, so we managed to find a
nice little secluded spot beside a flowing creek to set up camp.
Well, our little camp set up was lovely. There were no
noisy neighbours with all night parties, no barking dogs,
no police sirens etc........BUT..............
we managed to attract EVERY mosquito in the Territory!
No, we didn't sleep much at all, despite the peaceful
surroundings. It was bite, slap, scratch, bite, slap, scratch
ALL NIGHT!
But, it was still nice to get away and enjoy a beautiful
full moon, some peace and quiet, billy tea, toasted marshmallows,
campfire cooked toast and no annoying texts or phone calls!
The next morning, we headed out once again to visit
the 'touristy' spots in Litchfield. A too friendly dingo,
some buffalo, kangaroos and huge magnetic termite mounds
had me snapping away contentedly.
Maddie and Chloe both had their fair share of river crossings
to traverse, as Dave let Chloe drive the Ute for a while.
(It's kind of a strange feeling, driving through the bush
with your 2 youngest daughters behind the wheel. Makes
you feel rather old).
The deepest crossing was on the road into Blythe Homestead.
It was up to the step treads, so not too deep, but nice,
as Dave and I had a mattress tied to the back of the ute
for our bed (which also happened to be Maddies mattress off
her bed at home, so I don't think she would have appreciated
it getting wet). The girls had slept on the roof rack of Maddie's
Cruiser (Maddie's bed) and on the cage top of the ute (Chloe's choice for the night).
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| That middle shot is the amazingly clear water far, far below, downstream from Tolmer Falls |
We did some hiking and exploring and found some
beautiful little spots to maybe revisit another time.
A nice day and a half away, despite the mozzies.
I can tick that one off my bucket list now and
Kakadu is next! We haven't really seen a lot
more than a days drive through there, so hopefully
it'll happen soon!
