Litchfield and Adelaide River Regions

So back at our van after the night in Darwin we simply set up our site a bit better and just spent the afternoon relaxing and doing a bit of school.  It was nice not to go anywhere after a late night the night before and this campground/caravan park is very relaxing.  There also seems to be a lot of Queenslanders staying here and everyone is ever so friendly, stopping for a chat and letting the kids pat their dogs.  I think we will be extending our stay by a few more nights so we can see everything in the area at a little slower pace.  We have twelve days until our booking in Darwin and everyone has been asking how we will fill in it.  I mean if we see everything before that we will just simply chill in Darwin for longer, but there is certainly no need to rush around.

Friday saw us get up and start the day in our true form of trying to get out exploring at a reasonable time.  We are still adjusting to the new sunrise time as it means we are getting away later as we are waking up later, still not a bad problem to have really.  I did a school session with Hamish whilst Jason packed up the car and got everything organised.  Then we hit the road into the Litchfield National Park.  We only had a basic map of the park so our plan was to do a few little stops on our way to the main Wangi Falls where there was an Information Centre.  We weren’t going to push neither ourselves nor the kids as we had always planned to spend two days checking the place out so that way we could spread out some of the longer walks.

Our first stop was the termite mounds and there was certainly no shortage of them at all.  They were everywhere but there was one particularly large one that we could get up close to and take your photo against to help show just how tall they can get.  It makes you wonder how much bigger some of them get out in the wilderness.   There were a lot of people stopped there and it was just a sign of the day ahead.  Being school holidays I can imagine that the whole place is going to be busier than normal, still it wasn’t annoying or anything.

They look so little under it.

Hamish looks pretty proud.

From there we continued on down the road and decided to pull into the Tolmer Falls lookout.  We were happy to see that it was only a 400m walk one way down to the lookout so a nice and easy one to start the day with the kids.  Getting there was easy as it was all downhill and then you were rewarded with a beautiful outlook.  Even looking down you could see how clear and tropical the rock pool was below.  I did make a point to Jason that it looked more like a Palm Valley then the other one we had visited outside Alice Springs.  So after a few photos and just admiring it for a while we headed back to the car.  Obviously now heading up hill the walk was harder and the kids were not too happy about having to walk.  With a bit of persuasion and bribing we managed to get them to walk all the way back to the car!  Small win for the day!

Tolmer Falls - the pool below was so clear.
 

Now it was time for a swim so we headed to the main Wangi Falls to check them out and swim in the pool below.  When we first got there though we decided to have some morning tea, so Jason set up the flask and everything whilst I took the kids to the shop to get some food and a little treat for completing the walk.  Of course they picked inflatable beach balls, so yes whilst the cheapest item, they were light and easy to pack down but now I knew we had these balls to take for a swim with us!  Whilst I was waiting for our food I overheard a tour guide use the café phone to let the rangers know a fresh water crocodile had just bitten someone.

Wangi Falls without many tourists in the photo.

Go a little to the left and this is what you get.

Of course this rings my alarm bells as I know they don’t eat us and will only attack if they feel threatened so I decide to chat to the guide to ask a few more questions.  She was lovely and reiterated what I knew, but just said how it is obviously already clearly upset and she was glad it wasn’t a kid that was bitten as it would have done more damage and she wouldn’t let hers in!  Right, that was the end of our swim here.  I passed on the message to Jason and he agreed that we would go somewhere a little safer.  The risk would have been so small but we just decided it wasn’t a risk we were willing to take. 

So we enjoyed our delicious scones and apple slice before making our way down to the Wangi Falls lookout.  They were beautiful and it would be so nice to see them first thing in the morning without the hundred or so tourists and holiday makers swimming around and climbing on the rocks.  Definitely worth a visit and I started to wonder if we were being a bit silly not hopping in for a swim.  Whilst Jason took some more photos the kids were keen to keep walking so I decided to follow them and we would head up to the treetop lookout which again was only 400m one way.  I told Jason where we were going and off we headed.  I was so impressed with the kids as even though it was an uphill walk the whole way ending with a lot of stairs they did it all without complaint, and I even had to tell them to slow down.

I think the major difference being was that this walk was through a little rainforest with a running stream so it was way more interesting for them.  I did find it odd that Jason hadn’t caught up to us by the time we reached the top and put it down to the fact he hadn’t really listened to me when I told him where we were going.  So we admired the view, but didn’t have cameras to take a photo.  After a little rest (for me) we headed back down and ran into Jason just at the bottom of the steps.  Of course he had been everywhere looking for us and looked quite worn out.  As the kids were keen to keep moving I let Jason finish the last bit of the walk and take photos whilst the kids and I slowly made our way back.  At the bottom we just waited at the rocks for Jason to come back down, so that way we didn’t miss him again.

The rainforest walk.

By now we were all keen to go for a swim so we piled back into the car and headed just down the road to the Cascade Falls.  However on arriving the sign said it was a 2.7km return walk to the falls and we thought that was probably pushing it a bit too much with the kids and all the gear we would have to carry.  So we opted out of that place and decided to head back around to Bluey’s Rockhole.  It was a bit of a drive but another family who had travelled rated it as her favourite pick in the park so we thought it was a safe bet.  Getting a park there however looked like it was going to be difficult, however we were in luck and managed to score one right out the front of the toilets.  Talk about luck. 

 

Jason and the kids in one of the holes.

Enjoying the bottom pool.

Looking down the creek.

Once Kayla was in she really enjoyed it.

So after a quick change into our togs we walked the 80m down to the rock pools.  They were beautiful and not too cold at all which was just what we were after.  I hopped in first with the idea to get some photos with the kids, but it took a lot of convincing to get the kids in so I told Jason to put the camera down for now.  Once we were in and swimming around the kids got over their initial scared phase and were happy to explore.  Kayla was still quite uncertain and was constantly clinging to us.  She used to love the water but it seems she has regressed a bit; either that or it is the different swimming holes we are going to.  They aren’t really the same as a pool.

Could have stayed there all day.

Lucky I had a noodle to hold me up with those two holding on.

We stayed there for ages, checking out all the different little pools and getting quite a few photos.  Then we decided it was time to hop out and make our way back home.  We did a quick drive past Florence Falls carpark and it was just as busy but at least we could see the signs and it wasn’t a huge walk.  So we will be coming back here another day to enjoy this National Park a little more.  On our way home we stopped in at the town Batchelor and grabbed a few food supplies and checked email and Facebook.  We don’t have range where we are camping so make the most of it when we have it, then it was back to the van.

There we just relaxed and chatted to fellow campers.  We finished another school lesson and just did a simple dinner for the kids and us before putting them to bed.  We honestly thought Kayla would crash as she hadn’t had a daytime nap, but no, she wasn’t having any of that and just wouldn’t lie down and go to sleep.  Eventually she had a little cry that was more for attention than anything and fell asleep!   

Saturday morning we were in no rush at all as our plan was just to go down to Adelaide River area and check out the war cemetery, Robin Falls and the pub.  So really not too much on the agenda at all for the day.  So our usual start to the day with school, washing and packing up some morning tea occurred and we hit the road just before 10am.  It was weird seeing the car clock as Jason had actually changed them over to local time so now we can actually see the time and not work it out!  The drive down to Adelaide River is around 30km so we were there in no time and had morning tea before making our way into the war cemetery.

This is the third largest war cemetery in Australia and it is so beautifully kept but at the same time so sad, especially reading some of the tombstones with messages from loved ones and their ages.  We spent a bit of time looking around and Hamish picked little flowers from the garden to put on the tombstones and I was impressed about how much of it he took in and all the questions he asked.  Due to the evacuations that had occurred before the bombings the civilian loss of life was relatively small which is still sad, but it could have been so much worse.  Even seeing tombstones marked ‘unknown’ was the worst part.

A memorial to those whose bodies were never found.

So well kept and sad at the same time.

You could really spend ages reading them all.

A special memorial to the postal workers who died in the bombing.

From there we headed out to Robin Falls which was a short drive out of town.  There is a little campground along the creek there and it looks so peaceful and nice but not somewhere we could get our van into, more really short or pop top vans or of course tents!  The walk to the falls wasn’t really marked and all that the local brochure said was to walk along the creek.  Thankfully some locals were there and said it was only about a 500m walk but that it was quite rocky.  So off we headed but after about 200m we decided it was a bit tough for the kids so I left Jason and the kids behind and continued on.  I was glad we didn’t take the kids any further as it got a little bit harder so at least I got to go and enjoy it before making my way back to Jason and the kids and letting Jason go up and have a look.

The stream beside the walk to Robin Falls.

Hamish making his way over the rocks.

Robin Falls.

I in the meantime decided to walk the kids back to the car.  This was a bit more effort than I thought as Kayla refused to walk, so I had to carry her and Hamish got a paper cut on his hand so of course wanted a band aid which I said was back in the car.  The problem was when we got back to the car we didn’t have the car keys.  I was hoping Jason had put them in the backpack that he had handed over but nope, they were in his pocket.  So we just had to sit around and wait and poor little Hamish was getting upset by his cuts.  Thankfully it wasn’t too long of a wait for Jason to come back and it is amazing what a difference a band aid can make – instant healing!

By now we were all starving, probably because we had forgotten to put the normal snack bag in the car so were forced to wait for lunch.  So back into Adelaide River we headed and straight to the Adelaide River Inn where they have the water buffalo (stuffed) out of Crocodile Dundee.  We got ourselves sorted and ordered our lunch and then the process of doing quite a few jobs commenced.  See we actually had phone and internet reception here so wanted to get a few things done that we have been meaning to do.  So I got to work straight away trying to post a blog, then it was research into immunisations and visas for our holiday (can I just say some doctors are hopeless when you call them) and just the general Facebook post and download of emails.

Before we knew it lunch had arrived.  It wasn’t cheap and now I could see why as the steak took up the entire plate!  We really should have ordered one between the two of us as neither of us could finish our steaks.  Even when the guy came to take our plates he looked worried and asked if something was wrong with the steak that we hadn’t eaten it all.  We of course set him straight and said they were fantastic, just way too big for us!  So we left and headed home with totally overfull tummies.  Back at the van it was just another relaxing afternoon of doing not much and another school session.  Kayla had fun playing with the piglet and dog at a nearby campground and Jason and I joined another couple from Logan for happy hour.  They sold up and left two months before us and have pretty much done the exact same path so it was cool swapping stories.

It is a tough life for some.

Local resident at the RV park.

Our last full day staying at Coomalie Creek had rolled around so fast and we had always planned to spend it going back into the Litchfield National Park and checking out the last few places that we wanted to see.  So off we headed to first see the Lost City as it was down a 10km or so dirt track that we weren’t so sure about.  In the end it was an easy drive, just a narrow road so if you passed anyone coming out you needed to make sure you were in an area to pull over.  So I was on the lookout for cars whilst Jason concentrated on the road in front.  The Lost City is just rock formations but is pretty cool and we are glad that we made the effort to come in and check them out.

Going into the Lost City.

Not so lost anymore.

Oh we also realised Kayla didn't have any shoes!

Someone found a little hole.

However we did realise that we hadn’t packed our big 10L water cooler in the car so of course only had our individual water bottles with water in them.  This wasn’t a big dramas as we hadn’t planned any massive walks that day, just the one down to the bottom of Florence Falls which was only a bit under 500m.  So once we had walked around the Lost City and had fun spotting different formations (i.e. a giant with no arms) we made our way back out onto the road and to Florence Falls.  The view from the lookout was spectacular, though like the waterhole the other day, it was really busy with a lot of tourists so you have to kind of line up and wait your turn to get a photo without other people in it.  That is unless you are our two kids who are short enough to duck under and get a front line position to check it out.

Humpty Dumpty.

Pretty proud of our efforts.

Hamish thought it looked like a city.

Now it was time to get our swimmers on and make our way down the 136 steps to the swimming area below.  No I did not count them all this time, there was actually a sign telling me that.  Talk about ruin all my fun!  Jason actually made it down to the bottom with the kids before I even caught up to them, so there was no hard work there on my behalf.  Kayla was not going to have a bar of hopping into the main pool area, instead opting to cling to me.  So Jason and Hamish went out for a swim whilst I scrambled over rocks with Kayla clinging to me and trying not to slip and drop the camera in the water.  I took some photos but Jason was a little disappointed I didn’t get the waterfall in the background!  Umm I just risked my life (okay slight exaggeration) and you were in the wrong spot!

The beautiful Florence Falls.

Down the bottom with Jason and Hamish in the water.

Looking back up to the falls from the creek area.

Kayla did not want to hop in.

After a while the kids were getting tired so we headed back up all the stairs.  Kayla was over it all and was not having a bar of walking back so Jason carried her up all the stairs!  Hamish and I had gone ahead and slowly made our way up, stopping for a break to wait for Dad and Kayla (really I needed a rest).  Then it was back in the car and out we headed.  As we were driving out we saw another family we had met so pulled over and had a quick chat to them.  Turns out the croc in the Wangi Falls had bitten the lady because there were three of them swimming after it trying to take a selfie!  Seriously some tourists are just dumb.

Looking downstream.

Kayla seemed more happy checking out the creek.

Such a little oasis.

The bottom of the falls.

It was nice to get back to the caravan in time for a late lunch with no other plans for the afternoon but to pack up a bit, do a school session and then just relax.  Some people had lit a campfire nearby and others were joining them for happy hour but I think I just didn’t have the energy to join them.  Then Darren and Peta rocked up so the kids were in heaven and running around having fun.  Of course this meant another night of cards once we got all the kids to sleep.  I did not actually fall asleep this time whilst putting the kids to sleep, though I think I was close.  As we sat outside we could see the orange sky in the background as more of the surrounding land was burnt off.  We assumed these are all controlled burns!

Jason had to get his photo.

The pet pig at the caravan park.

Kayla and Sarah's new friend.