We knew from our homework that Litchfield National Park, which lies within a couple hour’s drive of Darwin, was a beautiful and popular park sometimes overshadowed by the more famous Kakadu.  And we had also been warned that it is best not to visit Litchfield on a weekend because it is such a popular escape for people from Darwin.  But timing and bad fortune had its way with us and we ended up spending a somewhat crowded but very special weekend amongst its natural beauties.

 

Litchfield is famous for its waterfalls and we have already come to learn that wherever there is a waterfall there is almost certainly a plunge pool.  And plunge pools were becoming a major theme of our trip because wherever there is a plunge pool there is an opportunity to swim.  And having a swim in the cool waters of a plunge pool means a refreshing escape from the 30+ degree heat, washing off the dust and insect repellent that seem to intermingle on our skin and looking up at the jaw-dropping gorge walls that create the waterfall in the first place.  In other words, perfect.

 

 

In fact, as we learned, there are too many plunge pools in Litchfield to hit all of them, especially on the weekend.  We first visited Buley Pools which was a strong stream running through a series of beautiful pools with crystal clear water that were ideal for swimming.  Unfortunately a hundred or more people beat us to it and the crowds discouraged us.

 

We moved on the stunning Florence Falls, with its dual waterfalls crashing into a bottomless plunge pool perfect for swimming.  We walked down the steps to the pool and joined only a couple dozen people in a beautiful pool surrounded by gum trees and the vertical cliffs above us.  It was great fun, and as we’ve done before we swam up to the waterfall itself and got pummelled by the water before it hits the pool.

 

From there it was on to Wangi Falls, the star attraction of Litchfield, and rightly so with its dual falls filling a huge plunge pool surrounded by shady pandanus and gums.  We had a great swim here also, again swimming across the large pool and clinging to the rocks under the waterfall.  This was a super spot but very crowded with weekend warriors from Darwin and Katherine and the local campsite was completely full.  So we headed down the four wheel drive track south to a place called Shady Creek and after negotiating a couple of semi-deep water crossings we set up camp in a small campsite with only a few other campers.

 

Julie Despite the small setting unfortunately it turned out to be a noisy night, mainly due to some local lads who abused all the common sense camping ideals of the bush, including setting off huge loud fireworks into the sky.  Never mind, in the morning we walked back to the plunge pool at the waterfall and had a spectacular swim all to ourselves in a beautiful setting.  It turned out we loved Shady Creek.

 

We explored another Lost City, not quite as spectacular as what we found in Limmen National Park last month but still quite interesting and different. The unique rock formations, little tunnels and arches, strange shapes and odd sizes of huge stone pillars stacked up for all the see was good fun to explore.

 

We then headed further south along the 4WD track, a bit rough at times, and eventually ended up at Surprise Creek where we parked and followed the short trail to a small creek which was pouring over the rocks and had formed two large deep rock pools.  We swam in the top one, about the size of a large circular garage, beautiful cool water with no bottom in sight.  These pools must have taken thousands if not millions of years to form but they are perfect in shape and size, a spectacular place to wash off the day’s sweat and dust….and as it turns out, also a great way to start the next day by having yet another swim there.

 

After that morning swim we followed the track out the southern end of Litchfield, past numerous vast fields of magnetic and cathedral termite mounds, all great fun to explore and photo.  Then it was on the bitumen again with our compass heading west via Katherine to Gregory National Park and eventually Western Australia.  But Litchfield will always be remembered by the huge weekend crowds and the stunning plunge pools, an odd combination which we both survived and flourished in.