Litchfield National Park

By Jen.

After Katherine Gorge, we decided to heard north to Litchfield National Park. On the way, though, we made a couple of stops. Also part of Nitmulik NP is Edith Falls. This was a pleasant stop. It would make a great vacation spot, with a restful and relaxing oasis atmosphere, plenty of walks and swimming, plus a cafe, cell reception and wifi nearby.

In this region, spear grass is very common and grows very quickly. The stuff in the background is 4 months’ growth, while the stuff next to Jonathan is probably 6 months’ growth.

Next on the list was Butterfly Gorge. This was a terrific stop! A short walk takes you to a small gorge where there are thousands of butterflies. Walking along will cause many of them to start fluttering around you, giving the place a magical feel.

Then, we arrived at Litchfield. For many locals, this is a favorite park. I can see why. It is basically a free water resort. Surprisingly croc-free and with no entrance fee to the park, it is fairly irresistible. Our first stop was the termite mounds. They called them “magnetic”, but this is misleading. I was expecting to be able to stick a magnet on the mounds. But they actually meant that it lays its mound in a north-south direction to optimize temperatures. This is cool, but not as cool as magnets. They should call them compass instead of magnetic.

This is a cathedral termite’s mound.

From there, we managed to get a rock pool all to ourselves for about 10 min before others joined us at Buley Rockhole.

The next day, we got an early start and managed to hit all the other spots. We don’t really like to sit and play in water all day, so what normally takes people several days, we finished in 1 day.

Florence Falls.

Check out these green tree ants! They have reddish brown bodies with a green thorax!

They make this nest by folding living leaves over and glue them together using their larva’s silk. 

Tolmer Falls.

Wangi Falls.

Upper Cascades, view 1.

Upper Cascades, view 2.

Bamboo Creek Tin Mine ruins.

Then, we were heading north along the back route to Darwin, Australia’s only tropical capital city.