Litchfield National Park

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The view from above of Florence Falls - complete with rainbow - in Litchfield National Park

The view from above of Florence Falls – complete with rainbow – in Litchfield National Park

The final stop on my 10-day tour of the Top End a few weeks ago was Litchfield National Park, a popular weekend getaway for Darwin residents and home to loads of glorious waterfalls and swimming holes. Of course I took advantage of as many walking tracks as I could, one of which winds for about 5km along Florence Creek in relative peace and quiet.

Another highlight of Litchfield is seeing the incredible magnetic terminte mounds. These termites use the magnetic forces of the earth to orient their cathedrals to optimize exposure to the sun. And, of course, the above ground portions of the nests are a gigantic 2+ meters high.

At the end of this tour I settled in Darwin to begin a job for five months – I need to recoup a lot of the money I’ve spent in Australia! It certainly isn’t as cheap here as it was in Asia and South America, and I don’t even want to share how much I’ve been spending. So my blog may be quiet for the coming months, but I’ve got a big trip to WA planned in December and I’ll be sure get my camera ready.

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Edith Falls

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The view of Edith Falls from Leliyn Lookout in Nitmiluk National Park

The view of Edith Falls from Leliyn Lookout in Nitmiluk National Park

North of Katherine Gorge in Nitmiluk National Park is Edith Falls, a cascading set of waterfalls and plunge pools. There is a short walking path that goes up to a lookout over the upper pool, as well as several longer walking paths which I didn’t have the opportunity to do. As usual there were plenty of beautiful flowers and interesting critters around to ogle. This was the last stop on the leg of the tour up to Darwin and the scenery was getting greener and greener.

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Katherine Gorge / Nitmiluk National Park

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The view from Baruwei Lookout, part of a 5k bushwalking trail at Katherine Gorge

The view from Baruwei Lookout, part of a 5k bushwalking trail at Katherine Gorge

Driving up from Alice Springs, the red rocks and sand suddenly turn into more familiar greenery and the air stops feeling so terribly dry. It’s just past this point where you will find the bustling town of Katherine (pop. 10,000) and the beautiful Katherine Gorge – known to aboriginals as Nitmiluk. Our group was able to do the 5k Baruwei loop walk which passes through a magnificent lookout over the gorge. As usual there is loads of interesting plant and wildlife, including wild cockatoos and tons of flying foxes.

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The Kings Canyon Rim Walk

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A view of Kings Canyon from the rim walk

A view of Kings Canyon from the rim walk

One of the most popular attractions in the Red Centre of Australia is Kings Canyon (aka Watarrka National Park) and its a fixture on all the tour routes. There is a 6km walk around the rim of the canyon that gives amazing views of both sides of the canyon. There are loads of fascinating plants which are used by aboriginals for a variety of medicinal purposes and also an abundance of bird life to ogle. 

Perhaps most impressive is the sheer age of Kings Canyon – it’s believed the sandstone in this area was laid about 440 million years ago, around the same time ago life on Earth began. There used to be a lake covering the area and evidence of this is shown in fossils of ripples, worms, and jellyfish. There are plant species that pre-date the dinosaurs and still grow today. I’m not a geologist and pre-history makes my head hurt, but it’s hard not to be impressed by those facts. 

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Uluru

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A portion of Uluru viewed from the base walk

A portion of Uluru viewed from the base walk

Of course the main draw of central Australia is Uluru – one of the largest bornhardt formations in the world and a sacred site for the local aboriginal people. I decided to do a 10-day group tour from Alice Springs to visit Uluru, Kata Tjuta, Kings Canyon, Devils Marbles, Katherine Gorge, Mary River, Kakadu NP, and Litchfield NP, finally ending in Darwin in plenty of time to begin my new job. While I would have loved to do this trip on my own as a massive road trip, after adding up all the costs I just couldn’t justify it – it would have been nearly triple the price to do it alone. Of course there are benefits to the tour – being able to sleep during long drives, not worrying about getting lost or finding an appropriate place to sleep, etc., but I definitely realized that my personality and travel style does not lend itself well to being in such close quarters with so many strangers for such a long time. It was a massive relief to be done with the tour and back in a private bedroom, despite how beautiful and exciting everything I saw was.

Anyway, the first stop on this 10-day tour was the magnificent Uluru. We did a little bit of walking around the base (of course we did not climb up it) and heard creation stories about different features on the rock.

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