Week 9 · 23rd May to 29th May
Katherine & Litchfield
Day 57 – 23rd May
Rolled into Katherine around 10am with the idea of treating ourselves to a proper posh coffee… but forgot it was Sunday and nothing was open! Oh well, we stocked up and headed to Katherine gorge instead.
Arranged the hire of canoes for the whole day tomorrow and then just chilled out by swimming in the river for the afternoon. Three things happened over the rest of the day: spotted a tree snake right above us and I freaked out a bit!; one of the millions of bats decided to fly over and promptly pooed on me – yuk!; and then, after we went to bed, there was a big scrap amongst other campers. Aparently some Aussies were a bit loud for a German couple who, after getting more annoyed, decided to spray pepper spray in a woman’s face and then beat up one of the men! Shouts, screams, rangers… all dramas – the Germans then took off before the police came. Thankfully, we were tucked up in our tent and stayed right out of it.
Day 58 – 24th May
Spent the day canoeing on the Katherine river – something we had been looking forward to for ages! And it was beautiful with the only hindrance being all the other tourists who had the same idea. Ah well, after a bit of hard paddling we left them behind and had the 2nd and 3rd gorges more or less to ourselves.
A day filled with paddling, swimming, cliff jumping (our new favourite pasttime), messing in the waterfalls and turtle spotting! We even had to negotiate a few rapids on the way back too!
Decided to camp at the same place again tonight and this time there wase no bad poo or noisy neighbours.
Day 59 – 25th May
Up early and headed North for Litchfield NP and who did we meet en route… only Fiona and Drew! Cool, we agreed to spend the next few days together in the park.
Drove into Litchfield and Florence Falls via some Magnetic Termite Mounds shaped like organised gravestones. They’re built that way to provide the best temperature for the termites all day long.
Had a cooling dip in Florence falls only bad point was the millions of tourists. Litchfield has lovely tropical plants and everything is green and lush which makes a nice change.
Set up camp and chatted our favourite topics with F&D again – tyres, Landcruisers, wood, Barramundi, beer…
Day 60 - 26th May
Had a morning swim in Florence Falls again and then headed to Buley Rockhole, which was fantastic too – could have spent hours wallowing in the cool waters! Ho hum, more cools things to see (or ‘more shit’ as Drew says!) so off the four of us went to Tjaynera Falls down a 4WD track which included a (deep-ish) river crossing.
After a 2km walk to the falls we were rewarded with arguably the best falls of the trip so far! Magnificent gorge walls about 120m high and fresh clean water to swim in. Whats more, we the only people there! Spent a few hours swimming and jumping off cliffs (of course) and chilling out before setting up camp at Wangi Falls (yep, falls have now replaced gorges as being the major attractions). We listened to another ranger slide show and then back to camp where the mozzies got the better of us so we turned in early enough.
Day 61 – 27th May
Woke to no mozzies and the prospect of rain. After brekky and packing up, we joined the ranks of the lazy people and drove from Wangi campground to Wangi Falls car-park – about 100m! Wangi Falls were impressive but since we couldn’t swim there, they didn’t leave a lasting impression. So, with the last of Litchfield NP seen, we started the drive to the NT capital – Darwin.
We drove straight to Lee Point C’van park were Drew deliberated for nearly an hour about where we should pitch up. In the end we got a great spot under a huge tree (but as we were to find out, next to a local madman). Drew and Fiona pulled out yet more gear out of their ‘tardis-like’ Cruiser and pitched their big tent ready for a 1 or 2 week stay.
At night we headed for Mindel Beach Markets (a must if in Darwin during the dry) – there must’ve been 1000 people there which was a bit freaky after being ‘out bush’ for so long. Plenty of good food stalls were there so we dropped the budget and (I) indulged in squid, octopus and lamb curry!
Day 62 – 28th May
Happy Birthday to me! 30 years young! At last, a day where I could put my feet up and let Orla do everything (which she did, Bless her). We had bacon and eggs then I was presented with a handful of cards from friends and family – Orla had arranged them to be posted to Darwin. A cool framed print of ‘Narrow Neck’ in the Blue Mts from Orla and an axe from Drew and Fiona were my presents.
The day was as good as any I can remember – golf, beer, seafood feast, beer, Casino, rain (!), beer then finally (about 3am – see we’re not past it) home for beer and bed – fantastic! And I played well at golf too!
Day 63 – 29th May
Today was a real go slow day as our heads weren’t up to much after last night! (esp since we’re all in our 30’s now)
Unfortunately all our clothes were soaked through after last nights rain so we spent a while sorting that out – times like this when you wish for a comfy hotel room.
All we managed to do was have a drive to the shopping centre and up to Lee Point… till that evening when miraculously we all recovered and were able to tuck into a few more beers and the b’day celebrations continued for a while!
I’m not used to days like today and I don’t miss the hungover, tired feeling.