With some (just a little) hesitation, we headed off to do some hiking in two of the most beautiful national parks that Australia has to offer. I say some hesitation only because Madeline tends to last 10 minutes on a hike before announcing that "my legs don't work" and pulling the "someone needs to carry me" routine that the last born child pulls as she bats her eyes and begs her older brother to piggyback her...but I digress...you'll be happy to know that she has now announced that she has "very strong legs" and her hiking skills are improving.
Litchfield National Park lies approximately 130km's southwest of Darwin near the town of Batchelor and covers around 1,500 sq km's. The Park was established in 1986 and is a very popular destination being so close to Darwin with over a quarter of a million visitors a year. The Park was named after Frederick Henry Litchfield who was a member of the Finniss Expedition from South Australia that began in 1864 in a bid to set up a settlement at the mouth of the Adelaide River.
Two highlights from this day include the termite mounds and the spectacular waterfalls. The picture you see here are the kids standing in front of a Cathedral Termite mound...its easy to guess why they were named that. The other termites - Magnetic - build interesting mounds in more open fields that align in a perfect north south direction thus taking into account the changing temperatures of the climate.
Its a little more difficult to descibe the waterfalls and swimming holes - they are unbelievable. It helps that they are (usually) crocodile free and accessible for all. We had a blast swimming out to and under these falls. It was about 30 degrees on this day and after some hiking they were a welcome relief. We swam at Wangu Falls, Florence Falls and the Bulley Rock Waterhole.
We returned that night to attend the Mindil Night Market in Darwin which was also a highlight. It seems the whole town comes out for great food (lots of Asian fare) and fun entertainment.
On Friday, we left Darwin and headed to Kakadu. I was last there in 1991 and remember the adventure of tracking down crocodiles and just enjoying the dry harsh landscape.
Background:
Inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1981, this unique archaeological and ethnological reserve has been inhabited continuously for more than 40,000 years. The cave paintings, rock carvings and archaeological sites record the skills and way of life of the region’s inhabitants, from the hunter-gatherers of prehistoric times to the Aboriginal people still living there. It is a unique example of a complex of ecosystems, including tidal flats, floodplains, lowlands and plateaux, and provides a habitat for a wide range of rare or endemic species of plants and animals.
This time we were fortunate to do some great hikes through "natural rock art gallerties" where some of the art like those pictured here were considered up to 20,000 years old. We spent a morning on East Alligator River and Arnhem Land with an aboriginal guide and met over 20 crocodiles (which are the fiercest creatures I have ever seen...), learned about the six seasons, the various uses of all plants and trees and how to make spears.
We also became temporary members of the Jaiburu Golf Club as a way to have dinner one night with little choices when you are 250 km from the nearest city and the town has about 600 residents.
It was a fantastic way to end our time in Australia and with more "aweomes" coming out of Joshua and Erica's mouths and less "my legs don;t work" coming from Madeline, we know that we did something right.
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