Litchfield

Feb. 29, 2004

The Toyota Landcruiser pulled up to the curb. Stuart, the guide, told me to hop into the front seat and then we were off for a weekend trip to Litchfield National Park. I had booked the trip through “Wilderness 4wd Adventures” since their brochure stated that they catered to youthful, fit travelers. I was not to be disappointed. The group was composed of a Scotsman, two Brits, a German couple and two Scandanavian girls. Only the guide and I appeared to be over thirty.

As we left Darwin on the Stuart Highway I asked the guide about the Landcruiser. It had definitely been in service for quite some time. The odometer was stopped at 240,000 kilometers which is about 150,000 miles. He said that the odometer had actually rotated through and then stopped which meant it had failed after being in service for about 770,000 miles. Very impressive I thought. This was no ordinary Landcruiser. Stuart explained that it had a turbo diesel with a reinforced suspension. It also had a snorkel for its air intake which allows it to go into water almost to the roofline. Stuart said the deepest water he had ever gone through came up to the windows.

Since The Outback is a vast region with few petrol stops in some areas, the Landcruiser also had two diesel tanks with a system to balance the levels in each tank for proper weight distribution. This was definitely built for rugged terrain.

On the road we saw a snake winding its way across the road. We slowed down to take some photos. Stuart said it looked like a Western Brown snake. The Western Brown snake is on the top ten list of the most venomous snakes in Australia. We didn’t get out of the landcruiser.

About two hours south of Darwin we entered Litchfield. We first went to the termite mounds. There were two types, the cathedral style and the magnetic termite mounds. The cathedral style had a generally rounded appearance with one being over 20 feet tall. The magnetic mounds were flatter, almost tombstone in configuration. The magnetic mounds are so named because the edges align in a north – south orientation which allows the east and west faces to get maximum sun exposure. During the day the termites move to the parts of the mound which are most comfortable for the colony.

As we drove along we also saw wallabies (“wall-uh-bees”) hopping along the road. These smaller cousins to the kangaroo are very common in the Top End and are even found in Darwin. Due to their habit of jumping across highways, many cars and SUVs in the Outback have bars attached to the front to prevent damage to the front grills when impacts occur.

We went to Wangi (“Wong-eye”) Falls later in the morning. Near the entrance to the swimming area was a sign warning that crocodiles occasionally infiltrated the plunge pool. The swimming area was closed that day due to flooding so we set off to have a closer look at the falls and the monsoon rainforest.

As we walked to the overlook position for the falls, we could see dozens of fruit bats fluttering through the tropical trees in an area where the spray from the waterfalls gently mists over the jungle. Dozens of bats also hung from several trees, gently bobbing in a light breeze. I found the contrast of the velvet black skin of the bats against the green foliage and the blue sky to be startling. As we left the area, we saw a large lizard, about a yard long, crawling along the ground. The guide said it could be a gooana or one of the monitor lizards in the area.

We had lunch next to Buley Rockhole. Buley consists of a series of waterfalls cascading over brown and grey rock. As we jumped into the plunge pool, the force of the cascading water pressed us against the opposite side. Occasionally swimmers who got to close to the far edge would be forced out of the plunge pool into the next series of cascades. Fortunately the successive drops were shallow so the only injuries were a few light scrapes from the rocks.

Our final stop was Florence Falls, a spectacular twin fall system in the center of one of the dark green monsoon rainforests that pepper the landscape. As we made our way down the steep path to the bottom to get to the plunge pool, we spotted a rock wallaby staring at us from a rocky ledge to our left. When we got to the bottom, we found a rocky plunge pool circled by lush tropical greenery. We jumped into the plunge pool and made our way to the base of the falls. The force of the water pushed us back. Some of my companions made it through by diving underwater to evade the pressure generated by the tumbling waters. On my first attempt, I only managed to make it to the side for a quick rest. I swam a bit more and tried to make my way to the base of the falls, but the closest I got was about ten feet away.  Exhausted, I let the current gently carry me back to the edge where we had first entered. I called it a day.

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