Tag 27: From Kakadu NP to Litchfield NP

July 18, 2018

Once again, an early start is required. Today, we have a drive of over 300 km to the Litchfield National Park.

The approximately 3-hour drive is quite monotonous and holds no surprises, especially since we already know the first 100 km from yesterday.

After 2.5 hours, we reach the turnoff to the Douglas Hot Springs and briefly consider whether we should make the detour, but then decide against it. With temperatures over 30 degrees, none of us really feel like getting into hot springs, maybe we can still make it to a swimming spot in Litchfield National Park.

On the way, we notice smoke and haze coming from the forest and a few horses, who, like the donkeys yesterday, are apparently escaping from a bushfire.

After another hour, we reach the Litchfield Tourist Park, our accommodation for the next 2 nights.

When I booked here online months ago, only the "Large Ringer's Cabin" was available. Not particularly cheap, but located at the park entrance and we didn't really like the alternatives.

We can already move into our cabin, a kind of mobile home that we know from the USA. Really nicely done!

There is a small veranda, inside there are two bedrooms, one of which has 4 beds (well, that should be enough for the kids) and a double room, a small kitchen, and the highlight is the outdoor shower, which is reached through the spacious bathroom by opening the outside door to a kind of "private shower terrace". How cool, that will definitely be my shower today.

The tourist park consists of several cabins of different sizes and an attached campground. In addition to the reception, the main building has a small restaurant and a mini-supermarket.
Here, we order a prepared grill set for tomorrow's dinner (consisting of bread, meat, and vegetables), as we have a spacious gas grill on the veranda. For tonight, we still have bread and cold cuts.

There is also a small pool and a playground.

We inquire about the highlights in the park and what we can see in half a day. After gathering all the tips, we decide to visit the Tolmer and Wangi Falls.

At Wangi Falls, you can swim very well. Great, that sounds like a bathing vacation.
After a snack for lunch, we first drive to the photo spot of the Tolmer Falls, which currently have very little water and therefore don't look very spectacular.

We continue to the Wangi Falls.

A parking lot geared towards many tourists awaits us. The swimming area is completely paved, with a staircase for entry, so that everyone can enjoy a refreshment. It's more crowded here than in a German outdoor pool in midsummer. We have absolutely no fear of crocodiles here. Tourists float on inflatable mattresses, kids splash around with swim noodles - somehow a completely absurd image that doesn't really match the image of a "National Park".

Never mind, we're hot, let's get in the water!

The water here is also very cold. We all do a kind of duck dance until we finally reach the water completely and swim to the waterfall on the other side. If you climb up the rock there, you reach a kind of "whirlpool", of course without hot water, but it bubbles like a whirlpool from the water of the waterfall. How cool! The kids think it's super cool. The pool is so deep that you can hardly stand in it.

After about 30 minutes, we are quite cold and swim back to the exit and sit in the sun.
Now it's time to explore the surroundings.

We follow the sign "Wangi Falls Viewing Platform" and walk through the forest on a boardwalk. We hear strange noises, a kind of whistling and flapping wings.

Above us in the trees, there are hundreds of fruit bats! Incredible!! The fruit bats seem to be sweating and constantly fan themselves with their wings to cool down. We are totally fascinated and watch the fruit bats for a while.

In addition, we see some birds of prey, a wallaby, and here and there a creepy-crawly in the bushes.

After spending the afternoon at Wangi Falls (there is also a kiosk where you can buy ice cream, snacks, and drinks), we stop at the Magnetic Termite Mounds around 6 p.m.

In addition to a few huge termite mounds, the actual attraction here is a true sea of sail-shaped termite mounds. At first, we mistake them for gravestones, but then we recognize their peculiar "building form", a kind of fan or sail. We've never seen anything like it before!

On the final stretch before leaving the park, an emu family crosses our path. Of course, we stop and let all the emus pass.

Fortunately, no more animals jump in front of our car today.

For the statistics:
Hotel: Litchfield Tourist Park
Cost: 174 € / night in a mobile home
Distance: 460 km
Vehicle: 4x4 Mitsubishi Outlander
Animal sightings: fruit bats, birds of prey, wallaby, spiders, and more
Weather: plenty of sunshine with 33 degrees!
Conclusion: Wangi Falls are the giant swimming pool of Litchfield National Park