Ebipụtara: 17.08.2022
From Tumbling Waters it is only a short drive to the entrance of the Litchfield National Park, our destination for the next three days.
Mornings in Tumbling Waters turned out to be pretty cold, so a bit frozen and unsure where to start in the park, we made some calls for changing our tyres in the next week - the hopefully last piece to be ready for the Gibb... By the time the temperature was comfy with about 25C so we hit the road to the Litchfield National Park. First stop on the loop road was the Bamboo Creek Tin Mine, but unfortunately it was closed til further notice due too security issues. So no visit to the mine but off to the many waterfalls in the park. The first 'waterfall stop' is Walkers Creek. While walking part of the track we realized why it was named like that: there are about 8 single campsites along the creek available, which you can only reach by foot, so people went with tents, chairs, backpacks and not forget a huge icebox with drinks to their campsites at the time with temperatures around 30C and lots of sun... The small waterfalls were nice but no so impressive.
Next stop is the most popular stop in the Litchfield National Park: Wangi Falls. Just a short walk from the car park is a big pool with 2 waterfalls and easy access to the water. Stuart was a lot more impressed by this view. We decided to go first for the Wangi Falls Walk on top of the Waterfalls through the creek and back on the other side before taking a refreshing short swim in the ice-cold water. As temperatures were about 34C and the sun very strong, the cold water feels reviving...
After a short stop at the Wangi Falls for some ice-cream and a mango-cheesecake we were ready for another waterfall walk. The Tolmer Falls can be seen after a short walk to the Lookout platform and from there is a longer loop back to the carpark. On this way, Stuart discovered some cute tiny waterfalls and enjoyed the view.
Last stop for the day was at the Magnetic Termite Mounds. You can see all the time termite mounds left and right of the street, but at this spot you can see a really big Cathedral termite mound, which is higher than 2m. A few meters from the car park there is a broadwalk from which you can see lots of termite mounds perfectly aligned to the sun, so that it is not to hot inside. Still wondering what does the trick to not overheat daytimes with temperatures up to 38C and bright sun, but also not to freeze at night with temperatures easily dropping to 10C or below...