Publikuar: 03.09.2016
On the last day of our trip to Litchfield Park, we got up early again. Then we took a shower, had breakfast, and packed up our stuff again. After that, we wanted to check out the Aboriginal Art that was supposed to be in some cave at Wangi Falls. But since we couldn't find anything there, we found out from the cafe staff that access to the paintings had been closed. And that it was actually marked on signs and notices. But we didn't read anything about it anywhere. How stupid. The only Aboriginal Art left was on posters in the small souvenir shop. So we just kept driving.
The next stop on our way back was Cascades (not on the park map). There, we walked 1.4 km to a small waterfall in the jungle. The path there was quite exciting! It went over rocks and stones, along the river, through the forest, and over bridges. In the end, we even had to climb over the rocks in the creek to reach our destination. And so many people did this path in flip-flops! But I was glad I had my sturdy shoes. The waterfall itself was really cute and the plunge pool was shallow and had super clear water. We even tried taking underwater photos there. It more or less worked :D Anyway, the water was refreshing and the surroundings were great. After swimming, we climbed up the side of the waterfall to see the pool from above. Then we walked back again.
The next attraction on the main road after Cascades was Walker Creek. There was a walk along the creek to a swimming pool, but it was over 3 km long, and that was too far for us. Instead, we cooled off in the creek near the parking lot and watched the little fish.
The last stop before we drove back to Darwin was Bamboo Creek Tin Mine. Some people used to mine tin there together with the locals, and we could see the old huts and the entrance hole in the hill. It was quite interesting, and we also learned a bit of history :D
It was early afternoon when we started making our way back. This time, we took the off-road road northward instead of Batchelor. But we were already experienced in off-road driving, and the road was much better than the proper 4WD tracks. So it all went pretty quickly, and we were back in Darwin in less than 2 hours. We wanted to find a campground there because it's cheaper than staying in a hostel. Plus, we wanted to test what it's like to sleep in the car because we might want to build a bed in it. Sleeping in a tent on an air mattress every day is not that great :D
The campground we found, which is a bit outside of Darwin, is called Hidden Valley Tourist Park, and it's really great! We paid 50 AUD per night for two people, or 43 AUD per night starting from September. And for that, we got a shady spot, totally clean toilets and showers, an outdoor kitchen with a gas stove, a communal fridge and TV, and even a pool. For about 15€ per person per night, that's really good!
I'll write about what happened next in the next blog :)