We all Fall Down....waterfall down that is!

Today is waterfall day. We had a quick brekkie (mostly what we do it seems!) and hit the road. We wanted to delay driving around wet as much as possible, so visited Tolmer Falls first since you can’t swim there.

You could either take the stairs in, or hike. Of course we hiked – which was well worth it. You went through a grove of cycads. These were quite different than the ones in Kings Canyon. These were feathery looking – although stiff and hard to the touch.

The areas around Tolmer falls are sensitive for native wildlife, hence no swimming. The walk took you to a lookout over the gorge. A woman was all set up with her easel and paints capturing the scene. I was able to see her work progress quite nicely as we waited for Mike to arrive (he of course stops to photo along the way), and then to finish his shots.

All of the waterfalls here are very impressive. Due to the extremes of wet season and dry season, the volume of water changes drastically. We are seeing the falls in the dry season. But most of the force which carves the landscape occurs in the wet season. The falls are basically inaccessible by roads during the wet season - you have to fly in since most of the roads are flooded. It must be incredible to see them in the wet.

Next we headed to Florence Falls – they are a twinned set of falls. We had an early lunch at Florence, then hiked in for a swim. It was not too overly crowded, but there was no where to put your stuff, which made it a bit chaotic. Kyle managed to have his shoe fall in and drift downstream, but managed to fetch it okay. The dual waterfalls were very nice, and the water was not too cold. It did get colder right up to the waterfall and the force of the water pushes you back quite noticeably. The wind is quite strong coming off of the falls also making the swim to the waterfall more challenging. We all had our turn directly under the waterfalls, and both Pat & Kyle climbed up at the base of the falls and did cannonballs into the pool (it is nice and deep where the water falls hits). We had a great time.

Next we headed back into the depths of Litchfield closer to our campsite to Wangi Falls. Kyle and I went in for a swim while Mike took some photos (Pat deferred swimming). If you open up the photo at the left here, you can spot Kyle and I under the waterfall with our hands up - Kyle in his red bathing suit. There are crocs here – freshwater for sure – which you try to avoid and ‘be nice’ to. Occasionally there have been salties here in which case you get the hell out of there! (They monitor closely and have traps set.)

All of us then took the hike over the Wangi Falls. Mike and I take the hikes with the shortest steps possible, especially on the downhills and our old knees are holding out quite nicely for us. This hike had some incredible orb spiders – they were HUGE and numerous. One of the creeks we passed over was surrounded by their webs. The one at right here is a yellow spotted orb.

We ended with a final swim together. Again this is a dual waterfall, and again we all made sure to get right under each of the falls. The one on the left (photoed here) had a natural ‘mini pool’ part way up the ledge of the fall which you could climb to. Since it is a very small pool, it is warmer than the main pool at the base of the falls. We all had a nice dip in there – although returning to the main pool to get out was less pleasant!

Then back to our campsite and after a nice curry dinner, we laid back to listen to more of Bill Bryson where I quickly fell asleep (could have been all the fresh air or perhaps the extra glass of wine at dinner!).

Break 2 Day 9 - Edith Falls & Termite Walls

We left Katherine behind and our final destination for the night was Litchfield Safari Park. First off though we stopped for a hike into Edith Falls which is up the highway, but still part of Katherine Gorge Park. We did the hike in, but did not plan on swimming even though you could. Again we did the longer hike, and then headed for Litchfield.

Thinking we had a fairly short drive ahead, I took a 'scenic route' detour heading north. Although it was a pretty drive, I had to keep my eyes on the road as it twisted and turned every which way with the Beast camper swaying as we went. We did manage to get ourselves in the middle of a controlled (we think) burn off of the bush though. In the Northern Territory, they are very diligent about their fire management. They burn every area of the bush once a season if possible. They do small patches at a time using natural barriers to control the spread. It is quite a complex skill to know when and where to light the fires - taking temperature, winds, ground conditions, landscape and more into consideration. But by doing controlled burns they allow new growth to flourish (which provides great feed for the wildlife) and avoid deadly forest fires which would wipe out the animal life and destroy property.

It was a long drive into the park as it turned out - the place we were staying was in the deepest depths of the park. En route we stopped to check out the termite mounds. WOW were they big (this one was not unique - there were also other bigger ones around). There are two types of termites here. The cathedral termite mounds were huge as you can see in the photo. The other mounds were interesting and more unique. The magnetic termite mounds were much smaller and looked like tombstones – thin and rectangular. And they are all oriented north / south so as to avoid the sun as much as possible. This is part of the temperature control mechanism they use. The cathedral termites migrate in and out of the folds of their mounds as the heat of the day changes. Up here it's all about heat management - or rather cool management!

Then off to our campsite! There were several wallabies around, and Mike and I went for a walk where we spotted several more. Beyond that, our evening entertainment was to sit back and listen to another Bill Bryson book on CD – much like the old days of radio listening I suspect. Very entertaining and we all enjoy.

And just for the record - this was a photo from one of our campsites a few days earlier. We awoke to emus roaming around the grounds. Just like squirrels at home with kids running around chasing them and everything!