Litchfield National Park

While we were in Darwin we took a day trip to Litchfield National Park.   Litchfield was established as a national park back in 1986, on land that was previously part of a cattle station.  The geography isn't ideal for cattle, a lot of it is quite steep and there didn't seem to be too many natural paddock areas.  It is a beautiful park, however, so hopefully the original owners were paid a good price by the government!

After visiting the Adelaide River and seeing gigantic jumping crocs (a topic that deserves its own blog entry!) we started the hour and a half drive south to Litchfield National Park.  This is pretty rugged country and very different from the subtropics that we are used to.  Litchfield Park is known for waterfalls, swimming holes and really striking natural features.  One of the first things we saw were termite mounds...gigantic "cathedral" termite mounds, easily 4 - 5 metres high and fields of "magnetic" termite mounds, which look like tombstones in some kind of outback cemetary.  The magnetic mounds are oriented north-south and are very thin, potentially to have minimal sun exposure for the colony.

Gigantic Cathedral Termite Mound

Magnetic Termite Mounds

Each type of mound is built by a specific species of termite, which in turn has a very specific diet.  Mostly we saw individual cathedrals in one area and the magnetic mounds in another. 

Wangi Falls

After seeing the termite mounds we visited a mountain water fall and lake, called Wangi Falls.  Being Canadians and having visited the Rockies many times, when we see a mountain lake, we think "glacier" and "cold"...not in this case!  The water in beautifully warm and a joy to swim in.  The only draw back is that in years of big floods, the crocs can get in but they struggle to get out! 

Buley Rockholes

We ended the day by relaxing in the Buley Rockholes, and cooling down in the 39ºC heat!  Then it was another 90 minutes back to Darwin, where we drank champagne and watched the sunset over the Darwin Harbour.  Such a rough life we lead!

Sunset over Darwin Harbour