Litchfield and Kakadu National Parks

1st - 10th June

As I sit here in a Caravan Park in Katherine writing my blog the beautiful song of a Butcherbird fills the air while some Apostlebirds screech and scratch around under the trees.

We had a wonderful 9 days in the National Parks of the north – Litchfield and Kakadu.

The creeks, falls and rock pools of Litchfield delighted, awed and relaxed us for four days. An extract from my journal makes an effort to express some of the magic of a small part of this place:

Tuesday: From Buley Rockhole we walked along a beautiful track sometimes following the Florence Creek, sometimes walking through the woodland, all the way to Florence Falls.

What a fantastic view of the falls we had from way up high. We walked down 135 stairs which someone had kindly constructed for us to go for a swim in the plunge pool. On the way down we saw a Short-eared Rock Wallaby which everyone including myself had to photograph. We were very hot and wet before we got into the pool. Some big rocks in the middle of the pool enabled us to stand up but most of it was quite deep. We swam all the way across the pool to where the water plunges down the cliff. I loved the scary noise and feel of the water pounding down even though it was quite disorientating.

Later we had our lunch by Florence creek feeding the little fish tiny crumbs from our sandwiches. It was fascinating to watch them all grab at it, fighting for any tiny crumb they could find. They did the same if a leaf fell from a tree. Perhaps there are insects on the leaves. By the time we had returned to the cascading pools of the Buley Rockhole we were hot and wet again so we sat in one of the pools there until our skin was wrinkled.

Kakadu has been a wonderful place to be in. We didn’t intend to stay this long but after 5 days we have become familiar with being in the midst of this beauty, the rainforests, the sandstone rock formations, the monsoonal wetlands and the grassy billabongs. One very hot afternoon we spent at the Jabiru swimming pool, the only place to swim in Kakadu apart from Jim Jim.

I have seen and managed to photograph a crocodile swimming down the East Alligator river but far more exciting were the iridescent colours of a Rainbow Pitta bird I saw and snapped in the dark basement of the rainforest Manngarre walk. It is the wildlife of Kakadu which enchants and astounds and the scenery which takes one’s breath away again and again.

We learned a little of Aboriginal culture at the Warradjan Aboriginal Cultural centre and from our presence in this very Aboriginal part of our country we are starting to appreciate the depth and complexity of their society and way of life and the respect they have always had for the country we live in. Theirs is a history we cannot learn in an afternoon.

Jim Jim Falls was another 4WD trip. (I love 4WD trips!) We left our Mardugal campground and some distance down the Kakadu Hwy we turned off and drove 60km mostly along a gravel, lightly corrugated, dusty road before hitting the sand, the rocks and the water which made the drive as exciting as the scenery along the escarpment was beautiful. At the first water crossing I balked and handed the steering wheel to David. Of course this gave me an opportunity to photograph the exercise. Jim Jim creek itself is a wonder to behold. The palms around the pools of water make it a very pretty place. It was a difficult climb/walk across boulders along the gorge to the beach and plunge pools and we certainly noticed some new muscles in our thighs.

The water doesn’t fall over the cliffs later in the dry season but there was still a little for us to see pounding over and down these spectacular 150m high cliffs. Some tiny frogs were jumping over the rocks near the plunge pool where we dangled our feet in the cold water. I drove back through ALL the water crossings!

The photo below shows our van in the Mardugal Campground, Kakadu.

Still as I sit and write the birds are all around. Some Grey-crowned Babblers have joined us. The Butcherbird is still singing and has been interrupted a few times by a Blue-faced Honeyeater. A pair of Great Bowerbirds is sitting in the tree and the White-bellied Cuckoo-shrikes are flitting around the trees.

Blessings to you all and we will see you next time in WA.