Litchfield National Park is clearly the rich cousin to Kakadu. Tarred roads, paved paths and undoubtably more money ploughed into the infrastructure. Maybe this is why some prefer Litchfield; less rugged. We started our tour of Litchfield at Florence Falls. Before we’d even undressed, Lexi was bounding ahead excited, like a puppy whose owner has just returned from a day out, as she saw Zara in the water. Zara being one of the girls from The Gibb River Gang. By pure chance, the VB’s (Van Burkels) had decided to pop down for a swim too to end their Litchfield experience. After a bask in the waters, we were all hiking back up to our camp, dripping wet for a catch up and drink.
Lexi and Zara began conniving again and soon they had put together an elaborate plan of Lexi being taken away for the next few days by the VBs – we were after all meeting up again in 5 days’ time at Dundee Beach to go fishing. We negotiated 3 days, so she could see at least some of the national park with us (this was an Alex request rather than a Lexi requirement) and with toothbrush packed, bedtime bunny tucked under her arm and her school books shoved quickly in after her, we waved good bye. We barely got a backward glance as they plugged themselves into their now favourite movie Mumma Mia.
It seemed a little odd over the next couple of days with just the three of us, but it was great to have some special time with Reo. I did wonder a little about his allegiances when he asked in a quiet voice, “Could we pretend Lexi doesn’t exist for the days she’s away?”. 😳 Sibling love hey. However, maybe it was exactly what he needed, as he smashed out his schoolwork – not sure if the two marshmallows in his breakfast hot chocolate, swiftly followed by two coins of chocolate money helped this – and promptly found a new friend as we returned to the falls to cool off the steaming brain.
We leapt into Buley Rockholes, pools that looks like a giant has walked down the hill and the imprints had filled with water, peered over the edge to Tolmer Falls and cavorted around Cascades and Curtain Falls. I was just about to take a splash in a bath-sized hole when a blood curdling scream erupted from Reo – I honestly thought a Saltie was about to attack me – I looked down to where he was pointing at my leg and saw a 2cm sized frog! My heart was in my throat at the time, but we had a good giggle about it after.
We’d moved camps to Wangi Falls, a much larger pool to Florence with two waterfalls cascading down. Both major attractions are beautiful in their own right. It was fun swimming there during the day, yet at night, as the sun set and the bats took flight in search for food, the pool was quite magical as the water twinkled under the moonlight.
It was time to collect Lexi from her little holiday. It seemed she’d had too much fun and didn’t want to come back to us ☹. Tears and tantrums you’d see from a toddler ensued, before we finally bundled her into the car and promised she’d see Zara again in 2 sleeps time. We took a drive to the south of the NP, listening to music interspersed with sobs from Lexi, so we could visit Sandy Creek. The announcement of the 2km walk into the falls was received with a few more sobs – this time from Reo – and off we went. It was certainly worth the walk. A little hidden oasis and such a nice change to the popular sites. We spent the afternoon here swimming, lazing and letting the underwater creatures explore our feet. We returned to Wangi Falls and introduced Lexi to the magic of the evening swim for a cool down. The following morning, we packed up, then made sure we had another swim to wash off the sweat and dirt before moving on. All seemed to be forgiven for tearing Lexi away from Zara.
We popped into Berry Springs, a nature park just outside Litchfield where in World War II, it was part of a rest and recreation camp set up by the armed forces for the 100,000 personnel based in the area. It was hot and humid when we were there, so I can only imagine how refreshing the springs must have been being posted up in this bleak area 100 years ago. We had our own tourist guide as Lexi showed us around as she’d already been here with the VB’s.
Next stop was a Gibb River Gang reunion and the hunt for the Barra. Alex had organised a boat for two days of intensive hunting! As he and Adrian were the most experienced with handling boats – I thought I was up there in the echelons, but as Reo has told everyone we’ve meet that I’ve sunk a boat (it was a very, very, long time ago and really not my fault), apparently it’s a black mark against my name. Relegated to the sidelines, they were the full-time skippers and the rest of us took it in turns to be deckhands and fisher people.
The way the tides were, we ended having 12 hours days on the water, which allowed us all to get out for a few hours each day. Reo and Millie being the expert fisher-children spent a whole day on day 1 as they had the most interest (with Reo managing a second day too!). The tricky part was crossover, as the tides were low so the boat couldn’t come right in, the water murky and you just never know if a croc is lurking nearby. The locals are always full of knowledge, ‘nah mate, there’s no crocs around here’, but we weren’t that confident. It was a race across the shallows and a quick pull up from the boys, making each entry rather ungainly, but as safe as we could.
We’d met another family, ”Lavis’ Lappin’ Oz” and Trent, keen to catch a Barra, rode shotgun one of the days to live out his dream. Unfortunately, no Barra in sight, but the boys went out early the second morning and had the best day of their lives (well, according to Trent!) when they caught 8 tuna, a Bluebone, salmon and a Giant Trevally!! Reo had also gone out with them and had an absolute ball. The mums’ went out for a couple of hours in the afternoon and then the girls had a sunset ride.
It had been a fabulous 2 days on the boat and we needed a day to recover from all the activity. We spent the day lazing by the pool in the caravan park, Alex, Adrian and Chris, less so, as our broken solar panels needed replacing, and had a huge dinner – tuna 8 ways – with chips from the local restaurant. It was a ‘merry’ evening and a great way to end the reunion of the Gibb River Gang and start new friendships with Trent and Jade.
We ended up returning to Darwin, as it was the only place we could get the car in for a service, so it was back to the air-conditioned shops! We returned to the same caravan park as before, as did the VBs, so Lexi had her BFF to play with all day, Reo returned to the friends he’d made previously who were still there, plus more and they all biked around the park in their new formation as ‘The Bad Boy Gang’, but we don’t do anything bad, later to be renamed ‘The Coconut Bandits’!! The dad’s had their obligatory Bunnings visits and Jo and I supervised the girls swimming in the pool with a cocktail in hand!
We were back on a weekend, so I ventured to a few more markets than we’d managed previously. Jo and I started with dinner at the Parap markets Friday night. No social distancing here, as people sat on picnic blankets listening to live entertainment. Saturday morning we ventured to the food markets, shoulder to shoulder with locals and tourists alike who had the same idea and Sunday we returned to the Mindl markets to clap the sunset again, the crowds twice the size of our previous visit. We were a world away from the second wave of Covid beginning to ravish Victoria and Europe.
It was time to say goodbye to the hustle and bustle of high-city living. We had a pit stop at another iconic Aussie pub complete with stuffed croc and The buffalo (also now stuffed) that starred in Crocodile Dundee!! Further on we stopped at another local stop-off where another family “Noosa 4 on tour” recognised us from our Insta account. This is what the rich and famous must feel like when they pop out! It was meant to be a quick dinner stop, but we were having such a good time with Iain, Julie, Kahn and Jarah that we ended up staying the night, resulting in an early morning leave to get to Katherine for more welding on the van.
While the van was getting some TLC, Reo needed a little too. A not-so-quick visit to the hospital (3 week wait for a GP) to get a couple of lumps checked out on his leg. They turned out to be nasty cysts, and incredibly painful over the next few days, he could barely walk on his leg. A round of antibiotics was required, as was draining them when the patient allowed (mainly threats that he’d have to go back to hospital if he didn’t let us drain it), so we could get the gunk out. It wasn’t a pleasant experience for any of us, although followers of Dr. Pimple Popper would have been transfixed at what came out of his leg!
We now had a long unknown road ahead of us. With 2020 the way it was, we‘d wiped Arnhem Land off our list, however, we’d heard murmurings of it opening up, so after a little research, we quickly submitted our permits for approval. When you read about one of Australia’s last true wilderness areas, a vast area in the northeast corner of Australia’s Northern Territory, defined by rocky escarpments, gorges, rivers and waterfalls, I’d envisioned us hacking through unknown territories to release untold treasures. Alas, the reality was a little different.
After nearly 800km of dirt, dust and potholes and dodging donkeys, brumbys and buffalos we made it up to Nhulunbuy. Arriving in the dark (of course!) you could see the lights of the bauxite mine lighting up the skyline, not really a true wilderness! 😋 Unsure of a plan once up here, we based ourselves at the boat club who accommodate travelers and spent the next few days relaxing, making new friends and having a recce of the local beaches to see where we wanted to venture next.
Cape Arnhem was closed as it was nesting season for the turtles, however a beach clean-up had been organised, so we happily volunteered for this. It’s a great education for the children to understand more about pollution and how rubbish from another country washes up on our shores – most rubbish collected on this beach comes from Indonesia – and when you study it, you can see all the little bite marks from the sea life thinking it’s a food source. We collected bags of the stuff. We all had a little section of the beach, you’d see a bit of plastic, grab it and then a lot of the time, as soon as you picked it up, it would disintegrate in your fingers or you’d pull it up and suddenly a flip flop would appear. It was incredible to see how much was buried and made you realise just how much rubbish there is that we can’t see ☹. There were a few traveling families helping out, as well as locals and it was a fun day out. The workers were fed a tasty BBQ and it was a fabulous way to see a little of the untouched Cape. This was definitely part of the wilderness that’s talked about.
We then moved on to one of the local beaches; Maccassin Beach, mainly because it had a natural alcove cut out in the rocks where you could take a dip in the water without the fear of a croc attack. The added bonus…there were no midges here. We were nearly carried away at the boat club. It was a great spot to base ourselves and drive to the other beaches which were a little more exposed. All the beaches were beautiful, with turquoise waters lapping at our feet, it was so tempting and with the hot days, hard to resist.
With nesting season upon us, we took a walk one night after Lexi and Reo were in bed to see if we could see any little hatchlings escape. To be honest, I hadn’t been very hopeful. This is a unique experience and few people are lucky enough to be able to witness it. However, Alex had ventured down the night before and saw a little turtle making its way down to the sea (I unfortunately was fast asleep in bed), so expectation was now high! It was nice just to be by ourselves on a little walk (we set expectations of dates low nowadays) and came across a ghost crab which looked to be tied up in rope. As we got closer, the ‘dark rope’ was in fact a baby turtle, in the clutches of the crab! Rescue mission initiated, we shooed the crab in turn releasing the baby and setting it free in the sea – hopefully not to be instant fodder for a croc or any other creature. I was on such a high after liberating the turtle, although sad Lexi and Reo would be upset to learn they’d missed the action. The following nights surveillance was futile and pressure was on from the children to find some action. It was not to be.
After a few days exploring, we headed back to the boat club as we’d booked a tinny to go fishing and explore the waters. It was an early 5am rise 😴 to maximise our time on the water and boy, what a day. As we rode out to sea towards the pinks of the rising sun, the rhythm of the boat began lulling me into a romantic trance. It was immediately shattered as the boat stopped and Alex and Reo began organising the fishing rods, What?? Fishing already? I thought we’d at least have a little drive on the water first. Memories of our fishing trip at Winderabandi came flooding back and they weren’t pretty! The fish must have been having breakfast – who can blame them at 6am – as they weren’t biting our lures.
Despite my moaning about all the fishing, it was a fun day, as I was dropped off at Granite Island to relax and read my book while the other 3 went fishing 😋 I’m only half joking…. I did participate on the way home. I had to. Alex, Lexi & Reo had had SO much fun when they were out, that I had FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out – so my mum understands), BIG TIME. They brought back 2 tunas and were all completely hyper. Both Lexi & Reo had now become great little boat handlers and navigated the waters like pros. Alex then ventured out on his own for another try and bought back 1 more – how much Tuna can our freezer hold?! – and so the luck continued.
My island hideaway!
After exploring the Island, done in 15 minutes, we lazed in the shallow waters which were protected by rocks (our croc defence), and enjoyed the tranquillity only a little island in the middle of the sea can offer. Lying on our backs in the water, we were transported away, but look up to the horizon and you were instantly brought back to reality as the skyline was marred like an ugly scar with huge mining superstructures.
As the afternoon wore on, it was time to return to the mainland with our wares. Still on a high and chancing our luck, we saw a ‘bust up’ (that’s the fishing lingo meaning lots of birds diving into the water where there’s big fish activity) and turned the boat to take a look. A couple of casts and Alex was on! With Reo expertly coxing and Alex getting the best work out he’d had in decades, it was a great way to finish the day. As the Esky’s were small, we had to cut the heads off the fish to get them in. So, what to do with the heads…. Feed them to the sharks of course!
It was a really great day out and with our flurry of activity at the end of the day, we were late in, causing the owners to enact their safety protocols! Oops. We had way too much tuna for our freezer and we couldn’t even give it away at camp! However, friends we’d made earlier in the week who were working in Gove happily took some off our hands. It was time to make our way back down the 800km of dirt we’d ventured up 10 days earlier. Not a journey we were totally looking forward to, but one required none the less. I’m glad we’d made the effort to get up to the Cape. It certainly wasn’t the wilderness I’d envisioned, however, there were plenty of communities still in isolation and I think to really understand and see the area, you need a lot more time here. We were grateful we’d even managed a glimpse of it and would love to return another time to explore more into the wilderness.
After a dusty 2 days drive, we were greeted in Katherine by our lockdown friends The Goldrings Gap Year with a rum punch, friendly banter and a delicious chicken curry accompanied by Tiana’s homemade chapati’s. What a welcome committee! It was back to the springs for a float and cool down before saying goodbye to our friends who were continuing on their journey north.
We needed a couple of nights of just staying put, so returned to camp and inevitably made more friends with The Walkers Detour, Nathan, Suzanne, Elizabeth and Clementine. Which meant more late nights. One day we’ll get the children into bed at a reasonable time 🤔 Staying put was just what we did, however not really on the terms and conditions I’d signed up for. It was mine and Lexi’s turn to head to A&E with infections, with mine in my nose turning it red and swollen, Lexi kindly informed me I could audition to be Rudolph for Santa! Lexi had an infected mozzie bite on her leg. After 5 hours of staying put (Lexi is really not very good with being bored) we were seen by a Doctor. Lexi was cleaned up and I had to go under the scalpel and local anaesthetic to get mine lanced and dosed up with antibiotics. It was really not a very pleasant day. It appeared it was touch and go whether I was to be hospitalised with IV antibiotics due to the area of the infection (near that very important, clever brain of mine), but after a promise of staying put in Katherine for the night, we were allowed to go and I had to return the following morning for a check-up.
We had in fact planned to return to Mataranka that night (1 hour down the road) with the Walkers to see Mr. Whippy Griggs in action again. When I told Lexi the news about staying in Katherine, she burst into tears. My heart swelled with love at her reaction to her concern over my condition, until she mumbled through the tears how disappointed she was at not being with her new friends and seeing the whip show! Oh.
We decided to risk it for a biscuit and had another fun night with Mr. Griggs and I drove back to hospital the following morning for my appointment. This was actually quite a treat, as I rarely get alone time, so a few hours by myself, even if it was just driving and sitting in a hospital, was luxury! Luckily no more scalpels or a hospitalisation, the swelling on my face had gone down significantly and we had permission to leave Katherine. Phew! 😝
We then ventured to Daly waters, which I reckon is the best iconic pub we’ve visited yet, complete with a rather eclectic collection of cars and of course a pet crocodile!! Who doesn’t have a pet crocodile these days?!? The Beef ‘n Barra was sensational, accompanied by a huge selection of fresh SALADS!!! This delicacy has not been seen for a while, so we went large and loaded our plates high. With live music playing, the kids took themselves off to one table leaving me, Alex, Suzanne and Nathan to enjoy a rather rare, adult focused night out. At the interlude the band were asking for requests and rather shocked when ABBA popped up (Lexi is now obsessed). You could tell they were about to give some friendly abuse to the requester until the children popped up their hands up, to which they switched 180 and happily played Dancing Queen! It was a fabulous way to end our stay in the Northern Territory.
The following day we had a 12-hour day driving to the Queensland, everyone tired due to the previous late nights, school was hard, and everyone got really cranky with each other. We finally crossed the border in the dark, thankfully no border control to contend with, arrived at Hells Gate (great name for a stop right!?), nearly swallowed one of their home-made burgers whole we were so hungry and promptly fell into a dreamless sleep. It was a rather underwhelming way to celebrate reaching the final state on our trip around Australia!
What a great read! Loved our time at Dundee with you guys. Thanks for letting us join in on your boating adventures. Hope you guys are well xx
Lottie isn’t a black mark, more of a golden highlight of fun times ;0)