Day 178. Litchfield Park

Volley Ball in Buleys Rockhole

I didn’t have the best night’s sleep with my tooth (or missing tooth I should now say) playing up, so we were all up rather early today. Since having my tooth out I have had the worst headaches; and nothing I take seems to knock it on the head. We decided to take it easy today, because I didn’t want it to flare up into a migraine.

Escarpment View from top of Wangi Falls

Shane and Scarlett walked down to ’Wangi Falls’ yesterday evening, and they were keen to take me down for a look this morning. The falls were spectacular; I could hear them from the caravan so I knew they must be high, but they are huge. We walked the board walk around to the viewing platform; while dodging all the flying fox poo. The flying foxes were everywhere in the trees above us as we then walked up to the top of the falls. The walk was worth it, as the lookout was amazing; we could literally see for miles.

On the way back down we stopped at this gorgeous little waterfall coming straight out of the cliff face. The water was warm, and Scarlett said it looked like a little fairy glen. Unfortunately the pictures didn’t really work out, as the lighting was too dark.

Tabletop Swamp

When we got back to the van we packed some lunch, had morning tea, and hit the road to do some sightseeing. First stop was the Tabletop Swamp. It looked more like a billabong to me, but was pretty all the same. We didn’t walk far as Scarlett didn’t want to get out of the car; lucky it could be seen easily from the car park.

Lost City

Next stop was the ‘Lost City’ which is a huge landscape of rocks all piled up one on top of the other, and they look sort of like old abandoned buildings. Shane and Scarlett had a great time hiding and posing for photos on, and in amongst them. It was almost eerie walking around them; they seemed empty and really old.

Buley's Rockhole

Last stop for the day (we planned this one on purpose) was ‘Buleys Rockhole’ so we could all cool off with a swim. There were heaps of people there, but the area was so big with so many pools it didn’t matter. We put on our snorkel and masks and had a great time watching all the fish on the bottom; while swimming in and out of the waterfalls. We took turns jumping off a huge rock face, into the plunge pool below which was crystal clear and really deep.

Before long a bus load of American Air Force personnel turned up, and started playing volley ball in the huge pool we were swimming in. They included Scarlett in their game; intentionally making the ball go over to her, so she would have to throw it back in. She got right into it and started throwing the ball back then diving in after her hit; they all thought she was so funny. It turns out they are here for Exercise ‘Talisman Sabre’, a joint military exercise between US and Aust forces in the Top End. It involves Army, Navy and Air Force from both our countries; see you can’t go anywhere….

Scarlett playing volley ball with the USA Airforce

We spent hours at Buleys but had to call it a day sooner or later, so reluctantly Scarlett got out of the water and we walked the track back out. This was the most fun I think she has had in ages. We were all buggered when we got back, although Scarlett still found enough energy to ride her bike around the park and find some kids to play with. After dinner we went for a walk down to the falls to watch the sunset and see the colours changing; we weren’t disappointed. They put on a magic show and we got some great pictures.

This evening we went and watched a slide show put on by the rangers in the picnic area. It was all about the parks fauna and flora; most of which Shane had already educated us on anyway. It was a nice way to end the day though, and we saw some huge shooting stars on the way back to the van which was nice too.