It seems ‘outback’, but its just over 100
kilometers from Darwin.
Litchfield National Park is visited by overseas
travellers and Australian’s alike. Its
more accessible than Kakadu (roads being subject to the flooding and damage of
the wet season), and popular with the locals for camping and cooling off in the
waterholes.
Highlights
The waterfalls at Wangi (wong- guy), Florence and Tolmer. In the heat of April (the locals said it was
starting to feel a little chilly), 35 degrees in the shade, experiencing the
clarity, cleanliness, the colours of the waterholes are like an oasis for the
weary traveller. Just the sound of the
falls had the blood in my veins jumping for joy. The dazzling light display from reflecting
sunlight through the water onto reddish rocks, the sunset moments at Wangi
falls, putting our head under with a mask to see the big fish and the depth of
the falls. The coolness of the water after the heat of the day. The dappled
light from the surrounding trees. And the sudden appearance of a local goanna
coming in for a quick dip! Gorgeous!
April, in the Top End, is known by local indigenous people under the
name of Banggerreng – marking the end of the wet season, and when animals start
raising their young. Traditionally there
are five other seasons, all following nature’s signs.
I had a dragonfly land on me! You can see a couple of photos of its
charming face in ‘[the van] – wildlife on the road’.
Symbolically, they say this means I’m going to hear great news from
afar, but I think it just means the insect repellent doesn’t work.
Jett, with SUCH braveness, and with thanks
to two months of practice in nana and granddad’s pool, swam like an eel around
the waterholes. He was admirable and it was certainly the highlight of his trip
to Litchfield.
We met helpful and informative Rangers.
They have a tough time of it picking up rubbish left by visitors and telling
people not to dive into the waterholes, and emptying rubbish bins from the
hordes of ‘tourists’, but when I asked if they were happy with their work, the
answer was invariably ‘Life’s great!’
Practicalities
If you have the choice, avoid the place on
the weekends, and particularly on Sundays and school holidays. It was literally like a public pool in Melbourne during a heat
wave. Not a good place to be.
I asked a few locals (rangers
included) about personal safety of
travellers. The only problem they all mentioned is a bit of late night drinking
and ‘fun’ for the local teenagers. Otherwise there wasn’t a problem. Obviously,
lone females always gather a little more interest, but Jett and Albert won’t
leave me alone…
Please don’t
Please do not litter. The area is famous
for its pristine, clear waterholes. We found bottle tops, cigarette butts,
paper, chip packets and glass bottles left around the area. (The rangers say its mostly the locals who
disrespect the park in this way. We also
met a few people along the way, just as vocal as the rangers in there shock at
such a place being littered.)
Don’t feed the animals. It makes them
aggressive and you damage their diet.
Don’t jump into the water holes. The
rangers were pretty unhappy about having to deal with nong nongs jumping into
bubbling water where maybe there are submerged rocks and branches waiting to
make contact with your head.
Please do
Stop in Batchelor at the information center
there. We were fortunate enough to meet Jeff and Kay, two volunteers, with a
mine of good information about the area, and about travelling in Australia in
general. They gave us tips about what roads to take (considering our World
Nomads Travellers Auto Barn campervan) and told us great stories of inveterate
travellers- from out woop woop, to the middle of nowhere, to the back of
beyond, and further down the way, back beyond the black stump.
The national park doesn’t charge for entry,
but there is a good will system for camping. Please pay! We’re big believers in
karma for this stuff. If you don’t pay for it now, willingly, then you’ll pay
for it later, unwillingly.
Pick up
firewood for camp fires along the main road – there’s plenty of it.
Go really
slow. These places come alive under a
patient gaze. The ground, the trees, the
water holes – everything is full of life. After gazing at the stars, and out back, they
are spectacular, I saw a shooting star every night! (three nights in a row)
I’ve only seen two before in my entire life before this!
Do take
lots of water!! Um, I often feel I’m allergic to water, but out here, I’ve been
drinking, of my own free will, more than I remember. I also, typically, never sweat, but up here,
in the top end, while the humidity is up around 80% (!!!!!!), I’ve been
drenched through. IIIIK…and just forget glamour. I saw a lady with lipstick on
and nearly bowed down at her seemingly unperturbed efforts of maintaining the semblance
of city life. (written after a whole 5 days on the road without a full length
mirror anywhere)
Do wear
protective clothing. Insects bite, the bush scratches and rubs, the sweat makes
your skin itchy. Not to mention snakes and spiders….
Insect repellent
is a BIG must have. Also include
mosquito coils for the evening.
Campervan
tips
– I mean, it’s bloody hot, all the night through, until about 4, then the
temperature drops so you need a sleeping bag. We kept the back door open all
night and rigged up a mosquito net on the outside, by pegging it to the gummy
stuff around the door.
- You may
like to spray the van, once a day, before a hike or a dip in the water holes,
with insect KILLER (in case, just in case, the HUGEST spider you have ever seen
is sitting in with your pillows, just in case)
Disasters
Well, it
wasn’t a reeeeaaaaalllll disaster, but I lost my cool.
Albert and
I were having an avid discussion (domestic) about a linguistic issue (when
someone says a thing, then its NOT just ‘a way to talk’ – its an indication of
what they are thinking/inquiring/ commenting etc) , when I felt a sharp sting
on my right hip, and while screaming at a frequency unknown to the area since
1820 when Mrs Smith lost her third round at poker and subsequently the deed to
her father’s land, I saw a flutter of yellow wings off to the side.
Simultaneously,
a felt a paralysis of the skin, up to my under arms, and down into the hip
region. I started shaking and felt my
left middle finger throbbing also. Seems in my sudden motion, I bent the nail
of my finger back. Not a pretty sight today.
The
physical sensation died away, but the fear that gripped me took a little
working through. My yogic breath hasn’t been so shaken since I first started
practising David Swenson’s ashtanga yoga routine suggestion.
Anyway, the
bite is swollen and manageable today.
The disaster was to my sense of ‘peace’. I feel, still, a little shaken
by the experience.
It didn’t
help, when a little later, Albert gestured for me to come into the van. I was
surprised at his serious face, but after seeing a HUGE light brown coloured
spider up in Jett’s bunk, and his ‘you deal with it’, I understood all. I’ve grown up in Australia, and in any similar
situation, I’ve been with people much braver than me. This was the first time I
was going to have to do something I detest. Beat to death an innocent and
rather fascinating creature for accidently invading our living space. I looked
at my green tara and begged for forgiveness,
and started my attack. I was having flashes of similar Buddhist stories of offering my flesh to the spider to gain
instant enlightenment while at the same time I thought, Jett can’t see this
thing up here, he’ll never go up there again… and I hope I kill it quickly and
I’m so sorry… and then, to my horror, I started to beat the thing.
After
stabbing madly at it while in a chaos of emotions, the spider stayed alive.
Honestly, it just looked the same. Walked happy a few paces and I thought no
chance, I can’t do this again. ‘Albeeeerrrt! YOU do it.’
Big Brave
Dirty Bertie came to the rescue.
We mourned
the pour creature and miraculously, since Jett was in the very near vicinity,
managed to convince him that we’d been talking about beating a sharp nail down
on the bed.
Wildlife we
saw (check out the photos for proof)
Rock
wallabies with babies (do we call them joeys if they come from a wallaby?)
Red Fox
Bats
Signs for
crocs
Dragonflies
by the hundreds at Florence
falls
Lizards
Goannas
Cockatoos
Gallahs
Hawks
(quite a few actually. Jett says there are more as the season dries up. How did
he know? Nat Geo channel)
Crows
Green ants
BIG spiders
Fish
BUGS
Mosquitoes
Mosquitoes
Butterflies
Moths
Mosquitoes
(and stuff I’ve
forgotten)
Stuff I
want to check out the next time
In Batchelor,
they have an Indigenous Institute. It was closed because of the school
holidays, but I’d love to meet the people there and talk to everyone some time.
I want to
see a tiny kingfisher!!
The cool of
the Global Gossip head quarters here in Darwin
is just heaven. Its busy and people from
everywhere are tapping into their computers.
There’s a post in the centre dedicated to sharing information about cars
for hire, jobs on offer and people looking for a lift, for ‘fuel and fun’.
See you at
the next one! Good night mum!
