Wednesday 25th July
Our last day with in the camper.
We deceide to drive the 1 and a half hours south-west of Darwin to see Litchfield Nation Park. We have been told it is nicer than Kakadu in some respects, as you can swim in a lot of the water holes and it is smaller, so you can get around it, in a day or 2.
On our way into the park, we find a Big 4 campsite so we know we have somewhere to stay for the night. Then make our way through the very windy and hilly roads into the park. (Haven't seen roads like this since South America!).
We spot off at the first swim stop - Buley Hole. As we make our way to the water, an Ozzie is throwing stones at a snake, ummm, not very nice, we think! After he has managed to get the 'brown' snake back into the bush, he tells us that they can be deadly! Matt is a bit of a grumpy bear today, (not enough sleep, last night), so doesn't come in the water, that, or he scared of the brown snake!! It is pretty chilly getting in, but is really refreshing and cool, the temperature is around 30 degrees again.
Next to Florance Falls, this is a longer walk and quite busy, I convince Matt to put his swimmers on and we make our way down the 189 steps, (going down them not a problem, coming back may not be as easy!!) There are 2 waterfalls entering this pool, it again is very cold, but lovely. Have a good swim, then make our way back uo the steps. (There is a young child of about 5 walking in front of us, so this meant we had to walk quite slowly, which was a relief!!).
Next we head to Wangi Falls, we have decided to make this our last stop. When we arrive it is packed, so we just take a couple of photo's and make our way back to Batchelor where we have booked on the campsite for the night.
Thursday, we head back to Darwin to take the camper back and pick up the hire car we have booked until Monday, when we fly out to Bali. We get our little Toyota Yaris $200 for 5 days, and go to the Apollo garage to return the camper. They didn't notice the chip we'd had repaired a couple of days earlier, when a road train threw a stone up at the windscreen, fortunately.
Now to find some accomodation for the next 4 nights. We hadn't realised, but the Royal Darwin show is on and they make it a holiday weekend! No accommodation to be had in the city. We drive an or south of the city and find a Big 4 campsite, they have a cabin room for $60, basically a box with a bed in, not a problem, we think, we have lived in a camper the last 5 weeks. It is very old, not overly cleasn, although the bedding is, the door won't lock and the camp kitchen is filthy!! Next morning we check out. Funny, they don't ask us why!
Now, this leaves us with a worse problem, it is now friday and holiday weekend and still nowhere to sleep. (The Yaris is looking favourable for a while!). We actually go and price tents, enquire at a campsite, they $40 just to pitch a tent!
I'm going to cut a very long story short here, and just tell you that we find a room called 'the Abode' for 2 nights in Wagait Beach, which sit's on the top of the Cox Peninsula, it's a 130km drive from Darwin, but is actually only 6km across the harbour from it. To say it is isolated is an understatement. It was a bit like being back at Shirlett! We loved it! It was more than a room. It was a one bedroomed house, with a lovley veradah, so peaceful, watching the birds and wallabys and although it was a lot more than we had planned on paying ($125 per night), we think it was worth it. Had a walk along the beach, which looked out over Darwin, then just went back and did a page on the blog and Matt read the magazines that had been left there, this must be the most relaxing couple of days we have had! Oh yes, and opened a bottle of chilled 'sparkling' shiraz, which was different, Matt didn't like it much, so I had to drink it!! Then we actually watched some telly, haven't done that for a few months and caught up on some of the Olympics!
Sunday we move to Tumbling Waters caravan park, where we have managed to book a cabin room for $60, it's a million times better than the Big 4 and the same price! It's our last night in Australia tonight, so have booked in for the 'Sunday night beef roast dinner' with live entertainment!!
Will let you know, how entertaining they really are!
