Footloose in Oceania: Day 55: Litchfield National Park

Today I went on a small group to of Litchfield National Park (about 100km SW of Darwin). There were only 3 people on the tour + 2 guides -- nice personal touch & lots of fun. We did the tour in a Land Rover -- much better than a bus -- and we could drive on dirt/gravel roads (which we did for a good part of the tour).

The tour company - Northern Territories Indigenous Tours - is owned by Tess & Greg -- both ex-Park Rangers -- and they were our guides today. Tess is an Aboriginal -- and her family owns a lot of the land in & around Litchfield (it only became a NP in 1986).

Note: there are very few places where you can swim in Darwin -- especially this time of year. There are 2 challenges - box jellyfish (extremely painful sting that can be fatal) and salties (salt-water crocodiles -- the largest reptile and they eat 1 or 2 people a year in Australia). Salties are especially dangerous in rainy season -- they hang out in fresh water -- and move to salt water in dry season.

Stops during the tour:

Finniss River: looking for some salties -- didn't find any
Tolmer Falls: we walked down to the falls and then walked up to the rock pools above the falls -- and went swimming -- just wonderful (salties aren't good at climbing up rocks). Beautiful walk through the woods -- especially liked the wild hibiscus (didn't like the spider so much).
Wangi Falls: took a walk through the monsoon rainforest. We couldn't swim at the falls -- the water level is too high -- so great risk for salties. We also couldn't walk too far because a bridge was washed out and they haven't repaired it yet. Bunch of fruit bats hanging from the trees -- fortunately they were just squawking and not flying around (they're big!).
Florence Falls: double waterfall in the midst of a monsoon rainforest. Plunge pool at the bottom of the falls -- and rock pools at the top -- we took a swim in both of them -- great way to cool off. The water is crystal clear and not too cold.
We were in the SUV getting ready to leave the falls when we were hit by another SUV. French couple in a rental - not used to driving on the other side. The couple spoke next to no English -- so I offered up my lame translations services. Fortunately there was no significant damage to either car.

We saw lots of wallabies hopping around while we were driving. No kangaroos in the area -- but some pretty big wallabies.

Lunch (I can't believe I didn't take any pictures) -- grilled kangaroo, crocodile, and barramundi (fish). The kangaroo and barramundi were both wild -- I think the crocodile came from a farm (note: it's impossible to farm kangaroo since they can jump over most fences). The crocodile is a white meat -- bit chewy -- didn't love it (but didn't hate it). The kangaroo was very good. And the best was the barramundi.

Word of the day: Billabong - an Aboriginal word that used for an isolated pond that is left behind after a river changes course. Billabongs are usually formed when the path of a creek or river changes, leaving the former branch with a dead end.

Weather: mostly sunny w/some big puffy clouds, rain for 5 minutes, 79 - 95F, 96% humidity
Miles Walked: 4

Pic Notes:

16: Tree Termites build tunnels on the outside of the trees so that they can move up and down the tree with protected cover
22: Aboriginals often eat bits of termite mounds by scraping off bits with a rock onto a leaf. Must be an acquired taste -- Tess thinks the taste is better than chocolate -- just tasted like dirt to me (I took the smallest amount possible)