We have been visiting Litchfield National Park in the Northern Territory this week while staying just outside the park in the small town of Batchelor.

Views are very restricted as you head into the park with thick forest on both sides of the road for many, many kilometres. Only a brief glimpse in a burnt area of woodland gives you any view, indeed any idea where you are. You see, Litchfield N.P. is an enormous forest broken only by a few settlements, stations, gorges and rock escarpments. Without GPS, or a very good sense of direction, it would be very easy to get yourself lost here. There are also very few places to pullover safely even if there was something you wanted to take a closer look at.

Magnetic Termites

Our first visit into the park took us past some enormous termite mounds, by far the largest we had seen yet. But nothing could prepare you for those at the ‘Magnetic Termite Mounds’. Here two types of mound were standing tall but very different from each other. The magnetic mounds were being created by a species of termite that can tell where the magnetic north is and the narrow mounds they build align north to south. This means the mound shows the least exposure to the midday sun keeping the mound as cool as possible.

The second form are built like skyscrapers with huge towers and buttresses rising over 5-metres above the dusty grassland. Some, including the so called Cathedral Mound are believed to be over 50-years old and still growing – often taller than the surrounding trees.

Florence Falls

Continuing along we drove to Florence Falls for a hike along Shady Creek walk. From the car park the path quickly leads to the first lookout on a supported gantry overlooking the creek. It’s an impressive view of the Florence Falls even at this time of the year with plenty of water cascading into the plunge pool below. A steep set of steps, all 160 of them, then leads down to the creek through savanna woodland and then the cooler monsoon forest with its shady palms and stream.

Unfortunately this is yet another beauty spot spoilt by people swimming in the plunge pool so any chance of a decent photograph was out. A very noticeable film of oil was floating on the surface of the water most likely from suncream, which, by the way, contains toxins. Why the National Parks in the Northern Territory encourage this I do not know. Surely the point of National Parks is to protect the fauna and flora for future generations. Allowing suncream to leach into the water is bound to have an affect on fish and other aquatic life and then on those animals that prey on them in turn.

The walk follows the creek upstream for about 500-metres before climbing out of the shade back into the savanna woodlands. From here the walk can then be extended to Buley Rockhole, which is an option we took but it was tough going in the heat with a heavy camera bag strapped to my back.

A few plunge pools lead from the track and I have to admit they did look inviting. We just took a few photographs of the shallow falls feeding the pools and continued on our way to the Rockhole.

A few people were already at the Rockhole by the time we arrived sitting on the rocks spoiling the view for everyone. Here the water tumbles down a few small falls through rocky pools before dropping into a deep pool and disappearing into the wooded creek. It was now getting hotter and there was little shade.

The remainder of the 4.2KM track doubles back following closely by the road to the car park. Waiting for us there was a shaved ice kiosk, which was a great welcome after the heat and sun. You could choose from a dozen flavours, or mix them, but all would be just as refreshing.

Wangi Falls

Our second trip into the park took us 42KM west and close to the park boundary. This was Wangi Falls and was to provide us with the best experience of the park.

We arrived early enough to get a shady parking spot, something of a rarity this time of year even though the school holidays in NT were over. Our walk starts from the car park and heads down to the huge plunge pool fed by two high waterfalls from above a vertical rock face. It would be a spectacle during the wet season but was just as impressive now with the rock face in shade and the nearby trees glowing bright green in the sun.

Again the swimmers were present but at least keeping to the shallows near the footpath… for now. Apparently it is a popular spot for freshwater crocodiles too though signs say it is safe to swim. This early in the day the sun is pointing towards you and the contrast and flare make it very hard to photograph. No lens hood or hand waved in the air seemed to help. We decided to try again after our walk once the sun was a little further around.

A boardwalk took us through swampy ground around the edge of the lake to the start of the climb, which winds its way steeply through a mixture of monsoon forest over a steel staircase to a viewing platform. Anyone hoping for a view from the treetops will be disappointed. As seems so often the case in the National Parks of the NT, the trees have grown beyond the viewpoint so all you get to see is trees. Surely there are enough trees around to trim a few and make a viewpoint worthwhile?

Eventually the steel steps finish and rock steps continue the climb to the top of the waterfall. Access to the top of the falls is restricted in recognition of an aboriginal ceremonial area. Instead a short boardwalk leads over the streams feeding the falls with a fair view looking over to the distant forested hills.

The path then makes its way to the source of the second fall before heading back down through steep steps passing several small waterfalls along the way until reaching the plunge pool on the opposite side of the upward climb. And as for waiting for the sun to move further around to get a better photograph, we gave up. The pool was now full of people swimming with brightly coloured noodles including directly under the falls. Now, if only there were still a few crocodiles left over from the wet season.

It’s quite a tough walk, especially in the heat, and certainly not suitable for those wearing thongs, as we saw again today, but it is worth it even if you don’t get to see much of a view for all the effort. At least there is a cafe waiting for your return for a much needed coffee and piece of cake.

Drones ‘Permit’ted

Interestingly, the Litchfield N.P allows the use of ‘drones’ by permit holders unlike all the other parks we have visited in the Northern Territory so far. It’s also probably the least likely place you would want to fly one. Obeying CASA rules, you cannot fly over gatherings of people or within 30-metres of anyone. And helicopters are flying pleasure flights low over the falls, which rules out any drone flights.