Katherine, Douglas Hot Springs, Butterfly Gorge and Litchfield National Park

Sunday 26^th May 2013 to Thursday 10^th June 2013

KATHERINE

When we first arrived in Katherine we stayed at the Riverview Tourist Village for a couple nights to get ready for our 4 night stay in the Nitmiluk (Katherine) National Park. It is a lovely caravan park with the advantage of only having to walk 500 metres to have a refreshing swim in the Katherine Hot Springs.  These natural thermal springs are at a constant and idyllic 32 degrees Celsius and are surrounded by beautiful shady trees. We took the opportunity a number of times to cool down in these beautiful waters.  The Katherine Low Level Reserve is also a beautiful spot for a swim. The Katherine River flows over rock bars just below the weir and the Low Level Bridge which form gentle rapids; it is a really pretty area surrounded by tall paperbark trees.

Katherine Hot Springs

Low Level Bridge Katherine

 The Nitmiluk National Park is only 32 kms out of Katherine, but we decided to stock up and stay out there for 4 nights, to save another trip into town. The Nitmiluk Gorge Park is set in beautiful bush surrounds; it also houses the visitor centre which offers a lot of information about the history of the gorges system as well as wonderful displays. The park, at the time we stayed there was (for lack of a better word) infested with bats. They are very noisy but really did not worry us as they disappeared at dusk and didn’t return until early hours of the morning. Apparently a lot of people left because of them, but hey, you’re in the bush, no worse than birds chirping all morning and after a while they were only a background noise. Plenty of other wildlife inhabits the park as well, including snakes and wallabies and a huge variety of birds. The park has the most beautiful swimming pool which we used every day and has a great poolside bar and restaurant which opens from 4pm til 10pm daily.

We decided to take the most amazing 3 gorge tour. Katherine Gorge is made up of 13 separate gorges sculptured from the landscape by the Katherine River and torrential rains over millions of years. The towering cliffs viewed from the river are truly spectacular.  Again the camera got a workout as every turn was more spectacular than the previous one. We had to use three different boats and walk a total of about 2 kms to complete the journey and it was incredible. In the third gorge the walk of about 400 metres over a rocky path took us to the amazing Lilypond Waterfall. The plunge pool at the bottom of the falls was so welcoming and refreshing, it took Greg and me only a minute to strip down to our bathers and jump in. One of the things I always dreamed about doing when preparing for our trip, was to swim in a pool under a waterfall; I can now cross that one off the bucket list. It lived up to all my expectations and more, I didn’t want to leave.

 

                                                                              Us under the waterfall at Lilyponds

DOUGLAS HOT SPRINGS AND BUTTERFLY GORGE

We left Katherine on 1^st June to go to the Douglas Hot Springs Park; it was only about a 130 kilometre journey. This park we really loved, it is in a beautiful bushland setting with toilets, hot showers and fresh water all for only $6.60 per person per night. We could run the generator and have a campfire here too which is something we had missed for a while. The thermal pools are really hot at their source, boiling in fact, so you have to venture downstream to the cooler waters of the river for a swim. There are some really nice little swimming holes, some shallow, some deeper, so swimming is suitable for children and adults alike.

We drove down the road to the Douglas Daly Tourist Park to have a look at The Arches and Waterhole. It is an amazing natural formation with a thermal pool, but we couldn’t use it as the Crocodiles checks were still in progress. Back along the river were some nice little rapids and waterholes but again closed for swimming because of the pesky crocs.

Butterfly Gorge, a 17 kilometre off road 4WD only journey, from the Douglas Hot Springs was a must see. The Gorge provides shelter for thousands of crow butterflies in its cool crevices, although we didn’t see any, wrong time of the year methinks. The walk down to the gorge was extremely steep and difficult but it was worth the journey. There is a beautiful sandy beach beside the huge swimming hole, but the ranger told us to stay away from the water’s edge and not to swim because again the croc checks had not been finalised. We were very cautious, walked around a bit, took a lot of photos as it is so beautiful and although it was very hot we were not tempted to swim.  As we turned to go in another direction, Greg yelled “crocodile”. I turned around and there not 5 metres from us on the bank was a crocodile, we had almost walked right into it. It was only a freshwater variety and  only about 1 and a half metres long, but that didn’t make my heart stop racing or my eyes searching for an escape route. Once we realised we were safe enough I stayed back and Greg moved in a little closer for some photos. So that our first encounter with a croc in the wild...mmm exciting! The steep walk back to the top wasn’t so bad after all.

                                                            The usual signs in the NT

 

Butterfly Gorge

                                                                Our wild Crocodile

                                                                                   Douglas Hot Springs

LITCHFIELD NATIONAL PARK

After a great 5 days at Douglas Hot Springs we ventured a little closer to Darwin to stay at Litchfield Tourist Park on the edge of Litchfield National Park just 13 kms from Batchelor. We stayed here for 5 nights and let me tell you, this place just blew us away, it is spectacularly beautiful.  The tourist park itself is wonderful, beautiful grassy, shady sites, a gorgeous swimming pool and a bar a cafe, with staff that are incredibly friendly and extremely knowledgeable. You’ve got to love the NT; most of their caravan parks have bars!

On 2 separate days we spent 8 hours in the National Park doing the only thing you can, and that is being tourists. And this is what we saw:

Magnetic Termite Mounds: These huge structures are built by termites north to south to minimise exposure to the sun and for temperature control. This was a great photo opportunity and an interesting insight into the architectural feats of these insects.

Buley Rockhole: This is a cascading series of pools which are surrounded by smooth rocky walking paths and lush trees and are absolutely beautiful to swim in. Our first swim of the day was here at 10 am on a very warm June winters morning in the NT. You can’t get much better than that or can you?

Florence Falls: Are truly spectacular from the lookout and then you walk down 135 steps to swim in the plunge pool beneath the falls. It is such a nice refreshing feeling swimming in the pools below the waterfall. We didn’t walk the 135 step back up to the car park, but chose the 1 km shady creek walk the other way. It crossed little creeks and rapids along the way and wove through some beautiful monsoon forests and woodland forests.

The Lost City: Is a series of rock formations which look amazingly like ancient ruins.  A 10 kilometre 4WD only track took us here and as we walked around, we could imagine being in the ruins of an ancient city. We imagined being in the town square, or walking beneath the bridge with towers either side, there was even a formation that looked like a giant guard and an archway that led to the mall. Great imagination huh? The photos don’t really do it justice, but being there was incredible.

Tolmer Falls: A very impressive fall from the lookout, but you can’t   get close to them or swim in this area. They are beautiful nonetheless and it was worth the walk to see them.

Wangi Falls: These are the most popular of the falls because of the easy access, a short walk from the car park, a beautiful grassy and tree shaded area to enjoy a picnic or to just lie around and a kiosk for refreshments. There is a huge swimming area below these spectacular falls, which is safe for all levels of swimmers. Although they are beautiful and the swimming is great, it tends to be a bit overcrowded, but we enjoyed our time here immensely. It is generally closed in the wet season due to crocodile inhabitation.

Bamboo Creek Abandoned Tin Mine: An historical site that was really interesting and showed the hardships the miners endured in days gone by. This was certainly worth the drive.

The Cascades: To reach these falls is the toughest walk of all. You can take the shorter walk around the lower cascades or the longer walk to the upper cascades. We were warned that you can reach the upper area quite easily from the lower cascades but as the lower walk was a mixture of creek crossings and climbing up and over boulders, we elected, after a beautiful swim in the rockholes, to take the upper walk back. Bad mistake, it was extremely step uphill half the way, then the same downhill the other half. After that refreshing swim we were hot and bothered again. But if you don’t do the walks you don’t see the best bits and it was quite pretty.

Tjaetaba Falls: At the base of these falls is a lovely picnic area, so we took the opportunity to eat lunch before we tackled the long walk to the top of these falls. It was quite a nice walk steep in place and then quite steep just before you reach the top of the falls. But boy wasn’t it worth the climb. A most beautiful swimming hole right at the top of the falls awaited us. This was probably my favourite; the water hole was the size of a large spa, about 2 metres deep and crystal clear. There were about 8 others there, who all left when we arrived, so we had it to ourselves for about an hour. I didn’t want to leave it was just divine.

We both really loved Litchfield National Park and I would highly recommend a visit here if you ever travel this way. It wrecked us, we were exhausted from climbing, swimming and walking, but it is just so beautiful, we didn’t want to miss a thing.

Termite Mounds

Buley Rockhole

Florence Falls

Lost City

Lost City

Wangi Falls

Tjaetaba Falls (the swimming hole)

 

On Monday 10^th June we left for Darwin. We have been in Darwin for almost 2 weeks now, and have seen and done some wonderful things, but that will all be revealed in my next blog. At this stage we will be here until 1^st July, but we may extend it, you never never know!

Cheers til next time.