Day 23 Litchfield National Park - Buley Rock Pools and Wangi Falls

Today we headed via Adelaide River, to Litchfield National Park. We stopped in at the Adelaide River War Cemetery, where those who lost their lives in the bombing of Darwin  in WWII are interred. It is an immaculately cared for and maintained place, with beautiful, colourful, tropical flowering plants between the headstones. There is a fair amount of historical information as well. For me, it was very interesting, as my Grandfather was a Captain in the army and served at Darwin, as well as other places across Australia to protect our borders. From there we headed to Batchelor, an entrance to the Litchfield National Park, and as we looked up information at the information centre there, we were drowned out by the noises of nearby flying foxes. The area was having controlled burns and it was quite smoky and hazy too.

We wound through parts of the national park, before stopping to see and learn about magnetic termite mounds, and eventually we made it to Buley Rock Pools. These rock pools were a series of little water falls and deep rock pools. They were very popular and it wasn't hard to see why. Being a warm 31 degrees outside, and our Clippers were getting quite warm on the inside, in the midday sun, we were happy to cool off in the refreshing, cold water. The rocks were extremely slippery however, and despite me wearing my water shoes, I still needed the help of others to get in as I was slipping too much. The rock pools were clear and clean, and we enjoyed sitting there and cooling down and relaxing. You could safely move on to the next rock pool through the small water falls, by sliding on your backside carefully and slowly ove the slippery rocks. If you wanted to be like Matt, you could sit in middle of the waterfall and it was as good as sitting in a spa pool, with the water bubbling up your back and all around you. It was a great way to while away the warm afternoon. Some of the rock pools were very deep, and you couldn't see the bottom, despite how clear the water was, but because it was so deep. We got chatting to a few of the other people also enjoying the rock pools. I was able to sit in the cool waters, up to my chest and keep my dressing out of the water as well.

From here we continued on, until we reached Wangi Falls, where we are staying for the next 2 nights. We parked up the Clippers and headed to the lookout to the Wangi Falls. There were 2 very high waterfalls, into a very deep rock pool. I am sure I've seen this place on TV or on an ad for the Northern Territory. It was spectacular. However, as a saltwater croc had been sighted there in the past 2 weeks, the pool is not open to swimming yet. We headed back to the Clippers for dinner, and another quiet evening of chatting and planning for the trip.

every day we are approached by other travellers saying "we saw you at Katherine" or Uluru, or Kings canyon etc,i guess we are pretty easy to spot. every caravan looks the same.

i have developed a hatred of the NT parks booking website that send me to random pages at the worst possible times, hang on, i'm staring to complain about technology, travelling and camping, i'm going grey, eeek  'your jouney to the dark side is almost complete' im turning into a grey nomad😐

think happy thoughts, think happy thoughts. 

 had a very nice afternoon sitting in a 4 metre deep hole filled with water. i'm pretty sure there were no crocs. unlike where we are camped tonight as Sal said.

we found a memorial to a RAAF pilot at the war cemetery  his name was Thomas Claude Smith. same name as my grandfather. the pilot died at 22 though, and i remember my grandfather being a lot older than that, but it did make me think of him, and that horrid yellow and black tablet that i was forced to take while sitting on his lap when i was three. i can still visualize it, and i can remember then throwing it up in his lap. 

not traumatized at all.  

NT drivers don't know what double white lines mean.  and ive been told by a tourist coach driver that they don't know what red lights are either

Buley rock hole

Buley rock hole

Buley rock hole

magnetically orientated termite mounds all face north south

magnetically orientated termite mounds all face north south

Wangi Falls

Wangi falls