20 - 21 of September

20^th

We began the morning with a trip to Tabletop Swamp.  We wanted to catch the birds in bed!  Just to see if we could recognize some new ones.  The swamp isn’t very big, but the grass in it is pretty high, so any birds can easily hide in it. Thus we didn't see a lot of birds apart from a few Egrets.

As we sat there amongst the trees, we heard this loud screeching.  This turned out to be a very colourful Lorikeet.  This one is called Varied Lorikeet.  It has a white ring around it’s eyes and it’s head has a red cap. Then some blue and pink and the main body yellow/green in colour.  A very coloourful bird indeed!  Sorry, no photos!

From there we headed out to Florence Falls.  This is the second most visited attraction in Litchfield.  We parked the car and headed first to the viewing platform.  It juts out from the edge of a cliff face to provide some view of the falls.  Once we got there after a very short walk from the car park, it was closed!  Yes, it had ribbons and yellow danger markers and a signed that said “Closed for Urgent Repairs”.  Just as well, I don’t think you would survive a fall from there and down!!

Thus we headed onwards and went down a 140 step stairway onto the creek bed below the falls.  From there it was a short walk up to the plunge pool which is below the waterfall.  We did encounter a spider web on the way with a huge spider.  Not sure what it is called, but it was at least 8cm big.  

Of course there were a number of other people in the plunge pool, but not a lot when it's peak season.  I gather this place gets very busy during the peak period and people have to queue up to get into the pool for a swim!  Anyway, we stayed for some time to watch the falls and take our photos.  This is a nice, but not very tall waterfall.  It was split into two as the water is less towards the end of the dry season.  The pool was very inviting, but we had done our soaking the day before, so we headed up the path that meanders along one of the side creeks (Shady Creek) up to the car park again.  It’s a very nice walk;  mostly in shade and in a rain forest along the creek.  Thus it was quite cool, humid and fresh while we were near the bottom.  As the walk went further up, the rainforest changed into a typical woodland forest.  Less shady and much hotter with very low humidity.  All in the spate of a couple of hundred meters!!

Back at the car park, we used the facilities and as I got out of there I saw a lizard hanging on the side of a tree.  It was the same lizard species as I had seen a couple of days before, running with white stripes.  Thus I used the opportunity to snatch a photo while it was hunting in the tree!!

From there we drove to a place called the Lost City.  It’s a 11km dirt track off the main Litchfield bitumen road.  It was well worth the drive!  It’s a sandstone formation that has been eroded in such a way that it’s not hard to imagine that this is the lost Atlantis metropolis!!  These sandstone blocks are the remnants of the sandstone cap that used to be on top of the Litchfield plateau.  There is a marked walking track that starts from the car park and it ambles in and around the sandstone formations.  I’m sure if at night, one put some lights into some of the sandstone blocks it could well be described as a city seen from a distance!

From there we headed back to the main track and onwards to Darwin.  Rather than drive back to the Stuart Highway we decided to take the more scenic dirt track out of Litchfield via Berry Springs.  Once we got onto the bitumen, we stopped at a Caltex station in Berry Springs.  I looked for the typical Air hose so I could pump up my tyres without having to use my own airpump.  I couldn’t find it so we went to the BP opposite, but they had no air pumping facilities either!!  We then went back to the Caltex station and then I spotted the Air Hose.  It was attached to a pole next to one of the fuel pumps.  So to pump up your tires, you have to occupy a space at the pumps!!  Once done we headed onwards and quickly joined the Stuart Highway into Darwin.  The first place of call was the visitor centre.  We followed the signs and ended up in the centre of town, where parking is somewhat problematic!!  We found a parking space some distance from the Visitor centre and walked over there.  Why on earth put the Visitor Centre in the middle of the CBD, where parking is like a lottery!  Once there we got a map with all the attractions and then got a list of reasonably priced motels.  We then headed for the one that was just outside the main CBD area called Palms Motel.  Once there we booked three nights and moved in!! 

After showers and a bit of a rest we headed for the nearest shopping centre (only 15km away!) and found a camping/clothing store so Sibba could grab some long armed camping shirts.  She had acquired one of mine to protect her arms from the sun.   They didn’t have much selection, so in the end we decided to check back in the CBD the following day.  In the evening we walked to a Thai restaurant that was only two houses up from the Motel.  We had a nice meal, Oysters with some hot chilli sauce for starters and then some Thai meals for main.  After that it was back to bed in an air conditioned environment!!   

Tabletop Swamp Creek.

A big spider!

Florence Falls.

Florence Falls.

Florence Falls..

Sibba in the rainforest section reading the sign.  It's humid and not that hot!

A couple of hundred meters on, it's a woodland section,  Pretty hot and dry..

The white striped running lizard, posing for me at last!

The car park at the Lost City sandstone formations.

Lost City sandstone formations.

Lost City sandstone formations.

Lost city sandstone formations.

Lost City sandstone formations.

21st
We woke up late and headed into the CBD on foot.  We stopped at a café for breakfast and then went into a shop attached to the Crocodylus show place.  We weren't interested in the show, just checking out the shop for Crocodile merchandise. Apart from the usual stuff, all made in China they did have some genuine Croc artefacts.  Croc leather wallets, whole croc skins, sculls etc.  As I had one of my Croc tooth missing from my hat, we enquired about a spare tooth!  The lady pulled out a box full of genuine Croc teeth and we found a couple that were about the same size as the ones in the hat.  I decided to take both, one for spare!  She rang it up on the register and wanted $50 dollars for both, $25 a piece!  “Wow, that is expensive!” I said.  The Lady looked at me and then said “Yes they are expensive, but I think I can drop the price a bit” I ended paying  $40 dollars for both, so I felt a bit better!   She then filled out two pieces of paper, a genuine croc item license for each tooth!  Just in case we are stopped, they might think I captured them myself..  I'm by no means a Croc dentist!!
We then went to the nearby Coles where both of started having some stomach cramps!  We headed back to the Motel in a Taxi in order to recover and be close to the amenities just in case.  We think eating Oysters with a hot Chilli Sauce somehow didn’t mix with the climate!

Later in the day I had recovered so I went to check on the fridge in the car.  As the car hadn’t been running at all, the battery for the fridge was getting low.  So I needed to give it a bit of charge.  I didn’t want to carry the fridge into the motel, so I simply went for a bit of a drive along the Darwinian coastline for about an hour.  I saw a lot of wind surfers out on the ocean having fun on their surf boards.  Sibba had a nap in the meantime.   We were both pretty sharp at dinner time, so we went across the road and had a meal at the pub.  

The locals in Darwin flying high!