Day 65-66 Lichfield NP – 12-13 Aug 2009

10269 kms, 34 degrees C

The conventional way to get to Lichfield National Park in via the Stuart Highway, to the East. So we did the 4WD tracks to the West. We stayed at the Safari camp not far from Wangi Falls, arriving there from Darwin lateish on Tues 11th August.

Wed 12th was a full on days run around most of the popular spots in the park, just to break in Nicko and Michelle, our new travel mates. We started with a walk to the top of Wangi Falls following by a dip, accompanied by the screeching of bats. Next it was back for breakfast before heading off to the magnetic termite mounds. Clever termites build “magnetic” mounds on close to a N-S axis, so that the East side stays a constant temperature, warmer in the morning and in shade for the hot afternoon sun. Next was Florence fall and the Buley waterhole – the carpark was full so we couldn’t get into Buley and Florence was so full we didn’t swim. But the view from the lookout was awesome, as illustrated in the picture of the four of us. Lichfield is very popular – it is much closer to Darwin than Katherine or Kakadu, and most of it is accessible on tarmac.

After lunch we tackled the Lost City which was much quieter as it was at the end of a 4WD track. The day ended with another dip in Wangi Falls followed by a curry on the camp fire.

We left the park via the 4WD track SW of Lichfield NP that crosses Reynolds River, as one of a number of tricky river crossings.Check out Nicky driving the Britz across one of the many water crossings. Go sisters! Michelle’s 4WD skills are coming along very quickly.