Great national park with lots of swimming holes and waterfalls. The park is 1500 sq kilometres. The landscape is dry and arid as you approach and then you enter Litchfield and it’s like a tropical monsoon forest.

We went to Wangi Falls which were lovely and very refreshing but busy as buses can easily pull in here. We then decided to drive to Sandy Creek Falls little did we know that there were a few water crossings one of which was half a meter deep and went for longer than I would have liked. I like to be able to see the end of the crossing but here you could not, so you have to trust that you can get through with no mishaps. I would not be getting out if we got stuck as it was in crocodile country. It was well worth it when we got to Sandy Creek Falls. The 1.9 km very rocky walk keeps people away and there were only 2 other people there. We also went to Florence Falls which was lovely but crowded. This one had 135 steps to go down to the waterhole. My favourite was the Buley Rockholes which was a series of rockpools, some of which were very deep, with small falls from one pool to the other. Simon of course had to try and slide down the falls from one waterhole to the next. He very nearly lost his swimming shorts with the force of the water in one of them.

Lots of termite mounds over 2 metres tall in this park. We visited the Lost City which looks like the ruins of some lost civilisation but is merely a fomation of sandstone blocks and majestic pillars formed and weathered by the elements.

Loved Litchfield.

We enjoyed Darwin, love that they have a sea water pool area in the middle of the city. Lots of great restaurants and bars all around it. We did see some people swimming in the sea but I am paranoid about the crocodiles especially after coming from Kakadu. It’s the middle of winter here so the temperature is in the low 30’s so not bad at all. 

Serious police surveillance in the parks. There is no drinking allowed in public places up here.

Went to the famous Minil Markets there was some seriously good food on offer. Very hard to make a choice I could have eaten heaps.

Kakadu was truly amazing. It was so beautiful. We went on the Yellow Water river cruise and saw so many crocodiles, birds, water buffalo, water lilies and lotus lilies. Apparently the lotus lilies come out after the rains but this year they came out and then more late rain came so a lot of the blooms were destroyed. I still thought it looked amazing. The water will keep dropping in the next month or so and eventually you will just have the river and the rest will be a dust bowl. Hard to imagine it as a dust bowl after seeing it all flooded. I would be quite happy to do this tour day after day as it was so spectacular. Saw birds I had never heard of like the Red Crested Jacana which live on the water lily pads, the female lays the eggs and then its over to the father to protect them. The chicks are tiny and they can feed themselves as soon as they hatch, they are in the photo if you look very closely. The male is only 20cms tall to give you an idea of how small the chicks are

An old gold mining town with a population of approximately 300 people. It’s now made up of a few campgrounds and a couple of pubs but it had a really nice feel to it. 

We climbed up to the lookout where you can see the old pit, as part of the mine remediation the pit was filled with water in 1993 when they diverted Pine Creek. It took 14 months to fill.  During the goldfields main lifespan 1985-1995 they produced 64,000 ounces of gold which was $395 million at 1995 prices. Amazing amount of gold came out of this pit. 

Simon celebrated the end of his partly dry July in the  ‘The Lazy Lizard’ pub (23 days!).

Went to the first gorge there are 13 along the Katherine river. We climbed up to the Baruwei lookout. Great views but it was a slightly hazy day. Saw our first freshwater crocodile in the Northern Territory.

We then moved on to Leilyn or Edith Falls where there is a massive swimming hole with a waterfall. This water was a bit fresh after the thermal pools but very refreshing. Swam across the waterfall, it was great it you didn’t think about the fresh water crocs in there with you. Didn’t see any thank goodness.

What a great place. There are two hot thermal springs here. One was at the homestead set in amongst the trees but they had built stone walls and steps so more like a long swimming pool with a current running through it. The temperature was around 37C,  very relaxing. Bitter Springs was on the other side of the town and this was a much more natural setting for the hot spring. You got in one end with your pool noodle and the current carried you very slowly down stream around the bends and under fallen trees until you could get out about 15 mins later and walk back which took about 3 mins. The water is crystal clear and almost aqua in colour. A very nice experience. They say that freshwater crocodiles can inhabit the area but we didn’t see any.

In the evening we went to the Mataranka showgrounds to watch Nathan ‘Whippy’ Griggs perform. He holds the world record for 697 whipcracks in one minute using 2 whips!. It was a great show, he is quite a character.  Back Roads were filming, so you never know we might be on TV.

Stopped off for lunch at the famous pub. The whole road leading up to it is littered with old cars, helicopters, planes etc. The place was hectic, literally hundreds of caravans. The pub is chock a block of memorabilia, they had a Welsh Flag hanging up. The bar is covered with bras, drivers licences, ID cards you name it, it’s there.

This was a working cattle station which covers 350,000 acres. It emptied every morning and filled up with around 50 caravans each night. There was a waterhole which was a 2km walk away with great bird life to sit and watch. A great outback station with live music on some nights, open fire and bar. Shame Simon was on dry July.

The Devil’s Marbles are very impressive. You are not meant to take photos of the main ones as they are sacred but you can take photos elsewhere in the park. Did the three walks here through the bush and around the marbles. So many termite mounds but they look amazing

Was surprised by Alice Springs, all we hear is the bad reports in the media. It is a very pretty town and we didn’t see any of the issues. It is all very green with lots of wild flowers as they had a lot of rain a few months ago. This is an excellent area for cycling, lots of cycle paths everywhere even out to the Macdonnell Ranges. Simon was very excited as there were two Ghan trains in town. One was heading north and the other south so he was off taking a lot of photos. We had to drive a few streets away to get to the front of one of the trains, they are very long trains 774m. We did see the security car arriving as we were leaving, maybe someone was on the tracks taking photos (Not Mr H!!).

The Macdonnell ranges are not for from Alice. We went to see Simpsons Gap and to the Standley Chasm. Very spectacular. We decided to climb up to the highest point to see the view and it did not disappoint. This is part of the Larapinta Trail and it was very impressive. It made you realise how difficult the walk would be with the heat and carrying a large backpack.