Troppo In A Trailer: Darwin to Katherine

We arrived back from Indonesia before the crack of dawn, grumpy from sleep deprivation. We spent a couple of nights in Darwin, re-organising the trailer and washing clothes whilst trying to catch up on sleep. The school holidays were now keenly upon us, and we were a little worried as to the impact this would have on the busyness of campsites. It was coming up to the weekend, which was another reason not to hit the major attractions straight away. As an interim measure we decided to explore the Mary River National Park, which is on the Darwin side of Kakadu.

Camp at Mary River

The draw cards of the area are wet lands and barramundi fishing. We headed up there, checking out shady camp, which was anything but shady, and settled on camping at the Point Stuart Wilderness Lodge. Nice grassy campsite, we were the only ones there. No problems with school holiday crowds here. We had suspected that up this way the mosquitoes would be plentiful and had invested in a super strength DEET preparation in anticipation. As dusk fell we were attacked by mozzies in numbers we had never seen before. They were only mildly deterred by the sticky 40% DEET all over our bodies. It was almost impossible to cook, or eat..... one could eat whilst standing immediately by the fire but this also entailed being so hot one was in serious danger of ignition of clothing. Children were driven to distraction and disappeared into bed, the only place to get free of the assault. We followed soon after. The only positive about this abundance of insects the abundance of frogs they supported. Frogs banged into your legs as you walked around and we had to remove them from the folds of the trailer canvas as we packed up the next day.

We didn't go Barramundi fishing, or cruise the wetlands. We left, forced out by those biting critters, the reason we were the only ones camped there plainly obvious. Interestingly a staff member at the lodge said the mozzies were much better than they had been previously in the season! Maybe we are soft!

So despite our concern over heaving holiday crowds, we found ourselves heading into Litchfield National Park on a Friday afternoon. The crowds did not fail to materialise. We passed through 3 full campsites before finding a free place to camp, admittedly down a four wheel drive track and through a water crossing.

Camp at Litchfield National Park

river crossing on route to campsite

Hugo in tree

Crowds in Buley Rockhole, Litchfield NP

It turned out to be a very pleasant place to stay, and we bunked down there for 3 nights. It's not hard to see why Litchfield is so popular. Spectacular waterfalls, with great swimming, all easily accessible from a short drive on bitumen from Darwin. We really enjoyed exploring the more remote areas of the park. Similar waterfalls and swimming opportunities without the huge crowds.

Magnetic termite mounds, southern end of Litchfield NP

Tjaynera Falls, Litchfield NP

Florence falls, Litchfield NP

The Lost City, Litchfield NP

The wildlife in Litchfield (and come to mention it Kakdu), is disappointing to say the least. As we left South Australia we were amazed at the abundance of wildlife and we were expecting it to just continue as we journeyed north. But as we have spent time in the top end we have seen hardly anything except birds and the occasional wallaby. No large lizards or pythons, just lots of little skinks. Perhaps this is all secondary to the arrival of cane toads 6-7 years ago?

From Litchfield we headed south for an overnighter at Tjuwaliyn (Douglas) Hot Springs. This pleasant little place has a hot spring which feeds into the Douglas River, creating patches of very hot, cool and in-between water.

Zoe in search of the perfect temperature

The campsite is evidently popular with Territorians for a camping holiday. We spent a pleasant afternoon lolling around, the kids befriending other children also camped there. To Hugo's dismay (he had found some fishing mates) we left the next day. Again we were ready for a break from campfire smoke and dust and in need of a hot shower. We spent 5 nights in Katherine under a big shady tree with grass, clean facilities and a good chance to clean clothes, restock the pantry and rejuvenate ourselves. From here we head a short way down the road for a couple of nights at Mataranka Hot Springs, then start to head eastwards for the trip along the Savannah way bound for Cairns.