Litchfield National Park

19th - 22nd June

We spent 3 nights camped at Wangi Falls campground with the Smith family. The Rees family were there for two nights also.

We walked the 1.7km trail to the top of the Wangi Falls. Litchfield NP is covered mostly by a monsoon rainforest, rich with evergreens and Pandanus Palms.



The Wangi Falls plunge pool was closed for swimming. Although the water is home to many freshwater crocs, during heavy rain, saltwater crocs can make their way into the "designated swimming area". Before opening areas for swimming, National Parks survey the area for salties - I can't understand how they do this in murky water... but I hope they get it right!


First thing the following morning we drove to the magnetic termite mounds and read info about how the termites feed off the grass in the low lying habitat that they build their homes in. Within the low areas, the mounds bake in the sun during the day and enjoy cool temperatures at night. The mounds are positioned along an axes which relates to local shade and wind conditions, roughly north to south.

The Cathedral Termite Mound located nearby was almost 7m high...



We drove to Buley Rockpool and sat beside the swimming waterholes to eat lunch. After that we walked the 5km return trail to Florence Falls. The plunge pool temperature was nice and we all enjoyed a swim before our return hike.



Before returning to camp we stopped at Tolmer Falls lookout. The area is not accessible as the falls area is home to the rare Ghost Bats and and Orange Horseshoe Bats.

The next morning we drove the narrow dirt track to Sandy Creek where the kids went for a swim over to the waterfall. The most intriguing part of the day was watching the Green Ants working together to build a nest - quite amazing!



In the early afternoon we drove through a deep river crossing to look at Blythe Homestead Ruins, which was home to the older children in the Blythe Family from 1929. The older children of the 14 kids, aged from 9years, lived and worked from the homestead in a tin mine, which was located 25miles from the parents homestead. Standing before the home, you can appreciate the tough conditions faced by the pioneers in remote areas.