Aus Day 31 - From Kakadu to Litchfield

Wednesday 20th October    Aus Day 31


Had a lie in this morning and didn’t rise until 07.20. Showered, breakfast, re-erected the awning and put my still damp clothes out to dry. Updated my travel accounts and once all the chores were completed I packed up and hit the road at 09.30 heading towards Darwin on the Arnhem Hwy. At 10.15 I crossed the South Alligator River which was running quite strongly as you can see from the photo below:

The South Alligator River Flowing Strongly Under The Arnhem Hwy

About a ½ hour later I thought that I should show you the Savanna Woodland through which I have been travelling and which so much of the Kakadu Region is comprised. This was still evident as I exited the National Park through the Gateway.

Savanna Woodland of Kakadu

Exiting The Kakadu National Park

Approaching Humpty Doo (Yes that is a genuine place name) I turned off to try and view the wetlands wildlife at the Fogg Dam. As I arrived I managed to get a couple of shots of the snake, see below, about 5 feet long which had obviously been basking in the sunshine.

Can You Tell What It Is Yet?

I then got a wider view of the area and a photo of one of its more endearing inhabitants. However, there is no doubt that if you venture into areas like this you need to be liberally covered with insect repellent. I had forgotten and emerged covered in itchy lumps.

The World Famous Fogg Dam Conservation Area

One of the Many Herons

I was soon back on the Stuart Hwy and heading south towards the Litchfield National Park turning off when I saw the sign for Batchelor. The ‘Batchelor Institute’, situated here, is one of the organisations that my sister Valerie used to work for. However, it was the miniature castle which attracted my attention as I was driving by. See Below. This commemorates the life of one Bernie Havlik (1912 – 1990) who lived in the region and did much to establish Batchelor’s early pine and mango trees and actually constructed this miniature replica of Karlstein Castle.

Model of Karlstein Castle at Batchelor

As it was only about 2.00 pm, I decided to motor a little way into the park and pay a visit to the Florence Falls. (There’s another reference to The Magic Roundabout) and I arrived thee some 45 minutes later. This is a lovely spot, as you can see from the photos and apparently the swimming in the pool at the foot of the falls is very refreshing.

Which Way to the Falls?

The Florence Falls in Litchfield National Park

Just back up the road a touch is another popular bathing spot called Buley Rockhole which is actually a series of pools in a lengthy cascade of the Florence River system.

One of the Bathing Pools at Buley Rockholes

One of the Upper Pools With People Bathing

From there it was back to the Litchfield Park Tourist and Caravan Park and booked in just after 4 pm.

Disaster!!! My little Internet gizmo couldn’t pick up a strong enough signal to establish a connection and the mobile phone signal was non-existent. However, the caravan park had a small Internet kiosk which I rapidly commandeered and frantically emailed Eileen with the bad news. I was not a happy bunny as she is setting off in a few hours time and I wanted to wish her a safe journey. A couple of hours later. I managed to make contact via a land line and was thus able to wish her bon voyage, before she set off. Phewww.

I had the van parked under cover this evening but it still didn’t do a great deal to reduce the noise when the rain came down. A steady downpour for about ½ an hour and then it cleared up again. I was feeling a bi shattered for some reason and couldn’t publish the Blog anyway so, I had a bit of a lazy evening dozing and playing Majong on the laptop. I know how to live!!! However, as ever, Zebedee finally came a-calling and so it was off to bed just after 10.00.