LITCHFIELD NATIONAL PARK (about 2 weeks ago)
Another wonder around 130 kms from Darwin is Litchfield National Park. Firstly we went to Florence Falls, and had a swim.

Here Kelv went under the water fall on the right with his sunglasses on. The power of the water knocked them clean off his head. We seconded the assistance of a couple who had water goggles on, and once located it was simply a matter of finding someone else with enough strength to dive down far enough to retrieve them. It was a joint effort by several strangers, but I get the feeling they all felt as elated as we did when the sun glasses were successfully retrieved.

Next we went onto Buley Rockhole, a series of small waterfalls that provide the perfect swimming spot, or as we found out the perfect place for the best water spa massage ever.

On our exit from the park we called into the area full of magnetic termite mounds. Apparently, the termites detect the magnetic pull of the earth and build their mounds in a north south direction, with the slimmest sections catching the hot north sun. It’s an eerie looking place, resembling a graveyard full of head stones. Nature provides so many more fascinating spectacles than man ever could. This is just one more of them.

We’ve had a quick look at the job opportunities in Darwin and nothing has tweaked our interest. There’s a few jobs similar to those we left behind, but we’d both rather be doing something new, and preferably only of a seasonal length.

We’ve been in Darwin for long enough now to have had a good look around, and we’ve enjoyed what we’ve seen. It’s an expensive place though, and even though it’s a small city, it’s still a city, and cities aren’t really where we want to be. So, tomorrow we’re moving on to have a look at Kadadu, then on to Mataranka. From there, who knows where the wind or whims will take us. Probably on to Northern Qld, if nothing else takes our fancy. What a good feeling that is – nothing written in concrete, just where ever we choose on the day…..

We’ve had such a good time catching up with Kelv. He’s been showing us around, and in turn, we’ve also been dragging him off to places he hadn’t seen. He’s been patiently (but I suspect reluctantly sometimes) tolerating our tourism choices, but at the same time he’s also enjoying seeing some things he wouldn’t normally be choosing to look at.

On our way back from Litchfield National Park one day we called at the Mango Farm where he’d been working for a bit of photo shoot for his resume. He looks very much at home driving a tractor. Suspect he’s found his niche in life in farm work. It was interesting while there to look around the farm too, and get an idea of how seasonal pickers live and work on a Mango farm.

On one of days in Darwin we visited Burnett House, an old Queenslander type, national trust house on the water front at Myilly Point. It’s an amazing piece of architectural design so suited to the tropics, and it survived both the bombing in world war two, and Cyclone Tracy in 1974. Both didn’t leave it completely unscathed, but nothing that couldn’t be repaired whilst keeping it’s original design in tact. It’s one of those houses that makes you realise how far removed we’re now living from sensible and sustainable environmental living. If ever you come to Darwin, please put this house on your list of ‘must do things’. It’s inspiring.