We left Alice Springs on a cold and frosty (again) morning, keen to hit the road as we had some kms to cover due a spreadsheet planning mistake I had picked up earlier in the trip.
During the planning stages for this trip Andy and I were working in our spreadsheet while he was in the UK visiting family for the first time in years. In a perfect world one column held the destination for that particular date, and the next column had the distance to be travelled (according to trusty Google maps). As the route evolved and developed I admit I was not always great at adjusting the distance column - hence we ended up with something like this;
Alice Springs --> Devils Marbles (412km) which was perfectly fine
Devil's Marble --> Edith Falls (300km or so) which was NOT fine at all, as that distance is actually more like 830km!! And this included a one night set-up and pack-up, and we had been struggling to get away much earlier than 10am with the cold.
A solution was realised in a motel stop in Tennant Creek (night 16) which Andy covered in his post. We probably don't need to ever stop in Tennant Creek again, but it negated the need for the one set-up and pack-up and we were now 100km closer to Edith Falls than we would have been had we camped at Devils Marble's as planned. We were able to get up and leave at first light and had the biggest day in the car to date; the kids handled it pretty well, with a few stops to break it up.
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| James on an ancient grader near Renner Springs - note the Road Train parked across the road in background; it had 5 trailers, the last of which is out of shot and had a Landcruiser, the smaller car is a Mini Cooper. |
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| Back of car lunch in Mataranka - servo sausage rolls and sandwiches |
to celebrate NOT running out of fuel!
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| Another Mataranka treat - while I nipped to the shop across the road the ice-cream man came! |
Ahh sweet Edith Falls (17, 18 & 19), a sight for weary drivers eyes. We pulled into the campground at Edith Falls about 5pm, which we think is pretty decent for a 730km day plus all stops for wees, fuel, snack, and more wees. We stayed here on our last trip and had fond memories so were keen to see if and how it had changed - not a lot is the answer. It was busy but not crowded and the sites are well marked and distanced from others. There were lots of families so the kids were delighted! We set up in record time and took it easy in the first real warm weather all trip - at last!! ( No more having to strip off in the mornings to put on a freezing bra 😬)
Our first day at Edith Falls we walked as a family on a loop walk taking us up to the middle pool and to some great lookout points - it is so pretty. We then spent the rest of the day playing and generally just noodling around. The kids hooked up with some other camp kids in a central area and just played for hours!
Day 2 saw James and Andy take on a more challenging walk which Jemma declined as she had struggled a bit on the shorter walk, some of the rock clambering was a bit challenging and slippery. I had been finding some of the walks we had been doing very much two-handed affairs and my left hand was still mending. Jem and I spent the morning at camp together.
The water was very cool (cold) and the outside temperature not high enough for me to swim, a stiff breeze cementing the decision. James seems determined to swim in any and all waterholes. Jemma would like to but generally cannot get past her legs, she is persistent and tried to get in at Edith Falls on and off for an hour and a half.
We had a bush-stone curlew visit early in the evenings then heard its blood curdling screams later into the night - they are very pretty birds. Their call is very distinct and can sound like a child screaming and has apparently been the cause of people walking into the bush and getting lost looking for the poor child. We also had a dingo padding around but we had taken all the dingo precautions and put away all rubbish and meal prep stuff.
A fantastic stop for 3 nights and welcome warmth for these cold-weary campers!
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| Edith Falls camping |
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| Card games - Edith Falls |
Sandy Creek was a firm favourite on our last trip, and Litchfield full of great memories of waterholes and falls and wildlife. Again, it was an incredible stop!
Tjaynera Falls - 1.7km each way from Sandy Creek campground, coldest water in the park according to some
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Heed the signs!
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Litchfield saw the first hot days we have experienced so all walking and exploring was done in the relative cool of the mornings. It's so nice to be warm, and to swim and walk in such a beautiful place.
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| On our way to the waterhole |
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| More noodles for brekky, a gift from some fellow travellers who were flying out the following day to go home, they passed on some of their pantry to us |
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| Wangi Falls, Litchfiled |
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| Crossing the creek to get to the waterhole - Sandy Creek |
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| Dirty feet, James, Litchfield NP |
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| James swam and swam and swam at Tjaynera Falls despite the cold water! |
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| Off for a swim - I did not swim at Tjaynera |
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| Monsoon rainforest at Wangi Falls, Litchfield |
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| This is exactly how I broke several chairs on previous trips, we call it 'hammock-style' |
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| Jemma 'going for a swim' at Tjaynera - she froze on the rock and would not swim back so I went in and got her |
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| Sandy Creek campground |
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| Off for a swim/play |
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| Cascades, Litchfield |
On our way out of the park we had planned to do a walk along Greenant Creek before heading to Darwin. It had been open when we passed it the day before but when we pulled in to the car park there was tape over the access and a note from the Ranger saying it was closed due a prescribed burn. Back into the car with no real plan we decided to just see where we ended up. The next brown National Park sign indicated a right into 'Cascades' - we didn't really know anything about it but decided to take a look - what luck!! A relatively easy walk through Monsoon Forest (=shady) and a bit of a rocky scramble brought us to this picturesque spot which he to ourselves for a short time.
We stayed a while and the kids paddled - disbelief at first when I said they could swim in their clothes.
Darwin (23, 24 & 25) - Andy covered our Darwin stop and I don't have much to add except to insert some of my own pics.
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| Watermelon and Lychee slushie at Mindil Beach - was so cold and sweet |
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| Blue fin tacos at Mindil Beach markets - soooooooooo good! Best $20 I have spent in ages |
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| There was a food truck just for calamari - perfect! Mindil Beach |
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| Mindil Beach sunset |
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| Kids before Jumping Crocodile Cruise |
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| Jem on the Croc Cruise doing everything she can to keep all arms and legs away from crocodiles |
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| A big one |
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| Jumping for a treat |
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| Fairy Garden, Darwin BIG4 |
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| Restock in Darwin before Kakadu adventures |
I will leave it there for now. Next stop is Kakdu.
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