Finally the time had come for us to say good-bye to Darwin and head south towards Litchfield National Park. We had all enjoyed our time in Darwin and hopefully it won't be too long before we once again find ourselves up this way. There were some attractions that we still did not drag ourselves along to and therefore will be on our list for the return visit. The fairly new and very popular wave pool and water park was one such place. Having huge man made waves and water slides nearly in the middle of town guarantees it has plenty of people lining up to get in. Maybe the girls will enjoy it a bit more next time being a bit older, and Charli a bit taller I hope.

Travelling south our first stop saw us pull into Lake Bennet, a man-made lake about 70km south of Darwin. As the caravan park is now closed we only pulled up for a quick look around and some smoko. The resort still has cabins and donga style accommodation and the lake offers plenty of room for canoeing and fishing. Barra anybody?

Continuing on our way we pulled into the little town of Batchelor briefly for the standard loaf of bread and a look around. It is a small town but still offers a quality little general store and take-away as well servo and public toilets and the thing all caravan travellers are bound to need, a toilet waste dump point. Only 15km past Batchelor was our chosen base for the next few days, the Litchfield Tourist Park. Being only about a 100km round trip to everything we wanted to see it seemed like the perfect spot. Having large shady sites and quality amenities as well as some of the friendliest staff we have dealt with made a really good first impression. The girls were convinced as soon as they saw the pool! After setting up we spent the rest of the arvo planning our first day of touring around the sights of Litchfield.

Getting going in the morning is always the same for us. Chelsea is up as soon as we are and eats her brekky and gets ready to go all the while happily chatting away, even if she does ask to put the cartoons on in the middle of the morning news. Then after about a 20min battle to wake Charli up about 1hr after we are all up and ready, she finally gets up, usually starts asking a million questions, goes to the toilet, doesn't flush and forgets to wash her hands and face and then proceeds to whinge about having to have breakfast or the cartoons not being on. Definitely not, a morning person, our little "Chuckles".

So eventually we got going and our first stop saw us pull up at a paddock full of termite mounds? Not so interesting on the face of things but once you tour around them and read about their construction and the difference between the various types it was something worth stopping for. Kylz even tried to show me one that was 50m high!? Now that would be one pretty tall pile of mud! Most of Litchfield's attractions are accessible via sealed bitumen road, one that requires a little dirt road work is the Lost City. A short 10km drive on a pretty bumpy, rough road sees you pull up amongst some very remarkable rock formations. A short walk through them and it is hard to imagine how they ever came to be out here in the middle of nowhere.

Leaving the dusty trails of the Lost City we were bound for our first Litchfield water hole. Florence Falls is also one of the most popular water holes in the park and offers day trippers and campers alike a truly magic experience. A steep walk down about 140 steps is more than rewarded once you reach the spectacular oasis at the bottom of a fairly big and high water fall. Now here we had a bit of a hiccup. While Charli and I were first into the water, which was freezing cold but crystal clear, Chelsea was a bit more reluctant and became down-right terrified when she spotted one of the dozens of Black Bream swimming around the rocks and in between our legs and feet. That sealed the deal for her and no amount of coaxing or soothing could persuade her otherwise. She spent the rest of the morning on the bank looking after our towels and things. Meanwhile Charli and I had paddled over to and under the rushing waterfall. The current was pretty strong and pulling Charli along was no small effort! She was having a ball swimming with her pool noodle and diving down to spot the fish with her goggles on. She even took the camera off Kylie to take some pics of them under the water. Buley Rock Pools are only a short distance upstream from Florence and is also home to the camp area. It is a popular spot and Kylz was in luck this day as on our walk in we spotted a male model doing a photo shoot at one of the first rock holes! Not every day you see that on a nature walk! Needless to say he had a few of the ladies hanging around making sure he did not fall and hurt himself on the rocks. The rock pools are very deep in spots and kept our girls busy sliding around the rocks. We were careful to remind them to keep low as we saw a few people have a slip and slide on the wet rocks.

While back at the van park the girls had both been practising their fishing skills. I had set up Kylz little fishing rod and both girls were taking turns at casting towards a bucket full of water. They both really enjoy throwing the rod around and are pretty handy really for their age. Needless to say I was pestered pretty hard to take them down to the Finniss River, which runs through the park, for a go at catching a fish. Apparently it is that easy if you ask them?! Although we spent a couple of hours wandering along the bank and throwing and retrieving all we got was a some much needed practise. They (the girls) really do attract a fair bit of attention at all the parks we visit as they ride bikes or scooters and throw fishing rods around or just run around with each other or any other kid they can find. They don't even mind if the "kids" are over or under sixty!

It was here we ran into another couple of travellers from Mackay. Carol and Kev are a couple of retired cane farmers from Koumala who are off on a lap of Oz with friends of theirs from Tassie, John and Isla. As it turned out Kev told us that out of about 12 vans in our area, 5 of them were from Mackay! That is nearly more than we have met on the whole trip.

Tolmer Falls was our first stop the next day we headed into Litchfield. It was here we ran into Andrew and Janine again. After a quick catch up and another good-bye we took the short walk down to the viewing platform. Looking from up high it is remarkable to still see how clear the water is below. Being a very protected area you are not allowed down into the pool below. Some bat breeding colony or such thing?! The view though is pretty much first rate and more than worth the effort of the walk in and out.

Our next stop Wangi Falls pretty much sums up the reason for Litchfields massive popularity over Kakadu. Full bitumen road takes you to one of the most spectacular and accessible waterfalls you are likely to find anywhere in the world. With full width concrete walking path right up to the water's edge, it doesn't get much easier or better than that! Once again we could not convince Chelsea to join us so it was up to the rest of us to enjoy the whole thing on our own. Being a fairly large water hole, probably 200m to the waterfall, it was once again me left towing Charli along as she wiggled and dived and fell off her noodle looking for fish. After a very enjoyable swim and a picnic lunch amongst the shady trees and green grass Kylz suggested we take a look at a place called the Cascades. I will cut the story a bit short but Kylz copped a fair bit over this call as the track in was pretty rough and took us nearly an hour. With three creek crossings over some pretty sharp and slippery rocks we arrived at a really nice little water hole. I think Kylz was more relieved than we were that the place was so nice? It was here though that Chelsea got her nerve back and while starting off in the shallows eventually was back amongst it. After hiking back out we decided another dip and a stop at Wangi on the way home would be the perfect way to finish the day. Although Chelsea's demons returned to haunt her we all had another refreshing dip and on the way home Kylz and I reckon we come up with the answer to the Kakadu Vs Litchfield debate!? If it is possible, that is.

Here is our take on it, each has its share of culture, history and more than enough beautiful spots to fill a couple of hard drives with photos however, Litchfield has it all over Kakadu for accessibility and creature comforts. It is really nothing to do a day trip into Litchfield and leave after having had a very easy and relaxing day. Kakadu on the other hand requires a couple of day's minimum, in order to see just a few of the spectacular sights. Also some pretty rough four wheel drive only tracks lead into the other areas and also then require walking over some fairly difficult tracks to reach these areas. There is no doubt in my mind though that it is well worth the effort, if you are capable. This is where we think a lot of the "Kakadont" stories come from. If you are not geared up for some rougher tracks and not capable of walking a few challenging kilometres you will not even go close to enjoying your time there. If that is the case then Litchfield is the place for you. In the same breath though it was apparent that plenty of people from Darwin enjoy the trip to Litchfield and really what better place to take visiting friends and family?! Tyson also tells me it is very popular for the younger generation "Y bother" crowds to go on long weekends for a bit of a blow out! Sounds fair enough to me. Therefore if you only have time for one and you want an easy going fun short trip with plenty of swimming and relaxing go for Litchfield and for the more cultural and longer off road trip head for Kakadu. For us though I am glad we have seen them both and would not hesitate one bit in recommending either of them to anyone as a must see on a northern holiday.

Having had no phone service while we spent a few days in Litchfield, I finally got through to Nick W in Katherine. This was mainly to help us plan our next week as we wanted to make sure we arrived back in Katherine at a time that suited our hosts. Nick then reminded me he was off to the Roper fishing that weekend! Cheeky b******!! With that in mind my mind was made up on our next stop, the mighty Daly River. Barra capital of the world!! With no boat and not a clue about the place we were headed to we set off the next morning.