Hi Guys!!

CLOUD 9 TOUR - PART 3 - LITCHFIELD AND KAKADU NATIONAL PARKS.

Wednesday morning, we were up at 4:45am, for the final part of our Cloud 9 tour, and were soon collected by our tour guide, Scott. We left Darwin and headed for Litchfield National Park, where we stopped to see one of the massive Cathederal Termite Mounds. At about 30 years old, this mound stands at over 4 metres tall. We then drove to Buley Rockhole, this is a series of rockholes connected by small, but powerfull waterfalls. We had plenty of time to relax and swim here, or in Lee's case - jump in.

We then drove to Florance Falls, where we began by walking to a lookout for views across the forest canopy in one direction, and to the beautiful Florance Falls in the other. We then trekked down 160 steps to the base of the falls, where we went for another swim. Lee and Ash swam across and under the waterfall, whilst Emma sat on a rock in the middle of the pool taking in the beautiful views. From here it was back to the bus and back to the Banyan Tree Cafe for a BBQ lunch.

We then entered Kakadu National Park, and drove to Mary River Wetlands. Here we had a 2 hour cruise, along an 8km billabong and back. We saw plants, flowers, trees, birds, wallabies, and lots of crocs - fresh and saltwater. After our cruise we headed towards Point Stuart Wilderness Lodge, our camp for the night, stopping along the way for the most amazing sunset.

The next morning, after brekkie, we left camp and went to Ubirr. We went on a 1.5 hour walk, looking at Aboriginal rock art and beautiful views. We saw rock paintings upto 8,000 years old, and 2 spots where scenes from croc dundee were filmed.

Our next stop was Bowali Visitor Centre, where we spent some time looking around. We then moved on to Gubara Pools, where we had a 3km hike over rough ground to the first rockhole. From here the next rockhole was only accessible via the first. So we left our bags, stripped down, and swam round to an amazing waterfall. Dripping wet we returned to the bus and headed to Jabiru, for our final night of camping - YEEEEEHAAAAAAA!!!

Friday morning, we got up and had a 2.5hour drive to Gunlom Falls. We quickly made the crazily steep climb to the top of the falls, sweating and exhausted we were in the water within seconds. We spent ages, splashing and swimming around, and sitting on rocks to take in the brilliant views. We finally dragged ourselves away, made our descent and went for another swim in the pool at the base of the falls.

We had another long drive to Molane Falls, where we had lunch, before having yet another swim. It was soon time to leave and we began our journey back to darwin. Just our luck, on the way back we got a flat tyre, and had to stop so that Lee & Ash could help Scott change it.

We eventually made it back to Darwin, and after freshening up we went out for dinner and a final few beers with the lads.

We just want to say THANKS to everyone on our tours, but especially to Sam and Ash, for making it such a laugh.

Love you loads,

Emma and Lee

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