KATHERINE - DOUGLAS DALY HOT SPRINGS - LITCHFIELD NP

We met up again with the Okely crew in Katherine, stopped overnight, refueled and headed in a north then westly direction along the Stuart Hwy toward Douglas Daly Hot Springs.
Here we made camp for two nights, giving us ample opportunity to explore and enjoy the thermal streams, and visit Butterly Gorge 17km further down the way.

These hot springs were the best so far, I believe. An array of temperature options, from toasty hot waist deep pools to mid-calf depth of warm water patches, filtered with the flow of cooler water streams. The majority plonked themselves in the middle of the sandy river bed, scraped themselves a body hole and sat or lay soaking up the minerals.
The second day the kids and I wandered off with my snorkel in hand, all chomping at the bit to 'have a go' at searching for treasures below the surface, living or otherwise.
We had the pleasure of a Monitor hanging about the river bank for a while, in fact that same Monitor visited Kerry and I this morning.

At first we weren't sure if it was a snake or lizard that had entered the water and was moving towards us, then quick as a flash he ducked under water and made a B-line in our direction. Well, neither of us have moved so fast to exit stage left in a very long time! Would have been hilarious to see, aside from our pounding hearts and ponderings over his tastes! It was soon revealed that we were obviously in his kitchen, as a few minutes later he emerged from under the lip of the bank, where I had previously been showing the kids the small fish hang out, with a lump in his throat. He sauntered up the bank and meandered on his way, seemingly undisturbed by our presence. It was we who were momentarily disturbed!

Kerry required a day to herself, so I piled in the Landcruiser with Tisha, Mat and the four kids, for a day trip to Butterfly Gorge. Along the way we passed the largest cathedral termite mound we've seen to date, 5-6m in height. It was different to others in that the formation seemed to have fins, possibly for cooling the mound.
The walk to the main pool via the lookout was approx 1km. Which took a bit longer, with a few short legs in tow, plus the many inquisitive investigative pauses along the way! Once we arrived at the main pool, Tisha and I swam 100m or so across the pool to the gorge wall with the intention of scoping out the climb through the crevice and in to the pools and cascades further up the Gorge. Well, that was a laugh and a half.

Each pool we reached was surrounded by walls of shear rock face and had to be swam across. There was only one exit point per pool and that required some rather flexible calisthenics and upper body strength to haul our butts out of the bottomless pools, which I might add is rather difficult when your pissing yourself laughing!. It was a rib tickler that's for sure. Needless to say the kids didn't venture up the rest of the Gorge.

Back at camp the girls (5&4) wanted to play hairdressers, so I reminisced and chuckled to myself as I played make-believe client, where my hair was combed, brushed, and "snipped". I was also fortunate, that they had a spare appointment for rainbow coloured polish to be "painted" during my pedicure, and the surprising offer of Butterfly face painting! I did think it was all being offered as a gift, but alas no. I had to pay 13 "bucks" in leaves and received 20 in change. It was nice to be reminded of the simplicity of child like imagination.

LITCHFIELD NP

We had planned to camp at Wangi Falls, however it's a very popular campground and the 30 odd sites were already occupied. So we had to stay at a tourist park 4km down the road which is okay, but we do prefer the bush camping, especially when there are plenty of swimming opportunities.
We thought we had diverged from our traveling counterparts for a night or two, but they turned up at the same campground also. More opportunities to feel, and challenge addictions and be truthful. Actually, one of the kids has been asking lots of questions and commenting on the things they're observing in nature. Like, why do animals hurt and eat each other? Why do people put nets in the water? Why can't they leave the fish alone? Meat is not really very good for you, but how come you don't eat meat? And, the ultimate investigative nature of a 7 yr old...if all of us are strangers but related cos God made us...then....who made God?

Fairly keen to make our way to Darwin, we decided we could probably get around the majority of sights in one big day - then make tracks at sparrows on the morrow.
Tolmer Falls; The Lost City, which was an amazing array of sandstone formations resembling 'ancient ruins' if you allowed your imagination to go there; Buley Rockhole, a series of cascades, rock pools, woodland walks and monsoon vegetation; Florence Falls, here we walked the 5km between Buley and Florence via the creek path, stopping for a dip here and there along the way; and Wangi Falls.
A busy schedule, but an enjoyable day.