Day 23
After driving from Edith Falls we arrived at Litchfield Tourist Park mid afternoon. It was quite tropical and we were allowed to pick our own spot, so we selected a shady one under a carport near the BBQ and pool and in between both amenities blocks. (Liked the ewe and ram at the entrance to the facilities. )
It didn’t take long to set up the caravan. This gave us time to head over to the swimming pool. About a dozen others, all ‘Grey Nomads’ were already relaxing there. Initially we had a chat while we relaxed with water jets massaging us.
It’s always good to find out things from others and we soon had a few good tips for what to do in Litchfield. Having accustomed to the coolish water temperature we eventually took a swim with a few others.
After showering and changing we set about preparing for a barbecue dinner. Not much TV coverage here so we watched a movie from our hard drive before heading to bed, excited for what tomorrow would bring.
Day 24
As it was quite a drive to The Cascades, our first planned location in Litchfield to visit we decided to make a reasonably early start. Upon reaching the carpark we discovered that the walk to the lower Cascades was closed due to the possibility there may be saltwater crocodiles there. This didn’t bother us as we are keen walkers and happy to walk the longer distance to the upper pools which were apparently safe. The start of the walk was a small stand of tropical vegetation.
It didn’t take long to pass through to a section that was really dry by comparison. We made a short detour for an excellent viewpoint where we could see out across the national park.
The path continued up
and after about half an hour we came to the upper Cascades. Sadly there were only a couple of pools large enough to swim around in. The good news was there were only four other people there. One couple were upstream in a small pool and two guys were in the largest pool where we were.
We had a bit of a paddle and a look around the many small Cascades. Karen swam some more while I explored, taking a few photos of some small flowers
and the general landscape. After a while the others all left taking the track back to the carpark so we had the pools to ourselves to cool off in as it was warming up to be quite a hot day.
As midday approached we too started the walk back down.
As we walked we noticed a Eucalypt with striking orange flowers, many on the ground after birds had eaten the nectar from them. We later found out they were from the Eucalyptus miniata (Darwin Woollybut).
From there we drove back to Wangi Falls where we ate our picnic lunch before taking a swim with quite a few others. 
After our swim we took a short walk to a viewing platform where we could take photos. Quite impressive.
From Wangi Falls we drove to Tolmer Falls next. Here we walked to two different viewpoints for photos.
The falls had a huge drop. 
Because visitors aren’t permitted to go down closer, as the area is a sensitive habitat for two types of bats, it seemed to make the view even more dramatic than at Wangi. 
At the second viewpoint the sun shone at just the right angle to create a rainbow effect.
The surrounding landscape was pretty amazing too.
As we were running out of time and petrol we drove back to Batchelor to access wifi and buy petrol. Along the road verge we were impressed by splashes of pink flowers, Calytrix tetragona, locally referred to as the flower welcoming visitors.
After refuelling we headed back to Litchfield Tourist Park for a BBQ dinner. After dinner we watched a movie before making plans for the next day.
Born To Travel Australia 