The road into Litchfield was a dirt road and a little bumpy, albeit quite picturesque. Given we couldn't see all that Litchfield had to offer in a day we chose 3 main spots to visit. The first being Wangi Falls. At Wangi there is a camping ground (which we will stay at, at a later date) and main carpark, with a short paved path to the beautiful Wangi Falls. It was still cool and no-one was ready to go in for a swim, not even Zach, so we set off on the Wangi Loop walking track, which took us through a rain forest area where bats hung in the trees, up to the top of the falls, across the top and down the other side, by which stage most of us were ready for a swim. Nick was the first in, followed by Zach, Paul and Ian. Abbey convinced Ian to carry her across to where Nick was on the other side, while Jerry was still contemplating the crocodile sign at the entrance to the falls. Me.... Well it wasn't warm enough to even consider getting in.
By the time everyone had got out of the water and dressed, it was lunch time. We enjoyed a picnic at the picnic grounds at Wangi Falls. Abbey and Freya were sitting on the ground sharing their sandwiches when a whistling kite came swooping down with pinpoint accuracy and grabbed it out of Abbeys hands, slightly grazing her fingers. It all happened so fast we wondered if it really had happened.
While we were at Wangi Falls I asked a tour guide if "The Lost City" was accessible without a 4wd. "nope" he replied "not worth going to in my opinion, just sand and rocks". We headed back to the cars and thought we'd make our own decision when we got to the turn off.
Well the territory has been through some places she probably shouldn't have, and even Nick was hesitant about taking her down the 10km 4wd track down to The Lost City, so Ian suggested we all (10 of us) pile into his Pajero hire car (cause hire cars can go anywhere and carry heaps of people).
Part way down the single file track we all agreed that the territory probably would have struggled through the sandy rutted track. The tour guide was right, it was just sand and rocks, but the formations the rocks made were amazing. You really did feel like you were in a lost city, some of the rocks forming doorways, others forming pillars, tunnels and caves. It was a great place to let your imagination run wild, Freya thinking hide and seek was fun, while Zach loved climbing to the top of the rocks with Uncle Jerry. Nick thought he was made of muscle holding a rock above him, while Matt loved finding caves and tunnels. An easy walk meandered it's way though the rock formations back to the car park. The tour guide was wrong on one point, we all thought it WAS worth visiting.
Our final spot to visit at Litchfield is the Magnetic Termite Mounds. These termite mounds face North / south in order to minimize the suns heat during the day. It is quite an amazing sight, with no trees around them, just a clearing of these termite mounds.
We headed back to Berry Springs, enjoyed a delicious dinner together followed by another night around a fire.
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