Litchfield National Park

Wangi Falls – near pristine and croc free (then)

We are only 400 kms from Darwin and a couple of hours out of Litchfield National Park. So that seemed the obvious place to spend the few days we had left before our arrival date in Darwin. So Litchfield Tourist Park it is. And a great choice too. The campground is on the edge of the park which allowed us to spend two days exploring the walking trails, waterfalls and rivers that they lead to. Litchfield NP is 1,500 square kilometres of bush and tableland and scrub covered plains dotted with craggy outcroppings, canyons and the waterways, pools and waterfalls which flow and cascade through them. You would not go near these in the wet season. That is unless you are keen to battle it out with five metre saltwater crocs and the vain hope of returning limbs intact. It is now early winter and the Park Rangers have checked, trapped and cleared any lurking salties and declared the swimming holes snapping free. So why are we reading “Croc bites man at Wangi Falls”just a few weeks after we swam there. And “Bitter Springs thermal pool closed after sighting of three metre crocodile” not long after we enjoyed its therapeutic delights.

Litchfield National Park Tourist Camp

The Dept of Environment and Science lists 44 crocodile attacks in Queensland since 1985. Twelve of them were fatal. If you discount the sad story of the New Zealander standing at the waters edge in the Daintree region at 10pm with a glass of wine a few years ago and some other very obviously silly acts the attack rate is really quite low given there are estimated 20,000 to 30,000 crocodiles in Queensland. Crocodiles are now a protected species after being hunted to near extinction in the 1970s. And hunting is probably the only way crocs could be extinguished as they are the most incredibly adapted creatures having shared the earth with the dinosaurs and evolved over 200 million years. Apparently, although I haven’t researched this, you are more likely to be killed in Queensland by a falling coconut than a crocodile. Common sense probably prevails in both cases. But jeez, we were swimming there only weeks ago. Makes you think. But then again I recently walked under several coconut trees so there you go.

Litchfield NP was designated as such in 1986 some time after Frederick Litchfield, a Northern Territory explorer who visited the region in 1864. The Kungaraken and Marranunggu people have lived here for thousands of years and believe that the spirits that formed the land still thrive here. More likely I think, is that the sandstone canyons and gullies have been formed through millions of years of flowing and dripping water creating the magnificent streams, rivers and crashing waterfalls that make the park the beautiful and natural land form it is today. We hiked the trails, swam in the pristine and crystal clear pools, and enjoyed the unique plant, animal and bird life that surrounded us.

But a cricket tournament awaits. We must leave this breathtaking piece of country to go to Darwin and watch Queensland’s best 12 and 13 year olds have a tilt at the might of NSW, Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia, ACT and Northern Territory. We are not favourites of course, far from it. But then I am certain we also wouldn’t be favourites in a desperate swim across Wangi Falls pursued by Brutus. You have to have a crack though don’t you.