Life-a learning experience: Navigating the slippery slopes of Litchfield National Park

We left camp and said goodbye to the Kakadu National Park, heading west for Litchfield National Park. Our first stop in Litchfield was Florence Falls where spectacular double waterfalls are set amid the monsoon forest and the water cascades into a swimming hole. While swimming is dangerous in most areas of the park because of the threat of crocodiles, similar to Kakadu National Park, the natural pool at Florence Falls is safe for people to enter. Despite the safety of the water, I did not plan to swim that day. My thought was to grab a nice spot in the shade and just enjoy the beauty of the land. As I followed Jon across the river, I slipped on the wet algae ridden rocks and fell right into the water. I guess the universe had different plans for me that day.

With my wet clothes draped over a tree branch, I decided to go swimming in the end. It is easy to look graceful once you are in the swimming hole, unfortunately it is not so easy to look graceful trying to maneuver the rocky river bed to enter the pool. Since I had already proved my inability to channel my inner Jesus walker that morning, I put my ego aside and stumbled into the swimming hole. Once in, I made my way to the larger of the two waterfalls. It was a stunning sight being underneath the fall and looking up to see the water as it dropped over the edge.

Our next stop of the day was Buley Rockhole, a series of waterfalls and rock holes that make for perfect spots to swim and relax. We followed this visit with a stop at Wangi Falls, Litchfield’s most popular and easily accessible attractions.

We ended our day visiting the Cathedral Termite Mounds and then made our way back to Darwin, bringing an end to our wonderful weekend of camping in the outback. When all was said and done, we covered over 1,500 kilometers of driving during the weekend adventure. I left the bush with a few more scrapes and bumps on my body then I had before I went in, Jon left the bush with a cracked ipad.

Our wonderful weekend deserved a memorable send off, so Jon and I met a group of our fellow campers for a farewell dinner that evening and we danced the night away at Monsoons.

We said goodbye to Australia after a glorious two and a half weeks visiting the area. Next stop, Bali, on the Operation Live Life adventure. As luck would have it, a few of the girls from our camping weekend were on the same flight. One of the girls, a lovely Irish lass named Suzanne was even seated right next to us on the plane. It seems the universe had plans for us to meet her, whether we had gone on that camping trip or not.

Florence Falls in Litchfield National Park.