Litchfield National Park Day 2

28th May 2013

Today we had a big day in the National Park, with some of the tracks being closed due to recent rains we decided to drive up to the Buley Rock Holes about 25kms from the camp ground and work our way back to camp by the end of the day.

So after breakfast we set off, arriving at the rock holes around 8.30am. We had decided to start here and then walk the 1.6kms up to Florence Falls, which proved to be a really good choice.The walk to the falls followed the water course which we crossed several times along the way, with  the terrain also changing between guided path & rocky path along the way, it just a great way to start the day.

The girls on the walk to Florence Falls

At the end of the walk were greeted with the beautiful Florence Falls

We had a refreshing swim (some a little quicker than others due to the water temperature), towelled off and decided on the best way back to Buley Rock Holes. It was either back the way we came, or take on the 134 steps out of the gorge on the other side before the 1.6km walk back. Well needless to say that we not only took the stairs, but Chloe, Maggie and I ran up the stairs with Rach bringing up all the gear from below. Once we had reached the top we stopped at the lookout for a different perspective of the falls before Chloe & Maggie decided they wanted run back, while Rach & I strolled along the path. Enroute back to Buley Rock Holes, we picked up Maggie, who had decided that 1.6kms was just a little ambitious and had slowed to a wander before making it back.

Florence Falls from the Lookout

Again we had another great swim and massage before making our way to our next destination, The Lost City.

Chloe & I at Buley Rock Holes

After a short drive on bitumen, we had a 10km 4wd track to negotiate into The Lost City, when we arrived we had some lunch before exploring the area. The Lost City is a series of sandstone which are highly concentrated in the area of Litchfield, giving the impression that it  used to be inhabited, it was pretty interesting to see and even more  interesting to think that the area we were exploring had once been part of an ancient reef system under the ocean.

The Lost City

 

Chloe on top of her throne 

So after some time exploring the ancient rock formations it was off again to view yet another beautiful water fall called Tolmer Falls. In years gone by you used to be able to walk into and swim at  the base of these falls, but due to disturbance of bats which inhabit the caves within and the disturbance that was being caused, we had  to settle for looking at Tolmer Falls from the lookout, which was still very impressive and definitely one of the highest waterfalls we have seen in person, just awesome!

Tolmer Falls

Our last walk for the day was at Grenant Creek, which was a relatively short hike which led up to Tjaetaba Falls. By this stage, Maggie was not too keen on another hike, so to make sure no one missed out, I decided to piggy back her up the track, which turned out to be one of the roughest of the day, but well worth the effort. As a mark of respect, signs asked you not to swim below the falls, so when we reached the top, we cooled off in the rock pool above Tjaetaba Falls before making our way back down (which we turned into a running race - had to be there but very funny) and making our way back to camp.

The girls at top of Tjaetaba Falls

The day was topped off by us preparing a BBQ dinner & walked down to the base of Wangi Falls, where we enjoyed the changing colours as the sun set behind us on what was again another sensational day on our travels.

Wangi Falls