Litchfield NP

It is going to take a few days to get around this park even though it is not that big in comparison to others.

Day 1 took us to the Tidy Town of Batchelor. They are resting on their laurels here because they earned that gong in 2001. Anyway, Don’t know the demographic of Batchelor but a Czech expat who lived in the town built a replica of a Bohemian Castle here on a conveniently placed mini-mount (because the big pile of rocks in the town park was too big to remove and too hard to keep tidy.

Out of town - you just have to stop when a place is called Zebra Rock - don’t ya? Glad we did. A geologic enigma. Rock with bubbles off ferric material that arrange themselves in a pattern. Really weird right? Beautiful! Rare as! The owners have several mining leases so they can prevent over-mining of the stuff. A small amount comes out to make jewellery and display pieces and for research. The owner Kimberley, is a Crocodile Dundee character who wrassles Bulls bare chested and digs mines. Ruth is Kim’s customer facing partner and is so passionate about sharing this geological marvel with the world. The lease locations are a secret but the closest is 180k and the most distant 500k away.

There are a lot of big termite mounds up here. Magnetic Termites (little blind critters who are endemic to this area only) make their mounds align north/south to achieve optimal thermal properties. Cathedral Termites measuring 5mm long just make ‘em big.

After all that learning, we needed to get physical, so a bush walk between Buleys Rockhole and Florence Falls with some swims along the way. You know the water is clear when you can see the bottom but can’t guess how deep it is. And can’t dive to the bottom.Read more