Darwin 2021

Our first stop in Litchfield National Park was the termite mounds.

Not at all specific to Litchfield, these are absolutely everywhere up here, and support a whole ecosystem by themselves, giving things like echidnas a food source, birds a resting perch, and lizards and small mammals a refuge during the wet season.

There are two types - one is called a cathedral, which is a roundish column. It's the type we're both pointing to in the first picture. This one had been overtaken by ants, as you can see crawling around.

The second is long and flat, a bit like a book. They orient them north to south so one side is always in shade, which is cleverly done through magnetic sense given they're blind.

It creates an interesting effect where if you look at a field one way it's full of mounds and if you go look at it from a different angle they seem to disappear.

I entertained some irrational fears about accidentally harbouring some termites back to Tasmania with me, and what an act of eco terrorism that would be. I don't think any stowed away though.Read more