That Time We Took a Trip Up North
We live in a country that is both beautiful and slightly determined to kill us.
Somewhere between pristine coastline and rugged outback, Australia is home to tiny jellyfish, enormous crocodiles and snakes that seem to appear exactly where you don't want them to.
Yet for some reason, we have this urge and pull to keep exploring it.
We recently took a trip to Darwin. This time we flew rather than drove because we only had a few days to spare. That seems to be the pattern these days. When you run your own business, you learn to take lots of short adventures instead of one long one.
One place that had been on our list for a while was Litchfield National Park, about 120 kilometres south of Darwin.
The plan was simple: hire a car, find some waterfalls and cool off in a few swimming holes.
Before doing anything involving water in the Top End, it's worth talking to the locals. Crocodiles have a habit of turning up in places you'd rather they didn't. If you value your limbs, this is generally good advice.
The first thing that caught my attention wasn't the waterfalls. It was the termite mounds. Hundreds of them. Tall, thin structures rising out of the landscape, some nearly two metres high. They looked almost sculptural. I later discovered they're aligned north-south, with their broad sides facing east-west to help regulate temperature.
Tiny creatures building climate-controlled architecture in the middle of the bush. There's probably a lesson in that somewhere. At the very least, if I ever get lost in Litchfield, I now know I can use termite mounds as a compass. Assuming Jason hasn't left me behind.
The waterfalls were every bit as impressive as we'd hoped. July might be winter in other parts of Australia, but up here it was still warm enough that every walk ended with a swim. I'll admit, that first jump into the water was a little unnerving. We were completely alone. Standing beside a swimming hole. In crocodile country. About to trust the words, "You'll be right, mate." I have trust issues.
Thankfully, the locals were correct. We weren't eaten and the swim was worth every nervous second.
Litchfield is one of those places that's difficult to describe. Beautiful, untouched, wild and ancient all seem close, but none of them quite capture it. It's a landscape that feels bigger than words. The kind of place that reminds you just how small you are.
Before heading back to Darwin, we squeezed in one more adventure – a fishing trip out on a billabong.
But I'll save that story for the next journal. Got to leave you hanging somehow.
