In August of 2014 I visited Darwin for the first time. If you remember (way back when) in a previous blog post I said I would love to return and explore more of the area! As luck would have it during mid-semester break I had the pleasure of joining a group of fellow speechies on a trip to the Northern Territories! We took along camping gear and enjoyed the outdoors, warmer temperatures, waterfalls and swimming holes. There was lots of laughs and many memories, but due to my short term memory here is a quick overview of each day!
Day 1 - 29/09/2015: Brisbane to Darwin
- Left Brisbane at 930am and arrived in Darwin at 130pm
- Picked up our rental vehicle, the big bad Ute
- After grocery shopping and locating Pauline, we left Darwin for Litchfield National Park
- Set up camp just before dark at Tumbling Waters Holiday Park
Our first day exploring was spent hanging out in multiple waterfalls while enjoying the sunshine. The weather was perfect and the waterfalls never crowded. We explored:
- Wangi Falls
- The Lost City
- Florence Falls
- Set up camp at: Florence Falls Campground
- Spent the day driving to Katherine
- Ate a lunch at The Finch Cafe in Katherine
- Obtained more groceries and outlined a plan for the few remaining days
- Made our way to Nitmiluk National Park situated beside the Katherine Gorge
- Set up camp at Nitmiluk National Park Campground
- Hired canoes for the day and explored Katherine Gorge
- Camped again at Nitmiluk National Park
- Leliyn/Edith Falls - walked the Leliyn Trail to the upper pool for swimming
- Butterfly Gorge Nature Park
- Douglas Hot Springs
- Set up camp at Tjuwaliyn/Douglas Hot Springs Park
- Spend the last few hours in Darwin exploring
- Darwin Waterfront
- Crocosaurus Cove
- Mindil Beach Markets and Mindil Beach sunset
- We arrived at the airport early in order to have a warm shower and to clean ourselves up before the flight. I remember that shower feeling like a million dollars.
- We left Darwin at 130am and arrived back in Brisbane at 535am
Overall, the Northern Territory has such unique landscape from any other state in Australia. I am very lucky to have been able to explore both National Parks, Kakadu & Litchfield, and recommend each for anyone who ventures North!
On Tuesday, Uni resumed as per usual and four weeks remained of the semester. It was a very busy few weeks between assignments and exam preparation.