We left WA in kind of a whirl wind rush and kind of kept going until we hit Katherine. We didn't really intend to do it like that, but once we had shopped, got camper mended and showered there didn't seem like much else left for us to do in Kununurra. So we packed up and left. We stopped in at Lake Argyle but apart from marvelling at the shear enormity of Australia's largest artificial lake, we didn't really feel like staying there. So on we went. We had also planned to stop at Greggories National Park and Flora River Nature Reserve, but again, we didn't really feel compelled to hang out there. So apart from a one night stop at a road side camp and a lovely meandering drive through the Victoria River Valley, we dashed straight across the Katherine.
We stayed at a lovely old homestead on the outskirts of town, where ginormous ducks waddled around and a freshwater crocodile lived in the ornamental lake. We did some shopping, acquired some more fishing gear and had a look around town. But no sooner had the dust begun to settle, we were on the road again. This time headed for the infamous Barramundi fishing area of the Daly River.
We set up camp at Banyan Farm, a mango farm turned holiday accommodation. The place was a little bit run down but we were keen to get away from the crowds so it suited us perfectly. The mango, coconut, lime and paw paw trees rambling across the property and local peacocks just added to the charm. We were even allowed to harvest some of the crops and so we munched on several coconuts, washed our hair with the coconut milk and whipped up a green paw paw salad for dinner (this was supposed to have gone with some coconut encrusted barramundi, but as you will see, this wasn't to be).
After our mad dash from WA to NT, a rest in a gorgeous tropical setting was perfect. Unfortunately, the fishing conditions were not. We woke on our first morning to howling wind. Not enough to ruin our camping but strong enough to make fishing a chore. We battled the wind on one occasion and got several hours on the river. It is a beautiful, huge river. We saw lots of birds, including a couple of Jabiru and dozens of saltwater crocodiles. They are menacing looking creatures, especially when you are trying to untangle your lure from a snag only a few feet away from one (this happened a few more times than it should have). The salties may have added to our hesitation to go out fishing again, but mostly it was the persistent wind which wasn't forecast to let up for another week. So after three nights, we admitted defeat and decided to move on.
We packed up and stopped in at the nearby Merrepen Aboriginal Community Arts Centre and spent a lovely morning perusing some amazing artworks. However, the day slowly went downhill from here. We had hoped to enter Litchfield National Park from the south via a 4WD track. Unfortunately, when we got to the turnoff there was a locked gate, so we had to take the much longer and more boring route via the highway. Not 20 kilometres down the road, we heard an almighty 'bang' and Big Red started to wobble about the road. We had blown a tyre on the camper, completely exploded a tyre is probably a more apt description. Luckily man-o-man Rob came to the rescue and he had the tyre changed and us back on the road in no time. But not before he noticed that we had acquired a small hole in our camper water storage tank and were slowly losing our precious drinking water. Due to the fact that we couldn't get onto the 4WD track mentioned earlier and our tendency to try and stay off highways, we decided (ok, Emma decided) to take a 'short cut' she had seen on the map. Suffice to say, we got lost. It is actually the first time we've been properly lost on this trip. There was no one around to ask directions from and so we just kept trying different roads (most of which just ended) until we found our way. We did manage to stop off at a lovely waterfall for lunch and we did get to our campsite by sunset and the campsite was caravan free due to the tricky 4WD access. So as we settled in by the fire with a bowl of pasta and a cold beer, we decided the day wasn't a complete disaster.
Litchfield National Park is simply fabulous. For such a small area, it holds an amazing range of natural wonders. Most of the park is connected by sealed roads and unless you want to, you don't need to walk vast distances to see most of what the park has to offer. Admittedly, due to the easy access and the close proximity to Darwin, it does get very busy but we still had a wonderful day walking through rainforest, admiring waterfalls, swimming in waterholes and wondering at the magnetic termite mounds and the lost city stone formations.
It had now been a month since we left behind the bright lights of Broome and almost three months since we'd enjoyed the hustle and bustle of a big cit (Perth). As such, we were very excited about getting to Darwin. So after a short but lovely stay in Litchfield, we headed straight for the big smoke.
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