Wangi Falls (Litchfield NP) 27 - 28 July 2006

Left Robin Falls and arrived in Adelaide River (name of the river and the town) for morning tea. This is the location of a comprehensive railway museum set in the old railway station. Adelaide River developed rapidly during WWII as a forward base for Australian and American forces. There were such large numbers of people here it is hard to imagine when you see what a small town it is now. There was one large area on the river where they grew all fruits and vegetables you can imagine.
Arrived in Litchfield National Park and settled into the camp grounds next to Wangi Falls. Started feeling the heat but had a drive around in our AIR CONDITIONED car to look at the rest of the park and cool off! Met some Aboriginal painters who were very happy to chat about their work. Interestingly the lady listed a most varied heritage including a substantial Chinese background, and a smattering of Irish and English, however she obviously identifies closely with the Aboriginal part of her heritage. They both had a fascinating background but were now committed to exploring different painting techniques.
We continued driving and went on a slow 10km 4WD track to the Lost City. This is a series of sandstone formations that have been eroded away to look like a town of ancient Asian buildings – we wondered what the Aboriginals would have made of these formations. Many of the shapes looked like monuments. The vegetation within the area had recently been burnt and we imagine that the presence of the small trees would have made it feel like a beautiful garden. Arrived back at Wangi Falls later than we expected and close to sunset and we were lucky enough to see the sun reflecting off the cliffs. What a spectacle of colours – with the reds, browns and yellows of the rock formations, the white of the waterfall and the bright array of green trees reflecting on the water. Peter photographed it a hundred times from every angle while Heather swam across to both falls. Swimming in the glow of light was like getting to the end of the rainbow! On Friday we had two more long swims in the very large pool and swam under the falls. It was a wonderful experience swimming under the waterfall and experiencing the bubbles and the push away from the wall. We used our goggles and snorkel and spotted a few fish, lots of small rocks, sandy banks and deep holes where the water hits the ground. The fallen logs look like crocs but we are fully assured by the National Parks that all is ok in these spots and anyway the crocs will take all the fat little kids first!