Cooinda to Florence Falls

Day 32 – August 20, 2014 – Cooinda to Florence Falls - distance travelled: 291 kms - 32^oC high; 16^oC low.   Via Old Jim Jim Road, a nice gravel road within Kakadu National Park, and another nice gravel road connecting the Arnhem Highway to the Stuart Highway we made our way towards Litchfield National Park.  We stopped off at Mt. Bundy Station to see if Jordan would be able to go on a trail ride – as well as maybe Claire & Shannon again.  We had been told trail rides are very hard to come by in the Northern Territory and we had had our eye on this place for a while.  When we got there it turned out that Mt. Bundy Station is not offering horseback riding anymore at all – something to do with insurance being too expensive – disappointing as their flyers and ads were everywhere advertising trail rides.  After that we stopped off in Batchelor, a very small town(ship), and in Litchfield National Park we admired some magnetic and cathedral termite mounds and then set up camp at the Florence Falls campground. From there we walked to Florence Falls and all went for a swim.  While we were having supper we could see a gorgeous red sun going down through the trees at the campground.  Jordan saw a huge spider crawling towards her while in the bathroom.  Some fellow campers looked at it and told us it was a harmless huntsman; nevertheless it was very impressive.    



Newspaper headline; a "fisho" (fisherman) killed by a saltwater crocodile; shows that the warnings posted everywhere are not to be taken lightly 

Cooinda Lodge Kakadu campground

Water crossing on Old Jim Jim Road

Tall termite mounds

Field of magnetic termite mounds, built with very narrow sides facing north and south to keep the sun and heat exposure to a minimum

 

Florence Falls, Litchfield National Park

Cathedral termite mound more than 5 metres tall (according to the sign), Litchfield National Park 

Sunset, Florence Falls campground, Litchfield National Park