Australia 2014: Florence Falls to Surprise Creek Falls

Day 33 – August 21, 2014 – Florence Falls to Surprise Creek Falls - distance travelled: 103 kms - 31^oC high; 16^oC low. After hitting the road again our first stop after ten minutes or so was Buley Rockholes, a series of small waterfalls and rockholes nice for swimming. Claire and Shannon opted out but the water was so pleasant the rest of us couldn’t resist. After that we made our way down a primitive 4x4 track to the Lost City: sand stone pillars and rocks “reminiscent of ruins from a long lost civilisation”. Don and Ian had fun doing some scrambling on the rocks; the other kids were only mildly impressed. We walked to the Tolmer Falls lookout; no swimming allowed. Wangi Falls were next; very nice falls and pleasant swimming. Down the Reynolds River 4x4 only track we stopped off at Sandy Creek where we hiked 1.7 kms into Tjaynera Falls which were also very pretty and pleasant for swimming. Our last stop for the day – further down the same track – was Surprise Creek Falls where a short hike took us to the falls which – unfortunately – were dry and the pool did not look attractive enough to swim in. There were lots of pesky horseflies everywhere and a lone bull suddenly appeared on the trail which scared everyone except for Don who rightly judged that the bull was more scared of us than we were of it. As the sun was getting lower we set up camp at the Surprise Creek Falls campground, another basic national park campground but for $7.70 for all of us we were fine with that. After dark the flies luckily disappeared and we had a nice campfire in the fire pit provided.

Buley Rockholes, Litchfield National Park

The Lost City, Litchfield National Park

Track to The Lost City

New growth after a bush fire. Bush fires are very common and often deliberate to encourage new growth. The undergrowth burns but the trees are very resilient and just end up with blackened trunks.