Don’t go chasing waterfalls.

Firstly, we'd like to thank everyone for your comments, we really enjoy reading them. I apologise for never replying, but we don't often have internet for long and I already spend quite a while writing this thing. This also limits my responses to emails, as I've used all my writing effort on this... well that's the excuse I'm using and I'm sticking to it.

After a stressful few days we felt the need to relax and headed to Litchfield NP. The only worry we had were the warnings we’d been given of how busy Litchfield gets over the weekend, as the Darwinites head out of town. It isn’t far from Darwin, and a few hours later we pulled up at the 2wd campsite at Florence Falls, not only finding it almost full, but each spot was side-by-side, something we despise. Luckily the 4wd campsite, a 500m drive away, wasn’t as bad, with reasonably secluded spots to set up. The only downside was the return of the prison toilets, what the fuck NT.

The falls were very nice, although at this point we have seen a lot of waterfalls and these weren’t the best. We took the obligatory shots of us swimming and wandered back to the site.

Tom's baldness helps picking him out when swimming 

Almost alone!

The campsite was busy, but quiet, and after the stresses of the big smoke we both fell asleep early in order to get the 10 hours we not only needed, but also deserved.

We awoke the next day still exhausted after Darwin, and decided to spend another night at Florence Falls. Prison toilets aside, it was a nice place to unwind, with a reasonable sw imming hole to swim and freshen up. All that said, we went to theb swimming hole during the day only to find it heaving and not a pleasant place to be. I think our decision to stay was probably more linked to the fact neither of us could be bothered to pack away. I did have a great afternoon nap, doing my usual freaky one-eye open sleep.

After 18 years with Becky, I find it best to sleep with one-eye open

The next morning we mustered up the strength to pack up, intending to head to a campsite called Surprise Creek. This site is only accessible by 4wd, with a noted deep, sandy creek crossing, so we hoped we’d find a lovely quiet spot with toilets that had a seat. I hadn’t had a dump since Darwin, so I was particularly keen. As I mentioned before, prison toilets are what I really dread about doing time in the clink.

We stopped at Buley Falls on the way out, to have a morning swim and freshen up after packing away.

Like a toddler, I'll nap anywhere

There were a few noted sites before the turn off, all with small, easy walks to the main viewing platform, but after we visited Tolmer Falls we decided that would do. I think we might have reached maximum lookout.

Yeah, that's it, speak to the camera

The Reynolds track to Surprise creek ended up being a lovely drive, including driving through some wonderful floodplains with Magnetic termite mounds.

This mounds so cool, I'm giving it finger guns.

These little critters make flat mounds, unlike the cathedral termite mounds we’ve seen before. This makes them look like a field of tombstones.

Bit different, init?

The infamous creek crossing also ended up being quite fun. The sandy bottom was very boggy, but we pottered through in 2^nd low range with a small bow wave cresting the bonnet halfway through. I only wish Becky wasn’t totally shitting herself so she could have taken a video. She didn’t like the idea of driving it again so we could get it on film.

When we arrived at the site, two things filled us with dread. First, a large family of bogans, with three caravans, motorbikes and kids filling their site. Second, the toilet consisted of a single drop toilet surrounded by corrugated iron that only went as high as my shoulders. The upside was that we met our friends the Dutch/German couple. We’re such good friends now that I even know their names, Dajana and Rob… I think. We took a site near them and had a little chat.

After a quick visit to Surprise creek falls (we didn’t even take a camera, as we have enough fucking headshots of us swimming), we went back and Becky went for a piss in the toilet. I could see the top of her head from our campsite. She reported back that the pit was festival-full of shit, so I’d be holding on for another day. There were also a large number of horseflies, (on top of the normal number of outback flies that crawl in our ears, eyes, nose and mouth), that we got quite adept at killing. On the plus side, I finally found some energy to fix some things around the car, including the windscreen washer piping.

Does replacing a wiper tube now classify me as a bush mechanic?

At sunset we went for an evening swim with our friends, Dajana and Rob and sat chatting poolside as the sun set. The water was very deep, so Rob being Rob did some jumps off the ledge about 3-4 metres up. I’m coward old now, so I didn’t… I just swam underwater a bit.

Like a bald platypus

We went back to the site and sat around our campfire until late, chatting about everything and nothing… but mainly nothing. We went to bed later than the bogans, but I wasn’t drinking so we were pretty quiet. This is the third time we have socialised in a week and as great as each occasion has been, I think that will do until September.

We awoke early, packed, ate breakfast, had a final swim at Surprise Creek and said our goodbyes to our friends, Dajana and Rob. I didn’t mention the blog to them, as I’d been a little negative about them on several occasions. This led me to think about how I judge people when I first meet them, and perhaps I should be a little more open-minded, because a stranger is just a friend you haven’t met yet… Nah, fuck that, most people are absolute pricks and can get fucked.