Max suggested we get up to watch the sunrise over the cattle station. Here we are just at the beginning of it, with fog still drifting over the fields.
The sun started to peek out.
I love the brilliant orange rays exploding from the sun in such symmetry.
And all of a sudden, the sun was up and the horses and cattle were roaming about.
Two cows and a bull.
These prescribed area signs were posted frequently. Most of the places we visited were dry communities and we needed a special non-resident card to be able to purchase alcohol.
Today was a day of swimming in various spots within Litchfield National Park. We started with 183 steps to reach Florence Falls.
We passed beautiful creeks and foliage en route to the falls.
I jumped right in for a swim while some waited til our next destination, as it meant we would have to walk wet from one spot to the next. Who cares? We're on vacation! Wet is more fun! And cooler.
A closer shot of Florence Falls.
We hiked through a shady trail and stumbled upon this surprise water hole en route to Buley Rock Holes. Michaela does her Hawaiian Luau move.
Here are the Buley Rock Holes, 80m of pools at different levels, cascading down the trail.
People of all ages were cooling off in these rock holes.
Michaela's going over the edge!
This was the top of the accessible water holes.
After a picnic lunch, we went to Wangi Falls for another swim, my third swim of the day.
me in front of Wangi Falls.
Throughout our trip, Max had told us of the Aboriginal tradition to burn the land every three years (or 1/3 of the land each year) to burn off dead grass. It doesn't kill the trees but a regular controlled burn prevents build-up/bushfires and produces green grass in place of dry dead grass. We were lucky enough to see one on our way out of Litchfield. Max pulled the bus over and let us get out to take photos. The fire was moving towards us, felt very hot, and we had to leave before it started to burn the paint on the side of the bus.
A controlled burn.
The smoke was thick and dark.
We had another surprise stop on our way out of Litchfield at the magnetic termite mounds, which resemble flat graveyard headstones, all turned on the North-South axis to block sun.
Here I am against one of the magnetic termite mounds to give you a sense of scale. From here, we drove back to Darwin. Thus concluded my third tour of the outback.
That night I checked back into MOMs - Melaleuca on Mitchell Backpackers. This is the MOM pool and bar. I made instant friends with Jasmine, a German girl I shared bunks with in the room. She invited me to join her and some friends for a concert that night. Jasmine and I returned to the Vic Hotel for free dinner before meeting up with her friends.
From L to R: Kimm, Alex, Nadine, me, and Jasmine at Wisdom Bar, following a brief stop at Hot Potato. Kimm is from Belgium and the others are all from Germany but met traveling.
Jasmine explained it is common for people to dress up to go out for no reason at all. It's Halloween every night in Darwin!
We went to see the Potbelleez at Discovery bar but they didn't start until 2am! We enjoyed the house music and dancing for a while, but it was longer to wait than we expected.
I didn't really know what I'd signed up for. Turns out Potbelleez is more of a mixing/DJ show than a concert in my interpretation. It was still interesting and a fun night out with the girls.
