Back on the buses! This tour pick-up was at 7:00 am and in a bus I was not expecting – a small (25 seat) Mercedes, run by a tour company I had not booked through. Never mind, the bus driver (Brian) was expecting me. We loaded up and headed off on time. Brian was a cheery fellow with a distinct personality and obviously still loving his job.

We drove stright out to Litchfield National Park – first stop at a riverbed full of termite mounds. This was pretty amazing. I’d been watching the catheral termite mounds in the bush as we were driving along but this flood plain had huge catherals and an enormous collection of magnetic termite mounds. It was amazing to see so many termite mounds – the mind boggles when you think of the number of termites!

We stopped at the Banyan Tree cafe before heading off to Florence Falls, the first swimming stop. Of course, I’d forgotten about the swimming bit and didn’t have my swimmers on. So, after visiting the swimming hole, I took a ‘short’ walk back to the bus. It was beautiful walking along Shady Creek. The water was so clear that, in the shade, you can’t see the surface and you touch the water before you expect.

Back in the bus and around to the swimming hole at Wangi Falls. This time I had to head off on the walk straightaway to make it back in time. Caught up to and finished the walk back with Marsa, who was also travelling alone on the tour.

Had a very pleasant lunch at the Monsoon Cafe and a chat with Marsa, Stu and Drew. Stu and Drew (in their 20s) are working on a 50m ocean-going yacht going around the word – sounded fabulous to me!

A quick visit to Tolmar Falls had us at Buley Rockpools at mid-afternoon. Again, a swimming opportunity but I just sat and taled with Claire and Xanthia.

On return from the park, Marsa and I shared a couple of drinks while I discovered that she was a doctor returning from an internship on a Tiwi Island, had been adopted as an Aborigine, and was returning to the US to study as a surgeon!