We are on holiday!

Saturday 6th August 2022

We accidentally slept in till 8 this morning – the apartments have really bright lights outside the door that are on all night, so we had to close the blinds really well, but then you don’t know when it’s morning! Anyway we went straight into packing up to leave, amidst breakfast and even a cheeky icecream that wasn’t going to fit in the freezer 😁

We were off at 10:30, and went to Rapid Creek markets to stock up on some fresh produce. So much fun seeing all the amazing fruit and veg we never see at home! I wish we had more fridge space for the incredible looking greens, but they wouldn’t last in this heat out of the fridge! We bought some lunch for the road – fresh juices, green papaya salad for Richie, Otis chose some sort of meat on a stick and Bonnie and I shared a Bahn mi. Then we bought an assortment of fruit – sadly not quite mango season but we got longans, Dragon fruit (which I find taste like nothing but they look amazing), star fruit, and the kids desperately wanted coconuts! Then it was on the road, for the three hours to Nitmiluk NP – Leliyn (Edith Falls) campground.

Otis fell asleep as soon as he finished lunch, so it was especially a shock for him to wake up to our 36°C campground! 🥵 The campground is quite lovely and very well kept – all the camping areas have green lawn! However we lucked out a bit, as we seemed to have one of the few campsites without shade! I guess that’s why that one was still available! We sat the kids in a shady spot with frozen juice boxes, then got the campsite set up. At least that way the tent could provide a bit of shade. We had a quick snack then headed to the plunge pool for a swim.

The Leliyn plunge pool is stunning, and quite different to the ones we’ve visited so far. It is quite large, which means it is much more exposed to sunlight, so the water felt a bit warmer than the Litchfield and Kakadu pools! We were very keen to get into the water, and decided we should all go touch the waterfall. This is 150m from the entry point, so the kids put in a mammoth effort. Bonnie swam all the way there and back (with a noodle)! Otis got almost all the way there, I towed him with a noodle for the last little bit, and Richie towed him back. The falls are quite short but very fun – the water becomes very cold as you get close, from the churning of the water, but the falls themselves are lovely and warm!

We had hoped to do a bit of snorkeling when we got back to our things, but Bonnie was completely exhausted – probably a combination of late nights in Darwin and a big swim! We had a rest on the lawns then wandered back to camp for dinner. Theoretically it was to be an early night, but it is still so hot and the air so still it will be hard to sleep.