The Rough Guide to Australia (Travel Guide eBook) by Rough Guides

Author:Rough Guides
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Travel, Australia
Publisher: Apa Publications
Published: 2019-09-12T04:57:54+00:00

Batchelor

Lush, leafy BATCHELOR – 8km west of the Stuart Highway – was originally built to serve the postwar rush to mine uranium at nearby Rum Jungle. In the 1980s, when large-scale mining had ceased, the establishment of Litchfield as a national park gave the town a new lease of life. It still has spots of heritage interest, and there’s been ongoing work for years on the volunteer-project Batchelor Museum (call ahead of time to check hours; 08 8976 7006, batchelormuseum.org.au). Try to pick up information on Litchfield’s sights and bushwalks from the occasionally manned visitor centre (daily 8.30am–5pm) on Tarkarri Road, although the range of free-to-take literature isn’t vast. The general store opposite the visitor centre is a good place to pose any questions on local attractions.

Along Litchfield Park Road

Heading into the park from Batchelor you’ll pass red-dirt plains dotted with tombstone-like termite mounds, varying in shape and size, with some up to 4m high. A signed lay-by gives the chance for a closer look at the “magnetic” or “meridian” variety, mind-boggling flattened slabs aligned north to south to regulate internal temperature. The first chance for a splash is at the Buley Rock Holes, a string of easily accessible rock pools with basic camping nearby. They’re great for a wallow, but can get crowded. From here, both the road and a 3km trail follow the Buley Creek to Florence Falls, one of the park’s natural highlights. A cantilevered lookout surveys the twin 20m falls from above the treetops, from where a stairway drops right down to the shady plunge pool where it’s possible to swim.

Back on the Litchfield Park Road (the main sealed road in the park linking all the most visited spots), a turn-off south leads to the dry-season-only 4WD track to the Lost City, a jumble of unusually weathered sandstone columns. Back on the main park road the birdlife-rich but relatively undramatic Tabletop Swamp is followed soon after by Tolmer Falls, 450m from the road, arguably the park’s most photogenic waterfall. There’s no access to the bottom of the falls. From Green Ant Creek a one-hour return walk leads through pockets of rainforest to the top of the Tjaetaba Falls, with an uncrowded pool to cool off in right on the lip of the cascade.

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