Day 37 – Sun, 15 Aug to Edith Falls (Leliyn)

After the luxury of last night – well what passes for luxury in Pine Creek - it was a relatively slow start to the day although I was on the road at 9am.

Not sure what today would bring, but I thought I would check out Edith Falls (about 40km N of Katherine and 20km E of the Stuart Hwy) then head into Katherine for the night. The ride was short, only about 70km and when I arrived I thought, this will do me.

The camp sites were grassed – not a bad starting point – and the falls had a large pool for swimming. A cafe on site and pleasant surroundings.

The Edith Falls are on the Edith River (that could be a trick question) on the NW part of the same NP as that of Katherine Gorge. I setup camp and did my washing – great little housekeeper – and then headed for the pool.

It was enormous, possibly 3-4 times the size of the Wangi Falls pool, the falls were rather insignificant but the water flowed in so it was clear and cool. I guess the air temperature is around 35+C today, feels a lot more, but the pool water was on the cool side –  cooler (some would say colder) then the water at Wangi Falls. From the shore to the actual Falls was a swim of about 150m, the length of the pool was possibly 2-3X that.

A local – a Territorian as they refer to themselves – said this was “too cold, you see we don’t swim in the dry season, too cold for us”.

The afternoon was spent swimming (the water clarity was amazing) – and yeah I did swim across to the Falls - and talking to others around the plunge pool. I even got myself a new book to read – oh I haven’t told you that one have I?

You see whilst in Darwin I picked up a couple of books from the backpackers book exchange (you put your read ones in and exchange for another one) – obviously you have to take what is there. I got an old Jack Higgins book and another by Clive Cussler – didn’t really look to hard at them just went with the authors.

Last night I finished my 4th book for the trip, the Jack Higgins novel. I took the Clive Cussler to the pub for dinner, just in case I felt like starting it. When I opened it I thought what the …., it was in Dutch – I think.

So today I found a couple who have a read book and I am swapping my Jack Higgins novel – not sure what the new one will be but that is part of the adventure.

So for now think of me sitting in the warmth with you guys suffering in the cold and having to endue the election campaign. Enjoy, because know that I am!

(PS. all these photos were from my low res mobile phone)