Litchfield Park
Access to many wild and wonderful adventures in the NT these days is relatively easy….. but in the early days there were no campsites, no maps, you just needed a taste for adventure.
That's what we're gonna do.
I've joined a 4WD convoy, and we're heading deep into the Mary River National Park.
We're only three hours out of Darwin, but this is still the wild frontier.
You feel like you're a million miles from civilisation.
It's been a harsh dry season. These flood plains are as dry as a bone. But when the big wet finally arrives, the landscape will be radically transformed…
This creek bed is just red dust now. But I wouldn't want to be trying this in a couple of months…
In 6-8 months we'll be about 2m underwater right here, and it'll be flowing quite swiftly.
Make no mistake, it's a tough country out here, and if you're going to tackle it you need a tough vehicle like Murray's Toyota 100 Series Landcruiser….
'After driving 4WDs for thirty years I can say this is probably the best vehicle I've ever driven off-road.'
It's not all red dust. Suddenly we arrive at a billabong called Hardie's Lagoon. This waterway will swell and join up with the Mary River when the rains come. And what a sight…
Where there's water, there's wildlife, and the billabong sure draws a crowd.
The sheer number and variety of birdlife is simply astonishing…from whistler ducks to white egrets.
And a couple of buffalo have wandered up, looking to cool off in a muddy waterhole. This is a very rare sight…
The drivers on our trek are all members of the Northern Territory 4 x 4 Association. Some, like Mal Stewart, pioneered four-wheel driving in this area way back in the early '70s, and forged the very tracks we're on today.
We went 4wd'ing in the Mary River National Park with the good folk from Darwin Toyota Landcruiser Club and the Top End 4wd Club.
There are clubs throughout the Territory that can provide plenty of info on 4wd adventures in the region.
To know more about the range of Toyota landcruisers, visit your nearest Toyota dealer or log onto the website.
And for more
information on everything the Northern Territory has to offer,
take a look at the holiday centre website or phone them on 13
30 68.
