We returned the rental car by just parking it in the parking lot not 50 ft from the front door to the terminal. Handed over the keys and that was it. The airport was the smallest we have been to yet.
Flew from Uluru airport to Alice Springs (30min flight) then transferred to another flight (w/free WiFi) that went to Darwin (~90min flight). Landed at Darwin airport and had a bit of confusion with Easy Car Rent/Ace Rental Car (which actually turned out to be affiliated with Hertz) - got it sorted out and ended up with a nice Rav4. Drove into Darwin and found the hotel (nice apt.), started laundry then went out to explore the town.
After a little driving we ended up at the Darwin market (happened to be on the right day) and ate our way through the 30+ food vendors (Pork belly, BBQ, Laksa, Pawpaw salad, Iced coffee w/ice cream - yum) plus looked at all the crafts. We sat on the beach to eat and watched the sunset over Darwin Harbor, then saw an electric didgeridoo player and some fire dancers on the beach - pretty cool night. We drove little more thru town and found that Mitchell St. seemed fun looking, so stopped for a drink and salad at an Irish bar.
In the morning we had a great breakfast buffet included with the room, packed up and headed out to Litchfield NP. Along the way, we stopped at the chemist (drug store), grocery store for this leg’s food, and then had to find an open outdoor store (Monday was a holiday - Queens Birthday) to get JetBoil fuel.
We missed the turn to Litchfield as the signage was a little lacking, but ended up on the right track eventually. Stopped in Batchelor to get cash for campground (hassle with on brand of ATM) and then made it to the park. Stopped at the Termite Mounds (Magnetic and Cathedral) then went to Buley Rockhole to cool off (tried to use the dingo campers suggestion but couldn’t find the upper pool). Then went to Florence Falls and swam out to the waterfall - first time for that! Walked the long way back then decided to check the nearby campground for space (full 🙁 ), but after talking to the ranger followed her suggestion of going to the Old 4WD campground (which actually didn’t need 4WD) and got one of the last few spots there *whew*. It was a really nice campground with showers and private sites for $6.60pp (~$5pp USD). Some mosquitoes there but was a really warm night so sat out and read for awhile. Slept without the cover on the tent! We’re never able to do that at home.
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