Travel to Nitmiluk National Park - Edith Falls

"Let's swim under the waterfall!""Let's jump off the rocks into the water" Let's all go on holidays and visit Edith Falls!

Nitmiluk National Park is 292km south of Darwin and a beautiful spot to camp and listen to nature. Arriving at Edith Falls campground we were sweetly surprised seeing green grass, a spacious site, shade and the opportunity to swim in Edith Fall's lower pools.

I can never give up the opportunity to sit underneath a waterfall. The thunderous sounds of the crystal clear water falling over me, the challenge to swim out there and the way it allows all my problems to melt away. While sitting underneath the falls the most beautiful sunset was paving the sky. Not being the strongest swimmer I painfully knew I needed to make my way back to the campground before I was stranded in the pool in the dark. It was at this point I winced at not having a waterproof camera.

Getting back to the camp site, my princess played in the sprinklers and we chatted to backpackers in a nearby site about how hot the nights were. The heat didn't bother me at that point, we knew we would sleep solidly as we had purchased the new fan in Katherine! Little did we know the batteries in the Patrol weirdly were not charging and our fan would annoyingly turn off and on all night long!

Morning had arrived and we laid down the solar panels to charge the Patrol's failing batteries and started our 2km return walk to Edith Falls upper pools, all while promising Princess a swim when she reaches the top.

Although we started our walk early, the track was hot, with no shade and all up hill until we reached the escarpment. Princess turned into a horrible child as she cried, made silly mistakes and complained all the way up. We gave up trying to calm her down watching bewildered as other kids both older and younger than Princess ran ahead, eager to get to the pools.

When we finally reached the pools we all needed the relaxing break. Listening to Princess ruin the serenity of the bush was hard work. We all clambered over the rocks and slid down the rocks into the crystal clear waters of Edith Falls upper pool.

The waterfall was flowing beautifully with the few previous nights rain. Swimming over to the falls and receiving the natural water massage was amazing. When we saw another adult jump off the rocks into the pool to our right, we all wanted to join in.

So we all did! It was an amazing feeling to feel the fear before the jump and then to splash into the cool waters below. The pool was deep and we were often  unable to touch the bottom. Not being a strong swimmer I preferred to keep to rock pools on the edges however many other tourists were enjoying floating out in the middle while catching the mid morning sun.

We could have stayed all day however we had a schedule and needed to head back. Leaving our bathers on to climb back down the mountain I was disappointed to be hot, bothered, hungry and surprisingly dry by the time we reached the car.

Edith Falls has taken over as my personal favorite waterfall in Australia, second to Josephine Falls in Northern Queensland. It was the highlight of my trip and I will definitely come back. Next time, I'm packing lunch, bringing extra sunscreen and planning a full day up there! 

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