Journey's Beyond The Nest: Days 35-37 Daly River Mango Farm

(Kate)

Day 35-37 Daly River Mango Farm.

We left Darwin and drove south towards Litchfield National Park, where we planned to camp for a few nights. In the park we stopped at Blyth Homestead, formerly lived in by a couple called Harry and Alma Sargent and their 14 children, who mined tin in a nearby hill. It sure looked like a hard life, but the info at the homestead gave the impression of a content, resourceful family who made the most of what God had given them. There were quite a few flies buzzing around but they didn’t try to land on your eyes or go up your nose the way they would in the Flinders Ranges ;) I guess that’s the advantage of co-existing with flies in a more humid climate.

We moved onto Surprise Creek Falls at the south end of the park, using the Reynold’s track (4WD-only) to get there. We arrived mid-afternoon and were frustrated to find that the campground only had about 8 sites and all were full. They were heavily fenced and bouldered, leaving no possibility of camping outside the designated sites. Probably for good reason, but this was still highly annoying, as we’d driven half the day to get there, and were looking forward to camping there because it had been recommended by our friends in Darwin. In hindsight we learned that it was the Friday before the last long weekend of the year in the Northern Territory, so of course lots of people had taken Friday off and got away early to go camping. This is what happens when we are on holiday and stop paying attention to what the rest of the working world is doing J

Taking our cue from the Sargent family, we consulted Wikicamps, and headed for the Mango Farm Tourist Park – small family-run caravan park just south west of Litchfield at Daly River. The Mango Farm had good reviews, including some mouth-watering descriptions of various mango-related foods available to purchase there. It turned out great. Spacious shady campsites, great amenities, a very inviting swimming pool, and there were only 5 other campers currently there, so it was nice and quiet. There were a few 100-year old mango trees dotted throughout the park, and they dropped their fruit at random times (possibly assisted by birds or animals). When this happened next to the camp kitchen, it sounded like a gunshot or an explosion as the mango hit the tin roof, but we soon got used to it. I’d love to show you photos of the mango-related foods, but we ate them too quickly. Mango cheesecake was my personal favourite, and Nicole’s favourite was frozen mango cheeks. There was also mango icecream.

We did go for an afternoon trip back to Surprise Creek Falls to swim, and it was fun but super-busy, which wasn’t really our thing for the introverts of the family. See - God was looking after us by diverting us to the Mango Farm :)