Day 25 - Limmons National Park

Wednesday, 23 June 2021

There’s an art to being a wanderer. A bush camper. Well, a skill really. Somewhere in the afternoon you need to start looking along the side of the road. They’re easy to miss, the little dirt tracks that bush campers use. When you spot one there’s all sorts of follow-up to consider. Do you drive down it? Walk it first? Is it kosher, not invading anyone’s private terrain? Are there spots sufficiently away from the road, and clear enough that you don’t need to tread further on the bush. I hate trampling plants, no matter how haggard they look.

It’s a gut thing. It’s either the right spot or not. If it’s not, if you’re hesitating, then pay attention. Move on. There’s something else, better, waiting down the road.

In 24 days of camping – in dozens of bush-camping trips that we’ve taken over the years – we’ve never been left high and dry when the sun goes down. This is Australia. A free and open country, with not a lot of people living in it, or at least in its interior. There’s always somewhere to camp.

Still, it can be stressful. For one thing, two people, tired and often cranky from a day of driving, have to agree on what ‘feels right’ – and sometimes don’t. Most of the time it works. Today it didn’t.

We’ve entered Limmons National Park, a remote park in northeastern Northern Territories, accessible only by 4WD. The dirt road is OK, but it has its moments. Lots of dips into dry creek beds. One or two with water in them. The ubiquitous corrugations.

On the last quarter of the Tablelands Highway the landscape and flora changed. Rolling hills appeared. Exotic trees with stunning flowers. A triplet of black-necked cranes suddenly cross our path, smooth sailing, like ships in the sky. We’re mesmerised, thrilled. A cluster of raptors – little eagles, grey falcons, and wedgetails – spurs us to stop and watch, photograph. The air is warm, humid. Big thundery clouds. Feels like we’ve entered new territory. The N.T.

Three hours into the bumpy road, the sun low in the sky, we try a discreet track heading west. It looks tough and overgrown so we walk it. It meanders up and down but the bush is thick and camping doesn’t look promising. After 15 minutes, we turn around. One of us wants to pitch camp here, the other is just not getting the gut feeling. We move on.

Just after the turn-off to Lorella Springs, another track on the east side of the road. We follow it into an abandoned quarry. Mounds of slate-like rock, old tyres, but bushes with pretty purple flowers turning the lot wild again. We set up camp and just miss sundown as we settle in for our nightly nip. The near-full moon sits behind us, lighting the sky and then the land once the sun’s light fades. Crickets and warm air. We’ve finally arrived in the top end.