4 August - Relaxation

4 August 2016 – 181 767

Relaxation

This morning everything outside was covered in very fine ash; however, the fire did not appear to be significantly closer.  We went to a Ranger talk this morning on Termites – he explained the differences between the different types of termite mounds observed within the park.  The cathedral termites feed on grass and build cathedral shapes mounds up to 5m high. The magnetic termites are only present in the top end and build there mounds in floodplains with a north south orientation that can be confused with strong magnets.  They also eat exclusively grass.  The wood piping termites eat trees out from the inside, creating didgeridoos.  The road to the Lost City is still closed due to fire, so again unable to do this.  Instead we had an afternoon nap, followed by a swim at Wangi Falls.  The fire has moved much closer and the ash is raining down onto the waterhole, with significant smoke.  We can now hear the wild fire from the campground. This evening the rangers came around to reassure everyone that we were safe to stay and there was a significant fire break between us and the fire.  Throughout the night I could hear trees falling and the sounds of the fire.
https://nt.gov.au/leisure/parks-reserves/find-a-park-to-visit/litchfield-national-park