I love finding new watering holes in the Northern Territory.

Maguk Gorge used to be called Barramundi Gorge.
It’s a great place to relax, swim and pretend the rat race doesn’t exist.

On our first day at the gorge we missed the arrow to turn right to get to the bottom pools and wondered why it was taking so long .. until we found ourselves at the top. The climb to the top pools isn’t hard, but we did have a bit of huffing and puffing on the uphill climb. When we got to the last bit we looked at it thinking .. so what’s the best way to get down here. Someone at the pools helpfully called out “on your bum and slither down” – easy as!

The top pools are a wonderland to explore – swimming, climbing and wading upstream, and jumping into the deep pools … I didn’t jump. It was exciting watching everyone else though – nothing like vicarious adventures. I did brave a dive in the bottom pool, from a ledge 1 metre high. Okay, so you think that’s not a big deal .. so I grew up by the surf. We don’t jump from great heights into the surf (unless you’re falling off your board .. but that’s not intentional).

We stayed for a few days, and I soon found my old thongs weren’t up to the repeated treks I made in and out of the gorge over the few days I was there. I knew I should have got some new thongs for the trip, but thank goodness for duct tape!

We happened to be camping during the weekend of the ‘super moon’. It came in handy when I needed to get up in the middle of the night for the call of nature … I didn’t need my torch.

	Our secluded campsite
Our campsite with our own termite mound!	Maguk Gorge view from the top pools
Croc safety - careful where you swim!	Maguk Gorge - bottom pool and falls. Fantastic place to swim and relax with a good book

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